Thoughts on the Tropic Marin Carbon Dosing Method? Do you use it?

[exnisstech]

Yeah, the double zeros are definitely not ideal. Aside from that, any change in the look of the tank?

Other than cyano getting worse vs less not really but as stated I didn't dose the BB long once I saw nitrate and phosphate at zero.

I'm not pushing a TM product, but it can make sense to boost bacteria (as food for filter feeders) using organic carbon dosing while also supplementing N and/or P so neither get too low.

EDIT: I suppose I should have said I'm too lazy to dose one thing to lower nutrients only to have to dose to raise them back up
Agreed it makes perfect sense but it adds 3 items to dose to accomplish it along with increased testing. That to me that is just too complicated for a benifit I may or may not see. Like TangerineSpeedo I was under the impression BB would stabilize nitrate and phosphate not cause them to be depleted. I can feed the corals with other simpler methods. I guess if I was huge into tech and had dosers etc maybe but all of my dosing is done by hand so I'll just keep feeding the fish.

I was under the impression that BB stabilized your phosphate where it was at, hence the balance part of the equation.

That's what I thought and since my nitrates and phosphates were 5.3 and 0.10 I figured it would be a good time to introduce BB. Maybe if I had used it longer and started dosing nitrate and phosphate it might have stabilized? I'm just not willing to start dosing more stuff at this time.

 

[Reefer911]

I have been dosing BB for a while and this morning I had double zeros on both parameters. Probably been like that a while as it’s been a bit since I’ve checked them. I want to keep the benefits of carbon dosing so I cut the daily dose in half and I’ll add maybe two more fish this week. Hopefully my gonis will start extending again.

 

[ctopherl]

I'm not pushing a TM product, but it can make sense to boost bacteria (as food for filter feeders) using organic carbon dosing while also supplementing N and/or P so neither get too low.

I have been using TM and have been dealing with nonstop what I think are diatoms (brown, come back quickly once removed, blow off easily like dust). What’s the root cause of this? Are they related? Everything online says excess silicates but my ICP test shows 41ppm with “ideal value=91ppm”. P is right at .02ppm and N is like 15ppm. I am really struggling and getting exhausted stirring the sand daily. Any ideas of root cause?

See attachment for full ICP results.

 

[thedon986]

I have been using TM and have been dealing with nonstop what I think are diatoms (brown, come back quickly once removed, blow off easily like dust). What’s the root cause of this? Are they related? Everything online says excess silicates but my ICP test shows 41ppm with “ideal value=91ppm”. P is right at .02ppm and N is like 15ppm. I am really struggling and getting exhausted stirring the sand daily. Any ideas of root cause?

See attachment for full ICP results.

Sand dwelling dinos can behave and look almost just diatoms. It doesn’t take long for dinos to seize their chance when conditions are right. You need a cheap microscope for a definitive answer on what they are.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have been using TM and have been dealing with nonstop what I think are diatoms (brown, come back quickly once removed, blow off easily like dust). What’s the root cause of this? Are they related? Everything online says excess silicates but my ICP test shows 41ppm with “ideal value=91ppm”. P is right at .02ppm and N is like 15ppm. I am really struggling and getting exhausted stirring the sand daily. Any ideas of root cause?

See attachment for full ICP results.

I don't think organic carbon dosing in any form is likely to boost diatoms in a reef tank, but dinos and cyanobacteria are another story.

 

[Subsea]

I don't think organic carbon dosing in any form is likely to boost diatoms in a reef tank, but dinos and cyanobacteria are another story.

Does that analogy carry over to macro algae? Would dosing vinegar grow macro algae? I like that vinegar grows bacteria as many filter feeders assimilate bacteria.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Does that analogy carry over to macro algae?

That's a more complicated question. I think in general, organics are not going to be effectively taken up by macroalgae, but when I tested vinegar dosing limits in my tank (1 -2 mL per gallon per day), I actually found the pest caulerpa racemosa in the display got worse, not better, despite the water being hazy with bacteria, and a variety of other organisms browning up. I really do not know what the actual cause was, but it was a clear effect when I had thought the caulerpa might receed at the highest doses.

 

[ctopherl]

I don't think organic carbon dosing in any form is likely to boost diatoms in a reef tank, but dinos and cyanobacteria are another story.

It’s entirely possible it’s Dino’s, what would be underlying cause in that case (overdosing, improper P levels, something else)? I don’t think it’s cyano, it’s more brown than red.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It’s entirely possible it’s Dino’s, what would be underlying cause in that case (overdosing, improper P levels, something else)? I don’t think it’s cyano, it’s more brown than red.

On new surfaces (rock or sand, for example), dinos are often associated with excessively low nutrients.

 

[ctopherl]

On new surfaces (rock or sand, for example), dinos are often associated with excessively low nutrients.

Thank you! Nitrate looks fine but I will raise phosphate up and see what happens! ICP showed .02ppm

 

[Subsea]

It’s entirely possible it’s Dino’s, what would be underlying cause in that case (overdosing, improper P levels, something else)? I don’t think it’s cyano, it’s more brown than red.

Cyanobacteria comes in more colors than red/burgundy. I had black cyno that was quite resistant to eradication.

 

[ctopherl]

Cyanobacteria comes in more colors than red/burgundy. I had black cyno that was quite resistant to eradication.

Interesting I’ve only seen the red spider web kind. How did you get rid of the black? I also tried chemiclean and it didn’t seem to have an effect so I figured it was not cyano. I may try again though.

 

[boogiesnap]

personally at this stage I’m in the against carbon dosing group - for the simple reason that it can cause tank disasters quickly, and a total
loss of coral life. With the prevalence of Dino’s in the industry, the poor quality and unreliability of many test kits, a disaster is lurking around the corner with carbon dosing. Most LFS’s and vendors won’t tell you the subtle signs to look for that you’re in trouble (negating the issue of poor quality test kits) because they simply don’t know themselves - they are just hawking kit. At the end of the day is the reefer that takes the punch to the gut and many don’t have the ability to pick it all up and try again. For the vast majority - no to carbon dosing. If you’re very knowledgeable about reefing and know the signs to watch for - then it may work for you - but it’s still risky.

What are the signs? I may have fallen into this trap…it sounded like it made science sense at the time, but in practice it hasn’t panned out

 

[thedon986]

I’ve been dosing Bacto balance for about 2.5 months and I can tell you it will not strip N or P from your system. Mostly it has stabilized my levels with a slow down trend, at 2ml a day for 100g. I know some carbon sources can be very aggressive but this is not.

 

[Dave-T]

What are the signs? I may have fallen into this trap…it sounded like it made science sense at the time, but in practice it hasn’t panned out

I'm not sure if it's possible for carbon dosing to strip nutrients from your system (isn't it self limiting?). But I do think quality test kits (I use Hanna) are accurate enough to make sure that this doesn't happen.

 

[Patx]

each tank react differently.

Here : BB 0.6ml/day in 55gallons.
I need to dose Po4 and No3 are always rising slowly... to a point that i dose vsv in top of that (reduce no3)