Dosing Brightwell NeoNitro and got an unexpected result

skipcurl

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My 100 Gallon tank has been Nitrate starved for months now. 0 on the test kits. Phosphates are running from .04 to .08.

And I have lots of Dinoflagellates. Everywhere. For a long time. Tried to manually remove for months by brush, etc. I finally got around to trying to figure this out and I have been doing a lot of reading (dangerous, I am sure). I have learned that my Nitrate/Phosphate cycle is completely screwed up and I decided to use the Brightwell balance approach (for now) to see if I could start to get myself out of this mess.

So, I dosed (exactly what it said on the bottle) 40 ml of Neonitro into my tank to see if I could kickstart the micorbes into doing their thing. Also put in a capful of Microbacter7. Based on the reading that should have brought me up to 4 PPM for Nitrates. Not even close. Did a reading this morning and got .1 PPM (at least we are going in the correct direction). I thought I would be carbon-limited if anything. Not this. Was my tank so starved that they just vanished? Phosphates did go down about .01 (but that could be a reading error). All other parameters did not move at all (maybe alk, ca, orp went up a small amount).

Should I dose another 40 ml. Well actually I already did. Anybody heard of this. Also, I did test the product in a separate test sample and the Nitrate is in the product.

Thanks
 

ReefSlice

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My 100 Gallon tank has been Nitrate starved for months now. 0 on the test kits. Phosphates are running from .04 to .08.

And I have lots of Dinoflagellates. Everywhere. For a long time. Tried to manually remove for months by brush, etc. I finally got around to trying to figure this out and I have been doing a lot of reading (dangerous, I am sure). I have learned that my Nitrate/Phosphate cycle is completely screwed up and I decided to use the Brightwell balance approach (for now) to see if I could start to get myself out of this mess.

So, I dosed (exactly what it said on the bottle) 40 ml of Neonitro into my tank to see if I could kickstart the micorbes into doing their thing. Also put in a capful of Microbacter7. Based on the reading that should have brought me up to 4 PPM for Nitrates. Not even close. Did a reading this morning and got .1 PPM (at least we are going in the correct direction). I thought I would be carbon-limited if anything. Not this. Was my tank so starved that they just vanished? Phosphates did go down about .01 (but that could be a reading error). All other parameters did not move at all (maybe alk, ca, orp went up a small amount).

Should I dose another 40 ml. Well actually I already did. Anybody heard of this. Also, I did test the product in a separate test sample and the Nitrate is in the product.

Thanks
Whenever I dosed these nutrient products, it took a few days to really register on test kits. I would wait 3 or 4 days and test again.
 

Saltyreef

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In a perfectly sterile system with nothing consuming nitrate or phosphate or binding phosphate.....you might get 4ppm....lol.

Your system is consuming as you add....
As said above....continue to go slow....maybe half the dose....and watch out for the ketchup effect (more so with phosphate dosing)

Also, keep an eye on your phosphates that you dont bottom them out by dosing too much nitrate, unaware of the consequences.
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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Should I dose another 40 ml. Well actually I already did. Anybody heard of this. Also, I did test the product in a separate test sample and the Nitrate is in the product.

Thanks

Yes, keep dosing.

When nutrients are very low, many organisms are wanting them, and if you dose them, will take up the added nutrients for a while until they are satisfied and at a more balanced nutrient situation.
 
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skipcurl

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In a perfectly sterile system with nothing consuming nitrate or phosphate or binding phosphate.....you might get 4ppm....lol.

Your system is consuming as you add....
As said above....continue to go slow....maybe half the dose....and watch out for the ketchup effect (more so with phosphate dosing)

Also, keep an eye on your phosphates that you dont bottom them out by dosing too much nitrate, unaware of the consequences.
Thanks. I was thinking I might bottom out my phosphates. I have some Neophosphos for that!! Good to hear I am on the correct track. Now I see why they say it takes years to master this hobby and we never get there.
 
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skipcurl

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Yes, keep dosing.

When nutrients are very low, many organisms are wanting them, and if you dose them, will take up the added nutrients for a while until they are satisfied and at a more balanced nutrient situation.
Thanks Randy for your continued responses. Glad to hear I am going the correct direction. Your guides and willingness to answer basic questions is refreshing. I am thinking I might had made a step in the correct direction now.
 

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