Reducing nitrates

[Reefaholic1978]

So the sera siporax is the way to go?

Never used it so I can't speak on it but in your situation I would get a reactor and put a mix of gfo and carbon, feed once a day and change 10 to 15 gallons a week and please invest in a rodi unit. Be patient though it won't fall quickly with this process but it will.

 

[schryvertime]

Never used it so I can't speak on it but in your situation I would get a reactor and put a mix of gfo and carbon, feed once a day and change 10 to 15 gallons a week and please invest in a rodi unit. Be patient though it won't fall quickly with this process but it will.

Oh I absolutely have an RO DI unit. I have never put tap water in my tank. Can you get a hang on the back reactor?

 

[Reefaholic1978]

Oh I absolutely have an RO DI unit. I have never put tap water in my tank. Can you get a hang on the back reactor?

That's good. Bulk reef supplies sells them for about 60 bucks, once you start using it you will see great improvement in corals and fish. You can also get the media from there as well.

 

[toothybugs]

how many ML of vinegar are you using?

I have a constant drip going via a doser, but I have ~65 gallons in the system, dosing ~2mL per hour.

In truth, I have my 5% vinegar diluted down to about 2% and it doses just short of 5mL per hour of that solution, 24/7. I manually primed my system for a week beforehand, building up a bit of a bacteria buffer in the "acclimation" phase of carbon dosing. Then I hooked up the doser, let 'er rip, and started cleaning out a cup of skimmate every other day for a week. It tapered off after that.

This is just a temporary setup however, at that dilution I'm running the risk of a bacterial bloom inside my dosing container. Once my upgrade is done I'm going to run straight vinegar (5%) 24/7 to keep the SPS happy. The LPS is liking it too. I saw a little bit of a GHA outbreak initially from the extra carbon but it disappeared quickly as nutrient levels dropped.

I kept up with my 5gal/ wk water changes that are incurred from sucking up blown-out detritus too BTW. From 25+ to 5 with so little fuss, it was great.

 

[schryvertime]

I have a constant drip going via a doser, but I have ~65 gallons in the system, dosing ~2mL per hour.

In truth, I have my 5% vinegar diluted down to about 2% and it doses just short of 5mL per hour of that solution, 24/7. I manually primed my system for a week beforehand, building up a bit of a bacteria buffer in the "acclimation" phase of carbon dosing. Then I hooked up the doser, let 'er rip, and started cleaning out a cup of skimmate every other day for a week. It tapered off after that.

This is just a temporary setup however, at that dilution I'm running the risk of a bacterial bloom inside my dosing container. Once my upgrade is done I'm going to run straight vinegar (5%) 24/7 to keep the SPS happy. The LPS is liking it too. I saw a little bit of a GHA outbreak initially from the extra carbon but it disappeared quickly as nutrient levels dropped.

I kept up with my 5gal/ wk water changes that are incurred from sucking up blown-out detritus too BTW. From 25+ to 5 with so little fuss, it was great.

How big is your skimmer?

 

[toothybugs]

Reef Octo SRO 1000

 

[Reefaholic1978]

Reef Octo SRO 1000

This will not work, no sump to put it in.

 

[Jscwerve]

This will not work, no sump to put it in.

Yes, very curious as to how this is hooked up.

 

[Reefaholic1978]

Wrong post

 

[schryvertime]

So i have decided to go the route of a few big water changes each week to reduce my nitrates. I have also decided to run Chemi-pure elite in my mechanical filter (im only using this for occasional A/C and water movement) A friend suggested the chemi pure and after reading some about it i decided to give it a try. Seems to be the bees knees by a hand full of people. I know that my high nitrates were due to my lack of husbandry work at the end of summer and have corrected my mistakes. The lessons you learn in your first year....

 

[Martini5788]

So i have decided to go the route of a few big water changes each week to reduce my nitrates. I have also decided to run Chemi-pure elite in my mechanical filter (im only using this for occasional A/C and water movement) A friend suggested the chemi pure and after reading some about it i decided to give it a try. Seems to be the bees knees by a hand full of people. I know that my high nitrates were due to my lack of husbandry work at the end of summer and have corrected my mistakes. The lessons you learn in your first year....

I think that's a great plan. Once you get them down to the level that you want, check your nitrates every few days to see how they are rising. Monitor them so that you can figure out what frequency you need to do water changes to maintain them at the level that you want, and make sure you
Don't over feed!

 

[Dmorty217]

Would I add the sea siporax to the side of the skimmer where it returns?
Where the blue bio media is?

View attachment 336421

It works better in a sump or in your case you could put it behind your rocks?

 

[slgcmg]

nopox worked wonders for me

 

[biecacka]

Dmorty do you use that in a reactor?

Corey

 

[Buzz1329]

Vinegar dosing dropped nitrates in both my tanks to below 1 ppm. But even with NO3 and PO4 at or below NSW levels, it does not necessarily translate to algae free tank.

Life is full of mysteries, including those that suck.

Mike

 

[schryvertime]

my gameplan. So my tank is 60g. I have heard take 30% off due to water displacement which means i have 42g of water. My friend said realistically im sitting probably around 50g of water. So for the time being im using 50g since that will be the more drastic of the two numbers. Im doing 30% water changes, 15g, today 12/17, saturday and then again on monday. Testing for nitrates before and after each change. Even though i have already deep cleaned all parts im going to do this once again today. Everything man made out of the tank and thoroughly clean. If need be i will do one more change on tuesday. I am also running Chemi-pure elite. I heard that this stuff will even make me breakfast so im giving it a shot.

 

[Dmorty217]

Dmorty do you use that in a reactor?

Corey

No mine is just in my sump and in the 100g Rubbermaid I have setup for the time being I have them in 2 baskets from the dollar store

 

[biecacka]

How much is recommended for a tank. 240 gallons

Corey