whew hoo. phosphates are zero for once.

[markandkristen]

been dosing sugars and put phosphate remover in the media bag in th sump.

i also started dosing magnesium got it a little high around 1500

my calcium is 475 and dkh is 13 per salifert so i think i will hold off on the two part for a little while been using kalk as my top off as well.

i also have been dosing sugar for two weeks now. man the skimmer is making the nastiest stuff alive.
i started with 1 teaspoon and now am almost up to a tablespoon.

seems to be working well. i have to clean my skimmers almost every day because theier is so many bubbles in the cup. looks almost like a bubble king. i did the mesh wheel mod on them as well about a month ago and they really are doing well.

 

[plyle02]

markandkristen,
Congrats..... I am trying to dial in as well, I still have detectable readings, per Salifert, on PO4 and NO3. Are you dosing sugar to remove phospates? Reason I ask, is I have a well lit fuge, bullet skimmer 1, running phosban reactor, and using RO/DI w/ zero on TDS. With that said, I still cannot get my levels dialed in to zero. Can you share with us the before/ after results, dosing procedures, and quantities? Thanks so much, and glad to hear about your successes...
Perry

 

[mflamb]

Be careful with the sugar. It's a carbon source for the bacteria, which multiply to the level of the food source. When the food source disappears, so does the bacteria.
And congratulations on the successes!!!

 

[markandkristen]

well i had phosphates per salifert.a light blue. couldnt really tell whether it was .003 or .05

hadnt really checked NO3 in a while .

i read on randy H. Farley's about adding a carbon source and was a little reluctant. well i did dose a while back and it made my water cloudy because of a bacteria bloom.

so i decided to start off with 1 teaspoon for the 150 gallons. i put it down my overflow so my sock filter would catch anything that wasnt disolved. then i noticed that my skimmers were working overtime so to speak on both of my euroreefs ....it would give me like a half of the actuall skimmer cup almost every day.

also noticed i was having to change my sock filters more often. which is ok because i made like 18 of them a while back from the walmart material. ....pretty much every other day. only like 10 bucks if you have a sewing machine.

the thing with the sugar is you need a good skimmer to work in conjuction. i wasnt afraid to up the dosage because i was running two skimmers. so after one week i went up to 2 teaspoons and now in week three last night i did one tablespoon. i will probably keep it at 1 tablespoon then next week then down to two and then the following week down to maybe a teaspoon and a half .

i read on the sugar adding forum where one guy has been doing this for a year with good results. i never could get my phosphate down to zero but now they are now .... thier maybe inorganic phosphates or organics not sure on which one we test for on saliferts. but at least im getting thier. i just got a bunch of sps frags and started to get scared as far as phosphates.

i guess its a catch 22. every time you feed you add phosphates so i guess the best way to take them away is mechanical filterization which actually does it (skimmer) i just kinda help it with the sugar.

 

[plyle02]

Great stuff, thanks for the info...

 

[markandkristen]

i think the most important thing is you have to bring it up slowly and down slowly and try to match your food source so to speak. if you feed alot then maybe more sugar. if less food then less sugar.
like im thinking that 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons will be a normal dosing. probably closer to 1.

 

[plyle02]

Thanks alot, I really appreciate the feedback. I recently converted to BB, and so far have had alot more success in controlling nutrients. I am probably about 1-2 more weeks away from getting this skimmer dialed in, recently added a bullet 1. I am due for a media change in my phosban reactor, and we'll see.... Kinda funny what we will do to ensure our tanks are premium, and sacrifice our own way of life in the process....LOL....

 

[mflamb]

It's working, so you've got something figured out!!!
Like you said, change slowly.

 

[guntercb]

Thanks for posting. I have read great stuff about dosing sugar. Right now my NO3 is zero. I have never tested for phospahte, but I plan to get a test kit before the year ends and start testing.

But sometimes ignorance is bliss. (-: I mean if my corals seem fine and everything seems ok and then I test for phosphate it it is above "normal" levels should I change what I do?

Cheers,
Chris

 

[markandkristen]

thats true. if its working then i would keep doing what your doing. high phosphates from what ive read and learned usually feed nusiance alge and retard the growth of corals. especially sps.