14biocubeGuy Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 OK. so my phosphates are at .08 with a bit of green hair algae starting to form. Ill post pics of it later if you all want. I bought a Mexican turbo snail and put on a pack of phosguard. I also did a water change and cleaned out the back media. I am running a Ocianic Skimmer for the BC14 and a UV sterilizer. My peramiters are: PO- .08 NO- 0 CA 400 and rising MG 1400 KH 5 My plan is to start VODKA DOSING. The link i use is http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php. So per the directions, i am going to start dosing 0.02 x 2 times daily. Any opinions on changing the dose? Im new to this and don't want to ruin any corals or fish. Thanks Link to comment
cromag27 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I don't vodka dose, but make sure your rodi water is 0tds. Link to comment
Rehype Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Im not sure what instructions your reading but: 1. Dose only once a day 2. Your alkalinity should stay between 7-8dkh 3. If your nitrates are at or close to 0 there wont be enough nitrates to create a balance and encourage the bacteria growth needed for PO4 reduction. Link to comment
14biocubeGuy Posted May 5, 2015 Author Share Posted May 5, 2015 I don't vodka dose, but make sure your rodi water is 0tds. I use the BRS RODI water system and it is consistently at 0tds. Im dosing vodka to encourage more coral growth with more feeding. Also trying to get rid of the GHA Im not sure what instructions your reading but: 1. Dose only once a day 2. Your alkalinity should stay between 7-8dkh 3. If your nitrates are at or close to 0 there wont be enough nitrates to create a balance and encourage the bacteria growth needed for PO4 reduction. What is causing the GHA then? There has to be phosphates in the water to cause growth right? Link to comment
Rehype Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 What is causing the GHA then? There has to be phosphates in the water to cause growth right? Not necessarily many times there is phosphates bound within your live rock that leaches out slowly over time and can cause/encourage algae growth. I would recommend just adding natural algae eaters such as snails or crabs in addition to manual removal. Eventually these phosphates will be exhausted and your algae issues will fade. Link to comment
ml86743 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Not necessarily many times there is phosphates bound within your live rock that leaches out slowly over time and can cause/encourage algae growth. I would recommend just adding natural algae eaters such as snails or crabs in addition to manual removal. Eventually these phosphates will be exhausted and your algae issues will fade. I agree with Rehype... Algae comes and goes(unless you have poor water quality) .08 phosphates is something I personally wouldn't worry about..If it bothers you that much just up your WC. Remember algae is a natural part of our systems too! Link to comment
ManGups Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Po4 at 0.08 is not something you need to worry abt. Just keep up with WC and u should be fine. Link to comment
14biocubeGuy Posted May 5, 2015 Author Share Posted May 5, 2015 The only reason why I am worried is because of the LARGE patch of GHA. The spot where it is located receives minimal flow and not a lot of light. Every water change I scrub it with a brush but it keeps coming back. Hopefully that Mexican Turbo Snail can get to it before i lose my mind. Link to comment
Bill Nye Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 PO4 at .08 with GHA means its probably considerably higher than that but its being absorbed before you can test it. I think GFO would be a better route than Carbon dosing. Link to comment
14biocubeGuy Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 PO4 at .08 with GHA means its probably considerably higher than that but its being absorbed before you can test it. I think GFO would be a better route than Carbon dosing. But in a limited space like the BC14, its harder to add more equipment in such a small tank and especially in the stand where most of my equipment is. I have considered GFO and even a phosphate reactor but I don't have the room I have been vodka dosing for the past 2 days. I am starting off extremely slow. I dose .2ml twice daily ( I like to split up the dose). My plan, after the 3rd day, is to test the nitrates and phosphates again, and up the dose to .4ml. Soon as I see a reduction in the phosphates or GHA, I was going to use that dose as maintenance making sure its not having any ill effects on and corals or fish. Link to comment
Neill.w Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Out of interest what test kit are you using to arrive at PO .08? Link to comment
14biocubeGuy Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 Out of interest what test kit are you using to arrive at PO .08? Red Sea Pro test kit. Link to comment
Bill Nye Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 But in a limited space like the BC14, its harder to add more equipment in such a small tank and especially in the stand where most of my equipment is. I have considered GFO and even a phosphate reactor but I don't have the room I have been vodka dosing for the past 2 days. I am starting off extremely slow. I dose .2ml twice daily ( I like to split up the dose). My plan, after the 3rd day, is to test the nitrates and phosphates again, and up the dose to .4ml. Soon as I see a reduction in the phosphates or GHA, I was going to use that dose as maintenance making sure its not having any ill effects on and corals or fish. I just think you are going to have a rough time lowering phosphates with undetectable nitrates (Im guessing NO is a typo?). Bacteria consume Nitrate and phosphate in a fixed ratio so if you don't have a lot of nitrate they won't consume much phosphate. GFO in a reactor is very powerful and I bet you could fit one if you hung it on the back and just placed a small pump in one of your back chambers. Either way good luck with dosing. Link to comment
Neill.w Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Red Sea Pro test kit. And did the rock in your tank start off as dry rock or live rock? Link to comment
14biocubeGuy Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 I just think you are going to have a rough time lowering phosphates with undetectable nitrates (Im guessing NO is a typo?). Bacteria consume Nitrate and phosphate in a fixed ratio so if you don't have a lot of nitrate they won't consume much phosphate. GFO in a reactor is very powerful and I bet you could fit one if you hung it on the back and just placed a small pump in one of your back chambers. Either way good luck with dosing. Sorry about the typo. Ill do some research on smaller GFO's and ill figure out a spot to put it. Chamber one has the biocube skimmer in it, Chamber 2 has a media rack (Filter floss on top with a nitrate absorption pad, phosphoguard bag in the second level, and cheato in the bottom), the 3rd chamber has the V2 UV sterilizer hooked up to an upgraded return pump. Everything is pretty packed in the back ( the real problem with all-in-one tank systems like the BC). Maybe I can move some stuff around? And did the rock in your tank start off as dry rock or live rock? Live OFC lol Link to comment
Neill.w Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Hi, The reason for my asking is lots of dry rock will leach phosphates for a considerable period of time due to the decaying organic matter trapped in it and often it is quicker to just pull them out and take the surface of the rock off with acid/vinegar which is what I have done in my own tank. In this case if your test kit is accurate and the algae growth is rapid the phosphates are probably not even entering the water column and hopefully the algae growth will burn out over time as the phosphates leach out of your live rock. If you are interested I have a good article on vodka dosing: http://saltwater-conversion.com/pages/carbon-dosing Cheers, Neill Link to comment
14biocubeGuy Posted May 6, 2015 Author Share Posted May 6, 2015 Hi, The reason for my asking is lots of dry rock will leach phosphates for a considerable period of time due to the decaying organic matter trapped in it and often it is quicker to just pull them out and take the surface of the rock off with acid/vinegar which is what I have done in my own tank. In this case if your test kit is accurate and the algae growth is rapid the phosphates are probably not even entering the water column and hopefully the algae growth will burn out over time as the phosphates leach out of your live rock. If you are interested I have a good article on vodka dosing: http://saltwater-conversion.com/pages/carbon-dosing Cheers, Neill Thanks for the info. Seriously, it was informative. I cant remove any Live rock out of the tank because of the coral that's growing on the rock. Its everywhere and I don't wanna take the risk of ruining them. But I do hope your right, if it is just leaching out of the rock, then is should be taken care of. Im gonna take a look at your link today while im at work and try to get a better grasp on things. Link to comment
14biocubeGuy Posted May 10, 2015 Author Share Posted May 10, 2015 To keep you updated. I have been dosing vodka for about a week. Started at .04 ml of vodka and moved up to .08. Phosphates are still holding at 0.08 but I still have GHA on the rock. Im going to wait a another day and bump it up to 1.2 ml a day AFTER i test tomorrow for phosphates. My plan is to keep raising the dose until a drop in phosphates and/or a reduction in GHA. Any thoughts or opinions? Tank is looking a lot cleaner to with a bunch more color. Its too and i don't have a before photo Link to comment
CJJon Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 That's a pretty small patch of algae! In reading your post I had imagined an overrun tank. I mean, that's like a 3" patch! I would manually remove as much as possible every time I saw it growing, keep up with water changes, and don't overfeed. That GSP is going to take over that spot soon anyway. Link to comment
14biocubeGuy Posted May 11, 2015 Author Share Posted May 11, 2015 Im gonna start a new thread on getting rid of the GSP. Or trimming it back. Biggest mistake was getting that stuff Link to comment
Tamberav Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 I feel like perhaps you don't understand what Vodka is for. It removes nitrates mostly and a little bit of phosphate. However, it needs nitrates in order to lower phosphate (and vice versa). If you don't have enough nitrate, then you aren't going to be lowering that phosphate. Phosphate reduction is nitrate limited for carbon dosing. Your should be using GFO, phosguard, or similar media for controlling just phosphates. Also, Vodka can increase CO2 levels and plants use CO2 to grow. I would wonder... since you have no nitrate to reduce the phosphate... if you're actually helping the algae with CO2??? Just some thoughts. Link to comment
louy99 Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Vodka dosing here is a waste of time. You probably have a bad rock, switch it out for another or acid wash the rock and cure it again Link to comment
14biocubeGuy Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 I feel like perhaps you don't understand what Vodka is for. It removes nitrates mostly and a little bit of phosphate. However, it needs nitrates in order to lower phosphate (and vice versa). If you don't have enough nitrate, then you aren't going to be lowering that phosphate. Phosphate reduction is nitrate limited for carbon dosing. Your should be using GFO, phosguard, or similar media for controlling just phosphates. Also, Vodka can increase CO2 levels and plants use CO2 to grow. I would wonder... since you have no nitrate to reduce the phosphate... if you're actually helping the algae with CO2??? Just some thoughts. i have had the same rock for 2 years. you think is would take that long for the phosphates to leach out? Link to comment
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