Nopox. Mistake using it? Now i have cyano abd hair algae

[joeyrm7]

My 65 gallon mixed sps lps tank has been set up for 18 months. My nitrates had been running 8-10 ppm (salifert) and po4 with gfo running was undetectable (hanna). Decided that i wantedlower nitrates so i started dising Nopox in december. Now no3 is at 1 and pi4 between 0-.01. The problem that i am having is ggat i now have cyano on my sand. I Reduced the nopox from 1 to .5 to .25 ml per 25 gallons per red seas instructions. How do i rid myself of cyano? I also have hair algae in the overflow but not in the dt or fuge. The rest of my parameters are spot on.

 

[mike007]

I had the same issue with cyano after using this product. I was getting cotton candy algae myself and I contacted company but no solutions. I quit using it and tried all the so called true methods to rid the cyano but nothing worked. I finally resorted to using cyanoclean and it worked and have not had any issues yet. Now I am dosing vinegar with excellent results.

 

[joeyrm7]

Got home tonight and my tank has the most algae on the tank ever. Think its time to say no to nopox

 

[mike007]

Most of the algae Issues are caused by excess feeding causing too many nutrients in tank. You might want to reduce your feedings and see if that helps. Algae has to have a source in order to grow.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Got home tonight and my tank has the most algae on the tank ever. Think its time to say no to nopox

Green algae? Or the cyanobacteria?

Cyano can result from organic carbon dosing, and reducing the dose seems appropriate.

If it is green algae, and the GFO is being used as usual, I doubt the NOPOX is directly related.

 

[joeyrm7]

I discontinued the use of GFO in accordance with the instructions and it has not been in use for 2 months. After 2 days my glass was covered in green algae and i had the usual amount of cyano. Hair algae has grown back in the return after 6 days of cleaning. Whats the best course of action at this point? Reintroduce GFO, discontinue nopox or both? Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Stopping the GFO is probably why the green algae came back. I'd keep using the GFO, and reduce the NOPOX dose.

 

[joeyrm7]

Guess you can't believe everything that Red Sea tells you. I will do as you suggest and hope for the best. I'm one of those OCD A types that tries to do eveything by the appropriate numbers so I get crazy when situations like this occur ie creating a problem where one didn't really exist for the sake of trying to provide the best environment. Thanks

 

[Jay6363]

I have been using no3 pox for two years I have never had these issues, and it has been extremely effective at reducing both. I follow instructions and titrate dose as needed.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have been using no3 pox for two years I have never had these issues, and it has been extremely effective at reducing both. I follow instructions and titrate dose as needed.

The result with cyanobacteria and any carbon dosing method likely relates to the species of bacteria naturally present in the tank, and may vary tank to tank.

 

[billwill]

I just took mine offline too. Cyano just won't get under control, and that's only dosing enough to maintain 2 ppm nitrate. I've noticed a couple sps colonies with bases receding a bit too while running this. I'm going to run nothing for a few weeks then start vinegar dosing based on just finishing a couple of very fine articles written by the one and only Randy Holmes-Farley. I'm still so excited that he's on this site and writing articles for us!

 

[joeyrm7]

Please let me know your results after ceasing nopox. I may be doing that as well

 

[gann810]

I use nopox for 2 years I found my problem was thinking my water was too clean and compensating by feeding more and resulted in cyano (I think) I keep forgetting a healthy tank is a hungry tank For me everything comes back to over feeding I was going to stop using nopox but thought I would change my feeding first but thanks for starting this post I am going to follow it !!!

 

[joeyrm7]

Billwill

Any update on how your tank is doing without nopox?

 

[Brandee Lace Grivois]

Not sure if any of you will respond, but I am curious how your tanks are doing without NO3? I am battling cyano right now. I cut way back on feeding, my levels are all good, and I am doing the no lights for 3 days thing to kill it. Well today is day 3 and the cyano is still spreading. I plan to do a 20% water change tomorrow as well. I haven't used the NO3 yet today after reading this forum and a few others. If you could let me know how your tanks are, that would be great. Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Just to clarify, I'd write NOPOX or something similar if that's what you mean. Most will read NO3 as nitrate.

 

[Brandee Lace Grivois]

Yes NOPOX.

 

[Dixon B]

updates from anyone who has weaned their system off of nopox? I am currently doing the same thing with nopox and now I am experiencing cyano. Feeding too much definitely isn't the issue as the tank I am speaking of is just for corals and a few clean up crew. I have also increased my flow more over the last few weeks just because it has been in my plans for that tank for a while. I know that if anything increased flow will help prevent cyano, but I couldn't help but lol at the fact that it shows up once I do. Any advice on the chances of nopox being part of the equation would be appreciated, as i'm a little confused as to anything else it possibly could be.

 

[Dan_P]

updates from anyone who has weaned their system off of nopox? I am currently doing the same thing with nopox and now I am experiencing cyano. Feeding too much definitely isn't the issue as the tank I am speaking of is just for corals and a few clean up crew. I have also increased my flow more over the last few weeks just because it has been in my plans for that tank for a while. I know that if anything increased flow will help prevent cyano, but I couldn't help but lol at the fact that it shows up once I do. Any advice on the chances of nopox being part of the equation would be appreciated, as i'm a little confused as to anything else it possibly could be.

Try restarting NOPOX and see if the cyanobacteria goes away.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

updates from anyone who has weaned their system off of nopox? I am currently doing the same thing with nopox and now I am experiencing cyano. Feeding too much definitely isn't the issue as the tank I am speaking of is just for corals and a few clean up crew. I have also increased my flow more over the last few weeks just because it has been in my plans for that tank for a while. I know that if anything increased flow will help prevent cyano, but I couldn't help but lol at the fact that it shows up once I do. Any advice on the chances of nopox being part of the equation would be appreciated, as i'm a little confused as to anything else it possibly could be.

Organic carbon dosing can drive cyano since cyanobacteria can happily consume organics. Different types of cyano may prefer different organics, so switching to something else may be desirable, although NOPOX is a mixture so if you have a strain that likes everything in the mix, it takes away options.

This is why I switched from vodka (more cyano in my tank) to vinegar (less cyano in my tank).