Potassium nitrate (Spectracide stump remover) dosing steps

[DarkSky]

Any update here?

Sure. Coral is doing fine, one of the ones I thought was improving out of the two pale frags lost all of its tissue over night. The other seems to still be holding on. The other frags seem to be coloring up.

The chrysophytes however are back in a bad way and have darkened. I'm dosing ~5ml a day of the mixture to keep a detectable level in my tank and I think they're eating it all. Alk usage has almost tripled over what I started with.

 

[xilez]

I have started dosing in my tank but had a few questions... I am running off the assumptions of 13g total water volume.

My Salifert nitrate kit expired in January, could this cause false readings this soon? API doesn't seem to change, but its also possible I am doing too little.

My mixture is 2 TEAspoons of Stump Remove into 500ML Rodi. I have been dosing about 1ML just to see if I get a reading..the salifert test feels very inconsistent (again, cant tell if because its expired or the kit is just tricky). According to the tables, 1 ML should raise my nitrate .3ppm..... I just dosed 2ML to see if I get a reading on API.

 

[morpheas]

I run the numbers and it appears you're pretty close to your calculation (I come up with 0.25 ppm per cc). Because colors in those kits are a little washed out and because you can't cause damage I would dose 4-6 cc to spike it up to 1ppm and measure 20 mins or so later (not too long it might get used up). As long as I don't see anything I'd keep increasing till 10 cc. I bet you'll see it sooner though. Then regroup and assess the next step. That's what I would do in your shoes

PS: I'm much more satisfied with my red Sea kit than salifert...

 

[Bronc]

I run the numbers and it appears you're pretty close to your calculation (I come up with 0.25 ppm per cc). Because colors in those kits are a little washed out and because you can't cause damage I would dose 4-6 cc to spike it up to 1ppm and measure 20 mins or so later (not too long it might get used up). As long as I don't see anything I'd keep increasing till 10 cc. I bet you'll see it sooner though. Then regroup and assess the next step. That's what I would do in your shoes

PS: I'm much more satisfied with my red Sea kit than salifert...

Agreed, and agreed on the Red Sea kit.

 

[Rick.45cal]

If you are reading really low range with the salifert kit you have to view the sample through the side.

 

[Berlibee]

I want to start dosing today the Spectracide. Do I understand right please. If I dose 20ml in my 60g total system water of the solution ( 10g mixed with 500 ml of water.) This will bump my no3 to 1.08 ppm ?

 

[morpheas]

Yes sir, that is correct. Let us know your experience with it!

 

[Berlibee]

Thank you. Will do. I run Zeovit and just can't get my NO3 above zero for a few months. I hope it will help to get back to the right levels.
And is it better to dose all at once or 10, 10, 10 with 2 hours intervals ?

 

[Berlibee]

The biopellets are a source for denitrifying bacteria. Defeating the purpose of adding No3. When you have a bacterial source as such you are feeding the bacteria when dosing No3 creating bacterial reproduction.

Is it the same with Zeovit system ? I was about to start dosing the NO3 ... not sure now.

 

[morpheas]

Zeovit as I understand it is stripping your system out of everything (with the bacteria you're adding and the zeolites) and then add some nutrients with the supplements they provide. Someone with a better Zeovit understanding though would be better to chime in.

 

[Berlibee]

This is correct. So normally NO3 would be just as an additional source of food. For bacterias as well sure ...

 

[Berlibee]

That was easy to use and very accurate by following the chart. Thank you. Bumped to 4 ppm.

 

[morpheas]

That's great to hear! Thank you for your feedback.

 

[mcarroll]

The chrysophytes however are back in a bad way and have darkened. I'm dosing ~5ml a day of the mixture to keep a detectable level in my tank and I think they're eating it all. Alk usage has almost tripled over what I started with.

Have you been keeping up with manual removal since bumping up nitrates?

Are you also keeping up detectable phosphates?

FYI, they are not typical algae where they show up when nutrients are off the charts. #Chrysophytes are low-nutrient lovers! Science-types even monitor chrysophytes in oligotrophic lakes to gauge water quality. When the chrysophytes suffer they know something is wrong.

I think in our case it's similar, only they end up co-habitating with cyano, dino's etc, which is where the problems kick in: Cyano and dino's that grow in oligotrphic conditions can become toxic. (Specifically, low-phosphate environments....as in near-zero.)

 

[DarkSky]

Have you been keeping up with manual removal since bumping up nitrates?

Are you also keeping up detectable phosphates?

FYI, they are not typical algae where they show up when nutrients are off the charts. #Chrysophytes are low-nutrient lovers! Science-types even monitor chrysophytes in oligotrophic lakes to gauge water quality. When the chrysophytes suffer they know something is wrong.

I think in our case it's similar, only they end up co-habitating with cyano, dino's etc, which is where the problems kick in: Cyano and dino's that grow in oligotrphic conditions can become toxic. (Specifically, low-phosphate environments....as in near-zero.)

Yep, doing manual removal every couple of days. I'm keeping detectable levels of both phosphate and nitrates, corals are looking very happy. I had an accident and my ATO dumped it's entire volume into the tank, causing a minor flood and bringing salinity down to 1.020, had some SPS die off near the base but it seems to be recovering now.

I'm now dosing 5ml weekly, just to keep the test kit light pink. I've increased my feeding a bit to compensate.

I'm trying Vibrant Aquarium Cleaner right now to see if that'll help starve out this stuff but it doesn't seem to be making a dent.

I've been posting a almost daily video update showing off the tank - I'm not physically removing it in certain spots to see if it dies off on its own.

 

[mcarroll]

I'm trying Vibrant Aquarium Cleaner right now to see if that'll help starve out this stuff but it doesn't seem to be making a dent.

I don't think it can be starved in a reef tank. I think it has to be eaten (or otherwise removed) and crowded out.

If you can be careful with keeping PO4 non-zero, consider raising nitrates even a bit higher for a few weeks.

I would stop all other treatments and try to let the tank start getting back to normal.

BTW, I forgot to mention that darkening was the first stage of the chrysophytes giving way....to cyano in my case. And I think some dino's too.

So be prepared....it's a journey, not a destination. It was weeks before I got through it. Happy to have coraline, cyano and even some green algae.

 

[mcarroll]

My alkalinity and calcium consumption has nearly doubled - I was dosing approximately 55ml a day of alk and I'm up to 100ml, still need to increase my dose as my alk check today dialed in at 6.7dKh!!!

Also forgot to comment here. This should be an indication that your corals' are exploding with growth.

Mine did. I've got a Pink Pocilliopora that took off like crazy during KNO3 dosing. All of mu corals had a spurt, but he was the most obvious. Even the Hydnophora that was nearly blanketed in 'phytes is back to growing quickly.

 

[DarkSky]

I don't think it can be starved in a reef tank. I think it has to be eaten (or otherwise removed) and crowded out.

If you can be careful with keeping PO4 non-zero, consider raising nitrates even a bit higher for a few weeks.

I would stop all other treatments and try to let the tank start getting back to normal.

BTW, I forgot to mention that darkening was the first stage of the chrysophytes giving way....to cyano in my case. And I think some dino's too.

So be prepared....it's a journey, not a destination. It was weeks before I got through it. Happy to have coraline, cyano and even some green algae.

I've been running the tank "normal" for a few months now, in an attempt to just wait it out... no luck there. I'm just recently trying different treatments such as Dr. Tim's and Vibrant. I don't believe either will have an affect, but I'm going to give Vibrant the full two weeks before I stop it.

I'd gladly trade this stuff for cyano or dinos. When it first showed up, I had a patch of dinos on one rock that disappeared in a few days, this chryso mess outcompeted dinos completely. I'm taking a sample to be identified under microscope tomorrow to verify that it is a bacteria.

One thing I've noticed is that no chrysophytes are growing in shaded areas. Chrysophytes have no ability to photosynthesize, so I wonder why that is the case?

 

[mcarroll]

Chrysophytes are kinda of a yellow green color on their own (from what I've seen), but in our tanks I think they live in community with cyano, diatoms, dino's, etc, so they tend to look "dirty" or even just like one of the other community members. I think this sorta gives them photosynthesis by association.

All of these characters are unusual and out of place by having a bloom in a reef setting.

It's definitely a long-term situation....doesn't seem subject to quick fixes.

I'd gladly trade this stuff for cyano or dinos.

Careful – you will get funny looks when you say that in public with a smile.

 

[Paullawr]

Chrysophytes are kinda of a yellow green color on their own (from what I've seen), but in our tanks I think they live in community with cyano, diatoms, dino's, etc, so they tend to look "dirty" or even just like one of the other community members. I think this sorta gives them photosynthesis by association.

All of these characters are unusual and out of place by having a bloom in a reef setting.

It's definitely a long-term situation....doesn't seem subject to quick fixes.



Careful – you will get funny looks when you say that in public with a smile.

Hmmm you haven't had Dino's then....Lucky u.