best way to ulns

[redadeath]

having ulns is always a need

specially when you have heavy bioload

what is the best thing to achieve that goal

is chaeto
ats

biopellet

dosing vodka or vinegar

gfo and sulphiur

i have been using ats +chaeto fr more than year and half now and it seems it is not the best way for fast removing the nutirents from the water coloumn before it reaches the corals body

can every body share his experience

thank you

[karsseboom]

Ats and chaeto are not the way to go. Both those methods don't even impact your system drastically. If you want ulns try zeovit or bio pellets with gfo.

[Alex T.]

Originally Posted by karsseboom

Ats and chaeto are not the way to go. Both those methods don't even impact your system drastically. If you want ulns try zeovit or bio pellets with gfo.

+1

A true ULNS will not support Chaeto or an ATS. When I was dosing vodka in my last tank the chaeto slowly withered away in my refugium until it was gone. IMO, carbon dosing is a much more efficient method for controlling nutrients than depending on macro algae. That being said, I think it's more suited to SPS tanks than mixed reefs. My LPS and clams suffered and lost some color.

[bertoni]

We don't have equipment to measure exactly what's going on at low nutrient levels, for cost reasons, so it's hard to make definitive statements, but I agree that carbon dosing (vodka, vinegar, etc) and GFO are more common approaches to try.

[ReLPSef]

GFO, GAC, and biopellets work just fine for me. But my LPS suffer from lack of nutrients even with pretty heavy feeding. And yes, my cheato is withering away slowly.

[redadeath]

biopellets

does it really need very strong skimmer

also can i combine it with purigen instead of gac

i dont have gfo in my area

would biopellet reactor be fine

[bertoni]

To get to a very low nutrient level, the skimmer would be useful, although probably not absolutely required. I don't know of any data about the effects of carbon dosing on a system with no skimmer or a weak skimmer. The dosing is worth trying even in such cases, in my opinion.

[skunkmere]

you need a good skimmer to dose carbon. thats how your nurtients get exported. if you dont skim your will crash you tank.

[skidrow52]

I am using a combination of diff products, I use GFO, GAC (ROX) which i change weekly, prodibio's bio clean and MB7 once a week to keep my nutrients low, and there is heavy skimming too. PO4 and NO3 remains zero

[bertoni]

Well, if organic carbon is overdosed, it might cause problems in a tank, but I don't see why it'd cause a tank to crash just because there's no skimmer. The carbon dosing might transform nutrients from one type into another, which could be useful, if you're converting phosphate to an organic form, for example.

[skunkmere]

what i understand from carbon dosing is that you need a export, i guess if you do alot of WC to get it out but that would defeat the whole carbon dosing benifit of no more WC.

[Thatgrimguy]

Originally Posted by karsseboom

Ats and chaeto are not the way to go. Both those methods don't even impact your system drastically. If you want ulns try zeovit or bio pellets with gfo.

Originally Posted by Alex T.

+1

A true ULNS will not support Chaeto or an ATS. When I was dosing vodka in my last tank the chaeto slowly withered away in my refugium until it was gone. IMO, carbon dosing is a much more efficient method for controlling nutrients than depending on macro algae. That being said, I think it's more suited to SPS tanks than mixed reefs. My LPS and clams suffered and lost some color.

You can absolutely run ULNS off an ATS, you just can't run carbon dosing and an ATS. The bacteria will outcompete the ATS because it brings the nutrients out before the ATS gets to them. Different means to the same end... I have untraceable n and P and don't carbon dose. I do run an ATS to get to that point.

[tmz]

I think unls is a mostly meaningless term. So I have no idea what a" true" ulns is but I personally don't want one if its double zeros for N and P.

FWIW, I've used vodka and vinegar with success in a mixed reef system in keeping NO3 and PO4 low ( NO3,0.2 and PO4 < .04 ,per hobby grade measurements).

I also use cryptic refugia filled with rock ,a chaeto refugium , gac and a little gfo. The chaeto is useful for some nutrient removal and provides opposite photo period oxygen production to help offset night time hypoxia.

I do not choose 0 PO4 and 0 NO3 as goals and don't dose trace elements but do regular water changes.

An ats or chaeto refugium remove nutirents relative to their size, flow, lighinting and harvesting routine So, whether either of these is the choice or part of it is a matter of personal preference, space and so on.. Chaeto or turf algae can be grown along with organic carbon dosing.

This thread may be of interest:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...+carbon+dosing

[Allmost]

Originally Posted by skunkmere

what i understand from carbon dosing is that you need a export, i guess if you do alot of WC to get it out but that would defeat the whole carbon dosing benifit of no more WC.

bacteria would simply lock up the nutritions.

skimmer is good, to export the bacteria, so they do not build up. but not absolutly needed. [as you said, water changes would export the bacteria too]

I ran a frag tankw ith no skimmer using zeovit ! results were meh ... good but it was much better with a skimmer. so it works, but not as well

just wanted to share teh experience with skimmerless bactioplankton systems
I dont know what will happen if skimmer is off line for a REALLY long time, like 2 years ... then there might be too much bacteria build up;.

[bertoni]

I personally think that water changes should be done even with carbon dosing. Removing nutrients is only one aspect of a water change's effects.

I agree that ULNS is hard to define.

[tmz]

I agree water changes are benficial for what the y bring in in terms ofelements ,many of which may bedepleted more rapidly with organic carbon dosing. Skimming is for removing the bacteria and does so very effectively ,ime. I suppose it' because they are amphipathic and prone to skimming. I think it removes orthe organics during dosing too.

Also aertion is improtant as more O2 is used during this process. Personally, I skim heavily an do water changes too.