Question about Spectracide Stump Remover dosing

[bellasdad0911]

I started dosing this today as my po4 and no3 has been reading zero and will not increase. My skimmer is ripping out gunk daily but my growth is slow. No deaths, plenty of polyp extension. So my question is, I just did the 2table spoon to 2 cups of water and dosed 10ml with no effect. After testing and testing and testing I ended doing a good 350ml in 160 gallon water system. Below are my test results.

The right test is straight solution... which I thought would be off the charts. The left vile is the test results of tank water. Is it not concentrated enough or is this test kit just junk? I use Hanna meters for everything else except for nitrate as now I have one in order.

Skimmer is working well as you can see. Should I dose more? I want to shoot for 2-3ppm.

 

[Homebrwr]

So I too have had the pleasure haha of having ZERO NO3 for quite sometime. I thought NO3 was the devil. The more reading of forums and articles in have come to the realization that I need NO3.
I have had severe issues trying to keep SPS the only one that has trover is my Hawkins. I also have been battling a clearian white substance growing on rock and such. I also read that some folks have had such a problem a got rid of it through dosing STUMP remover...
Since I have benefited from reading posts I feel I need to share what I have been doing.... After reading this post.

 

[Homebrwr]

Bought a couple of corals yesterday at WWC. I tested the water from WWC 10ppm NO3. Another forum states WWC strives for 10 to 20 ppm.
Can't argue with WWC parameters....
My water volume is approx 240 gallons.
I filled a cup with RODI.. 1 and 2/3 cups.
To this I added 2 tablespoons of SR.
I have found that this mixture raises my NO3 aprox 2.5 ppm per 30ML added.
I have been doing this for a week now and have been striving for 5ppm and then I'll shoot for 10ppm. I am pretty much stable now at 5ppm, still need to add SR though.

 

[Cully]

I’ve now read this entire thread. I’m not ready to dose nitrates...but I’m close. It’s taken me several months to eliminate all of the other variables in determining that a lack of nitrate is the issue.

I’ve increased bioload, slowly. Increased feeding. Slimmer set at its lowest setting, “bone dry”.

My question, rather than start a new thread: would leaving a filter sock in place for longer than the usual 5-7 days help increase nitrates? Or would this become perilous. Meaning, if I changed it after 2-3 weeks, would there be a potential dust up and spike of nitrates to undesired levels?

Thanks!

 

[Bryn]

@sfg thought of you when measuring out my 10grams.

 

[Bryn]

@sfg Don't forget to bring the MetroCard.

 

[jasonrusso]

I just started dosing today for a couple of reasons. I'm planning on getting some acros and my trachyphyllia isn't doing well.

I've been feeding heavy but nitrates remain at zero. I don't want to turn the skimmer off because I feel the benefits outweigh the negative greatly. I think rotting food is going to release toxins other than just ammonia (conversion to nitrate).

I started with a dose of 2ppm. I see some people are getting up to 10 ppm. I was going to start with 2ppm and see how everything responds.

One last thing, I have a goby/pistol shrimp pair. Will nitrate affect my shrimp? What level would be harmful?

 

[Ubans13]

I just started dosing today for a couple of reasons. I'm planning on getting some acros and my trachyphyllia isn't doing well.

I've been feeding heavy but nitrates remain at zero. I don't want to turn the skimmer off because I feel the benefits outweigh the negative greatly. I think rotting food is going to release toxins other than just ammonia (conversion to nitrate).

I started with a dose of 2ppm. I see some people are getting up to 10 ppm. I was going to start with 2ppm and see how everything responds.

One last thing, I have a goby/pistol shrimp pair. Will nitrate affect my shrimp? What level would be harmful?

Depends on size of skimmer and water volume. I was currently dosing with a dosing pump. 6 times a day 2ml at a time. Feed very heavy with two cubes frozen. And still was only getting nitrates of maybe 2ppm. Just go slow. And everything will be fine.

 

[jasonrusso]

Depends on size of skimmer and water volume. I was currently dosing with a dosing pump. 6 times a day 2ml at a time. Feed very heavy with two cubes frozen. And still was only getting nitrates of maybe 2ppm. Just go slow. And everything will be fine.

I should have mentioned that, but I figured that the parameters were more important.

It's a 32 gallon Red sea max c 130 with the stock skimmer which is very aggressive.

 

[Ubans13]

I should have mentioned that, but I figured that the parameters were more important.

It's a 32 gallon Red sea max c 130 with the stock skimmer which is very aggressive.

I never mentioned my system is 85 gallons total. Start with the 2ml and see if it even makes a result on ur test. If you go to 10ppm that is not horrible just cut the dose back. If you get 2ppm perfect. And see how long it takes for the nitrates to go back to 0 and you can figure out a schedule.

It’s really pretty easy. I did notice I always had a little algae while dosing it. But nothing to worry about!

 

[jasonrusso]

I never mentioned my system is 85 gallons total. Start with the 2ml and see if it even makes a result on ur test. If you go to 10ppm that is not horrible just cut the dose back. If you get 2ppm perfect. And see how long it takes for the nitrates to go back to 0 and you can figure out a schedule.

It’s really pretty easy. I did notice I always had a little algae while dosing it. But nothing to worry about!

I dosed 30ml to get to 2 ppm, not 2ml. Reading through this thread gets confusing

 

[Reefahholic]

Here's a recipe:

Dissolve 10 grams in 1 liter of fresh water. That 10 grams contains 6.14 grams of nitrate, so that solution is 6,140 ppm nitrate.

If you add 1 ml of the solution per 2 gallons of tank water volume, that will boost nitrate by 0.8 ppm nitrate.

So 5 grams would = 3.07 grams NO3
5 grams to 1 liter = 3,070 ppm NO3
5 grams to 1/2 liter = 6,140 ppm NO3 (increases because it’s less RODI water to mix right?)

So 1/2 ML NO3 solution per 1 Gallon = > by 0.8 ppm NO3?

Can somebody check my math. This is confusing.

 

[JimCali75]

Do you have a scale?

Hi Randy, I stumbled onto this old thread looking for ways to increase NO3 in a temporary 20 gallon tank. I recently moved and I’m in the process of upgrading tanks. The temp tank has no substrate or rock. Nitrates are 0 and my lps are struggling. I was thinking of trying the Spectracide Stump Remover to raise levels. How much would you recommend adding to the tank? I’m a relative newby so adding anything is rather intimidating. Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Use good grade potassium nitrate that is inexpensive on line, and use one if the online calculators to get the dose.

Add about 1 ppm per day for a few days and see what that does.

 

[incloud design]

I'm just catching up on this thread researching nitrates of zero. To be honest, in ten years now of keeping reef tanks I've barely ever seen so much as a small trace of nitrates and that's going by the API tests. I've never been able to keep colorful coral although they always grow. When I get frags and they look great (bright) within a month they are dull in all my tanks. Now I have a Reefer 450 and a massive filtration system plumbed into my house and I'm getting the same ill effects. I believe my biggest problem is that I over maintain my systems and never allow them to work out a natural biological change. It drives me nuts to look at a dirty looking tank and it's most likely the cause of my downfall. Do you guys think that dosing some stump remover over a few days could possibly increase my coral health? My current system totals approximately 300 gallons.

 

[sfg]

See Randy’s post above yours regarding nitrate. My record sounded a lot like yours prior to me starting to dose nitrates. Like you I couldn’t stand to have a dirty tank and the site of algae drove my OCD nuts.

Fast forward to today I’m dosing a few things and have yet to find a natural balance without having to dose for a steady level of nitrates and phosphates.

Corals look great theses days, but I also have come to terms that I will have to deal with some level of algae in order to maintain the growth and colors I want.

A good CUC and consistent maintenance and things have been smooth sailing.

With anything new, start small, be patient, get yourself a better test kit, one thing at a time and wait to see how things work out.

 

[incloud design]

See Randy’s post above yours regarding nitrate. My record sounded a lot like yours prior to me starting to dose nitrates. Like you I couldn’t stand to have a dirty tank and the site of algae drove my OCD nuts.

Fast forward to today I’m dosing a few things and have yet to find a natural balance without having to dose for a steady level of nitrates and phosphates.

Corals look great theses days, but I also have come to terms that I will have to deal with some level of algae in order to maintain the growth and colors I want.

A good CUC and consistent maintenance and things have been smooth sailing.

With anything new, start small, be patient, get yourself a better test kit, one thing at a time and wait to see how things work out.

Thanks, so you think picking up some Spectracide from Lowe's and slowly dosing might help? I'll start feeding a bit more also because as of now I only feed small quantities of New Spectrum pellet, Omega One Reef Flakes, and Coral Frenzy every few days. I'm going to try my best to only clean the glass on my DT and leave everything alone. I can add the Spectracide in small quantities to my kalk reactor that's run from a dosing pump if that sounds like a good plan. How do you go about dosing your nitrate (Spectracide)? Thanks for the feedback!

 

[incloud design]

Bought a couple of corals yesterday at WWC. I tested the water from WWC 10ppm NO3. Another forum states WWC strives for 10 to 20 ppm.
Can't argue with WWC parameters....
My water volume is approx 240 gallons.
I filled a cup with RODI.. 1 and 2/3 cups.
To this I added 2 tablespoons of SR.
I have found that this mixture raises my NO3 aprox 2.5 ppm per 30ML added.
I have been doing this for a week now and have been striving for 5ppm and then I'll shoot for 10ppm. I am pretty much stable now at 5ppm, still need to add SR though.

How have you made out regarding this post? I'm curious what the outcome was and whether or now it was worth your efforts. Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks, so you think picking up some Spectracide from Lowe's and slowly dosing might help? I'll start feeding a bit more also because as of now I only feed small quantities of New Spectrum pellet, Omega One Reef Flakes, and Coral Frenzy every few days. I'm going to try my best to only clean the glass on my DT and leave everything alone. I can add the Spectracide in small quantities to my kalk reactor that's run from a dosing pump if that sounds like a good plan. How do you go about dosing your nitrate (Spectracide)? Thanks for the feedback!

I personally would recommend a higher quality and still not expensive source of nitrate (food grade on line), but I think nitrate dosign is a fine plan to try and see if it helps.

Dissolve it in water and boost the nitrate to 1-2 ppm daily for a few days to get a handle on daily demand.

 

[incloud design]

I personally would recommend a higher quality and still not expensive source of nitrate (food grade on line), but I think nitrate dosign is a fine plan to try and see if it helps.

Dissolve it in water and boost the nitrate to 1-2 ppm daily for a few days to get a handle on daily demand.

By dosing pump okay?