Can I use Nopox?

[mrpontiac80]

Hello all. So I have been thinking of starting Nopox but have concerns. Here they are with info on my setup. I am just over 1 year in the hobby with this tank.

I have a Waterbox all in one 65.4 gallon.
I have a Tunze 9004 skimmer and I also use 2 small bags of Chemipure blue. One under each filter cup section on opposite ends of the tank. Each one is good for up to 35 gallons.

my tank is becoming very stable but my nitrate and phosphate stays higher than I feel like it should be.

salinity— 1.025
Ph— 8.2
Temp— 78
Nitrate— 19 ppm
Phosphate— .15 ppm
Alk— 8.4 dkh
Calcium—440 Ppm
Magnesium 1500 ppm

I recently did an ICP test and everything looks really great except my iodine was low so I dosed ATI’s iodine as recommended for 3 days.
My tank is mixed reef but my sps just really struggles with exception of a couple of pieces.

My main concern with Nopox is that a skimmer is required but is my 9004 Tunze enough?
Also if I start Nopox, will I need to quit using Chemipure blue?

 

[homer1475]

I personally don't think those numbers are high at all.

If you want to start nopox to lower them, then by all means go for it. Just start slow, you'll see if your skimmer can hold up.

 

[mrpontiac80]

I personally don't think those numbers are high at all.

If you want to start nopox to lower them, then by all means go for it. Just start slow, you'll see if your skimmer can hold up.

I’ve had the Nopox on hand for a couple of months now and I have been back and forth on using it or not. I am just really having a hard time with my sps not browning out and or eventually bleaching. I have a green monti cap that has tripled in size over 2 months but right next to it a grafted red/ green monti cap that lost half its color. I have a yellow tips that is starting to encrust while other Types near it look very rough.
I know it takes time and stability but after the ICP test and all, I just feel like maybe it was my nitrates and phosphates? Par is anywhere from 200-350 where most are kept and plenty of flow from two gyres providing random flow.

 

[Dan_P]

Hello all. So I have been thinking of starting Nopox but have concerns. Here they are with info on my setup. I am just over 1 year in the hobby with this tank.

I have a Waterbox all in one 65.4 gallon.
I have a Tunze 9004 skimmer and I also use 2 small bags of Chemipure blue. One under each filter cup section on opposite ends of the tank. Each one is good for up to 35 gallons.

my tank is becoming very stable but my nitrate and phosphate stays higher than I feel like it should be.

salinity— 1.025
Ph— 8.2
Temp— 78
Nitrate— 19 ppm
Phosphate— .15 ppm
Alk— 8.4 dkh
Calcium—440 Ppm
Magnesium 1500 ppm

I recently did an ICP test and everything looks really great except my iodine was low so I dosed ATI’s iodine as recommended for 3 days.
My tank is mixed reef but my sps just really struggles with exception of a couple of pieces.

My main concern with Nopox is that a skimmer is required but is my 9004 Tunze enough?
Also if I start Nopox, will I need to quit using Chemipure blue?

Numbers do not look like a call for action.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If you do choose to use NOPOX, go extra slow so that nitrate does not drop below 2-3 ppm (IMO).

 

[mrpontiac80]

Thanks guys. Guess I’ll keep on keeping on and just know I have it if I need it.

 

[blaxsun]

I had the same issue that you did - my nitrates and phosphates were starting to creep up. So I dosed NOPOX for a week and while it did bring levels down slightly everything started looking like crap. Not dead - just not as vibrant as they used to be. I just decided to leave the levels where they were. I still have NOPOX, but I'll probably just keep it on-hand for emergencies going forward.

 

[Ascartes]

If you dose very slowly and ramp up to where you find a spot where it isn't actively lowering by more than 5-10% a day; you'll probably be safe to use it. I've experimented a lot with it from dumping a ton in and having it remove 60% of nitrate basically in 2 days, (water was super cloudy, but skimmer got it all out within 4ish hours) to dosing minute amounts that were basically a waste of time. I'm not sure if the bacteria that utilize it have any lighting/surface requirements I'm unaware of; but with my usage of it I would only use it as a maintenance tool(as in daily dosing), and not a 'fix' for anything. I will say, the dump for 60% of nitrate was way cheaper than the salt for water change would have been, and I have enough airstones around that it didn't stress my fish any.
Of course that did come with some serious color loss in birdsnest that lasted about 3 weeks, but my soft corals (torch) didn't seem to mind at all. I think some of my corals fed off the extra bacteria because a few (chalice/lepto) exploded about 4 days after, but it could also just be because nitrate was lower and more favorable to them. I didn't monitor phosphate during either of these outside of making sure it was never 0 or close to it.

Always an option to try small amounts and see how your individual system tolerates it. I've had better reactions from it in tanks that used MB7 to start it than I did with API Quick start or Seachem Stability. Both tanks have had biospira poured into them so it didn't seem to matter that way. All data points that I don't have enough of to correlate to one thing or another, just anecdotes for someone else to use.