pacificpelican
New Member
How much NoPox do I use for a 16 water gallon tank with 4.2 nitrates? I haven't done a water change in a couple weeks and it's only at 4.2 nitrates.
How much NOPOX do I use?
- Thread starter pacificpelican
- Start date
- Tagged users None
pacificpelican
New Member
alright. I was going to do it because many places state that 1-2ppm is the best for mixed reef. I guess 4 isn't that off.
Miami Reef
10K Club Member
Maybe because Red Sea recommends every tank that follows their protocol to use it…regardless of their nitrate levels. Although they do suggest lower amounts for nitrates on the lower end.
I wouldn’t use nopox if your nitrates aren’t a problem/on the rise.
pacificpelican
New Member
Got it. Thank you!
mwil79
Well-Known Member
Just out of curiosity at what point would you start thinking about reducing nitrates. I've been on a steady climb since May when I bottomed out and I'm now just coasting above 30ppm while running a protein skimmer and refugium. No real issues that I'm seeing just getting to that point of concern.
gbroadbridge
2500 Club Member
Your nitrate is already low, some would say too low if you have LPS
Coral.
I keep mine between 10 to 20.
You dont need NoPox.
If you get above 50 then maybe.
Miami Reef
10K Club Member
I follow Randy’s advice (the reef chemist of the forum).
He recommends nitrates between 2-10ppm. Higher is better than lower, but above that range is still considered suboptimal, however, there are great tanks that are above that range.
Optimal Parameters for a Coral Reef Aquarium: By Randy Holmes-Farley
[note: edited on 5/29/2022 to update the nitrate and phosphate sections with higher recommended levels.] One of the main roles of an aquarist with a coral reef aquarium is to ensure that the conditions are right for their tank inhabitants. There are many different attributes of the aquarium...
www.reef2reef.com
nkyreef
Well-Known Member
I only started to use NOpox when my nitrates got to be greater than 25 ppm. At that point water changes weren't helping and export was ineffective. If your numbers are less than 20 I wouldn't even consider the NOpox route and would just do a series of water changes to get it down between 10-15 ppm.
gbroadbridge
2500 Club Member
If you have clams, you're going to struggle to keep nitrate above 10.I follow Randy’s advice (the reef chemist of the forum).
He recommends nitrates between 2-10ppm. Higher is better than lower, but above that range is still considered suboptimal, however, there are great tanks that are above that range.
Optimal Parameters for a Coral Reef Aquarium: By Randy Holmes-Farley
[note: edited on 5/29/2022 to update the nitrate and phosphate sections with higher recommended levels.] One of the main roles of an aquarist with a coral reef aquarium is to ensure that the conditions are right for their tank inhabitants. There are many different attributes of the aquarium...
Clams seem to just eat nitrate.
I added a clam recently and have to actively dose nitrate to keep it above 5.
Below 5 and the clam is very unhappy.
Had to mention as I see you're a fellow clam lover.
Miami Reef
10K Club Member
I have a few maxima clams and I still struggle to keep nitrates from climbing up because I feed my fish so much lol.
I do plan to add much much more though! I’m a clam addict.
This picture has 4 clams. I expect my nitrates to drop as my clams get older.
gbroadbridge
2500 Club Member
Are you carbon dosing at all?I have a few maxima clams and I still struggle to keep nitrates from climbing up because I feed my fish so much lol.
I do plan to add much much more though! I’m a clam addict.
This picture has 4 clams. I expect my nitrates to drop as my clams get older.
gbroadbridge
2500 Club Member
I'm feeding about 4 cubes of frozen food a day as well as auto feeding twice a day and struggle to keep nitrates up.I have a few maxima clams and I still struggle to keep nitrates from climbing up because I feed my fish so much lol.
I do plan to add much much more though! I’m a clam addict.
This picture has 4 clams. I expect my nitrates to drop as my clams get older.
I'm adding Aquaforest NP Pro which is basically carbon dosing. Phos is around 0.05.
Mixed reef with quite a few fish.
Never had Nitrates too low before - this is a new problem for me.
I blame the Clam.
Miami Reef
10K Club Member
On and off. I did vinegar dosing and then tried mixing some vodka for nitrates. It worked extremely well. I didn’t see any harmful effects.
I did stop it mainly because I heard some people had bad results with it, but I am thinking of just starting a little vinegar to maintain my current nitrates.
I didn’t lose any acros from carbon dosing, so I think the losses probably came from people going to fast with it.
