Nano tank and carbon dosing questions

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Is running a skimmer necessary for vinegar dosing? I have a 10g IM Fusion Nano with no skimmer. Just wondering if I could dose without one. I do run GAC and some GFO. Both are put in a small media bag.

My phosphate is currently .3PPM. No, that isnt a typo. Verified with a Hanna checker. My freshly mixed IO measures at .03PPM which is about within the margin of error for the device. So I began using GFO a couple of days ago to begin bringing it down. Ill be checking Nitrates shortly to determine if that is also elevated before I decide to begin doing any dosing.

I do have Phosguard on order. I may use that to reduce the phosohate down to acceptable levels and then change back to GFO to maintain. I realize using GFO in a media bag isnt optimal, but plumbing in a reactor for a 10g tank seems silly to me.

 

[Surfandturf]

Won't GFO strip a system that small?

 

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Depends on how much one uses. If you read up in the nano forums around the internet, many are using GFO in their nano tanks. This forum does tend to deal with larger tanks...

I used half a teaspoon for about 8g net water volume so I dont believe that will cause a problem based on what I have read. I also dont know if it will be enough to drop phosphates down to an acceptable level either.

 

[Surfandturf]

Depends on how much one uses. If you read up in the nano forums around the internet, many are using GFO in their nano tanks. This forum does tend to deal with larger tanks...

I used half a teaspoon for about 8g net water volume so I dont believe that will cause a problem based on what I have read. I also dont know if it will be enough to drop phosphates down to an acceptable level either.

Interesting.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

I would make sure my RO water is made correctly, you shouldn't have any readable phosphates in new saltwater mix right?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

A skimmer isn't "necessary' for carbon dosing, but if you see too much bacteria, it might not be the best method. But there's nothing wrong with trying and stopping if it isn't useful.

 

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Great. Thanks Randy.

 

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I would make sure my RO water is made correctly, you shouldn't have any readable phosphates in new saltwater mix right?

The problem is that ~.02ppm is within the level of error for that Hanna checker. So there is no real way to tell if its really lower than that (or accurate to that reading) with that device.

 

[Surfandturf]

The problem is that ~.02ppm is within the level of error for that Hanna checker. So there is no real way to tell if its really lower than that (or accurate to that reading) with that device.

So if you have a +/- .02 and you are reading 0, either way you should be at acceptable levels. Correct?

 

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So if you have a +/- .02 and you are reading 0, either way you should be at acceptable levels. Correct?

That is the way I interpret it. Perhaps @Randy Holmes-Farley could shed some light on it. I would say a reading of up to ~.04 PPM could still be fine. Would give a potential max of .06 or a potential min of .02.

 

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Hello @Randy Holmes-Farley,

Wanted to give an update on the Phosphate and say it has been reduced in half from .3 PPM to .16 PPM in about 5 days worth of running GFO in a media bag. This was with only running 1/2 tsp of GFO as well. It's amazing how potent this stuff is. Once I get it down to acceptable levels, I'll probably reduce the GFO amount to 1/4 tsp and continually run it for maintenance. Since my tank only has about 8g of net water in it, I'm hoping that running a 1/4 tsp will be just enough for maintenance.

I tested my nitrates and they are above 20PPM but below 50PPM according to my Red Sea nitrate test kit. I plan on beginning to vinegar dose when all the parts come in. I ended up ordering a skimmer as I figure it would be best to have one. I'll probably start with a vinegar dose of 1ml/day and run that for a week and see what happens with the Nitrate level at the end of the week. I know there is a handy dandy chart located here that shows suggested vinegar dosage, but then I also see people saying that that chart is way too slow to develop the appropriate dose. Does starting with 1ml/day for a week sound like an appropriate plan for 8g of water?