Thinking about carbon dosing...nervous

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Hey gang, seeking advice on starting to carbon dose. My system:
250 gallon mostly sps tank.
100 gallon refugium with bin of chaeto
Total water in system about 350G
Oversized skimmer
Dosing two part
Fish:
4 medium-large tangs
Large foxface
11 anthias
2 clowns
Two wrasses
Flame hawk

The tank is 6 months old. Good coraline and sps growth. Stable parameters. (Except when a dosing head broke).

My phos and nitrates have been steadily climbing. My phos was .07 so i replaced my gfo and dosed a tiny bit of lanthium chloride. They are 0.01 now on milwaukie photometer. My nitrates were 8 last week, tested tonight..around 16.
Other parameters:
Dkh 8.2
Ph 7.9-8.25
Cal 490 (still dropping from doser pump failure)
Mag 1500

Some of my sps are browning, zoas love it lol.

No real changes except feeding more pellets instead of just frozen food.

I started skimming a little wetter and turned up the chaeto light to 16 hours a day.

Thoughts?

-is my tank just still too young?

-Can i dose for a "little bit" to just knock the nitrates down a bit?

- is it effective to dose a minimal amount? As in..not see where the "edge is" then back off?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!
Thank you

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Your tank is still fairly young and probably needs more time to diversify in microorganisms that will help with excess nutrients and uneaten foods. Feeding more pellets will also result in higher nutrients since they are more nutrient-dense than most fish foods.

I'm not too experienced with the specifics of carbon dosing, but maybe someone in the #reefsquad can help some more

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hey gang, seeking advice on starting to carbon dose. My system:
250 gallon mostly sps tank.
100 gallon refugium with bin of chaeto
Total water in system about 350G
Oversized skimmer
Dosing two part
Fish:
4 medium-large tangs
Large foxface
11 anthias
2 clowns
Two wrasses
Flame hawk

The tank is 6 months old. Good coraline and sps growth. Stable parameters. (Except when a dosing head broke).

My phos and nitrates have been steadily climbing. My phos was .07 so i replaced my gfo and dosed a tiny bit of lanthium chloride. They are 0.01 now on milwaukie photometer. My nitrates were 8 last week, tested tonight..around 16.
Other parameters:
Dkh 8.2
Ph 7.9-8.25
Cal 490 (still dropping from doser pump failure)
Mag 1500

Some of my sps are browning, zoas love it lol.

No real changes except feeding more pellets instead of just frozen food.

I started skimming a little wetter and turned up the chaeto light to 16 hours a day.

Thoughts?

-is my tank just still too young?

-Can i dose for a "little bit" to just knock the nitrates down a bit?

- is it effective to dose a minimal amount? As in..not see where the "edge is" then back off?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!
Thank you

I think it's fine to slowly start carbon dosing, but keep it slow for a while to be sure you don't drop nitrate too much.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I agree.....a slow start. But I'd also stop any phosphate removing steps (GFO/lanthium chloride). You need both phosphates and nitrates for carbon dosing to work.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Ok, sounds good to me. Is there any difference netween vodka and vinegar.. or...i saw a recipe for nopox which is a mixture of both.

Thanks for the advice!