refugium, nitrate reactor, carbon dosing or boi pellets

[Aaronreef]

Hi all.

I'm struggling with nitrate levels of over 100ppm, although my tank looks OK I get little to no growth.

I was debating a nitrate reactor but was looking for opinions on the different methods to reduce nitrate. I don't have problems with phosphate as I use LC and am happy with that.

I was thinking about a refugium for a more natural approach
But to do that I'd have to adapt my sump causing some slight concerns with cutting bits out to make room.
I am tempted to do this but won't have the time until Christmas break.

I'd ideally like to get nitrate down In the meantime with another method
I have a spare dosing head so carbon dosing would be easier and could implement that straightaway

I have plenty of LR and siporax

What are your forts and ways of doing things ?

 

[hhaase]

Biopellets can be very effective at reducing nitrates, too effective to be honest, but you also need to make sure you've got enough of a skimmer to export the bacterial waste created by the pellets. But it's also not a fast system to get started, can take quite some time for the bacterial population to stabilize within the pellets and it's not something that's easily controllable. I had a large volume of pellets in my recent tank during the first six months, but I ended up completely starving the corals. A zero/zero system with no measurable phosphates and nitrates creates its own problems.

 

[ReefGeezer]

1. Big water changes to get levels down some; then
2 If you have a skimmer, carbon dosing to lower & maintain N without taking too much P.

You might have to cut back on the LC a little. It's a balancing act.

 

[Aaronreef]

I have a nyos 220 skimmer the tank is about 200 gallon

If the pellets are going to take some time to establish maybe I'll pass on that

Big water changes is a little difficult as I only have a 35 gallon container

Would carbon dosing do anything to my nitrate levels as they are at 100ppm?

Would using a higher ratio of vodka to vinegar or vice versa mix work better

 

[ReefGeezer]

You really need to work up to a max dosage when carbon dosing regardless of the constituents used. I use/have used straight vinegar, straight vodka, and a 9:1 mixture. I suppose it is possible that it could reduce N from 100 ppm. I don't know how long it would take, the final dosage per day that would be required, or if you could use the required amount without causing a bacterial bloom. Some people with big tanks and heavy bioloads use sulfur denitrators.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Enough carbon dosing will lower the levels, and it would be my preference since it has other benefits (such as food for filter feeders).

Water changes obviously work for nitrate, but are tedious and expensive and only a temporary solution.

 

[Aaronreef]

Did you find a special recipe worked best ?

I did look at nitrate reactors the sulphur denitrator but would don't like the cons that can come with them ph and alk issues.
I was looking at the deltec NFP reactor although I can't find much information about them so am unsure if they would also come with the pH an alk issues

If I over did it on carbon dosing and caused a bloom how hard is it to get rid of it ?

 

[Aaronreef]

Also with carbon dosing how hard does it hit the phosphate? I have my phos at about 0.015 0.03 I can reduce my lanthanum to bring that up and let the carbon take care of some of it obviously its a juggling game

 

[ReefGeezer]

Did you find a special recipe worked best ?...
If I over did it on carbon dosing and caused a bloom how hard is it to get rid of it ?

Randy has a great article on carbon dosing and is, in my opinion, the authority here. In a big tank, Vodka is good because it takes less to deliver the same carbon dose. Here's Randy's Article: http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium

 

[Aaronreef]

Thanks, sounds like just vinegar is the best approach.

From what I understood from it
Start with 30ml per day dosing In daylight hours split into as many small doses as possible increasing by the same amount weekly

I'll give this a try as it's the easiest option for me at the Moment until I can hack away at my sump to install a refugium

 

[Aaronreef]

So I've dosed about 200ml since the 6th of this month. Not had anything change so far

 

[Aaronreef]

Picked up a NFP reactor.
Has been running a few days to get a bacteria population growing have a redox reading of -200 and decreasing steadily
Have been dosing 8ml a day of vodka
Just checked nitrate level from the effluent and is still the same as the tank will give it a couple more days to mature