N/P reducing pellets (solid vodka dosing)

[chercm]

It does work , and it will clear out cloudy water.
But now my water stays cristal clear now so why should i dose anything extra , but adding now and then some fresh strains of bacteria couldn't harm.
And if i had some cyano issues again i would definitly dose it again.
But less is sometimes more ...

greetingzz tntneon

strange i am having cyano problems . i thought the pellets should get rid of it

 

[daveonbass]

would it be advantagious for me to ADD po4 to my tank, in the hopes of the bacteria having the proper "balance" of N&P to better reduce my nitrate levels? And if so, what product should I use to raise my p level?

 

[tmz]

I would not add PO4 and don't know of a specific safe product if I wanted too. Waste and food will add organic phosphate which will utimately provide it.

Surface reef waters hold only 0.005 ppm PO4. So it is very unlikely bacteria are limited for a lack of PO4.Ratios of carbon, nitrogen and phosphate for various organisms vary somewhat. . The redfiefeld ratio ,based on phyto plankton as I recall , is 116 carbon to 16 nitrogen to 1 phosphate.

 

[tntneon]

strange i am having cyano problems . i thought the pellets should get rid of it

At first a had an gha problems , with the pellets i started (after 4 weeks) to have cyano on top off GHa.
Slowly consuming the GHA (or N/P in the GHA) , after the GHA was completly gonne the cyano stayed another 4 to 6 weeks on the spots where i before had the GHA.
In that time i too dosed biodigest and bioptim , to add some new strains of bacteria , it helped a little bit.
But i stil would get cyano on the low flow areas in the display (on the sand where my LR lays , then i started to water change more frequently (1 time a week 10 %, before 10% every 2 weeks) and siphoning just the spots where cyano is .
After another 3 weeks the cyano was reduced greatly and the rate in wich it came back was much slower.
Then i stopped dosing prodebio , w/o any issues
Now the cyano comes back after a week on a real small spot (1/2 '') , telling my it's time to water change again.
this is the reason that i believe bacteria are one thing , a good skimmer and water changes are an absolute must.
When one findes the sweet spot you have to maintain that practise.

greetingzz tntneon

 

[bertoni]

If the bacteria are phosphorus limited, adding some might help, although arranging an appropriately sized dose might be an issue, due to the small amount invoked. I don't know where to get a clean supply of phosphate, but there might be one somewhere.

 

[daveonbass]

well it really sounds too risky now. I have a 58g tank, that has about 80 ppm of trates. So I'm wondering now if the 500ml of pellets that I got (rated for 100g) is just not enough for that many nitrates? Does anyone think I should try adding anothher 250-500ml?

 

[rs1831]

well it really sounds too risky now. I have a 58g tank, that has about 80 ppm of trates. So I'm wondering now if the 500ml of pellets that I got (rated for 100g) is just not enough for that many nitrates? Does anyone think I should try adding anothher 250-500ml?

How is your ph doing? I would add more but would be careful to monitor ph.

 

[Moser]

well it really sounds too risky now. I have a 58g tank, that has about 80 ppm of trates. So I'm wondering now if the 500ml of pellets that I got (rated for 100g) is just not enough for that many nitrates? Does anyone think I should try adding anothher 250-500ml?

On the Warner BP thread, there was a mention of using 3L of pellets for a 500 L water volume. The tank started at 100 ppm nitrates and got it right to near zero. Apparently, you can't overdose with these, so I'm guessing the bacterial biomass is proportional to the water volume.

I would do it slowly. ie if your nutrients are still high and pH remains good after a few weeks of use, add 1-200 ml more BP and repeat the cycle....

If you get cloudy water or Ph drops, add an air pump with a stone in the sump.... they work very well.

Mo

 

[ChuckG]

well it really sounds too risky now. I have a 58g tank, that has about 80 ppm of trates. So I'm wondering now if the 500ml of pellets that I got (rated for 100g) is just not enough for that many nitrates? Does anyone think I should try adding anothher 250-500ml?

Adding more available carbon might not do much if your beneficial bacteria are phosphate limited.

If the tank has a large nitrate reserve and no phosphate you need to determine where all the phosphate is going. Or if maybe enough isn't being imported. Things sound out of balance and when there is a large imbalance I am not so sure the beneficial bacteria themselves can normalize this in any appreciable amount of time without some assistance. I'm not advocating dosing or fertilizing PO4 but there are other things that can be done dependent on the cause of the imbalance.

Are you using GFO or other phosphate sponge, have any actively growing algaes, also what foods do you use and how much do you feed?

 

[geris]

I have a friend who's thinking of using NP Biopellets, but his question is, can they be used having chaeto on his refugium? or does he have to eliminate the chaeto?
Thanks.

 

[Dejavu]

Vote for June's Thread of the Month!

Vote for June's Thread of the Month!

This thread was nominated for June's Thread for the Month. Vote for June's Thread of the Month!

 

[mnml]

It looks like I'm getting a very light dusting of cyano. Will try to dose MB7 to see if it helps. Currently at 2 weeks.

 

[Daniel Reef]

I voted for this thread for TOTM. I was the first vote.

 

[PowermanKW]

It looks like I'm getting a very light dusting of cyano. Will try to dose MB7 to see if it helps. Currently at 2 weeks.

And why would that help cyano? I am using another pellet... but figured what the heck so I got some MB7. I had a cyano problem before the pellets that I think was caused by putting some old rock back in the tank. Started using 4 drops in my 90 every other day. My nutrients are already low. Just looking at what the benefits of MB7 has brought with pellets.

 

[Tony Romano]

i am still doing full Zeo while in 2d week of 1l of pellets. Zeo may go sooner rather than later!

 

[tntneon]

I have a friend who's thinking of using NP Biopellets, but his question is, can they be used having chaeto on his refugium? or does he have to eliminate the chaeto?
Thanks.

hi geris ,

I 'm using the pellets in combination with a ball of chaeto in the fuge .
I would advise to begin with the low amount of pellets (see instructions) and slowly increase them.
With me at first my chaeto was getting lighter colored and more brittle once nutrients where undetectable (using salifert) , this was with the max. amout of pellets.
I didn't reduced the amount of pellets , but i changed my lighting from 9 w to 26 w lamp(6500 k) and now my chaeto is back dark green and i have fairly good growth rates (considering the carbon dosing) and also full of pods , one of the reasons that i'll keep having the ball of chaeto.


Whauw :eek1: never thought that a thread i started would become nominated
for thread of the month , thx guys....


greetingzz tntneon

 

[mnml]

And why would that help cyano? I am using another pellet... but figured what the heck so I got some MB7. I had a cyano problem before the pellets that I think was caused by putting some old rock back in the tank. Started using 4 drops in my 90 every other day. My nutrients are already low. Just looking at what the benefits of MB7 has brought with pellets.

MB7 has helped me in the past with cyano when I was dosing Vodka so I figured I may give it a shot to see how it reacts with these pellets. The good news is the cyano has not increased so we'll see..

 

[ChuckG]

MB7 has helped me in the past with cyano when I was dosing Vodka so I figured I may give it a shot to see how it reacts with these pellets. The good news is the cyano has not increased so we'll see..

Makes a difference in my opinion.. especially when nutrient levels rise suddenly. For instance when I added three fish and was feeding heavier than normal. I dosed MB7 at the high dosage and overnight you I can see the pellets start to slow down slightly in the chamber as bacteria blooms. Bear in mind my flow rate is slower by some standards to begin with.

I also think a maintenance dose helps to keep pests in check..

 

[jlinzmaier]

Has anyone using these NP pellets used them in conjuction with nutrient export through macroalgea growth or an algae turf scrubber??

Do the pellets drop nutrients too low for these methods of nutrient management to be implemented?? I'd like to keep a bin of chaeto growing and keep my ATS's running simply for pod reproduction. I don't really care if these pellets limit growth of the macros or derbesia on the ATS, but I wouldn't want to strip the water so that it starves the intended algea growth.

Thanks.

Jeremy

 

[tntneon]

Has anyone using these NP pellets used them in conjuction with nutrient export through macroalgea growth or an algae turf scrubber??

Do the pellets drop nutrients too low for these methods of nutrient management to be implemented?? I'd like to keep a bin of chaeto growing and keep my ATS's running simply for pod reproduction. I don't really care if these pellets limit growth of the macros or derbesia on the ATS, but I wouldn't want to strip the water so that it starves the intended algea growth.

Thanks.

Jeremy

hi jlinzmaier ,

I'm using the max. amount of pellets , and i have a volleyball of chaeto in my fuge.
At fist the chaeto suffered a bit by becoming lighter colored and more brittle , but i was using a small 9 w pl light , i swapped it for a 26 w grow t5 lamp (6500 k) and now it's back full of pods and growing well , and very dark green colored.
I think my chaeto was limited by the amount of light and with low lighting it's more difficult to reach for those low range nutrients (N/P).

my nitrates are 0.1 ppm and phosphates are undetectable ( with salifert) , i'll be ordering my phosphorus ULR checker from hanna soon

Also i'm gonna buy this afternoon a new camera (canon 500 D) then i can post beautifull pictures w/o the blue blurr....

greetingzz tntneon