Lowering nitrates

[Ab129]

So my nitrates have been holding steady around 20 ppm for many months at this point, despite weekly water changes of 15%.
I also have too much algae on my rocks for my liking, some of it is hair algae and some is green algae on my rock and sand.
I take this to mean that my steady reading of 20 ppm is really an under estimate because that is what's left after all the algae in my tank has consumed its share.
I was going to try carbon but decided against it after reading that it could lead to problems for my tang.
Now I am considering either an algae reactor or starting a refugium.
Leaning toward the fuge because it looks like I would have to mount the reactor outside the sump because the light is not submersible and to me that is just creating a new risk of a leak.
Is the refugium setup as simple as just mounting a light in one compartment of my sump or is it more involved than that?

 

[mcgyvr]

I'd suggest carbon dosing (vinegar)..
Its much more effective/easier to implement,etc..than a fuge or algae reactor..

Just pour in a fixed amount of vinegar daily and watch your nitrates drop in no time..
Google for "vinegar dosing chart" and follow/enjoy

 

[Daddi0]

Perhaps feed a lot less?
Cheers! Mark

 

[Ab129]

I have read several articles which suggested that carbon may be a cause of HLLE in tangs particularly. In these articles they refer to "œactivated carbon".
Is dosing with vinegar using activated carbon?

 

[Ab129]

Perhaps feed a lot less?
Cheers! Mark

I probably do overfeed a little bit.
What can I say, I'm Italian!

 

[Daddi0]

I probably do overfeed a little bit.
What can I say, I'm Italian!

I think a lot of people do. I feed mysis every other day and nori on the days I dont feed mysis. I also dose vinegar/kalk and have a lot of Trocus snails. I have no green algae growing. How much live rock do you have?

 

[mcgyvr]

I have read several articles which suggested that carbon may be a cause of HLLE in tangs particularly. In these articles they refer to "œactivated carbon".
Is dosing with vinegar using activated carbon?

They are 2 totally different things..
Carbon dosing is not using activated carbon and does not potentially cause HLLE..

Carbon dosing involves adding an organic carbon source (vinegar/vodka/sugar,etc...) into the tank to fuel bacterial growth.. More/hungry bacteria consume more nutrients from the water column..

 

[dkeller_nc]

I'd also recommend carbon dosing. However, I'd also suggest going really slowly with it, at least at first. In a tank with a lot of nitrates, adding the recommended dose of vinegar and/or vodka may result in a bacterial bloom. Since most charts do actually start relatively small and then ramp up, that bacterial bloom is unlikely to be severe unless you have really high nitrates. But to err on the side of caution, I'd start with no more than 0.5mL of vinegar per day per gallon. And accurately measure the quantity - this is one protocol that definitely doesn't benefit from "eyeballing it".

 

[Ab129]

They are 2 totally different things..
Carbon dosing is not using activated carbon and does not potentially cause HLLE..

Carbon dosing involves adding an organic carbon source (vinegar/vodka/sugar,etc...) into the tank to fuel bacterial growth.. More/hungry bacteria consume more nutrients from the water column..

Thanks for clearing that up for me.
Makes my decision a lot easier!

 

[mcgyvr]

And here is a great article on Vinegar dosing..
http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/reefkeeping-blog
(oh yeah thats right its broken and RC staff isn't capable of fixing it)

Well.. here is the chart for Vinegar amounts..

and a "similar" article but using Vodka.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

 

[Ab129]

What unit of measure is to be used for the amount of vinegar?

 

[mcgyvr]

What unit of measure is to be used for the amount of vinegar?

mL

 

[Ab129]

Thanks again!

 

[Uncle99]

You talk about GHA, but you don't post anything about phosphate levels.
Phosphate and light have much more do with the green and less with the nitrate.
I follow the 2-5ppm nitrate and the 0.03-0.07 ranges and have no visable green.

Carbon dosing lowers nitrate by increasing bacteria and will make minor reductions to phosphate.

Depending on how high your phosphate is, more than .2 go with and LC until it's below .1 then use a GFO to maintain 0.03-0.07 and your green will melt away.

 

[Aquaticchaos]

Are you using RO water?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ab129]

I don't think my phosphates are high.
I have tested with salifert kit and I find reading the results to be very unclear.
Not sure what my exact numbers are but in any event, the level is not high.

And yes, I use rodi 0 tds.

 

[dkeller_nc]

I wouldn't assume that. It turns out that the chemistry for phosphate determination in water as published here, and on which almost all hobbyist water testing kits are based isn't a very strongly colored reaction in the range that we're interested in, which is sub 0.5ppm.

So the only way to actually evaluate a reef tank's phosphate concentration in an accurate manner is (at a minimum), a Hanna ULR phosphate or ULR phosphorus checker. These tests use the same chemistry, but use a colorimeter to interpret the very weak blue color that the phospho-molybdate chemistry produces.