No Po X No Joke

[JJLigs]

Well had a phos and Nitrate spike in hubs and kids tank because they had little to no flow and once I added a nice amount of flow it was like snow in the tank for two days As it kicked everything up. Also had a jump in my main tank because well it has always been a pain. Decided to try no po x and holy sheep crap batman two days and nitrates and Phos in the boys tank dropped over 75 points and phos went from 1.75 to about .10. I was having an alk issue in my tank and was dosing for that and the No Po X. Well my duncan who hates dosing days anytime started to look very ticked and I was pretty worried about him. Well Now looking at these numbers I think it is because his food all went bye bye My tank no detectable Pho and NO3 is at .05. Hope the stress Goes away and calms him down soon! I have seen mixed reviews on this stuff but I think I am a believer.

 

[Spare time]

Just make sure to don't get 0's. Nopox works well but you always want to have at least some nitrate and phosphates (I like nitrates no lower than 5 and phosphates no lower than 0.03 but you can counter this with heavy feeding of things like amino acids and what not

 

[Spare time]

PS I have never heard "holy sheep crap batman" XD

 

[JJ Ligs]

PS I have never heard "holy sheep crap batman" XD

Had to be creative since no swearing is allowed lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Sorry, but I am way beyond skeptical.

NOPOX and all sorts of organic carbon dosing schemes will lower nitrate over time and may have a small effect on phosphate.

There is no possible way you dosed NOPOX at a recommended dose and that dosing caused phosphate to drop from 1.75 ppm to 0.1 ppm and nitrate to drop 75 ppm in 2 days.

I think you have some testing error issues instead.

 

[Spare time]

Sorry, but I am way beyond skeptical.

NOPOX and all sorts of organic carbon dosing schemes will lower nitrate over time and may have a small effect on phosphate.

There is no possible way you dosed NOPOX at a recommended dose and that dosing caused phosphate to drop from 1.75 ppm to 0.1 ppm and nitrate to drop 75 ppm in 2 days.

I think you have some testing error issues instead.

Out of curiosity, do you think it is possible if dosing some sort of heterotrophic bacteria at the same time of nopox that it could shoot down rapidly (regardless of side effects)? Not necessarily in reference to OP's case but just in general

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Out of curiosity, do you think it is possible if dosing some sort of heterotrophic bacteria at the same time of nopox that it could shoot down rapidly (regardless of side effects)? Not necessarily in reference to OP's case but just in general

No. Especially not that level of phosphate.

 

[JJ Ligs]

Three tests two brands run by three people... it is not a mistake. The spikes were temporary spikes not consistent numbers held normally in the tanks. The first dose was a double dose followed but an 8% water change and the two doses after were normal dosing amounts

 

[Tastee]

If you are trying to lower Nitrates in a hurry then NoPoX + a denitrifying bacteria source like Bacter-gen MD works effectively in my experience. But be very careful as some corals will not like a sudden drop (2-3 weeks). I also recommend stopping dosing NoPoX quickly after you get the drop you want. This is based on my experience - I didn’t stop dosing NoPoX (at small amounts) and within a couple of weeks killed a Frogspawn.

I do agree that a Nitrate drop in 2 days is much quicker than I believe could be attributed to the NoPoX alone.

 

[Dan_P]

Three tests two brands run by three people... it is not a mistake. The spikes were temporary spikes not consistent numbers held normally in the tanks. The first dose was a double dose followed but an 8% water change and the two doses after were normal dosing amounts

The phosphate spike can be explained by phosphate adsorbed to particulates kicked up and then settling out. Then nitrate spike might have been a nitrite spike from organic matter being buried and then suddenly exposed to oxygen by the increased flow. The bacterial activity could have spiked the ammonia concentration followed by oxidation to NO2 which in turn dropped afterwards.

 

[schooncw]

If you are trying to lower Nitrates in a hurry then NoPoX + a denitrifying bacteria source like Bacter-gen MD works effectively in my experience. But be very careful as some corals will not like a sudden drop (2-3 weeks). I also recommend stopping dosing NoPoX quickly after you get the drop you want. This is based on my experience - I didn’t stop dosing NoPoX (at small amounts) and within a couple of weeks killed a Frogspawn.

I do agree that a Nitrate drop in 2 days is much quicker than I believe could be attributed to the NoPoX alone.

I ordered Bacter gen MD today, to seed 2 liters of SeaChem denitrate in a media reactor for my 125 mixed reef. You recommend continuance of nopox?

 

[Hersheyb]

I'm with randy, there's no way nopox would drop nitrate n po4 that quick... either testing error or I'm going to guess that when u blew all ur detritus up it got filter out, getting rid of the nitrate n po4 factories

 

[blaxsun]

I've used NOPOX and have seen good results, but never anywhere near this significant and in such a short timeframe. As has been suggested, I think there may be some underlying factors influencing the test results (which may very well be accurate).

 

[JJ Ligs]

I am thinking that it is the small amount of water I have in the system compared to others who have used it I can see how it would not work this fast in a larger system

 

[IslandLifeReef]

I am thinking that it is the small amount of water I have in the system compared to others who have used it I can see how it would not work this fast in a larger system

The size of the system wouldn’t explain this. The dose is based on the system size so a double dose on a 25 gallon system would be half the amount of a double dose on a 50 gallon system. Randy is a chemist and knows what he is talking about. I would trust him. Not to mention that NoPoX is food for the bacteria that reduce nitrate and phosphate and not the bacteria it self. So for your example to be true, the bacteria would have to grow at a ate that isn’t possible in two days. There is another explanation for what you observed.