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View Full Version : Too early to start Carbon (Vodka) Dosing??....


Michfish77
01/14/2015, 05:43 PM
Hello everyone,
My tank has been up and running since July 4, 2014. My tank completed its initial cycle however now I am having an issue from what i believe are diatoms (rust colored algae on the sand bed, glass and rocks).
I have a notion this could possibly be from a couple different things,
- new tank (silicates)
- high nitrates
- My RODI is reading 0.01ppm (for some reason the water in my ATO reservoir is showing 0.04ppm and i honestly do not know why)

I tried the "3 day blackout" method and it worked, however as i feared, didn't last. I have been reading up about vodka(carbon) dosing to reduce nitrates but i want to do my full research before actually starting it.
Should i hold off until at least the "1 year mark" before i try vodka dosing?..
Is it normal for my nitrates to be this high?
Should i just try doing a couple 40-50% water changes instead?
I'm trying to get a handle on this before it gets any worse.

Tank started July 4 2014
1-1.5" sandbed
200lbs of live rock (roughly)
Chaeto in the sump
BRS GFO reactor (single unit)
Biweekly 20% water changes

Tank Parameters
Ammonia = 0 (API test kit)
Nitrite = unsure as i need to still purchase this test kit
Nitrate = 20-30ppm (API test kit)
PH = 7.9 - 8.29
Alk =7.8
Ca = 425
Mag = 1420
Phosphate = untraceable (Hanna Checker)
Salinity - 1.026

Current livestock: Yellow Tang, One Spot Foxface, mated pair of clowns, mated pair of Bangaii Cardinalfish, bonded pair of Royal Gramma, Bicolor Blenny, Pincushion Urchin, assortment of snails (cuc).

Feedings: 1 cube of mysis(rinsed) daily, New Life Spectrum pellets daily

Any advice/help would be extremely appreciated.

Thanks
Marc

CuzzA
01/14/2015, 07:21 PM
Are you using filter bags? If so, how often are your rotating them? I advise a goal of daily rotation.

If not are you cleaning out the detritus in your sump? With a 1262 on a 165 gallon I would assume your sump has extremely low flow which would lead to waste settling.

I would do the large water changes and maybe consider weekly water changes until you get a handle on your nitrates. Being that your nitrates are so high all it will take is one spike in phosphates and you'll be fighting algae, etc.

Also, I don't see any reason to not start carbon dosing.

bertoni
01/15/2015, 03:27 PM
I might start with some GFO, because that's easy to do and sometimes works. If there's too much food going into the tank, though, you'll probably need to work on that. I'm not sure what volume of pellets is going into the tank each day, but I might cut the feeding in half and work from there.

Michfish77
01/15/2015, 04:53 PM
Thank you both for your feedback. I appreciate it.
No filter bags but I am going to try cleaning up the sump and do a large water change. I still need to research the carbon dosing a bit more.
As far as the pellets go i usually feed about a pinch a few hours after the mysis. It's not a lot of pellets but just enough to watch them get gobbled up.

Thanks again
Marc

CuzzA
01/15/2015, 09:29 PM
No problem. If you need any motivation I spent the better half of this evening completely draining, and cleaning my sump and pumps. Even running filter bags the crap finds a way to settle. If you find this is the cause of your excessive nitrates you may want to consider running bags if your up to the task of rotating or perhaps just adding a cheap power head to your sump to avoid anything rotting down there. Good luck.