56longroof
Active Member
Which is your preferred method of carbon dosing and why?
Vodka,vinegar, or bio pellets
- Thread starter 56longroof
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Koty
Well-Known Member
Biopellets are useless in my expirience. Maybe will work using a very big reactor eith a lot of pellets. Acetic acid may be better at promoting sponge growth. I use Tropic marine carbon dosing products with good results
UtahReefer
Active Member
If you don't want to guess at it use a proven system. I ran 180g SPS system some years back with the KZ system and it flourished. Currently I use the Aquaforest system on an IM 100EXT and it is doing great. My PO4/NO3 levels are nearly undetectable, no uglies, and the corals are flourishing. The key to any of these systems is to understand the "heavy in - heavy out" principle. You need excellent filtration and a good skimmer that will export the excess nutrient laden bacteria. I feed the fish heavily three times per day. The corals are fed every night and I dose AF Power Elixir 24/7. My skimmer and algae scrubber are pulling excess nutrients constantly.
OP
OP
56longroof
Active Member
I'm just doing some research on different subjects before I set my tank up. I like to be as prepared as possible before I dive into something. Back when I kept saltwater the first time this concept was unheard of.
cwerner
Active Member
I started with Vodka, it worked. Then I went to Biofuel by Brightwell, that also worked. Now I'm using BioPellets, which took a very long time to ramp up, but now they are also working well. My nutrients are hovering around .04 Phos and 4-5 Nitrates with the Biopellets. I just think most people don't give them enough time to get spun up and running. The only issue with Carbon dosing that I've noticed is that your glass will cover up with a bioskim almost immediately. I'm having to clean my glass every couple days or it's barely transparent because of how thick the bioskim on the glass gets.
bakbay
Valuable Member
I’ve been extremely lucky and dose absolutely nothing - nada! Nitrate is around 20 and phosphate is 0.10. I feed the fish pellets 3 times a day, nori 2-3x / week, and frozen 1-2x / week. I don’t see a reason to keep nutrients lower — consistency is key. In fact, my NO3 has been in the 20s and PO4 in the 0.08-0.10 this whole year.
I’ll keep pushing my luck and keeping it simple!
I’ll keep pushing my luck and keeping it simple!
