Nitrates on the increase

[scotty333]

Gotta question. You're located in Portugal. And your English is fantastic. Is the language taught there as kind-of a requirement? Or were your parents bilingual and just taught you both languages as a kid? I'm curious, as English seems to be spoken everywhere! The word Cheers is mostly an England thing it seems? So maybe you relocated?

I relocated 6 years ago from Italy , prior to that I was in England yes

 

[sixty_reefer]

That’s the thing though , below is the data

The vodka is diluted 1/3

Today 18 ( increased 3ml )
27.10 14.4 ( increased 3ml)
24.10 16.2 ( increased 3ml )
22.10 10.3 ( reduced 2ml)
20.10 17.5 ( increased 2mll)
18.10 12.5
16.10 15.3
14.10 17.8
13.10 18 ( increased 2ml)

No need to go further

I don’t understand your post, you start dosing a few weeks back not 6 months ago as you mentioned above.
If you don’t want to go further that’s absolutely fine but then the post doesn’t make any sense.

 

[scotty333]

I don’t understand your post, you start dosing a few weeks back not 6 months ago as you mentioned above.
If you don’t want to go further that’s absolutely fine but then the post doesn’t make any sense.

I’m not writing ) months of results

 

[gbroadbridge]

If I'm reading this correctly you are dosing 10ml a day of diluted vodka which is only really about 3 ml of vodka.
Into a 120 gal tank.

That dose is nothing...

Go to 10ml a day vodka - 30 ml a day of your diluted solution and see where you are in a couple of weeks.

 

[scotty333]

If I'm reading this correctly you are dosing 10ml a day of diluted vodka which is only really about 3 ml of vodka.
Into a 120 gal tank.

That dose is nothing...

Go to 10ml a day vodka - 30 ml a day of your diluted solution and see where you are in a couple of weeks.

Nooooooo

If you read correctly I’m dosing 30ml of 1/3rd diluted vodka
I said 10ml because that’s the quantity of vodka but then when I posted the increase/decrease I had to say it was diluted for the numbers to make sense

 

[scotty333]

I’m not writing ) months of results

6 months

 

[gbroadbridge]

Nooooooo

If you read correctly I’m dosing 30ml of 1/3rd diluted vodka
I said 10ml because that’s the quantity of vodka but then when I posted the increase/decrease I had to say it was diluted for the numbers to make sense

Well double it ...

 

[scotty333]

Well double it ...

Bit aggressive
I’m trying to stabilise not drastically reduce

 

[sixty_reefer]

I

The reasons I'm updating the Vinegar and Vodka dosing charts are two-fold:

1. The ramp was unnecessarily slow. There was no perceived benefit to such a tedious ramp, and it led to reefers quitting because they thought carbon dosing didn't work.

2. The ramp did not scale up correctly at all. A 40x larger tank only received 2x the needed dose. (A 1,000-gallon tank only received twice the dose of a 25-gallon tank).


Carbon dosing is a fantastic way to lower nutrients, more specifically nitrate. The reason is three-fold:

1. Organisms, such as bacteria, contain much more nitrogen than phosphorous.

2. Denitrification is a process that happens in anaerobic conditions (little to no oxygen). These bacteria require an organic to oxidize the nitrate molecule (NO3-) into Nitrogen (N2). They use the oxygen that is attached to the nitrate molecule to respire. Thus, there will be NO phosphate consumed during this process.

Here is the equation by @Randy Holmes-Farley :

organic + 124 NO3– + 124 H+ → 122 CO2 + 70 N2 + 208 H2O

3.We have an immense reservoir of phosphate bound to calcium carbonate rocks and sand. To put to pespective, a 50% water change with nutrient-free water will successfully reduce your nitrate values by 50%. Phosphates will likely remain unchanged.


For these reasons, I do NOT recommend dosing carbon solely for controlling phosphates. It is likey to completely bottom-out nitrate before seeing phosphate decrease.

What are the benefits of carbon dosing?

Besides reducing nitrate, spurring bacteria is the main benefit. This bacteria can feed many organisms and filter feeders.

What about other carbon sources such as NP Bacto Balance or NOPOX?

You can carbon dose with NP Bacto Balance or NOPOX, but dosing straight vinegar or vodka is inexpensive and readily available in stores.


What kind of vinegar or vodka should I use?

Any food-grade white vinegar is safe to use. White distilled vinegar usually the most pure, cheapest, and easy to find.

For vodka, 80 proof vodka (40% ethanol) is safe to use.

Here are the charts. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. :)

I believe reading this could be more beneficial at this point

 

[rtparty]

As a side note, cyano is often a side effect of vodka dosing. I know many people have moved off vodka for this reason. Quite a few report no cyano issues when dosing NP Bacto Balance from Tropic Marin. There are likely others but I don't have any experience with them

 

[scotty333]

As a side note, cyano is often a side effect of vodka dosing. I know many people have moved off vodka for this reason. Quite a few report no cyano issues when dosing NP Bacto Balance from Tropic Marin. There are likely others but I don't have any experience with them

Thanks

 

[gbroadbridge]

Bit aggressive
I’m trying to stabilise not drastically reduce

I thought you were asking for advice - perhaps I was mistaken.

I've been doing this a long time.

Your dose is too low which is why it is not working.
Double the dose, give it a week and then test again.

 

[scotty333]

I thought you were asking for advice - perhaps I was mistaken.

I've been doing this a long time.

Your dose is too low which is why it is not working.
Double the dose, give it a week and then test again.

I was asking if I’m missing some nitrate source because I can’t find a balance that I can with po4
I don’t care how long you’ve been doing this , it’s not a c0ck show and doubling it would go to 0 in a day and bring on dinos , then what? Add nitrates hmmm niot sure , maybe you’ve been drinking?

I hope your not offering advice to newbies like that sending them in the wrong direction

If you see from the 2 weeks data , I’m swinging 2-3ppm every couple of days , why on earth would doubling to 60ml (20 neat) vodka balance my nitrates

Crazy

 

[scotty333]

Still on the up , 16ppm ( was 14 a few days ago)
Now at 12ml near vodka

Might need clean my sump of remove dsb

 

[I never finish anythi]

I was asking if I’m missing some nitrate source because I can’t find a balance that I can with po4
I don’t care how long you’ve been doing this , it’s not a c0ck show and doubling it would go to 0 in a day and bring on dinos , then what? Add nitrates hmmm niot sure , maybe you’ve been drinking?

I hope your not offering advice to newbies like that sending them in the wrong direction

If you see from the 2 weeks data , I’m swinging 2-3ppm every couple of days , why on earth would doubling to 60ml (20 neat) vodka balance my nitrates

Crazy

Little harsh don't you think .

 

[scotty333]

Little harsh don't you think .

Yeah doubling is a ridiculous idea

 

[scotty333]

18 despite adding another 4 ml (diluted)

 

[sixty_reefer]

Doubling the dose won’t sound as ridiculous soon.

 

[scotty333]

Patience my dear

 

[scotty333]

I think losing a couple of torch heads may have contributed to the no3 rise