NO3:PO4-X when science meets the hobby

[jsdancer]

Hello Avaid,
I debated to post because I thought I could simply find the answer to my GHA problem by reading from other hobbyist who are also suffering from GHA.

My reef tank is 8 months old. I have no sand on bottom just the material called star board.
I like this better as it allows for me to quickly siphon detritus during water changes. Coralline algae was slow to grow but when I added your Coralline Gro the tank seemed to respond and I had an explosion of coralline growth at about 4 months into the game.

Within 2 months after the tank cycling, GHA was growing faster than I could manage.
I changed to a brand new RO/DI unit two months ago. So I eliminated the potential of adding bad RO water. Besides the unit was more than 15 yrs old and needed to be replaced.
Rocks were scrubbed and I noticed a slowing of GHA growth.

I know it will take time to get rid of the GHA, so I am ready to wait it out like some of the other guys here.
I purchased your NoPox product and listened to your FANTASTIC, very informative videos. I started dosing NoPox as follows for a tank with a complete vol of 230 us gal. What exact number of lbs of live rock I have is only an estimate but I believe it to be 50 to 100 lbs.

06-24-12
Initial Nitrate reading before adding NoPox
2.0 ppm

Initial Phosphates*Reading before adding NoPox
0.16 ppm
Added 14 ml of NoPox 2 ml per 25 us gal

6-25-12
Added 14 ml of NoPox

6-26-12
Tested parameters
Ca. * 490. Salifert kit
Alk. *10.2. Salifert kit
Po. *0.08ppm. Red Sea algae control kit
No. *2.0ppm. Red Sea algae control kit
Salinity. 35ppm
Ph. 8.10 to 8.15
Mg 1450
Added 14 ml of NoPox

6-27-12
Added 14 ml of NoPox

6-28-12
Added 14 ml of NoPox

6-29-12
Added 14ml of NoPox

6-30-12
Added 14ml of NoPox

7-01-12
Added 14ml of NoPox

7-02-12
Nitrate reading
0.25ppm

Phosphate reading
0.04ppm
Did a 20% water change and scrubbed as much of the GHA to observe how quickly it grows back. ( your suggestion to another hobbyist )

I know I am under dosing but am afraid to over dose and start to cause other problems, like coral starvation, tissue recession, etc. plus I rather go slow and really take note of what is happening in the tank. I am willing to wait if I know that I will get the right results in the end.

Here are my questions Avaid:
1. Should I increase the NoPox? Or leave it as is? Looks like my test results are saying I am on the lower end for nitrate but still have a little to go with phosphates. Confused about which way to go here. Which parameter should I focus on?
2. Can I continue to run carbon?
3. Should I be worried about adding new corals to the tank?
4. Should I be worried about adding new fish to the tank?
5. Is there truth to the rumor that older bulbs cause GHA outbreaks? My bulbs are about 14 months old but I only run them a total of 5 hrs per day. The superbrites led's I run 7 hrs per day.
6. Should I continue adding Reef Foundation ABC+ as needed?
7. Because of my GHA problem should I continue to feed every other day?
8. My goal of course is to get rid of GHA, but I also want to make sure that my levels of nitrates and phosphates get to the proper levels. My understanding is that I am looking for nitrates to be between 1 and 2.5 ppm and my phosphate levels to be 0.02. Is this correct?

I thank you in advance for your expertise.

Juan

[rado316]

Ill be honest, Im guilty of very poor husbandry to my 100 gallon FOWLR (after live rock water volume of 75 gl)
Tested 2 weeks ago and Nitrates were extremely high.
re-dedicated to my tank, ive done some steps
Upgraded skimmer,
got rid of wet/dry bio balls sump, and got a bigger sump (no space for refuguim)
did weekly water changes with ro/di water
I know Lowering Nitrates is not a quick process, so MY LFS told me recommended The Red Sea NO3:PO4-X to lower nitrates enough to stable my tank, and start dosing other stuff eventually.
So Im about to start in the next day or so but a tad confused about the instructions.
Im supposed to dose 3 ml per 25 gallons......but the measuring cup has measurments up to 50 ml. Do they mean the 3 on the front of the cup?
Is it safe to use while using kent marine carbon in my sump, or do i need to remove the carbon bag from my Filter Sock????

[hja99]

It sounds like you should dose 9ml total, for 75 gallons of water at 3 ml per 25 gallons. The measuring cup should have two compartments; one goes up to 50ml, and the small one on the side has measurements in 1ml increments up to 4ml. I would guess that you could just add 10ml, measured from the 50ml compartment, or add 3ml three times using the small measuring compartment.

[P.chang]

Aviad,


When dosing nopox how often should reef energy be added?
I've been dosing6ml to my 75g for a couple of weeks no3 still at 2ppm any suggestions

[RedSeaKev]

Hi P.chang, I am sorry for the late reply, support of the forum has been very limited of late as Aviad now has a different position within the company.

To answer your question Reef Energy should be dosed daily in relation to your Algae Nutrient levels, if you are running a rapid growth program with Nitrate at 1 to 2 ppm and Phosphate at 0.08ppm you should dose 2ml of A & B per 100 litres/ 25 gals.

In the event of you running a low nutrient system with Nitrate of 0.25ppm and Phosphate of 0.02ppm you need to increase the dosage to 4ml per 100 litres/ 25 gals.

Please remember it is important to switch the skimmer off for at least 30 minutes after feeding Reef Energy.

[PavoCristatus]

Hi, Ive been dosing NOPOX in my tank since January 15th of this year.
I was using biopellets and GFO since the beginning (tank will be a year old in April)
I started with a small dose (15ml) I have a 210g tank with 75g sump.
My nitrates were at 20ppm constantly before with 2700ml of biopellets, weekly 10-15%water changes.
My phosphates were around 0.08- 0.13 in general.
I have a large bioload, not too crazy but I have a lot of fish and need to feed several times a day. I have angels and corals... want to prevent nipping as much as possible.
around January 31st, I noticed my nitrates drop to 15-10ppm, and I increased the dosage to 20ml.
February 10th,I increased the dosage to 25ml, nitrates were around 10ppm again.
10 days later, I went to 30ml.
I stopped my biopellets reactor 3 weeks ago, and also stopped the GFO too upon losing a clam, but plugged the reactor back in when I notice the phosphate peaking, it was off for a week and a half max.
Today I still have my dosage at 30ml, my nitrates are constantly at 5 and have been this way for the past 4weeks now.
Phosphates are always around 0.08-0.1 still... Im getting some green mossy algae in some spots on my liverock.
I have been using a bit of foz down to lower my phosphate levels,only dosed once and I've been testing daily (Dont want to go too fast)
What do you think I should do? Increase the nopox dosage?
My goal is too have just a very tiny amount of nitrates with 0.03 phosphates max.
I mostly have sps, but I also have some softies and lps (all corals are doing great except for some sps that have no polyp extension and some are not coloring up as fast as others) I did notice growth though... Just want the sps to look better and grow faster.

I plan on using Reef energy A B, and colors supplements once the phosphate levels are lower. My bottles are all ordered.

Thanks

[GusDiaz]

Hi all,

I have a question about the use of NOPOX and the use of a Reef Dynamics recirculating de-nitrator with the NOPO bio-balls. As I use the Red Sea NOPOX program I guess that I should start also removing (at some point) the bio-balls??? At what point it would be appropriate to remove the bio-balls if I need too????

Thanks

[RedSeaKev]

Hi GusDiaz,
I am sorry I have checked our website for a file on the conversion to No3Po4-X and it appears to be missing, I will look into getting this available via the website.

In the meantime its attached here:

[GusDiaz]

Thanks Kev

[PavoCristatus]

Can anyone answer MY question?

[smalltime]

My situation.

My sps have stopped growing since starting NoPox. I have turned off my calcium reactor and stopped using kalkwasser. I've been dosing NoPox for 1 month now. My aquarium glass has minimal algae growth which I love but growth is almost 0.

Has anyone else reported an experience like this?

[viktor72]

NOPOX is a strong one.You have cleaned the water a little faster maybe.You have to encrease the feeding and maybe decrease NOPOX

Sent from my HTC Desire C using Tapatalk 2

[RedSeaKev]

Originally Posted by PavoCristatus

Hi, Ive been dosing NOPOX in my tank since January 15th of this year.
I was using biopellets and GFO since the beginning (tank will be a year old in April)
I started with a small dose (15ml) I have a 210g tank with 75g sump.
My nitrates were at 20ppm constantly before with 2700ml of biopellets, weekly 10-15%water changes.
My phosphates were around 0.08- 0.13 in general.
I have a large bioload, not too crazy but I have a lot of fish and need to feed several times a day. I have angels and corals... want to prevent nipping as much as possible.
around January 31st, I noticed my nitrates drop to 15-10ppm, and I increased the dosage to 20ml.
February 10th,I increased the dosage to 25ml, nitrates were around 10ppm again.
10 days later, I went to 30ml.
I stopped my biopellets reactor 3 weeks ago, and also stopped the GFO too upon losing a clam, but plugged the reactor back in when I notice the phosphate peaking, it was off for a week and a half max.
Today I still have my dosage at 30ml, my nitrates are constantly at 5 and have been this way for the past 4weeks now.
Phosphates are always around 0.08-0.1 still... Im getting some green mossy algae in some spots on my liverock.
I have been using a bit of foz down to lower my phosphate levels,only dosed once and I've been testing daily (Dont want to go too fast)
What do you think I should do? Increase the nopox dosage?
My goal is too have just a very tiny amount of nitrates with 0.03 phosphates max.
I mostly have sps, but I also have some softies and lps (all corals are doing great except for some sps that have no polyp extension and some are not coloring up as fast as others) I did notice growth though... Just want the sps to look better and grow faster.

I plan on using Reef energy A B, and colors supplements once the phosphate levels are lower. My bottles are all ordered.

Thanks

Hi PavoCristatus, sorry for the late reply, can we have some system volumes here please, I see you want rapid growth, can we have some results of your Foundation elements Mag, Calc & Alk I'm going to suggest you look to maintain 1 to 2 ppm of No3 and 0.08 to 0.1 of Po4 are you currently running a wet skimate ?? this will help with Po4 export removing bacteria as it dies off laden with Po4.

What Color is your skimate? this will help give an indication of how well the No3Po4-X dosing is going and if your suffering from any nutrient release from your live rock.

[RedSeaKev]

Originally Posted by smalltime

My situation.

My sps have stopped growing since starting NoPox. I have turned off my calcium reactor and stopped using kalkwasser. I've been dosing NoPox for 1 month now. My aquarium glass has minimal algae growth which I love but growth is almost 0.

Has anyone else reported an experience like this?

Hi smalltime, more information is needed on your system please.

Growth of SPS corals can be affected by many issues including the balance of Foundation Elements ( Mag, Calc & Alk) and yes Algae nutrients No3 & Po4 what are you current levels please.

[hypnoj]

following.

[PavoCristatus]

Originally Posted by RedSeaKev

Hi PavoCristatus, sorry for the late reply, can we have some system volumes here please, I see you want rapid growth, can we have some results of your Foundation elements Mag, Calc & Alk I'm going to suggest you look to maintain 1 to 2 ppm of No3 and 0.08 to 0.1 of Po4 are you currently running a wet skimate ?? this will help with Po4 export removing bacteria as it dies off laden with Po4.

What Color is your skimate? this will help give an indication of how well the No3Po4-X dosing is going and if your suffering from any nutrient release from your live rock.

We have approximately 240g total volume.
Magnesium always high around 1450 without dosing.
Calcium is 460ppm.
Alk is 10DKH.
Skimate is Coffee black. It uses to fill up more when I ran biopellets, now I empty the cup way less, but color and smell is the same.