Is using NOPOX a long term commitment?

clm65 · May 4, 2019

I‘ve been dosing NOPOX for a few weeks now, as I am attempting to get my nitrates and phosphates under control. Is this something I should plan on continuing in “maintenance mode” for pretty much the rest of my tank’s life? Or once I get levels down where they should be, can I just rely on chaeto, skimmer, etc? The reason I ask is that I read a comment that NOPOX adversely affects normal bacteria in our tanks, but I’m not sure how true that is.

LIreefguy · May 4, 2019

The answer depends on you really.

In my case even though I have about 600 gallons of water in my 4 tank system. I have over 60 fish total. With some really big tangs over 25 anthias so I feed a lot.

If I want to keep sps and acro I really need to dose nopox to keep nitrates down. Now maybe in future I won’t I text my nitrates once a month. If they still are readable I will continue to dose

Dkeller_nc · May 4, 2019

Carbon dosing can be discontinued at will, and that's what NoPOX is - carbon dosing. Many, including me, find that carbon dosing is unnecessary after a period of time, probably from establishing a certain bacterial biome that effectively reduces nitrates to nitrogen gas.

So far as I'm aware, no one has done the sort of complex microbiological work that would be required to establish changes in the bacterial species that make up the population of a reef tank after using NoPOX. I suspect the author of that comment was speculating; perhaps wildly speculating.

clm65 · May 5, 2019

Thanks guys! I don’t mind dosing the NOPOX, but I would prefer not to if the system could handle the nitrates and phosphates on its own.

JVU · May 5, 2019

The answer is no, it is not a long term commitment. There is nothing gained or lost with short term vs long term use as far as I’m aware.

Lots of people use it as-needed when they see their N and P levels bump. But in order for that to work you need to have other export mechanisms that are sufficient or almost sufficient to reach your goals going continuously.

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 5, 2019

I agree that you can use it if and when you need it.

FWIW, there are other benefits to carbon dosing as well, such as it directly providing food to organisms including corals, and the bacteria that grow provide food for even more organisms that filter feed. I used vinegar primarily for this reason, and I believe my tank have better growth of sponges when regularly dosing vinegar.

User1 · May 5, 2019

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I agree that you can use it if and when you need it.

FWIW, there are other benefits to carbon dosing as well, such as it directly providing food to organisms including corals, and the bacteria that grow provide food for even more organisms that filter feed. I used vinegar primarily for this reason, and I believe my tank have better growth of sponges when regularly dosing vinegar.

Interesting note on the sponge comment. I am dosing NoPox mainly to lower phosphate (pukani rock) and noticed my sponges are not happy. In fact I had a rather large one that came on some rocks years ago that is now considerably smaller. I know NoPox isn't straight vinegar but saw your post so it just got me thinking maybe something I have it doesn't like.

To the OP - I've not had any issues when stopping the use of it. The instructions only call out that if you are dosing and miss a day do not double up and give two doses to try and make up for the missed day(s). But as everyone said here already stop once you find the range you are at or reduce dose to maintenance mode if required.

Someone posted a DIY recipe I believe. Maybe Randy or someone so if cost is something to be concerned with (it is somewhat expensive) the DIY is a lot cheaper.

Dkeller_nc · May 5, 2019

If the information here is correct, NoPOX contains a witch's brew of carbon sources, fatty acids, vitamins, and "metal" enzyme co-factors. Depending on what those enzyme co-factors actually are, it wouldn't surprise me if they'll build up in tank water over time and actually inhibit the growth of sensitive organisms (possibly sponges).

LIreefguy · May 5, 2019

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I agree that you can use it if and when you need it.

FWIW, there are other benefits to carbon dosing as well, such as it directly providing food to organisms including corals, and the bacteria that grow provide food for even more organisms that filter feed. I used vinegar primarily for this reason, and I believe my tank have better growth of sponges when regularly dosing vinegar.

This makes sense. 6 months ago I started dosing nopox and I recently started to notice a ton of tiny feather dusters in my overflow. Plus I noticed several tiny mussels on my rocks.

LIreefguy · May 5, 2019

Dkeller_nc said:
If the information here is correct, NoPOX contains a witch's brew of carbon sources, fatty acids, vitamins, and "metal" enzyme co-factors. Depending on what those enzyme co-factors actually are, it wouldn't surprise me if they'll build up in tank water over time and actually inhibit the growth of sensitive organisms (possibly sponges).

Could be. Really no way to tell. Also other toxics could be slowly leaching into your tank from other sources.
It’s the reason why imo no matter Whsts your nutrients levels are at there is nothing that beats a 10% weekly water change

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 5, 2019

saf1 said:
Interesting note on the sponge comment. I am dosing NoPox mainly to lower phosphate (pukani rock) and noticed my sponges are not happy. In fact I had a rather large one that came on some rocks years ago that is now considerably smaller. I know NoPox isn't straight vinegar but saw your post so it just got me thinking maybe something I have it doesn't like.

To the OP - I've not had any issues when stopping the use of it. The instructions only call out that if you are dosing and miss a day do not double up and give two doses to try and make up for the missed day(s). But as everyone said here already stop once you find the range you are at or reduce dose to maintenance mode if required.

Someone posted a DIY recipe I believe. Maybe Randy or someone so if cost is something to be concerned with (it is somewhat expensive) the DIY is a lot cheaper.

I don't see a reason a sponge will respond negatively to NOPOX, and I've not heard of it happening.

How long have you had it? Are you dosing right upstream of it?

clm65 · May 5, 2019

saf1 said:
Someone posted a DIY recipe I believe. Maybe Randy or someone so if cost is something to be concerned with (it is somewhat expensive) the DIY is a lot cheaper.

Once I finish this bottle of NOPOX, I plan to try the DIY recipe, which I believe is 500ml vinegar (5%), 375ml vodka (I have Smirnoff in the cabinet, 80 proof, hope that is good enough), and 125ml RODI water.

One other thing - a couple days ago I started getting white stringy goo floating around the tank and getting stuck on rocks, pumps, etc. From a little research I believe it is some sort of "bacterial floc" caused by the NOPOX. I've been sucking out all that I can get to. Should I reduce my dosage a little bit? Or ride it out and let it self-correct? I'm currently using a BRS doser to add 23 ml/day for system with just over 200 gallons total water volume. And will the stringy goo eventually disintegrate and go away? Or does it all have to be physically removed?

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 5, 2019

It is bacteria, and will go away if you stop dosing organics. it might not go away if you keep dosing the same organics in the NOPOX.

Dose somewhere else in the system, if possible, like upstream of a refugium.

clm65 · May 5, 2019

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
It is bacteria, and will go away if you stop dosing organics. it might not go away if you keep dosing the same organics in the NOPOX.

Dose somewhere else in the system, if possible, like upstream of a refugium.

Thanks, I will move the dosing point as you suggest.

clm65 · May 5, 2019

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
It is bacteria, and will go away if you stop dosing organics. it might not go away if you keep dosing the same organics in the NOPOX.

Dose somewhere else in the system, if possible, like upstream of a refugium.

One other question, are there different organics I should be looking at dosing to reduce nitrates and phosphates?

User1 · May 5, 2019

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I don't see a reason a sponge will respond negatively to NOPOX, and I've not heard of it happening.

How long have you had it? Are you dosing right upstream of it?

I dose in the sump - return pump chamber. 0730 is first dose with last dose at 1030. Total amount applied is 10 mL. I'm testing nitrates today and more than likely will lower the dose since I think I'd like to be in the 3 - 10 ppm range. I'm out of phosphate regents for my hanna checker.

The sponge? Honestly, no idea. 6 - 7 years if I had to guess. It came in on some rock years ago or a coral. Round. Tan / white. About the size of a golf ball. It may also be lighting since it used to be in a darker or shaded area but was moved a few months back so could be a coincidence. I'm not really sure.

My phosphates ran as high as .37 when I first started to dose NoPox then it got pretty low to about .04 (Hanna checker so know there is a +- offset) so stopped. Things started to climb again and GHA of some type started to take foot hold for various reasons. I noticed phosphates high again so restarted a light NoPox dose to bring them back in line. It is about the only change really since that rock has been there with the sponge for about a year.

In any case probably not related and something else is going on. Tank is only 13 months old so probably still maturing although I have to say I'm not a fan of dry Pukani rock.

Edit: Forgot to answer dose location.