Elimi-NP dosing help

[haitian_reefer]

Hi All,

I'm hoping I can get some help with my first time carbon dosing with Elimi-NP. I started dosing Elimi-NP 2 days ago at a rate for 5ML per day. Prior to dosing my NO3 was 27.8 and my PO4 was 0.12. After 2 days my NO3 dropped to 26 and my P04 dropped to 0. I just fed my tank some reef roid to get P04 back up to detectable numbers. What should I do going forward? Stop carbon dosing? or switch to NP Bacto balance? My tank is a Waterbox 7225 Peninsula, so I'm guessing volume is 200 gal

 

[haitian_reefer]

@Lou Ekus

 

[haitian_reefer]

Ok dosing reef roid did bring my PO4 back up (never fails).

 

[Lou Ekus]

Hi All,

I'm hoping I can get some help with my first time carbon dosing with Elimi-NP. I started dosing Elimi-NP 2 days ago at a rate for 5ML per day. Prior to dosing my NO3 was 27.8 and my PO4 was 0.12. After 2 days my NO3 dropped to 26 and my P04 dropped to 0. I just fed my tank some reef roid to get P04 back up to detectable numbers. What should I do going forward? Stop carbon dosing? or switch to NP Bacto balance? My tank is a Waterbox 7225 Peninsula, so I'm guessing volume is 200 gal

I'm not sure I understand your question... If you NO3 has dropped to 27.8 ppm and your PO4 has dropped to 0.1 ppm, these values look very good to me. Why are you saying you are feeding to "get your PO4 back up to detectable numbers"? Did you mean to say that the PO4 dropped to 0.01 ppm? That would make sense then. Please clarify and I will try to help.

 

[KStatefan]

Hi All,

I'm hoping I can get some help with my first time carbon dosing with Elimi-NP. I started dosing Elimi-NP 2 days ago at a rate for 5ML per day. Prior to dosing my NO3 was 27.8 and my PO4 was 0.12. After 2 days my NO3 dropped to 26 and my P04 dropped to 0. I just fed my tank some reef roid to get P04 back up to detectable numbers. What should I do going forward? Stop carbon dosing? or switch to NP Bacto balance? My tank is a Waterbox 7225 Peninsula, so I'm guessing volume is 200 gal

Why 5ml per day? TrpricMarine recomends to start with 0.1 ml / 26 gallons for initial dose.

 

[Lou Ekus]

Why 5ml per day? TrpricMarine recomends to start with 0.1 ml / 26 gallons for initial dose.

I assumed they meant 0.5 ml per day. Maybe not.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’d be surprised if the phosphate drop was not test error.

 

[haitian_reefer]

Why 5ml per day? TrpricMarine recomends to start with 0.1 ml / 26 gallons for initial dose.

OMG! Is my math wrong for 200 Gal?

 

[haitian_reefer]

I assumed they meant 0.5 ml per day. Maybe not.

I dosed 5ML. What's the proper dose for 200 Gal

 

[KStatefan]

OMG! Is my math wrong for 200 Gal?

.1 ml /26 gallon * 200 gallon = .77 ml

 

[haitian_reefer]

I'm not sure I understand your question... If you NO3 has dropped to 27.8 ppm and your PO4 has dropped to 0.1 ppm, these values look very good to me. Why are you saying you are feeding to "get your PO4 back up to detectable numbers"? Did you mean to say that the PO4 dropped to 0.01 ppm? That would make sense then. Please clarify and I will try to help.

My nitrate prior to dosing was 27.8 PPM. After 2 days of dosing it dropped to 26 PPM. My PO4 prior to dosing was 0.12. After dosing it dropped down 0.00. I reef roid to ensure I don't bottom out PO4. I was under the impression, I do not want my PO4 to be at 0. What am I doing wrong?

 

[haitian_reefer]

I’d be surprised if the phosphate drop was not test error.

You might be right. My hanna took a bit longer a bit longer to take a calibration reading. I should of done another test to confirm accuracy.

 

[Lou Ekus]

It sounds like you first used way too much. That may have caused an overly aggressive drop in your PO4. That being said, it ALSO sounds like there may be an issue with your Hanna Tester results. So here is the bottom line.... The starting dosage for your system should be around .7 or .8 ml per day. Then, check you Hanna checker against some known, accurate PO4 test. Then come back with the results. Keep in mind that if your checker was off, then even your first measurements might not be correct. So in the end, you might be looking at just getting good accurate PO4 and NO3 values, and starting with the correct dosage and THEN seeing where the system goes.

 

[haitian_reefer]

It sounds like you first used way too much. That may have caused an overly aggressive drop in your PO4. That being said, it ALSO sounds like there may be an issue with your Hanna Tester results. So here is the bottom line.... The starting dosage for your system should be around .7 or .8 ml per day. Then, check you Hanna checker against some known, accurate PO4 test. Then come back with the results. Keep in mind that if your checker was off, then even your first measurements might not be correct. So in the end, you might be looking at just getting good accurate PO4 and NO3 values, and starting with the correct dosage and THEN seeing where the system goes.

I think my test yesterday may have been operator error. When should I switch to bacto balance? My goal is to maintain a PO4 between 0.05 - 0.1 PPM while lowering NO3 down to 5 PPM.

 

[Lou Ekus]

I think my test yesterday may have been operator error. When should I switch to bacto balance? My goal is to maintain a PO4 between 0.05 - 0.1 PPM while lowering NO3 down to 5 PPM.

When coming "down" in concentrations, due to using the ELIMI NP, I like to get the values well down into the range, before switching to the NP BACTO Balance. So let the PO4 get down to about 0.06 or 0.05 ppm before switching over to the NP BACTO Balance. That usually works pretty well.

 

[haitian_reefer]

When coming "down" in concentrations, due to using the ELIMI NP, I like to get the values well down into the range, before switching to the NP BACTO Balance. So let the PO4 get down to about 0.06 or 0.05 ppm before switching over to the NP BACTO Balance. That usually works pretty well.

Thank you so much! I'll report back in a week or 2.

 

[cdnco2004]

How did it go?

 

[haitian_reefer]

How did it go?

I gave up and went back to NOPOX but I hate how much NOPOX lowers my PH. I’m going to give no-bacto balance another try.

My nutrients tonight

 

[haitian_reefer]

Still smooth sailing with dosing 4 ml daily of NP-Bacto Balance. Need to auto dose it to make it easier on me.

 

[Coolcasino]

Still dosing NoPox or just the NP-bacto balance?