Share your experience with Red Sea NOPOX

[saltyhog]

I much prefer just plain vinegar alone. I had problems with bacterial blooms and cyano that I did not have with just vinegar. Either will work but as noted above it's primarily a NO3 reducer with only a small effect on PO4. Do be careful and monitor your levels closely. You do not want to bottom out either NO3 or PO4. Believe me that can be a night mare.

 

[Katrina71]

I had a bacterial bloom in a closed system. I have had plenty of uglies since, all go away given time. I prefer to let things balance naturally.

 

[DraggingTail]

I much prefer just plain vinegar alone. I had problems with bacterial blooms and cyano that I did not have with just vinegar. Either will work but as noted above it's primarily a NO3 reducer with only a small effect on PO4. Do be careful and monitor your levels closely. You do not want to bottom out either NO3 or PO4. Believe me that can be a night mare.

How much vinegar ?

 

[saltyhog]

How much vinegar ?

This table can be a good starting point. I would ignore all columns except the 25 gallon column and scale from that to what size tank you have. You can also escalate the dose a good deal faster than the chart. I always used a dosing pump when I used it.

 

[DraggingTail]

This table can be a good starting point. I would ignore all columns except the 25 gallon column and scale from that to what size tank you have. You can also escalate the dose a good deal faster than the chart. I always used a dosing pump when I used it.

Is that ML?

 

[saltyhog]

Is that ML?

Yes sir.

 

[Katrina71]

Jmo...if you kill one ugly before it is naturally starved out, another ugly will just take it's place. I know most don't share my view. I only know what I have seen in our tanks.

 

[DraggingTail]

Jmo...if you kill one ugly before it is naturally starved out, another ugly will just take it's place. I know most don't share my view. I only know what I have seen in our tanks.

My issue here is for some reason (maybe I'm a horrible reefer), I cannot get my nitrates down.

I have always done a weekly 10% water change. They stay around 30-40.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

I have used NoPoX, and it does a good job reducing or eliminating NO3. I also found it lowered PO4. The problem is, it can work to well. I have weened my tank off of it and it seems to be much more stable.

IMO, your problem is caused by the detritus build up. Nuisance algae does feed off of NO3 and PO4, but it also feeds off of other organics in the tank. Remember, the readings that you get with your test kit are only the items that have made it into the water column. The algae may be consuming other organics in the detritus before it can be converted and make it into the water as NO3 and PO4.

I would work on cleaning up your rocks and sand, and making it free of any detritus. Once that is done, manually remove as much of the algae as you can. Increase your CUC, and try to keep the algae managed. You will always have algae in your tank, you just don't need to see it.

I'll add that I would make a weekly regiment out of blasting any detritus off of your rocks in the future. I do it during my water changes and add a filter sock for a few hours afterwards to catch anything floating in the water.

You should check out threads by @brandon429, he has an interesting method that would work for your situation.

 

[DraggingTail]

I have used NoPoX, and it does a good job reducing or eliminating NO3. I also found it lowered PO4. The problem is, it can work to well. I have weened my tank off of it and it seems to be much more stable.

IMO, your problem is caused by the detritus build up. Nuisance algae does feed off of NO3 and PO4, but it also feeds off of other organics in the tank. Remember, the readings that you get with your test kit are only the items that have made it into the water column. The algae may be consuming other organics in the detritus before it can be converted and make it into the water as NO3 and PO4.

I would work on cleaning up your rocks and sand, and making it free of any detritus. Once that is done, manually remove as much of the algae as you can. Increase your CUC, and try to keep the algae managed. You will always have algae in your tank, you just don't need to see it.

I'll add that I would make a weekly regiment out of blasting any detritus off of your rocks in the future. I do it during my water changes and add a filter sock for a few hours afterwards to catch anything floating in the water.

You should check out threads by @brandon429, he has an interesting method that would work for your situation.

Thanks

 

[BedrockIOMC]

I used it for a while but now i use Vibrant. If you use it I would suggest to start slowly. Bring everything down slowly if their high. And then hole them there all the time. Unless its really high it wont bother your fish but it does seem to shock your corals if you do it fast. I lost one of mine. Go slow, go slow!!!! It does work though.

 

[brandon429]

the way I like to see tank restoration work is that if we can reach in the sand and grab sand and drop it, and a massive cloud results, or if we can reach in and grab a sample rock and swish it about mid-tank and a cloud comes off, that's signifies cleaning time before medicating or offsetting anything.

the items that cause N and P imbalance are in the cloud

if you use a med successfully to kill a target or cause an impact without removing detritus, the next succession of reef invaders capitalizes. Either by flow design, or by occasional evacuation cleaning, or by being bare bottom, either way we've got to rid the detritus occasionally.

everything we've ever read in reefing said to store it up for like 20 years, then the problems came.

 

[Reefs and Geeks]

I also use only vinegar as my preferred carbon dosing supplement. I have also used vodka, and the DIY NOPOX. I feel vinegar has the least effect of cyano or other uglies if slightly overdosed. I currently dose 35ml'day on a 150 gallon tank, but how much each tank would need can vary substantially depending on it's filtration and feeding habits. Keep in mind the increase in bacteria does consume oxygen from the water, so a skimmer or air stone is a must! Skimmate is for sure darker and more concentrated when dosing any carbon source. Supposedly that's the free bacteria being removed, therefor exporting the nitrate with it. Seems believable to me. Whatever it is, it is for sure making the skimmer remove more than it does without dosing.

 

[User1]

the way I like to see tank restoration work is that if we can reach in the sand and grab sand and drop it, and a massive cloud results, or if we can reach in and grab a sample rock and swish it about mid-tank and a cloud comes off, that's signifies cleaning time before medicating or offsetting anything.

the items that cause N and P imbalance are in the cloud

if you use a med successfully to kill a target or cause an impact without removing detritus, the next succession of reef invaders capitalizes. Either by flow design, or by occasional evacuation cleaning, or by being bare bottom, either way we've got to rid the detritus occasionally.

everything we've ever read in reefing said to store it up for like 20 years, then the problems came.

If I grab a handful of substrate and drop it mine looks like a low yield nuke went off...cloud and dust storm.

 

[brandon429]

so does most any tank in the world using dsb...its ok for that condition to be in some tanks, if they're not under invasion etc/if the keeper isn't moving soon, no power outages are common

but in the end the majority of captive reefs are simply stressed at one time and that presence of cloud is the fuel for X problem, and in other tanks when a powerhead falls over accidentally it kills the whole tank by pointing down into the stratified bed...

I hate to say detritus is all bad, bc we were all told/read/instructed by sages/to store it up and that dsb w regulate itself

that's for the minority, the majority need big help and planning to rid the tank of waste
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445
DraggingTail there is a collection of bed resets, tank cleanings, and we don't need to ID an invader nor measure tank params to get the after pics.

 

[DraggingTail]

I used it for a while but now i use Vibrant. If you use it I would suggest to start slowly. Bring everything down slowly if their high. And then hole them there all the time. Unless its really high it wont bother your fish but it does seem to shock your corals if you do it fast. I lost one of mine. Go slow, go slow!!!! It does work though.

My coral seem to like the high nutrients

 

[DraggingTail]

the way I like to see tank restoration work is that if we can reach in the sand and grab sand and drop it, and a massive cloud results, or if we can reach in and grab a sample rock and swish it about mid-tank and a cloud comes off, that's signifies cleaning time before medicating or offsetting anything.

the items that cause N and P imbalance are in the cloud

if you use a med successfully to kill a target or cause an impact without removing detritus, the next succession of reef invaders capitalizes. Either by flow design, or by occasional evacuation cleaning, or by being bare bottom, either way we've got to rid the detritus occasionally.

everything we've ever read in reefing said to store it up for like 20 years, then the problems came.

I have a deep sandbed. I only vacuum the surface.

Last time I checked on my couch I stirred up the sand bed and ended up with red slime bloom

 

[DraggingTail]

so does most any tank in the world using dsb...its ok for that condition to be in some tanks, if they're not under invasion etc/if the keeper isn't moving soon, no power outages are common

but in the end the majority of captive reefs are simply stressed at one time and that presence of cloud is the fuel for X problem, and in other tanks when a powerhead falls over accidentally it kills the whole tank by pointing down into the stratified bed...

I hate to say detritus is all bad, bc we were all told/read/instructed by sages/to store it up and that dsb w regulate itself

that's for the minority, the majority need big help and planning to rid the tank of waste
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445
DraggingTail there is a collection of bed resets, tank cleanings, and we don't need to ID an invader nor measure tank params to get the after pics.

Don't have the bandwidth or resources to clean my tank like that.

 

[User1]

so does most any tank in the world using dsb...its ok for that condition to be in some tanks, if they're not under invasion etc/if the keeper isn't moving soon, no power outages are common

but in the end the majority of captive reefs are simply stressed at one time and that presence of cloud is the fuel for X problem, and in other tanks when a powerhead falls over accidentally it kills the whole tank by pointing down into the stratified bed...

I hate to say detritus is all bad, bc we were all told/read/instructed by sages/to store it up and that dsb w regulate itself

that's for the minority, the majority need big help and planning to rid the tank of waste
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/t...ead-aka-one-against-many.230281/#post-2681445
DraggingTail there is a collection of bed resets, tank cleanings, and we don't need to ID an invader nor measure tank params to get the after pics.

Well, North Korea isn't invading my tank but I do have more than my share of GHA on my DSB and some rocks It doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon such as it is but the clean up crew is working on the rocks.

 

[Nikita1981]

I am on a steady dose of 5 ml now to keep my nitrates around 5 in my reefer 250. This dosing amount I have for over a year. I will upgrade to a Reefer 350 this summer and not sure how to continue then. Quit dosing, dose less, dose the same? What should I do?