Nitrates 100+ppm, Need help with Dosing Vodka

[jda]

That will help. If you need more, then storage containers or the shorty rubber made stock tanks work well beside the sump... bulkhead in one side to empty into the sump. Any size is better than nothing, but you might need more area than that, although it does not look small.

A guy on here used a handful of 5g buckets in parallel and his nitrates are going down. There is some stupidity in this thread by some of the usual suspects, but check out the downward trend by the OP. These things can work if you have enough surface area and give them some time:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/remote-deep-sand-bed-for-no3-po4.1011778/page-2#post-11861042
Anyway, I hope that this helps.

 

[Ashish Patel]

That will help. If you need more, then storage containers or the shorty rubber made stock tanks work well beside the sump... bulkhead in one side to empty into the sump. Any size is better than nothing, but you might need more area than that, although it does not look small.

A guy on here used a handful of 5g buckets in parallel and his nitrates are going down. There is some stupidity in this thread by some of the usual suspects, but check out the downward trend by the OP. These things can work if you have enough surface area and give them some time:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/remote-deep-sand-bed-for-no3-po4.1011778/page-2#post-11861042
Anyway, I hope that this helps.

Thanks for your inputs, You really helped save me money by mentioning Chewy! I am going to order 3x200 gallon boxes and just start doing 3 x 100 gallon waterchanges. Too my surprise they have a buy 2 get one free so 3 boxes cost $120 (Mind blown!)

I will probably add the DSB today or tomorrow. I am worried my 15 large clean up crew members are not going to have enough algae soon. Can I sell them to people on Reef2reef? Last year R2R said I did not have sufficient privileges. Figured Id ask you here.

 

[jda]

Don't worry about the crew. There is plenty of building blocks if your no3 was at 1 and your po4 at .01 to grow algae. Some algae might even grow faster as your no3 goes down since nitrate is a poison for some thing at higher levels.

I stock up on salt for the year during the sales this time of year. Cheapest way to reef, IMO. I would rather use a whole box of salt and change water than send in for an ICP test.

 

[AKReefing]

I'd chuck a bio pellet reactor in the sump .

Leave it undisturbed. It takes 4-6 weeks to start working.

 

[I never finish anythi]

Leave it undisturbed. It takes 4-6 weeks to start working.

It took you longer than that to get there .

 

[AKReefing]

It took you longer than that to get there .

No, it took the amount of time I said. I use aragonite sand in my DSB. Nitrates reached almost undetectable levels in about a month in my current 110G. In my previous 150G it took 5 weeks to go from 80 to essentially zero. In fact, it dropped so fast that I thought my nitrate test kit was bad, so I got another one that gave the same results. Why are you disputing my experience?

 

[Ashish Patel]

No, it took the amount of time I said. I use aragonite sand in my DSB. Nitrates reached almost undetectable levels in about a month in my current 110G. In my previous 150G it took 5 weeks to go from 80 to essentially zero. In fact, it dropped so fast that I thought my nitrate test kit was bad, so I got another one that gave the same results. Why are you disputing my experience?

Nice I am hoping I have similar results but doubt it. It will take alot longer but along as it's going down I'm good

 

[Ashish Patel]

2 days ago i did a 120gallon waterchange and today I did a 100gallon. I decided not to use my old sand bc of a slight odor which tells me it will release some nutrients so it would be foolish to risk it for the price I got 80 lbs of ocean direct sand.

I may use the container below but want to try my best to get 6" Sandbed

 

[AKReefing]

I question whether any beneficial bacteria can survive in a sealed bag that was shipped thousands of miles and then sits on a shelf for who knows how many months or years. Also, keep in mind that if the sand truly came from the Caribbean that they most likely have undesirable hitchhikers, just as there would be in the Caribbean itself.

 

[MnFish1]

I question whether any beneficial bacteria can survive in a sealed bag that was shipped thousands of miles and then sits on a shelf for who knows how many months or years. Also, keep in mind that if the sand truly came from the Caribbean that they most likely have undesirable hitchhikers, just as there would be in the Caribbean itself.

I do not think that all bacteria will survive these conditions, and the sand I've seen has expiration dates, etc. However, some heterotrophs that can form spores can survive. Anaerobic bacteria may survive. But - I'm not a huge believer in bagged sand helping much

 

[Ashish Patel]

I question whether any beneficial bacteria can survive in a sealed bag that was shipped thousands of miles and then sits on a shelf for who knows how many months or years. Also, keep in mind that if the sand truly came from the Caribbean that they most likely have undesirable hitchhikers, just as there would be in the Caribbean itself.

Yeah I would've been ok with dry sand and ok to wait for the tank to turn it live. I hope there is no undesirable hitchhikers In the form of spores but let's see. The sand was not really wet but more moist so doubt anything major could survive

 

[Ashish Patel]

Added the sand to a container in the sump. Feels great having this biological media.

 

[Ashish Patel]

This is the flow over it

 

[jda]

You can start a tank with dry everything and eventually get bacteria and some algae out of nowhere... enough to add a fish which can bring everything else. It just happens from the air, your breath or where ever. Just water in a jug with circulation and some light will start an ecosystem of some sort.

It can take months for anoxic bacteria to develop, so have some patience.

What did you no3 end up at with all of the water changes?

 

[Ashish Patel]

You can start a tank with dry everything and eventually get bacteria and some algae out of nowhere... enough to add a fish which can bring everything else. It just happens from the air, your breath or where ever. Just water in a jug with circulation and some light will start an ecosystem of some sort.

It can take months for anoxic bacteria to develop, so have some patience.

What did you no3 end up at with all of the water changes?

I tested NO after one 120gallon h20 change and it's still 100+. I will test it today see where's I'm at but I know it's going to be 100+. I want to give this sand sometime to settle in before carbon dosing. What would be a good amount of vodka to dose for 550 gallon volume daily? I just need the NO to drop over the course of 1-2 month. I know the sand will help but will need to do more. I am also considering 200gallon waterchange. Which will be alot of containers full but I think this will have an impact

 

[Miami Reef]

I tested NO after one 120gallon h20 change and it's still 100+. I will test it today see where's I'm at but I know it's going to be 100+. I want to give this sand sometime to settle in before carbon dosing. What would be a good amount of vodka to dose for 550 gallon volume daily? I just need the NO to drop over the course of 1-2 month. I know the sand will help but will need to do more. I am also considering 200gallon waterchange. Which will be alot of containers full but I think this will have an impact

Dose 35mL of vodka per day.

 

[DCR]

That sand bed is a start but I think you will ultimately need something larger to make a significant impact on your nitrates given the size of your system.

 

[jda]

This will be an interesting experiment. We know that a sandbed across the bottom of a tank is sufficient keep no3 near zero. What we do not know is if that area is 1% populated with anoxic bacteria, or if it is saturated. I also think that the sandbed will make a difference once it gets established, but I have no idea if it will slow the rise, arrest the rise, start to decline or decline fast.

 

[MnFish1]

3

I tested NO after one 120gallon h20 change and it's still 100+. I will test it today see where's I'm at but I know it's going to be 100+. I want to give this sand sometime to settle in before carbon dosing. What would be a good amount of vodka to dose for 550 gallon volume daily? I just need the NO to drop over the course of 1-2 month. I know the sand will help but will need to do more. I am also considering 200gallon waterchange. Which will be alot of containers full but I think this will have an impact

So - something seems wrong - unless your Nitrate (I'm assuming thats what you mean by NO) - is> than the measuring capability of the test. Its an arithrimetic problem - if you change xxx percent of water - then the 'NO' will decrease by that percent?

 

[Ashish Patel]

3

So - something seems wrong - unless your Nitrate (I'm assuming thats what you mean by NO) - is> than the measuring capability of the test. Its an arithrimetic problem - if you change xxx percent of water - then the 'NO' will decrease by that percent?

it for sure went down but the problem is the Nitrate (NO) is way above 100PPM. The Salifert doesnt measure over 100PPM so I could be 100-200PPM. I just tested again today which was after the second water change (80 gallons) and the color seems even darker! I get the water changes are not really a solution to a large nutrient problem but they needed to be done anyways.

I had the same problem with Phosphates last year the Hanna ULR checker was beeping 200ppb and after diluting the sample i found out I was around 350 PPB range. I got the PO under control pretty fast using Lantham cloride and just ignored my NO, which up until that point where always at any ok range of 20-40PPM. Once I tested in June 2023 they where 100PPM and I was just hoping that using filter socks, removing detrius, adding flow to the sump, increasing growth, etc would slowly bring down the Nitrates. Kind of shocked how Nitrates are different in larger systems, i have to dose Nitrates in my other two systems and struggle to keep them detectable. It is so true when they say No two systems are the same. I thought this was a false statement lol