Restoring water parameters

[CoralClasher]

About 120 gallons of total water.
Tank is many years old.
No filters or skimmer.
Dosing triton core 7 the other method but my dosing containers are empty and I don’t know how long they have been empty.
Salinity 1.026
ALK 5.1
Cal 391
No3 0.0
Po4 0.93

I finally noticed my dosing containers empty last week. The first thing I did was make 30 gallons of new water and have been changing five gallons twice a day.

My question is should I keep changing water to get the parameters back to normal or use additives? This was the first water change in about a year.

 

[vetteguy53081]

About 120 gallons of total water.
Tank is many years old.
No filters or skimmer.
Dosing triton core 7 the other method but my dosing containers are empty and I don’t know how long they have been empty.
Salinity 1.026
ALK 5.1
Cal 391
No3 0.0
Po4 0.93

I finally noticed my dosing containers empty last week. The first thing I did was make 30 gallons of new water and have been changing five gallons twice a day.

My question is should I keep changing water to get the parameters back to normal or use additives? This was the first water change in about a year.

Yes as po4 high .
You can add slk and CA or two part to increase but monitor closely
Some salts like Red Sea pro, tropic Marin pro and reef crystals have higher ca and alk content

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

About 120 gallons of total water.
Tank is many years old.
No filters or skimmer.
Dosing triton core 7 the other method but my dosing containers are empty and I don’t know how long they have been empty.
Salinity 1.026
ALK 5.1
Cal 391
No3 0.0
Po4 0.93

I finally noticed my dosing containers empty last week. The first thing I did was make 30 gallons of new water and have been changing five gallons twice a day.

My question is should I keep changing water to get the parameters back to normal or use additives? This was the first water change in about a year.

Id boost the alk and calcium with additives, which will be cheaper than water changes.

Not sure why nitrate is low when phosphate is high, but if it is accurate, I’d get more N in the system. Dose nitrate or amino acids, etc.

 

[CoralClasher]

I also have a Cyano problem that needs to be addressed. But I’m going to wait till the parameters are stable before that battle.

 

[CoralClasher]

Got my numbers close to normal and same readings two days in a row.
ALK 7.5
Cal 430
Mag 1360
Phosphate 0.96
No3 2.4

I’m now starting the Cyano battle. Is there any benefits of raising No3 higher than 2.4? Today I did add 1/2 cup GFO.

 

[BanjoBandito]

Got my numbers close to normal and same readings two days in a row.
ALK 7.5
Cal 430
Mag 1360
Phosphate 0.96
No3 2.4

I’m now starting the Cyano battle. Is there any benefits of raising No3 higher than 2.4? Today I did add 1/2 cup GFO.

Cyano can take up organics along with the rest of nutrients, usually some lower flow spots with ditritus built up and high levels (and carbon dosing or bacterial dosing) can do it. I think if you can get your phos down you might see improvement anyway. Since you aren't doing (or weren't) a lot of water changes, you might want to blow off/suck up (giggidy) what you can and try and "vacuum" the tank, so stir the gunk up and wet skim it or WC it out. Maybe change the flow up. I tend not to get real excited by cyano.

 

[CoralClasher]

I’ve started @SunnyX. Method for Cyano witch is Calcium carbonate mixture and filtering it out with DE filters. It seems to be helping but it’s only day three.

 

[BanjoBandito]

I’ve started @SunnyX. Method for Cyano witch is Calcium carbonate mixture and filtering it out with DE filters. It seems to be helping but it’s only day three.

That old school reefer flocculant trick is great. I've done that for awhile now, so it's nice to see actual "techniques" passed down on this website beyond the anecdotal myths.

 

[CoralClasher]

I read phosphate will bind to Calcium carbonate? Will this work for bringing down my levels? I don’t want to strip the water too fast.

 

[BanjoBandito]

I read phosphate will bind to Calcium carbonate? Will this work for bringing down my levels? I don’t want to strip the water too fast.

It's never brought down my phos levels when I use it, but I don't do it daily, maybe once a week. That is a question for @Randy Holmes-Farley !

 

[CoralClasher]

That old school reefer flocculant trick is great. I've done that for awhile now, so it's nice to see actual "techniques" passed down on this website beyond the anecdotal myths.

What’s the longest you let that mixture float around the tank? I mixed in a little Dr. Tim’s One and Only and I’m thinking of letting the stuff really settle in the tank.

 

[BanjoBandito]

What’s the longest you let that mixture float around the tank? I mixed in a little Dr. Tim’s One and Only and I’m thinking of letting the stuff really settle in the tank.

I don't know what you mean by "float around", I don't change any of my pump speeds or skimmer or anything, I just dump it in after I've done a water change and within a few hours it looks crystal clear. I use it to dose aminos. So I'm not actually removing it or letting it settle at all. Again, I'm not treating cyano with it though.

 

[CoralClasher]

I don’t run any filters or skimmer. I only run DE filters 30 minutes after I add the mix and take them out when the water is cleared about an hour. But letting the Dr. Tim’s work a little longer might help?

 

[BanjoBandito]

I don’t run any filters or skimmer. I only run DE filters 30 minutes after I add the mix and take them out when the water is cleared about an hour. But letting the Dr. Tim’s work a little longer might help?

It couldn't hurt, basically you are trying to get it to "settle" and "adhere" to the surfaces, I'm not sure how fast it would take for it to grab on, but I can't imagine it's that long. Is there any flow in the tank? I would say mine takes 1-2 hours to clear up if that helps.

 

[CoralClasher]

Two MP40 running a little less than 1/2 speed and about 400 gallon per hour turnover.

 

[CoralClasher]

I don't know what you mean by "float around", I don't change any of my pump speeds or skimmer or anything, I just dump it in after I've done a water change and within a few hours it looks crystal clear. I use it to dose aminos. So I'm not actually removing it or letting it settle at all. Again, I'm not treating cyano with it though.

Mixing with amino acids do you do this at night and shut off all pumps?

 

[BanjoBandito]

Mixing with amino acids do you do this at night and shut off all pumps?

Nope.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I read phosphate will bind to Calcium carbonate? Will this work for bringing down my levels? I don’t want to strip the water too fast.

Yes. If you remove the calcium carbonate it will export phosphate, but if you leave it in it is still exchangeable with the tank water.

 

[CoralClasher]

Yes. If you remove the calcium carbonate it will export phosphate, but if you leave it in it is still exchangeable with the tank water.

How long does it take for calcium carbonate to bind with phosphate? Would there be any benefit to let this mixture soak in the tank longer the 30 minutes before filtering it out?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

How long does it take for calcium carbonate to bind with phosphate? Would there be any benefit to let this mixture soak in the tank longer the 30 minutes before filtering it out?

How long will depend on what the starting phosphate is (1 ppm phosphate naturally implies a lot more phosphate ions near the particles than 0.01 ppm) and other factors such as particle size and flow, but I don’t know that actual time frame necessary.