NP-Bacto_Balance

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ddrueckh

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I have a couple of questions regarding this product. I have a 240 gallon mixed reef with elevated Phosphate and Nitrate. My current levels are:
Phosphate 0.13ppm
Nitrate 64ppm

1) Should I start with Elimi-NP and transition to NP-Bacto-Balance when my Phosphate gets to around .05?
2) What if I get the Phosphate down to .05 and my nitrate is still higher than I want?

Thanks for the help.
 

Lou Ekus

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I have a couple of questions regarding this product. I have a 240 gallon mixed reef with elevated Phosphate and Nitrate. My current levels are:
Phosphate 0.13ppm
Nitrate 64ppm

1) Should I start with Elimi-NP and transition to NP-Bacto-Balance when my Phosphate gets to around .05?
2) What if I get the Phosphate down to .05 and my nitrate is still higher than I want?

Thanks for the help.
Here are my suggestions for your questions:
1) Yes, exactly correct! :)
2) This will probably not be the case. But if it is, then a few aggressive water changes might solve the problem.
 
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ddrueckh

ddrueckh

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Reading about carbon dosing, it seems that most types reduce nitrate much more than phosphate. From what I understand, Elimi-np reduces phosphate and not nitrate. Is this correct. One video put out by TM says to use Elimi-NP when you have high phosphate and barely any nitrate. If this is the case, is there another product you have that will reduce nitrate?
 

Lou Ekus

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Reading about carbon dosing, it seems that most types reduce nitrate much more than phosphate. From what I understand, Elimi-np reduces phosphate and not nitrate. Is this correct. One video put out by TM says to use Elimi-NP when you have high phosphate and barely any nitrate. If this is the case, is there another product you have that will reduce nitrate?
The products are regulated by the PO4 concentration. You will see a corresponding decrease in he NO3 concentration as well.
 

RayT

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Lou, I am dosing Np plus to my 20 gallon nano because it has undetectable nutrient levels. I’ve read you can’t use a Hanna checker to detect phosphate using this product. How will I know when I reach the .04 phosphate target level? Thanks
 

Lou Ekus

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Lou, I am dosing Np plus to my 20 gallon nano because it has undetectable nutrient levels. I’ve read you can’t use a Hanna checker to detect phosphate using this product. How will I know when I reach the .04 phosphate target level? Thanks
If you are using the recommended dose of the PLUS NP, then you can be assured that the corals are getting at least most of the PO4 they need. Even though, you are correct, it does not show up right away on your test kits. However, it will eventually build up the PO$ to a level that it will start showing up on conventional testing kits.
 

ineption

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Hi Lou great to see active on forum!
I got a crazy high phosphate level of 0.7 hanna checker ulr and 0.2 according to tmc po4 Pro and my eye. Don't know which one to trust.
I have 400L DT and dosing 1.2ml of elimi np. Also dosing kno3 just so nitrate does not bottom out as Dinos will definitely come for a party.
Should I continue feeding as normal & up the dose or stop feeding /reduce feeding.
How long do you think it would take if say phosphate is 0.7 to bring it back down to below 0.1?
My growth has definitely stopped colours are not too bad but not amazing
Many thanks in advance
 

Lou Ekus

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Hi Lou great to see active on forum!
I got a crazy high phosphate level of 0.7 hanna checker ulr and 0.2 according to tmc po4 Pro and my eye. Don't know which one to trust.
I have 400L DT and dosing 1.2ml of elimi np. Also dosing kno3 just so nitrate does not bottom out as Dinos will definitely come for a party.
Should I continue feeding as normal & up the dose or stop feeding /reduce feeding.
How long do you think it would take if say phosphate is 0.7 to bring it back down to below 0.1?
My growth has definitely stopped colours are not too bad but not amazing
Many thanks in advance
This is a difficult answer to pin down, as we don't really know the PO4 concentration in the tank. Your 0.7 is significantly different than the 0.2! In this case, I am slightly inclined to believe the 0.2 over the other. But there is no way to really know without doing more testing.
The bottom line is that the PO4 is on the high side either way. So I would try upping the ELIMI-NP dose to the maximum dose, which in your system would be 2ml. Then, if you don't see the PO4 coming down, I would do a few larger percentage water changes. That will definitely bring it down some. The thing to watch at that point, is whether it starts working its way back up again. If that happens, we need to take a hard look at where all that PO4 is coming into the system from!
I hope this is helpful. Let me know how you make out.
 

ineption

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This is a difficult answer to pin down, as we don't really know the PO4 concentration in the tank. Your 0.7 is significantly different than the 0.2! In this case, I am slightly inclined to believe the 0.2 over the other. But there is no way to really know without doing more testing.
The bottom line is that the PO4 is on the high side either way. So I would try upping the ELIMI-NP dose to the maximum dose, which in your system would be 2ml. Then, if you don't see the PO4 coming down, I would do a few larger percentage water changes. That will definitely bring it down some. The thing to watch at that point, is whether it starts working its way back up again. If that happens, we need to take a hard look at where all that PO4 is coming into the system from!
I hope this is helpful. Let me know how you make out
My best guess is po4 came from me overfeeding in couple of weeks. (though I am running a calcium reactor, but my media is destaco media which isn't crashed coral or argonite its something else that needs very low pH to get it melted like 6 and below and I have been told that, that media doesn't contain as much po4 as argonite. (this is not 100% only my understanding)
Let's assume that calrx isn't the source then it would be me overfeeding the tank for solid few weeks because my redsea phosphate which was showing very low and Elos HR which was also showing very low both where over a year old and opened used so close to expiry to summarise they both where no good, because they where showing me 0.04 to 0.1 which in my world is perfect po4. So I kept on feeding.
Then I went out and purchased a tmc po4 test kit and hanna which showed me reported high values.
I am feeding at the moment small pinch of dry alage pellets in the morning and 1 frozen cube in the evening sometimes 2. Tank is 400 l with around 10 large fish and sps dominant system.
I am running np bacto pellets in reactor and was dosing Bacto balance at a rate of 1.2 ml a day.
Then switched to elimi np. Its been a week on my phosphates are still quiet high. Corals definitely not happy I can see because there is no growth tips unfortunately & few showing spots of stn could be nutrient related cant say for sure
Now I am wondering how patient I need to be in nutrient reduction. How long is a tough question, however with elimi np for 400l what kind of time frame I should be looking at a week to see 0.5 po4 reduction what do you thin? T.I.A
 

Lou Ekus

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My best guess is po4 came from me overfeeding in couple of weeks. (though I am running a calcium reactor, but my media is destaco media which isn't crashed coral or argonite its something else that needs very low pH to get it melted like 6 and below and I have been told that, that media doesn't contain as much po4 as argonite. (this is not 100% only my understanding)
Let's assume that calrx isn't the source then it would be me overfeeding the tank for solid few weeks because my redsea phosphate which was showing very low and Elos HR which was also showing very low both where over a year old and opened used so close to expiry to summarise they both where no good, because they where showing me 0.04 to 0.1 which in my world is perfect po4. So I kept on feeding.
Then I went out and purchased a tmc po4 test kit and hanna which showed me reported high values.
I am feeding at the moment small pinch of dry alage pellets in the morning and 1 frozen cube in the evening sometimes 2. Tank is 400 l with around 10 large fish and sps dominant system.
I am running np bacto pellets in reactor and was dosing Bacto balance at a rate of 1.2 ml a day.
Then switched to elimi np. Its been a week on my phosphates are still quiet high. Corals definitely not happy I can see because there is no growth tips unfortunately & few showing spots of stn could be nutrient related cant say for sure
Now I am wondering how patient I need to be in nutrient reduction. How long is a tough question, however with elimi np for 400l what kind of time frame I should be looking at a week to see 0.5 po4 reduction what do you thin? T.I.A
It is impossible to say how long the PO4 reduction will take and how quickly it will go. There are so many factors. Also, I don't think we know what your PO4 concentration is at the moment. Or did I miss some verification you did?

Also, always remember that there is one thing your corals hate more than anything else....that is change. So even when going from "bad" to good", you always want to make that change slowly! If you would like to discuss all of this in more detail, then give me a call in the office at 413-367-0101. It is much easier to go through all the possibilities by phone.
 

Aezeeazil

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@Lou Ekus
Hi Lou! Before I have been having high phosphate levels at 0.4 and using elimi np have greatly reduced my po4 level to at 0.19 on my hanna Checker. However my no3 levels are at 2.5. I have stopped the elimi np dosage and have been running bacto balance for about 3 weeks now. I have not seen a reduction in po4 yet. I'm aware that I may increase the dosage by 0.2ml after 2 weeks of dosing the bacto balance but I fear that my nitrates will drop to undetectable levels. How do I go about it?

1) do I manually dose no3 to increase the nitrate levels while increasing the bacto balance dose?.

2) or do I dose no3 manually in Conjuncture with bacto balance - increased dosage supplementing with elimi np to further bring down the po4 levels.?

Ideally I want to run my po4 below 1ppm. Not chasing numbers but I've yet to see growth on my corals for awhile now.
 

Aezeeazil

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To add, I'm battling cyano right now. So far I didn't experience any gha since I started this tank. Tank have been running for about a year and half now.
 

Lou Ekus

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@Lou Ekus
Hi Lou! Before I have been having high phosphate levels at 0.4 and using elimi np have greatly reduced my po4 level to at 0.19 on my hanna Checker. However my no3 levels are at 2.5. I have stopped the elimi np dosage and have been running bacto balance for about 3 weeks now. I have not seen a reduction in po4 yet. I'm aware that I may increase the dosage by 0.2ml after 2 weeks of dosing the bacto balance but I fear that my nitrates will drop to undetectable levels. How do I go about it?

1) do I manually dose no3 to increase the nitrate levels while increasing the bacto balance dose?.

2) or do I dose no3 manually in Conjuncture with bacto balance - increased dosage supplementing with elimi np to further bring down the po4 levels.?

Ideally I want to run my po4 below 1ppm. Not chasing numbers but I've yet to see growth on my corals for awhile now.
Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about the NO3 concentration unless it gets down close to zero. I also would probably stick with the ELIMI NP until I got that PO4 concentration down to under 0.1 ppm. Lastly, a little "over feeding" won't hurt and might help you keep that NO3 value up a little in the long run. :)
 

Edgar F

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hi Lou

i have been using elimi np for a few months and has worked great my po4 was at .9 now is at .06
Nitratas on the other hand are aroind 8.7
I have been battleling some hair algea that doesnt seem to go away, i know its not recomended to use other products like vibrant, is it a bad idea? or shluld i keep usine Elimi NP and slowly transition to bacto balance ?

oh i have a 110 tank dosing Elimi NP 2.5 ml

thanks in advance :)
 

Lou Ekus

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Our office is closed this week and I have limited internet access. So if I don't reply, please don't be offended.
To answer the questions.....yes, transition to NP Barto Balance. Your NO3 concentration is not that high to worry about. Hopefully ylthe algae will die off.

To transition, just switch the products out. It is not necessary, with those products, to transition slowly.
 

Edgar F

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Our office is closed this week and I have limited internet access. So if I don't reply, please don't be offended.
To answer the questions.....yes, transition to NP Barto Balance. Your NO3 concentration is not that high to worry about. Hopefully ylthe algae will die off.

To transition, just switch the products out. It is not necessary, with those products, to transition slowly.
Thank you for your response, I will do that and see how everything goes...will update later on !

Thanks Lou
 

Edgar F

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Thank you for your response, I will do that and see how everything goes...will update later on !

Thanks Lou
Our office is closed this week and I have limited internet access. So if I don't reply, please don't be offended.
To answer the questions.....yes, transition to NP Barto Balance. Your NO3 concentration is not that high to worry about. Hopefully ylthe algae will die off.

To transition, just switch the products out. It is not necessary, with those products, to transition slowly.
One followup question

I checked out the calculator for Bacto balance

My tank is not new 3 years old o tho i did upgrade from a smaller tank, the rock is old and sand and water is new.

Currently dosing Elimi NP 2.5ml

I consider my tank on the range of > 2, calculator gives me these values

Daily1.04
Maximum dosage: 4.16

Does this sound goo to start with a daily dose of 1.04

Thank you
 

ReefHog

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Just to add to this question, what is the recommended method of transitioning from Elimi-NP to NP-Bacto-Balance?
No worries switching back and forth between the three carbon dosing products. I've been using these products along with Reef Actif for 18 months with awesome results. I target N03 at 3-5 and P04 at .03- .05. Once dialed in they stay very consistent. I hardly ever have elevated P04 or N03 levels but occasionally one or the other may drop near undetectable. I just switch to the Plus NP until my reading is back in range and go right back to the Bacto Balance without missing a beat.
 

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