Best carbon dosing for high nitrate

Wyou

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My 120 gallon tank is running on ceramic and is a year old.
I have about 20-10 ppm No3 and 0.1-0.05 ppm PO4 now. I think it's high for nitrate. I use MBR7 2-3 times a week but see no effect. Reef Actif one spoonful a week, brings the nitrate down to 10 and it goes back up. All4Reef - I add 25 ml a day ( otherwise my pH rises a lot). The rest of the calcium comes from balling.
What would be the best carbon dosing method in this case?
Should I use TM NP-BACTER-BALANCE?
 

blaxsun

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Is nopox for the current difference between No3 and PO4 better than NP-bacter-balance?
I've literally tried every other commercial product for nitrates/phosphates, any with the exception of TLF PhosBan - only NOPOX had any noticeable impact (YMMV).
 

Duffer

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Vodka dosing and it worked for me...
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Randy Holmes-Farley

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I do not think it matters all that much which type of organic carbon you select, within the normal selection of vodka (ethanol) , vinegar (acetic acid), NOPOX ( a mix of these two and some minor ingredients, etc.

I personally prefer vinegar, but vodka and NOPOX both work fine.
 

Cjeippert

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I like to dose a small amount of nopox (5 ml a day for 180 gallon) to feed my beneficial bacteria. I still like to keep nitrates above 3ppm to 10ppm. I think the beneficial microbacter7 bacteria fed with nopox keep cyano and dinos from ever starting. I can tell when i am dosing too much as the slime mucus starts to appear in dark low flow areas. If nutrients get too high a few water changes should help reset. Definitely a balance with the many nutrient control export methods. Chaeto, gfo, filter floss sock, skimmer
 

Cjeippert

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My chaeto kept crashing because I dosed chaetogro and nopox. There is molybdenum and even more carbon in chaetogro and it caused chaeto to get mucusy and weak. Everyone I know with stable healthy chaeto prefers just iron dosing. I quit using BW Chaetogrow and now just use the ferrion BW chalared iron. Chaeto is growing faster and healthier ever since! My icp also no longer say high molybdenum warning may cause bacterial problems.
 

Cjeippert

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High carbon dosing could decrease your water ph and burn your corals with higher alkalinity as well. Lots of interplay with carbon dosing
 

Spare time

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My 120 gallon tank is running on ceramic and is a year old.
I have about 20-10 ppm No3 and 0.1-0.05 ppm PO4 now. I think it's high for nitrate. I use MBR7 2-3 times a week but see no effect. Reef Actif one spoonful a week, brings the nitrate down to 10 and it goes back up. All4Reef - I add 25 ml a day ( otherwise my pH rises a lot). The rest of the calcium comes from balling.
What would be the best carbon dosing method in this case?
Should I use TM NP-BACTER-BALANCE?

Why not add more reef actif more frequently? Carbon dosing is supposed to be daily

Also, all for reef can't raise your pH.
 

Spare time

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My chaeto kept crashing because I dosed chaetogro and nopox. There is molybdenum and even more carbon in chaetogro and it caused chaeto to get mucusy and weak. Everyone I know with stable healthy chaeto prefers just iron dosing. I quit using BW Chaetogrow and now just use the ferrion BW chalared iron. Chaeto is growing faster and healthier ever since! My icp also no longer say high molybdenum warning may cause bacterial problems.

I grew chaeto in a 40 gallon grow out to sell and packed the entire tank using chaetogro and f/2. Do you still carbon dose and use mb7?
 
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squirrelbaffler

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Diy NoPox. I use 1 gallon jug of Kroger white vinegar. Buy a cheap liter of Vodka (bowmans, aristocrat, etc) l. Add to empty gallon jug. Fill remainder with vinegar. I dose my 90 gallon bare bottom reef 3 ml four times a day. Hope this helps you out.

i don’t use any carbon and my water is crystal clear.
 

Cjeippert

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I grew chaeto in a 40 gallon grow out to sell and packed the entire tank using chaetogro and f/2. Do you still carbon dose and use mb7?
So I am just using nopox and iron now. I used to use chaetogro and it worked great until I started using nopox. My ICP indicates molybdenum was way too high and Gave me a danger warning that it could lead to bacteria which is what I thought was bothering the chaeto from time to time. (Since molybdenum is an ingredient of chaetogro) Back then I used like 11ml of nopox per day with 35 to 70 ml of chaetogro per week in a 180 gallon.

I occasionally add microbacter7 on a sporadic basis like once or twice a month at about 35 ml. Thought is it is good to replenish some bacteria. But of I dose mb7 regularly with nopox I get mucus spots. Ised to get a bit cloudy prior to my uv sterilizer
 

Pistondog

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Vinegar is less likely, anecdotally, and ime, to aggravate cyano, which is bacteria.
 

Cjeippert

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I grew chaeto in a 40 gallon grow out to sell and packed the entire tank using chaetogro and f/2. Do you still carbon dose and use mb7?
You just gave me an idea of what to do with an old 40gallon breefer/ quarantine tank. Since I do not add new fish, it has been sitting for a year plus. Maybe fill it with macro algae and or pods
 

EakTheFreak

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I dose NoPox! My nitrates sky rocketed without me realizing and were up to 47 PPM. I now sit at 5-7PPM range by dosing 10 ML per day on my 171 Gallon tank.

I also add Microbacter 7 once a month. My corals have been looking amazing since getting the nitrates in the single digits numbers. The torch’s are what I am starting to believe do better with lower nitrate but who really knows lol.
 

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