Cloudy water from Nopox every water change

ReefSlice · Mar 15, 2018

I have a 40 gallon/20 gallon sump and have been dosing Nopox for over 2 months now. I started off high (6 ml/day) and got a bunch of snot and cloudy water. Brought it down to 3 ml/day and kept it there for about a month while I used that and water changes to get nitrate down from 50+ to 3 ppm. That was 2 weeks ago, and ever since I have made my way down to 1.5 ml. I still, after every weekly water change (20%) get a bacterial bloom and cloudy water on day 2/3 before it clears back up, and sometimes it remains somewhat cloudy for days. My phosphate has also come up to .08 from .00 (nitrates steady at 3 ppm) so I would like to go up to 2 ml/day slowly but am afraid it will just make my water cloudy. Any tips on where I should go for dosing from here? I don't run carbon. It doesn't seem to be harming anything other than obviously blocking light to my corals for a few days a week but it's mainly just unsightly.

SPR1968 · Mar 16, 2018

Firstly depending on your bio load NoPox doesn’t control phosphate very well (unless you maybe have a very low bioload).It’s great for Nitrate but not so for phosphate and you have to skim very wet to get the best from NoPox.

My phosphate crept up until it hit 0.16ppm, I had hair algea so I had to do something. I turned to Rhowaphos in a reactor and that solved the phosphate which is locked down to 0-0.03ppm. This is run along side NoPox with no ill effects.

20% is a fairly large water change for every week (but all systems are different) and could the cloudiness be coming from some precipitation from the new salt water? Also are you using RODI water with 0 TDS?

If it’s not the new water and it’s Nopox, just drop the dose right down until the cloudiness stops and then slowly increase the dose until you get the right balance with no bacterial blooms.

I’ve being using NoPox for nearly 2 years and it’s just a matter of getting the dosage balanced for your system. I have 650 litres (around 550actual water) and dose around 16-18ml per day and my Nitrate is around 5-16ppm. I have a very high bioload which you can see on my build thread!

ReefSlice · Mar 16, 2018

When dosing 3 ml I had my po4 down to .00, hence why I know I can get the po4 back down with nopox. Perhaps I will just continue with 1.5 ml dose and add a small bag of gfo to the sump just to slightly being po4 down. I was under the assumption that 1.5 is a pretty low dose for 50g system. my water cleared up again today, perhaps I will just drop down to 10% water changes a week and see what happens.

tango0102 · Mar 16, 2018

I have used nopox for about a year now on a 180g with a 40g sump. Initially started with 10ml, but now am dosing about 6ml, along with phosban and carbon. When I started I had bacterial bloom but it went away after a week of not dosing. With nopox you have to increase in very small amounts especially in a small tank; then test the water frequently until you have it dialed in.

bdejong1112o · Mar 18, 2018

Jumping in here as I am on day 5 of starting with NoPox and the water has been cloudy since day 1. I have about 250ish total water volume and with a starting Nitrate level of about 35 I followed the directions and started with 30ml. Is what I am reading correct that the bloom may just be using to high of a starting dose and that reducing the dose may clear up the bloom? Hate the way it looks but nothing in the tank appears to be stressed out yet. I am a mixed tank with mostly LPS with a few of the very hardy SPS in there. Want to get it dialed in so I can manage the Ntrates, Phosphates are managed with a GFO reactor and a schedule.

SPR1968 · Mar 18, 2018

bdejong1112o said:
Jumping in here as I am on day 5 of starting with NoPox and the water has been cloudy since day 1. I have about 250ish total water volume and with a starting Nitrate level of about 35 I followed the directions and started with 30ml. Is what I am reading correct that the bloom may just be using to high of a starting dose and that reducing the dose may clear up the bloom? Hate the way it looks but nothing in the tank appears to be stressed out yet. I am a mixed tank with mostly LPS with a few of the very hardy SPS in there. Want to get it dialed in so I can manage the Ntrates, Phosphates are managed with a GFO reactor and a schedule.

It sounds like it’s just a bacterial bloom so I would reduce the dose, by maybe 50% and see what happens and then reduce further if the bloom continues.

When it clears just increase the dose back upwards slowly over a week or so until you get the balance and feel for how it works.

I have used it for nearly 2 years and I can tell when the dose is getting to high because I either get white slime forming mainly in the sump area (which you can disperse by causing the water surface to ripple with a power head which is what I do), or/and the glass gets a fine layer of whiteish film on it. Then I just back down a few ml’s.

On the dosing I assume your 250 gallons so it’s sounds around the correct dose at 3ml per 25 gallons. I’ve been as high as 4ml per 25 gallons after referring to Red Sea and with close monitoring.

Once you get the hang of it, it’s very straightforward to use and works very well on Nitrate control.