Carbon dosing a FOWLR tank that has Copper Power

[James_C]

first post ever on this site, but long story short I have a 200 gal water volume fish only tank that is currently running copper power. My nitrates are already above 75ppm but I have been carbon dosing vodka for a bit. It seemed to be working before the copper power was added (nitrates wet down from 60ppm to 45ppm) but once I started adding copper in my tank to treat for ich, vodka doesn’t seem to be reducing nitrates, it’s now over 75ppm.

2 part question
1) does copper power reduce the effectiveness of vodka dosing and if so should I stop doing it entirely or does it mean I have to actually increase my dosage to maybe 1.5x or 2x the normal amount?

2) the other thing that it could be is that it’s been over a month since my last water change, would infrequent water changes actually cause the carbon dosing to lose its effectiveness?

Thanks

 

[dyno]

You are focused on the wrong thing bro. Forget the vodka and do some large water changes to get nitrates down. Make sure you keep copper power above 2-2.5. If you do regular WC your fish will be healthy and fight ick better. Keep sg around 1.016.

 

[James_C]

You are focused on the wrong thing bro. Forget the vodka and do some large water changes to get nitrates down. Make sure you keep copper power above 2-2.5. If you do regular WC your fish will be healthy and fight ick better. Keep sg around 1.016.

You mean specifically while in copper treatment or always (ie don’t bother carbon dosing period)?

I mean im preparing a 55gal water change as we speak but it’s a lot of water and salt to have to do that every week or two. If I long term could get away with once a mont that’s where I would like to be

 

[dyno]

I am guessing you have big fish like me and feed heavy. Dosing a carbon source helps in low nutrient tanks like reef tanks but isn’t super effective in tanks like ours. I do 20-30% water changes every 2/3 weeks. Look into a sulfur reactor they drop nitrates very well. Do you have a good skimmer?

 

[James_C]

I am guessing you have big fish like me and feed heavy. Dosing a carbon source helps in low nutrient tanks like reef tanks but isn’t super effective in tanks like ours. I do 20-30% water changes every 2/3 weeks. Look into a sulfur reactor they drop nitrates very well. Do you have a good skimmer?

Yeah large fish, 2 puffers, 2 wrasses, 8 tangs , 3 angels and a trigger. I could settle for every 3 weeks that’s more do able. I also have an algae scrubber and use a bio pellet reactor but I’m finding neither of those are very effective. My skimmer is probably a bit undersized but I clean it out every 2-3 days, it’s a curve 7 extreme. I have read a bit about surfer reactors but wasn’t sure how safe it was and how effective. Is that what you use as well?

 

[dyno]

Do you have sand in your tank? I run all my tanks bare bottom and that is a game changer with much less organic build up. Bubble magus skimmers are good it should be pulling a lot of waste with your bio load. I’ve got triggers, angels, tangs, lionfish, and rabbits/butterflies that are 8-12 inches and feed heavy too. Yes the aquamaxx sulfur reactor was a game changer for me!

Yeah large fish, 2 puffers, 2 wrasses, 8 tangs , 3 angels and a trigger. I could settle for every 3 weeks that’s more do able. I also have an algae scrubber and use a bio pellet reactor but I’m finding neither of those are very effective. My skimmer is probably a bit undersized but I clean it out every 2-3 days, it’s a curve 7 extreme. I have read a bit about surfer reactors but wasn’t sure how safe it was and how effective. Is that what you use as well?

 

[James_C]

Do you have sand in your tank? I run all my tanks bare bottom and that is a game changer with much less organic build up. Bubble magus skimmers are good it should be pulling a lot of waste with your bio load. I’ve got triggers, angels, tangs, lionfish, and rabbits/butterflies that are 8-12 inches and feed heavy too. Yes the aquamaxx sulfur reactor was a game changer for me!

Bare bottom as well. Sounds like we’re pretty much running the same thing lol. Right yes I have 2 lions and 2 foxface as well. Skimmer is pulling a lot out especially when vodka dosing. I’ll attach a few pics to give extra context. How much would you say the sulfur reactor is actually reducing nitrates. For example if I don’t dose anything my nitrates raise about 5-8ppm per day. It’s not sustainable keeping it lower with just water changes otherwise i pretty well have to flush 50 gallons weekly.

 

[dyno]

Tanks been on auto pilot. Will test Nitrates tomorrow and let you know. I am in 3 weeks and need to do a water change this weekend. Reactors house anaerobic bacteria which have to grow in the reactor so it takes a couple weeks but the results are shockingly good.

 

[James_C]

Tanks been on auto pilot. Will test Nitrates tomorrow and let you know. I am in 3 weeks and need to do a water change this weekend. Reactors house anaerobic bacteria which have to grow in the reactor so it takes a couple weeks but the results are shockingly good.

Sounds good man and thanks for the advice/help. Nice tank. I have way too much rock probably but I need hiding spots for my fish for now. May remove some as they grow and need more space. I’ll look into the sulfur reactor in the meantime.

Ps love the clown trigger. I had one but it was nipping at my puffer and eel so I had to rehome it. Hope to try another one soon.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I don’t see a reason for the organic carbon dosing to change in effectiveness when using copper, but I’m not sure if copper might not have killed off something. They something may have been using the ethanol, or it may now be decaying and releasing N.

 

[James_C]

I don’t see a reason for the organic carbon dosing to change in effectiveness when using copper, but I’m not sure if copper might not have killed off something. They something may have been using the ethanol, or it may now be decaying and releasing N.

You mean maybe the copper may have killed off the anaerobic bacteria so the carbon source isn’t doing anything and may be contributing to the problem? I’ll be doing a water change tonight or tomorrow to hopefully bring the nitrates down to a measurable range.

 

[James_C]

@dyno what about something like this but use biopellets and not sulfur?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You mean maybe the copper may have killed off the anaerobic bacteria so the carbon source isn’t doing anything and may be contributing to the problem? I’ll be doing a water change tonight or tomorrow to hopefully bring the nitrates down to a measurable range.

Doesn’t need to be anaerobic bacteria that died. Could be aerobic bacteria or a wide range of organisms that use ethanol and take up N and P.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

@dyno what about something like this but use biopellets and not sulfur?

I’m not a huge fan of biopellets since it is harder to adjust the extent and timing of its effects.

 

[James_C]

I’m not a huge fan of biopellets since it is harder to adjust the extent and timing of its effects.

Yeah it’s more set it and forget it compared to carbon dosing. I’ve got no problem really sticking to using vodka, it’s just it would be nice if something seemed to work while running copper otherwise I’ll just do my water change and basically leave as is for a month no matter how bad the water quality gets ‍