Nopox limit/High nitrate help

[ninjastar310]

Ive done alot of googling and havent seen a conclusion on the maximum dose for nopox other than keep bumping till theirs a change. For the past 2 months Ive done 12ml and just last week Ive started dosing 20ml. Nitrate is still above 100ppm but within the week I went from P04 being at 1.3ppm to .60ppm. Bio pellets havent kicked in, Bio media seems to do nothing, chaeto light is on 24/7 with no growth. But yet my tank has no algae or bacteria bloom or anything other than high nitrate.

So my question is

1-Is it safe to say I should increase my dose or keep it as is till it keeps lowering?(50% water changes hasnt done anything for the nitrate)
2-Whats taking my biopellets so long to start up?
3-Im thinking of adding more biomedia to help it out, which would you guys prefer?(Brightwell bio block, Matrix, Marine pure)
4-Can my dimond goby whos going crazy on my sand bed be the reason for nitrate to stay high?
5-My xenias and firework clove are out but not fully extended like it was in the store, could it because of my water parameters or lack of light?




-Tank 150gal
- Over 300+lbs Live rock
-LFS BRAND Bio media plates filled up a 18x6x6
-500ml of Bio pellets through a nyos torq
-Curve 7 skimmer
-4in sand bed
-FInnex refugium light
-Bubble magus roller filter
-3in sand bed

Coral
-5 headed ducan (doing great)
-4x4in elegence coral (doing great)
-1x1in pulsing xenias (Their out but small)
-2x2in firework clove (Their out but small)
-2x2in gsp (doing great)

Fish
-2xsm Clowns
-5x Chromis
-Sm salfin tang
-Sm desjardini sailfin
-sm goby
-md melanurus wrasse
-sm mcosker wrasse
-sm square anthias
-pajama cardinalfish

Inverts
-Alot of everyone
-long spine urchin

-ammonia-0 ppm
-nitrite-0 ppm
-nitrate api test kit over 100ppm
-nitrate Red sea pro over 64 ppm
-phosphate Hanna HL713 .60
-salinity- 1.24
-cal-520
-alk-9.2
-ph-8.1
-Temp 80

 

[SPR1968]

You need something in place for both nitrate and phosphate export to get things under control

Nopox should deal with the nitrate so just follow the instructions. You can go to a higher dose until nitrate starts to reduce but if you do take it slowly (like an extra ml per week) and watch out for any bacterial blooms and if you get any just back off a few mls

You could also substantially increase bio filtration by using media like you suggest Marine Pure etc. I use Seachem Matrix and lots of it.

A phosphate level of 0.64 is very high as a good target is no more than 0.03ppm and if you can get it down to that, your will eliminate many unwanted issues and the system will look ‘cleaner’.

Personally I use rowaphos 24/7 for both my systems and in my new 530 gallon tank it’s been in place from day 1. I have no issues whatsoever. if you go down this route and use GFO just reduce the levels slowly to start so you don’t affect any corals, and you will also need to change the GFO regularly as it will become spent very quickly at the start

Nopox is not very good at phosphate control, so hence my recommendation for a GFO in addition despite what Red Sea say and many of us use this

 

[ninjastar310]

Well the thing is, I did follow the dosage of 3mil per 25 and nothing has happend till last week when I said f it and bumped up to 20ml. What makes no sense is that Nitrate hasnt even went down at all but po4 within a week went from 1.3->.6ppm

So as far as bio media, their is no better or best?

 

[SPR1968]

Well the thing is, I did follow the dosage of 3mil per 25 and nothing has happend till last week when I said f it and bumped up to 20ml. What makes no sense is that Nitrate hasnt even went down at all but po4 within a week went from 1.3->.6ppm

So as far as bio media, their is no better or best?

It’s probably personal preference most are ok

Ive tried Brightwell, Marine Pure and Seachem Matrix. Matrix is basically ’fancy stones’ and will in theory never need replacing subject to it being rinsed/cleaned from time to time. That’s the reason I’ve settled on it and it works. Theres also the Denitrate as well depending on flow.

With Matrix I use a lot more than needed and it keeps things under control

 

[Rmckoy]

With a higher nopox dose .
the only concern would be depriving the system of oxygen ..

I was dosing 12 ml per day after lights out for 5 weeks and down to 6ppm once nitrates reached less than 60ppm .
tested last week with nitrates 20 ppm .

last night nitrates are tested 15ppm

 

[Rmckoy]

A good skimmer to remove the nitrates is essential

 

[ninjastar310]

It’s probably personal preference most are ok

Ive tried Brightwell, Marine Pure and Seachem Matrix. Matrix is basically ’fancy stones’ and will in theory never need replacing subject to it being rinsed/cleaned from time to time. That’s the reason I’ve settled on it and it works. Theres also the Denitrate as well depending on flow.

With Matrix I use a lot more than needed and it keeps things under control

It’s probably personal preference most are ok

Ive tried Brightwell, Marine Pure and Seachem Matrix. Matrix is basically ’fancy stones’ and will in theory never need replacing subject to it being rinsed/cleaned from time to time. That’s the reason I’ve settled on it and it works. Theres also the Denitrate as well depending on flow.

With Matrix I use a lot more than needed and it keeps things under control

So as of now its prefrence as long as their in a low flow area the will do their job.

A good skimmer to remove the nitrates is essential

Well my skimmer is rated up to 240gal so it should be good

 

[ninjastar310]

Now my question now is, why hasnt my bio pellets havent kicked on??? Its been running for over 2months and did the half dose of 1cup then bumped it to 2 to see and nothing has happend. I even wasted 1 bottle of mb7 and start xlm.

 

[SPR1968]

So as of now its prefrence as long as their in a low flow area the will do their job.



Well my skimmer is rated up to 240gal so it should be good

If your using nopox you need to wet skim with it to be most effective

As far as the bio media, Matrix will work in most flow rates. DeNitrate is basically for lower flow. It will work in either but depending on flow with be either anaerobic or aerobic but you can read up on that. I use Matrix and also have some DeNitrate for slow flow areas as well.

I guess all the manufacturers will say there’s is best so research all of them and decide which you prefer. My reason was purely longevity with Matrix, but I also have a marine pure block in my S650 that’s around 4 years old and looks ok.

And all of these won’t work straight away so be patient. It may take a while for them to kick in as the bacteria build up.

 

[Rmckoy]

So as of now its prefrence as long as their in a low flow area the will do their job.



Well my skimmer is rated up to 240gal so it should be good

It’s rated for but is it actually skimming ?

i had the bubble Magnus curve 5 for my 90 Gal .
I didn’t like it .

 

[User1]

NoPox will drop both Nitrate and Phosphate. Excellent working skimmer is required. Follow the instructions as that will set the base. I personally recommend reducing the initial dose by 1/3 and start there. There is enough information on the internet to show people have depleted their system of nutrients and wrecking the tank. So when using NoPox going slow is the right approach. It works. It works very well. You just have to manage it for a bit to see how your tank reacts to the product.

This means calculating your total water volume, getting the correct initial dose, decide if you want to start with that or reduce by 1/3, dose at the same time (just my recommendation) or use a dosing pump, and test for both Nitrate and Phosphate 3 to 4 times a week. These are data points that will show you how your tank is responding. Good quality, I mean great quality test kits are required. I used Nyos and Hanna.

When i used the product my Nitrate dropped faster than Phosphate and I had to trim out / flatten / reduce my overall dose because I would have ran Nitrates down to 0. I didn't want that. Once I had Nitrates under control and phosphate was holding steading I stopped dosing NoPox by reducing the daily amount to 0 over two weeks so I don't shock system and moved to Phosphate Rx. Phosphate Rx obviously addresses phosphates only and this took care of the remaining problem. The joy of using dry Pukani rock - stuff leaches Phosphates for years...

I'm not sure I'd be running any other nutrient sapping products in parallel with NoPox. I personally try and focus on one thing to correct it. NoPox instructions below but I'm sure you probably already have them. It is a great product but one I'd go slow with while testing. Testing can be reduced of course once you see how your system uses it.

https://5w56d28u4co20frgwagf5y18-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Algae-management-Program_Multilanguage-Manual_GB_DE_FR_SE_NL_SP_PT_JP_CH_17A.pdf

 

[ninjastar310]

So heres the data that I recored from the past week or so. Nitrate hasnt even went down even when Nopox dosage went up. But the P04 has been going down.

This tank has been running for years and has been neglected for some time since Ive went on military leave from time to time and out of the years the only thing that survived where a couple of fish. With the new year 2020 came along Ive since upgrade all my equipment and added new fish and very little coral. Ive dosed 12ml since the begining of Jan and just recently bumped it to 20ml with no luck of Nitrate going down but P04 is going down nicely. Even with water changes nothing changed.

Bio pellets have been up since Jan 15th so its been almost 11weeks with not luck.

Test done with api,red sea and hanna

3/23- nopox @ 12ml
po4 @ 1.3ppm
no3 red sea @64+ppm
no3 API @ 160+ppm

3/24 nopox @ 12ml
po4 @ 1.28ppm
no3 red sea @64+ppm
no3 API @ 160+ppm

3/25 nopox @ 12ml
po4 @ 1.25ppm
no3 red sea @64+ppm
no3 API @ 160+ppm

3/26 nopox @15ml
po4 @ 1.22ppm
no3 red sea @64+ppm
no3 API @ 160+ppm

3/27 nopox @ 15ml
po4 @ 1.20ppm
no3 red sea @64+ppm
no3 API @ 160+ppm

3/28 nopox @15ml
po4 @ 1.15ppm
no3 red sea @64+ppm
no3 API @ 160+ppm

3/29 nopox @ 15ml
po4 @ 1.00ppm
no3 red sea @64+ppm
no3 API @ 160+ppm

3/30 nopox @15ml
po4 @ .85ppm
no3 red sea @64+ppm
no3 API @ 160+ppm

3/31 nopox @ 20ml
po4 @ 0.69ppm
no3 red sea @64+ppm
no3 API @ 160+ppm

4/1 nopox @20ml
po4 @ .65ppm
no3 red sea @64+ppm
no3 API @ 160+ppm

4/2 nopox @ 20ml
po4 @ 0.60ppm
no3 red sea @64+ppm
no3 API @ 160+ppm

 

[ninjastar310]

Just remembered can my UV be the reason why bacteria isnt growing? Even though I did shut them off when using MB7 and Start xlm??

 

[ninjastar310]

Okay did 3x30% water changes and bumped up nopox to 25 and nitrates havent even moved. Am I pushing my luck with nopox? PO4 has been going down alot but NO3 hasnt even moved a bit.

 

[Rmckoy]

It takes time ....
25 ml ?
it works ... I got my Nitrates from over 100 down to 20

 

[ninjastar310]

It takes time ....
25 ml ?
it works ... I got my Nitrates from over 100 down to 20

But thats the thing Ive been adding 12ml since January and Ive bumped it up to 25ml along with water changes and only PO4 is going down.

Did another 30% today and NO3 is still over 160ppm with api and 64+ppm with red sea.

Bio pellets hasnt even kicked on even though its been up for 11+weeks. Im thinking of just giving up on biopellets and moving to either a algae reator or scrubber.

1-Can my UV be the main reason why its taking long?
2-The UV pump is before before the bio pellets, should it be relocated or it shouldnt make a difference?
3-Why havent my bio pellets kick on.......

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

But thats the thing Ive been adding 12ml since January and Ive bumped it up to 25ml along with water changes and only PO4 is going down.

If the only reading you are getting is "over 160 ppm" nitrate may be declining a lot and you wouldn't know it.

I'd also suggest a different nitrate kit in case nitrate is not actually elevated.

The UV is not preventing NOPOX from having an effect.

 

[ninjastar310]

If the only reading you are getting is "over 160 ppm" nitrate may be declining a lot and you wouldn't know it.

I'd also suggest a different nitrate kit in case nitrate is not actually elevated.

The UV is not preventing NOPOX from having an effect.

Ive even used a red sea test kit and its over 64ppm.

But could the uv prevent bio pellets? And why is it taking so love to even work?? I though it takes 4-8wks from what Ive read.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ive even used a red sea test kit and its over 64ppm.

But could the uv prevent bio pellets? And why is it taking so love to even work?? I though it takes 4-8wks from what Ive read.

I do not think the UV is a problem, Pellets take a very long time to get going because special bacteria are needed. Soluble organics like NOPOX or vinegar or vodka get going much faster because far more types of bacteria consume those.

If your nitrate was 500 then 400 then 300 the 200 then 100, it is declining nicely. You potentially just are not detecting it the way you are testing.

 

[ninjastar310]

I do not think the UV is a problem, Pellets take a very long time to get going because special bacteria are needed. Soluble organics like NOPOX or vinegar or vodka get going much faster because far more types of bacteria consume those.

If your nitrate was 500 then 400 then 300 the 200 then 100, it is declining nicely. You potentially just are not detecting it the way you are testing.

Is their any other quicker way to lower nitrate quicker or to to speed up the bio pellet process even though its been a while?? My fish and corals are good.