ReefGeezer
Valuable Member
Watch for the floss to clog and the powerheads to stop pumping water.
vodka dosing without skimmer?
- Thread starter Jcon82
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You could dose bacteria in the mean time. Maybe try out pns probio, waste away, microbacter clean, fritz's version, etc. More frequent rinsing of the filter pad will help prevent accumulation.
Jcon82
Active Member
yeah, microbacter and wasteaway are on my radar
ReefGeezer
Valuable Member
These products (said to be bacteria) can work without additional carbon dosing. Their directions may direct you to stop skimming and other filtration that might remove the bacteria for several hours. Just in case the DIY power head and filter floss does anything more than some small amount of mechanical filtration, be sure to shut it off.
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AydenLincoln
Pufferfish lover!
I would not carbon dose without a skimmer due to oxygen deprivation. Other options include adding macroalgae to a HOB refugium or increased water changes and more filtration. And Microbacter works too if you have nuisance algae.
olonmv
Valuable Member
FWIW. I built one of those nitrate destroyers and put into service 9 days ago….so far my nitrates have dropped from 36.9 to 21.2 in my tank. I run a lil 13.5 nano. All I’ve done is dose 2ml MB7 for 3 days and 1ml vodka for 6. I’ve had zero issues with carbon dosing using this method. This man didn’t do water changes and only dosed trace elements and has a beautiful tank. Maintains nitrates in the 5ppm range.
spicymikey
Active Member
That's not necessarily always true. Many people run a reef aquarium successfully without a skimmer. Remember you're trying to create a balanced ecosystem. A lot of these mechanical and manual processes we perform are because it is not balanced. The ocean obviously does not have skimmers.
One of those things important in a balanced ecosystem is the growth of Organoheterotroph bacteria in the water column (the things that create cloudy blooms) which is then consumed by the corals for energy to grow. If you have more fish, and are creating more nutrients in the water than are being consumed by that bacteria, then that bacterial growth is probably carbon limited and carbon dosing will increase the population of this organic heterotroph bacteria to creat balance. Problem 1 solved.
But there's another step. If the population of this bacteria is more than your corals can consume for energy to grow then you will have ANOTHER inbalance and a continually growing population of Organoheterotrophic bacteria. That's no good either. The solution to that is water changes, skimming, refugiums, etc. These all address the problem but in different ways. BUT if everything is in balance then you will not need one of these intervening steps. Like a lot of things in this Hobby it's hard to calculate in advance. I don't know your tank so I can't make an intuitive guess but the best thing to do is try it and see what happens. But like everything in this hobby, you have to go slow.
Step 1: start carbon dosing with the product of your choice and increase the amount slowly until you reach equilibrium with the nitrates and phosphates, at whatever level you feel is acceptable.
Step 2: start reducing your dependence on the skimmer. If it runs 24 hours a day, then turn it down to 18. If everything stays stable after a couple weeks then try turning it down to 12 hours, and continue like that. Don't go cold turkey, that will almost certainly not work and give you the sense the idea is a failure. You have to give your corals an opportunity to take up the additional bacteria available in the water. You have to try and test to see if you can reach that magical equilibrium. You may have to go back and forth, speed up or slow down the transition, but only you can determine eventually if it's a failure and there's no way to make it work. Honestly, the odds are against you, because most people tend to have more fish in their tank then Coral that can balance out the ecosystem.
I have 12 fish and a good balance of CUC in a 400 gal reef system. But the problem is this new tank is only a year and a half old and I do not have the density of corals yet, to take up all of the bacteria, that is taking up all nutrients. I've tried it without a skimmer and it doesn't work yet. But I will try again in the future. I do not plan on adding any more fish but the corals will continue to grow and I hope to reach a balance in the future
Hope that makes sense and good luck with your experiment.
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