Potassium nitrate (Spectracide stump remover) dosing steps

gettaReef · Nov 28, 2016

morpheas said:
Personally i like settling in the sump because those big particles have to settle somewhere and I'd rather them settle there.

Basically my contraption is similar to what @mcarrol is describing. The plastic pvc fitting fits exactly on my vacuums hose. The hole on the top is the opening for my thumb. I have found that if i leave it completely open it has good suction and fairly low flow rate allows for good cleaning with minimal water removal.

Very nice! Thank you for sharing. I think I'll give both ideas a try and see what works best for me. Do you know off the top of your head by chance the size/diameter of the tee fitting you used (I'm assuming that your shop vac and mine are the same size) and the size of the tubing you used? Again thanks for the help!

morpheas · Nov 28, 2016

You're welcome! I know the vinyl tubing is 1/2" which i had laying around. The adaptor i can't remember if it's 1" or 1 1/2"... I'll verify when i get home and let you know.

morpheas · Nov 28, 2016

I just confirmed it's a 1". Btw, it's a 90 angle with slip 1" on one side that goes in the shopvac and a 1" npt on the other. On top of the angle i drilled a hole big enough to reign in my vacuum.

gettaReef · Nov 29, 2016

Oh yeah, I see that now looking more closely, I missed that at first glance. Thanks for the info and clarification, can't wait to quickly build this and try it out (I think I even have all those parts already!). Very creative and clever

coralcruze · Dec 5, 2016

Hello all. My head is spinning as Randy suggested I read this. Thank you Randy...

So here is the deal with my tank. I have a packed 95 gallon custom with predomenantly SPS and LPS some softies. My coloration is good but always trying to tweak to "better" lol.

I do carbon dose with vodka and just tested PO4 and NO3 and as usual levels the same...

No3 = .25 as measured with red sea pro
Po4 = .06 as measured with Hanna Phosphate kit not phosphorus.

I think important to note here: i have seen No3 go as high as 1.0 and Po4 go to 1.4 by increasing fish load and/or food without any effect on corals.

So naturally after reading this thread I am thinking to start some sort of dose to get No3 levels back up to 2-3. and maintain there.

BTW i don't use filter socks at all and I rarely use GAC or GFO. i do have a reactor but its off and stays off for the most part.

Vodka is powerful.
Don't reef and drive... LOL
any suggestions?

coralcruze · Dec 5, 2016

here is my tank as featured on Kessils FB page. hope this is ok to post:

ihavecrabs · Dec 5, 2016

@twilliard @Randy Holmes-Farley what no3 value should I be shooting for if I'd like to keep my other readings as-is (ie I don't want to raise my alk to 9+)

Current Params:
Alkalinity - 8-8.4 dkh
Calcium - 490
Magnesium - 1470
Nitrate - 0.5ppm
Phosphate 0.02 ppm

bif24701 · Dec 6, 2016

I just did my first dose, 100ml, my NO3 is about 3-4ppm now, and I'll test tomorrow after 24hours to see where it is but I suspect zero.

twilliard · Dec 6, 2016

It will saturate so keep a close eye on the level.
5ppm here

tcarter1936 · Dec 6, 2016

mcarroll said:
Use 3/4" tubing AND the vac hose together.

Use your hand as the "clutch" that seals the vac and tubing (creating suction) only as needed, drawing water and stopping as needed, on a dime. Never have to turn off the vac until your hands are dry.

(Not my trick.)

Good idea I never even considered not taping my small hose to the big ,genius and simple

Flippers4pups · Dec 6, 2016

Okay, I've been following this for a while. Is it still safe to use the spectracide stump killer from, say lowes? My nitrates at 0 since I set up my tank a little over two years now and my SPS has been pale but I have great growth.

twilliard · Dec 6, 2016

Flippers4pups said:
Okay, I've been following this for a while. Is it still safe to use the spectracide stump killer from, say lowes? My nitrates at 0 since I set up my tank a little over two years now and my SPS has been pale but I have great growth.

That is what I use

Flippers4pups · Dec 6, 2016

Still mix it the same way? Total water volume at 200gals here.

bif24701 · Dec 6, 2016

Flippers4pups said:
Okay, I've been following this for a while. Is it still safe to use the spectracide stump killer from, say lowes? My nitrates at 0 since I set up my tank a little over two years now and my SPS has been pale but I have great growth.

That's exactly why I'm using it. If my Nitrates are <1ppm does that mean I should increase my daily dose?

bif24701 · Dec 6, 2016

twilliard said:
It will saturate so keep a close eye on the level.
5ppm here

Unsure of what exactly you mean? Could you explain?

coralcruze · Dec 6, 2016

@twillard... perhaps you can offer some advice on the practicality of its use in my tank? I would like to be able to raise it just a bit. please advise! thank you.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 7, 2016

ihavecrabs said:
@twilliard @Randy Holmes-Farley what no3 value should I be shooting for if I'd like to keep my other readings as-is (ie I don't want to raise my alk to 9+)

Current Params:
Alkalinity - 8-8.4 dkh
Calcium - 490
Magnesium - 1470
Nitrate - 0.5ppm
Phosphate 0.02 ppm

A few ppm is typically enough to prevent pale corals. If they are not pale now, you may not need any.

ihavecrabs · Dec 7, 2016

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
A few ppm is typically enough to prevent pale corals. If they are not pale now, you may not need any.

Originally what had happened was I had scraped off three walls of my 4'x2'x2' tank of coralline algae which kicked off a Dino or stringy brown snot algae bloom.

I tried a variety of things from active carbon filtering and also added Vibrant. Those in addition to a 3 day blackout knocked out whatever I had.

Now a few of my rainbow acros (a PC Rainbow and a no namer) as well as a smooth skin green acro with blue tips have lost their color. PC Rainbow is pale, other has darkened. Both lost their brilliant color.

I assumed this was from the stress of the blackout but tested anyway noting that my nitrates were the only item of major concern.

Also I do have an acro with has shown signs of STN from the bottom up on a few of the shaded branches. Doesn't seem to be progressing.

Should I proceed with increasing nitrates? PAR is between 250-450 from sandbed to top of rockwork.

Thanks again for the guidance Randy!