Start of Nopox

[Marius Swart]

So I decided to start dosing Nopox as im very new to SPS .
Started on 2ml nopox
Specs :
As follows
KH - 8
CA - 400
Mg - 1380

Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0.20
Phosphate 0.16
The next day phosphate was 0.08 but might have misjudged the first day I believe
Did a 25% wc day 3

Its a 180l cube
I have no idea how much live rock is in the tank
Curve 5 skimmer ( skimmate does look darker but skimmer only started skimming before dosing )
2500 lph return pump
RW4 powerhead running on max 4000lph

Fish :
Yellow tang
Yellow corris wrasse
Percula clown
Manderin Female
Manderin Male
Royal Gramma
Flasher wrasse ( new in quarantine still )
2 cleaner shrimps
1 local shrimp

I run refugium with 10w floodlight , cheato and macro

I will update pics very often and im only adding reef fuel 5ml 2x a week

DAy 1

 

[Marius Swart]

Day 5 Added a new sps for a good friend, do hope I keep it alive

 

[lion king]

Tank looks good; I'd go slow and underdose rather than overdose. Test frequently, even more than once a week recommended.

 

[Marius Swart]

Im testing twice a week and slightly underdosing . I should be dosing 2ml per 100l . Will test today and check everything

 

[DLuce510]

I would say NoPoX would do your system more harm than good with No3 being at .2. I used it to get nitrates under control but once it went down it would not come back up. That was a year and a half ago, most would say that's a good problem to have but my acros were paling, slow to grow and would ultimately die. I actually dose nitrates to my system to keep it around 2-4 ppm.
Have your own experience but the camp that says you must have 0 No3 and Po4 to have sps proved to be flat wrong in my case. I've had far better coloration and growth with low but detectable nutrients, corals need them to grow.

 

[Marius Swart]

Im only aiming my phos at 0.04 and nitrates i would like to get to around 1. I agree with you but i will test and see . My 1 acro is getting better colour again , my nitrates stays around 2 but need to update later today . Thanks for the input

 

[Marius Swart]

So tested
Phos 0.04
Nitrate .20

Would you guys say rather half the dosage now that phos has dropped ?

 

[ALs FLorida Corals]

I would half the dosage . eventually it starts to get to 0 on the phos and thats not good. I usually use NOPO every once in a while to bring the phos down. nitrates at 20 are not necessarily bad.

 

[Marius Swart]

Thank you , i did half the dosage since i noticed glass algae turning white , will be testing soon again but will stay at 1ml as i don want 0 at all

 

[Alopez0105]

also depends on what type of corals u keep. some coals don't like extremely low phosphates nor nitrates

 

[Alopez0105]

they won't grow

 

[Marius Swart]

Yes that's why im adding reef fuel , but will change from reef fuel to red sea energy a + b . I have a mixed coral tank , from softies to sps ,so far everything is doing okey , will test to see levels and then dose not to 0 phos or nitrate

 

[Marius Swart]

Tested
Phosfate 0.02
Nitrate down to 15

Since they are down i started with reef energy yesterday . Will update again during the week , cleaned some live rock ( full of zoas and shrooms) now sps have some space .

i do believe the one birds is getting a more redish coulor

 

[Marius Swart]

Time for an update
Nopox at week 3 and reef energy dosed for a just over a week
I noticed way brighter colours from zoas and the golden tip b grade torch . On the acro much better polyp extensions .
Nitrates jumped to 20 within the first 2 days and just after this update I will test again.

 

[Marius Swart]

So been feeding a frozen block everyday and dosing 2.5ml of both energy a and b .

Phos stays at 0.04
Nitrate stays between 1ppm to 1.5ppm
Dosing 1ml , if it stays like this ill be happy . I did however noticed my MG drops like craze , about one spoon every 2nd day

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I did however noticed my MG drops like craze , about one spoon every 2nd day

If by MG you mean magnesium, it can't drop rapidly except by water change. It won't typically drop more than 1-2 ppm per day, and some folks will see much less. Usually it is 10% or less than the calcium drop, since they are used together.

 

[Marius Swart]

I understand , but it droped from 1360 to 1260 in the first week while normal dosing rate im used to . But its up to 1360 again now . Im using blue truesure for wc and the magnesium is ussualy around 1350

 

[Marius Swart]

So far not the results i was planning on with sps corals . Phos stays 0.04 and less , nitrates stays 1ppm so thats where i wanted it but no sps colour

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I understand , but it droped from 1360 to 1260 in the first week while normal dosing rate im used to . But its up to 1360 again now . Im using blue truesure for wc and the magnesium is ussualy around 1350

Sorry, but that is testing error unless you did massive water changes with a very low magnesium mix. It is not possible for 100 ppm to be consumed in a week.

 

[Marius Swart]

No testing error , Magnesium and Ca does seems to drop both , I dosed 6 spoons seachem within 8 days trying to up it , now still at 1320.

17-01-10 - 17-01-18
KH - 4 spoons
CA - 3 spoons
Mg - 8 spoons Mg droped and I upped it during this week from 1280 - 1360

17-01-19 - 17-01-29
KH - 3 spoons
CA - 2 spoons
Mg - 2 spoons

17-01-30 17-02-11
KH - 6 KH was always stable at 8 but I gradually upped it to 9
CA - 4 CA always between 380-400
Mg - 6 Mg still at 1320 where I want it at 1400

I test almost every day and dose daily from half a spoon and keep book of every single thing I dose
And I do 25% wc monthly and with Blue truesure salt the readings
Kh 8-9
Ca 350-400
Mg 1320-1400



I have to add , this cube from the start used average as follows
KH - 4 spoons a week
CA - 3 spoons a week
Mg - 3 spoons a week