No idea what i am doing .... help required

[Pistondog]

Nopox is just carbon dosing. Cut the dose in half and see if the no3 and po4 stabilize above zero, like no3 < 10 and po4 < 0.1, that's sufficient.
Po4 binds to rock and sand so as it is removed from the water, it leaches out of the rocks. Eventually you'll have removed it all.

 

[Woodyman]

You've got some good advice above, but I didn't see this point pointed out yet, if I missed it above I apologize in advance.

As far as your testing and your question of different results, keep in mind that all test kits and methods have their own degree of accuracy. Say you get a reading of 0.25, but the test kit accuracy is 0.1, this means your ACTUAL value is anywhere from 0.15 - 0.35

Even testing back to back you may get one value at 0.3 and one at 0.1 using the numbers above.

So while it may seem that your phosphates are going back up, they probably aren't, and are still within the accuracy of the test kit.

 

[reyber340]

In no means an expert, but I find it odd no one asked what your cleaning schedule is? ie. water changes/nutrient export equipment/etc. Relying solely on cleanup crew and/or chemical to cure a problem that likely took a while to develop may help get back on the right track, but I would say, based on my experience, water changes would likely be your best solution to correct your water parameters.

 

[czoolander]

You've got some good advice above, but I didn't see this point pointed out yet, if I missed it above I apologize in advance.

As far as your testing and your question of different results, keep in mind that all test kits and methods have their own degree of accuracy. Say you get a reading of 0.25, but the test kit accuracy is 0.1, this means your ACTUAL value is anywhere from 0.15 - 0.035

Even testing back to back you may get one value at 0.03 and one at 0.01 using the numbers above.

So while it may seem that your phosphates are going back up, they probably aren't are still within the accuracy of the test kit.

Awwww yes that is a very good point > I think on the Hannah test digital readers they have error accuracy of +/- .04 I could be wrong on this ? I don't have my manual in front of me I am at work currently .

That makes sense now on the creeping phosphate values

 

[czoolander]

Nopox is just carbon dosing. Cut the dose in half and see if the no3 and po4 stabilize above zero, like no3 < 10 and po4 < 0.1, that's sufficient.
Po4 binds to rock and sand so as it is removed from the water, it leaches out of the rocks. Eventually you'll have removed it all.

I was dosing 15 ml daily and just this morning I cut my dose to 10 ml because I had my nitrates under 10 yesterday my plan is to cut the dosing slowly to around 1 or 2ml daily and maintain nitrates around 5ppm if possible .

I was dosing vodka before for a few months but that was very willy nilly if I am being completely honest I was not following any formula or schedule I would just add 5 ml vodka once in awhile if I felt like it. Not the best technique I know. And possibly one of the reasons I have GHA right now

 

[czoolander]

Sorry czoolander, they do not ship to Canada, too much hassle with customs.

Dam Canada and your customs haha . I figured as much but worth a try. My lfs has some inverts for my CUC ill just have to pay more unfortuneatley probably over $100 to get 10-20 snails

 

[Woodyman]

Awwww yes that is a very good point > I think on the Hannah test digital readers they have error accuracy of +/- .04 I could be wrong on this ? I don't have my manual in front of me I am at work currently .

That makes sense now on the creeping phosphate values

Hard to keep up, I don't know which of the phosphate meters you have since there are multiple, if you find they are trending up while getting outside that degree of accuracy then your phosphates may be increasing. For the moment I wouldn't worry!

 

[czoolander]

Hard to keep up, I don't know which of the phosphate meters you have since there are multiple, if you find they are trending up while getting outside that degree of accuracy then your phosphates may be increasing. For the moment I wouldn't worry!

I have the Hannah LR phosphate digital reader

 

[Woodyman]

I have the Hannah LR phosphate digital reader

 

[Woodyman]

Your values are within range!

If we assume that 0.03 was the low range value, you could see anywhere from that 0.03 - 0.11

 

[czoolander]

Your values are within range!

If we assume that 0.03 was the low range value, you could see anywhere from that 0.03 - 0.11

Excellent ! So I will slowly cut back on my NOPOX dosing and try to maintain around 0.03 to 0.08 range for phosphates

Thanks for all the help and advice !

 

[czoolander]

So an update to my situation I have been dosing Redsea Nopox daily and now my GHA has been receeding and drastically reduced at this rate it should be gone in a week or so.

Tested my Phosphate at .08 and nitrates at 8.9 last night.

Added my first dose of vibrant yesterday as well so hoping this helps expedite the process