When did you see results from carbon dosing?

[Zach W]

As the title suggests im trying to figure out when to expect to start seeing nitrate reduction from carbon dosing. I started a week ago at the starting ratio @Randy Holmes-Farley said he did at the start (.15mL vinegar per gallon). My nitrates seem to hover between 5-8 (I use nyos so its an estimate between 5-12, but much close to 5 than 12) and I would like to bring them down to 3 or less. I am growing GHA and film algae, not terrible but still would like to drop the nitrates. Water changes seem to only get me to ~5.

Tank: IM 20 (~14gal water volume)
Filtration: filter floss, passive carbon & gfo, passive purigen, IM nuvoskim DC skimmer
Light: NanoBox Duo (10hrs on, 6hrs midday)
Flow: Vortech MP-10
Dosing: Jaebo DP-4 Aquaforest 123 (diluted 50% w/ RODI, 16mL each) AcroPower 1mL every other day

Parameters as of 05/08/2019:
Alk: 8.0 (Hanna)
Cal: 425 (aquaforest)
Mag: 1475 (salifert)
Phos: 5ppb (Hanna)
Nitrate: 5-8 (estimate NYOS)

 

[Exotic Coral Collection]

I am carbon dosing with vodka. Took a month to drop enough to measure. Go slow and don’t just dump a bunch in. Nothing good happens fast in reefing.

 

[clm65]

This Saturday will be 4 weeks since I started dosing NOPOX. My starting conditions were far worse than yours - my nitrates are off scale on the Salifert test (>100 ppm). They are still not within the upper test limit, so I do not know if they are improving or not. I'm doing water changes, reduced feedings, vacuuming sand, growing/removing chaeto, etc. They tell me patience is key. So I'm waiting...patiently...but at some point I'm going to have to try something else if I don't start seeing results.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If after a few weeks, nitrate is still too high and phosphate is present, just up the dose.

 

[Zach W]

If after a few weeks, nitrate is still too high and phosphate is present, just up the dose.

I noticed you mentioned how you went from 0.15mL/gal to 0.3mL/gal to 0.45mL/gal. How long was the span between increases? Thank you!

 

[WWIII]

It took me 3 months, but I was going slow and the tank is 250 gallons. Finally my nitrates went from 40 ppm to 2 ppm. That was a couple years ago though. I don't carbon dose anymore

 

[Zach W]

It took me 3 months, but I was going slow and the tank is 250 gallons. Finally my nitrates went from 40 ppm to 2 ppm. That was a couple years ago though. I don't carbon dose anymore

Thats good to hear, I am not trying to rush but am just curious when I should expect to see results. Between my skimmer and running purigen, I feel like that shouldn't allow my nitrates to increase (based on what seachem claims for purigen) so I want to get to that 2-3 range and then stop dosing and rely on my chemical/mechanical filtration to handle the nitrates. What do you use for nitrate management at this point?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It was many years ago and I do not recall. It was likely over weeks at least.

 

[Reefs and Geeks]

I believe it took me somewhere around 6 weeks or so to see a measurable drop. I tend to stick with a given dose for about 2 weeks before increasing. Has worked very well for me. I've been dosing for years. Tried backing off my maintenance dose, but a few weeks later saw nitrate coming back up, so I started increasing my dose some and am back to maintenance level.

If I remember right, when I first started carbon dosing, it seemed like nothing was happening for a few weeks, then when the numbers finally started to drop it was relatively quick to get them down where I wanted. Sort of like cycling a tank. Nitrite just seems to linger and linger...then one day it's suddenly gone. maybe not quite sudden, but feels like it after testing and waiting for weeks.

Since you have a smaller sized tank, you could always do a couple of water changes to get them down if you feel like they're stuck. With reasonable levels you are measuring now though, I don't think that would be necessary unless you felt your corals were being affected by the nitrate. They look good to me from the picture though.

 

[Hamza Hamid]

As the title suggests im trying to figure out when to expect to start seeing nitrate reduction from carbon dosing. I started a week ago at the starting ratio @Randy Holmes-Farley said he did at the start (.15mL vinegar per gallon). My nitrates seem to hover between 5-8 (I use nyos so its an estimate between 5-12, but much close to 5 than 12) and I would like to bring them down to 3 or less. I am growing GHA and film algae, not terrible but still would like to drop the nitrates. Water changes seem to only get me to ~5.

Tank: IM 20 (~14gal water volume)
Filtration: filter floss, passive carbon & gfo, passive purigen, IM nuvoskim DC skimmer
Light: NanoBox Duo (10hrs on, 6hrs midday)
Flow: Vortech MP-10
Dosing: Jaebo DP-4 Aquaforest 123 (diluted 50% w/ RODI, 16mL each) AcroPower 1mL every other day

Parameters as of 05/08/2019:
Alk: 8.0 (Hanna)
Cal: 425 (aquaforest)
Mag: 1475 (salifert)
Phos: 5ppb (Hanna)
Nitrate: 5-8 (estimate NYOS)

is this skimmer you using is good? as i am using old IM ghost skimmer which looks useless to me. The one you have the upgraded version to this but has a smaller pump than the old so curious if its working good.

 

[Zach W]

is this skimmer you using is good? as i am using old IM ghost skimmer which looks useless to me. The one you have the upgraded version to this but has a smaller pump than the old so curious if its working good.

I have been really impressed so far! I upgraded from a reefglass skimmer about a month ago probably and I am very happy. I had heard the negative reviews of the IM ghost which is why i never went that route, but I had heard good things about the DC Nuvoskim so I figured i would go for it. It pulls really good skimate and is properly designed for the back chambers. The only negative I had was that the dual port air silencer did give off a fair amount of suction noise (all relative, I was used to a completely silent air pump skimmer) but I added some filter floss into the air inputs and it quieted it right down. It is virtually silent now. I would definitely recommend it

 

[Hamza Hamid]

I have been really impressed so far! I upgraded from a reefglass skimmer about a month ago probably and I am very happy. I had heard the negative reviews of the IM ghost which is why i never went that route, but I had heard good things about the DC Nuvoskim so I figured i would go for it. It pulls really good skimate and is properly designed for the back chambers. The only negative I had was that the dual port air silencer did give off a fair amount of suction noise (all relative, I was used to a completely silent air pump skimmer) but I added some filter floss into the air inputs and it quieted it right down. It is virtually silent now. I would definitely recommend it

Great thank u so much. I would like to buy it now on your words. Thank u so much for your time. Keep reefing and hide all the reefing bills from your wife LOL. [emoji12]

 

[piranhaman00]

Bump!

how fast do people see results? I am at 80mls/day vinegar in 200 gal system. Going really slow, closing in on three months or so now, no results.

 

[piranhaman00]

Bump!

White film growing on glass, good sign?

 

[JimWelsh]

Bump!

White film growing on glass, good sign?

Yes! When the film on the glass turns from green to white, that means it's working. I don't remember how long it took before nitrates finally dropped, but it was several weeks. Like others have reported, when it finally does start to drop, it can be pretty dramatic. At least, that was my experience. Be patient.

 

[piranhaman00]

Yes! When the film on the glass turns from green to white, that means it's working. I don't remember how long it took before nitrates finally dropped, but it was several weeks. Like others have reported, when it finally does start to drop, it can be pretty dramatic. At least, that was my experience. Be patient.

Do you know approx vinegar ml/gal/day you were dosing? I am around 0.5ml/gal (100mls in 200 gal system) right now everyday.

 

[JimWelsh]

Do you know approx vinegar ml/gal/day you were dosing? I am around 0.5ml/gal (100mls in 200 gal system) right now everyday.

Not exactly. I was using vodka (40% ethanol) instead of vinegar (5% acetic acid), and this was a couple of years ago, but I remember the 1.75 liter bottles of cheap vodka I was buying would last somewhere between 6-8 weeks for my 210 gallon tank (205 gallons total water volume), so somewhere between 40 and 30 mL of vodka per day (0.2 to 0.15 mL/gal/day), but more likely on the low end of that. Not sure what the conversion factor for the carbon "strength" of vodka vs. vinegar is, but a quick approximation makes me think that vodka is roughly 10 times as concentrated as vinegar, in terms of carbon content.

 

[csb123]

After a couple of weeks of starting you can adjust your dosage weekly. Once you hit your target, cut the dose by 10% and watch your nitrate level.

 

[LadyTang2]

Yes! When the film on the glass turns from green to white, that means it's working. I don't remember how long it took before nitrates finally dropped, but it was several weeks. Like others have reported, when it finally does start to drop, it can be pretty dramatic. At least, that was my experience. Be patient.

What is happening to cause this green to white? algae being replaced by precipitation of calcium carbonate?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What is happening to cause this green to white? algae being replaced by precipitation of calcium carbonate?

Green algae is being replaced by bacteria, though one does not always see the bacteria at all since they can grow out of sight.

When i dosed vinegar, I only ever saw the bacteria at massive doses (> 1 mL per gallon per day), and in that case it was hazy white in the water, not on surfaces.