Quick carbon dosing question

[Murraydar]

Just a quick question. I started carbon dosing a couple weeks ago with diy nopox (water, vinegar, and vodka) and I have it set to 6ml a day for my 75 gallon system. I see no drops yet in my no3 or po4. Do I keep dosing this amount or increase it until I see my levels start to drop? How long do I go between adjustments?

Thanks

 

[EmdeReef]

you should increase if no results. You can look up vinegar and vodka dosing charts for detailed instructions

 

[SPR1968]

I would probably increase by 1ml/day extra per week or every 2 weeks if you want to be cautious until you start to see a drop in levels, especially nitrates

If you start to experience any bacterial blooms just back of a ml or so

 

[Dan_P]

Most of the carbon dose will be consumed with little or no biomass produced, i.e., no nitrate consumption. Microorganisms need energy just to maintain the status quo. PO4 can be consumed without nitrate consumption and if PO4 becomes scarce, nitrate reduction will stop. So, your free lunch at first will do nothing to lower the nitrate concentration. At some point, the bacteria population will start to grow and at that point you will see nitrate reduction. At this time, no one knows how to calculate that dosing level to kick off nitrate consumption for any particular system. Don’t be surprised to see a white haze of bacterial growth develop when nitrate reduction starts.

 

[Murraydar]

Most of the carbon dose will be consumed with little or no biomass produced, i.e., no nitrate consumption. Microorganisms need energy just to maintain the status quo. PO4 can be consumed without nitrate consumption and if PO4 becomes scarce, nitrate reduction will stop. So, your free lunch at first will do nothing to lower the nitrate concentration. At some point, the bacteria population will start to grow and at that point you will see nitrate reduction. At this time, no one knows how to calculate that dosing level to kick off nitrate consumption for any particular system. Don’t be surprised to see a white haze of bacterial growth develop when nitrate reduction starts.

Gotcha. Yeah I'm actually trying to get my po4 down more than my nitrates but I've read that one may bottom out faster than the other. I'm testing both a few times a week. Thanks for the heads up.