Juiceman Posted August 21, 2015 Author Share Posted August 21, 2015 Soooo...... Been thinking My nitrates have read the same thing for the past 4-5 months despite all the cleaning, water changes, bacteria etc. So my bio pellets are at least maintaining them where they are, so should I add more to drop them? I'm using what's recommended for 200 g, I have a 320 ish net gallon system with tons of Tangs. Thoughts?! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 I like the idea... And continue leaving GFO offline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted August 21, 2015 Author Share Posted August 21, 2015 I like the idea... And continue leaving GFO offline. My gfo is running with less media. I'm showing .03 ppm phosphate. Figure it's pretty safe? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Yeah, I guess if you're showing something, just keep running the lesser amount of GFO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted August 27, 2015 Author Share Posted August 27, 2015 I put in 100 gallons worth of pellets, which would make up for what I'd previously not added. Interesting finding is that that equals 2 Cups of Pellets, It looks like I only had that amount in the Reactor to begin with, so I only had enough pellets for 100 gallons of water, with my fish population, I could see that not keeping up. I don't want to add too much at once, so I'm going to let this roll for a month or so and add more if I don't see improvement. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Sooooo...... I got Dinoflagellets...... About 2 weeks ago Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Changed out GFO and Carbon, fed less, did a lot of blowing of rocks and coral. Lost some small frags. Had horrible polyp extension and some stn. Black slime on my LPS, tank looked horrible. Things look great again, Polyps of better than before. growth starting again. I was looking at my fish all out front and noticed a big player was missing..... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 My Yellow Belly hippo tang is nowhere to be found.....! WtH! I think I figured out what caused the Dino's! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryD Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Did you get rid of the Dino outbreak yet? Sorry to hear about the tang. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Yes, everything is back to normal. I've had Dino's before, a really long time ago. They're not hard to take care of as long as you eliminate the excess nutrients Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 So did the tang ever show up or was he cause of the nutrients? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 So did the tang ever show up or was he cause of the nutrients? Nope, ..... no Dori so I'm fairly certain that's what caused the recent nutrient issue. At least it was temporary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 Since adding more pellets I'm having flow issues in my reactor. I got a bigger pump previously because it was keeping them suspended, so with more pellets, my new one can't keep up.. Smh so I ordered another new pump. Anyone need an ehiem 2000.... Lightly used Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckyuv Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Sure has been quite a bit of hype on this matrix and suporax media for nitrate reduction, not sure if that's expensive for a big ol tank like yours though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 21, 2015 Author Share Posted September 21, 2015 Bad news.... My CaRX is not keeping up with my Alk, I keep having to dose BRS Alk solution to keep it up and decreasing the ph of the reactor. Good news.....corals are growing again!.!!!.! Got the new pump installed on the bio pellets, had to add a valve to crank it down. Will test Nitrate tomorrow and see where I'm at Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 I'd be pretty surprised if your CaRX isn't keeping up Juiceman. My reactor is half your size and is supplying my tank nicely. I will say I have to replace about 3 cups of media monthly in my CaRX but the rate does keep up. What is your pH effluent set at? What's your drip rate at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 21, 2015 Author Share Posted September 21, 2015 I'd be pretty surprised if your CaRX isn't keeping up Juiceman. My reactor is half your size and is supplying my tank nicely. I will say I have to replace about 3 cups of media monthly in my CaRX but the rate does keep up. What is your pH effluent set at? What's your drip rate at? I know it's not keeping up because I raised the ph on purpose when everything went haywire and nothing was growing and the carx was raising the alk instead of maintaining it.I have just recently started lowering the ph back down to compensate for the growth starting again. Im in the tuning phase right now, adding brs solution to get the alk back where it should be and lowering the ph every few days until it starts maintaining it again. No Worries! I'll take tuning my carx over killing fish and coral! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 Ohhh... I thought you meant your maxed out your CaRX and need to supplement with 2-part now. You're just saying that you dialed back you CaRX (by increasing pH) because things weren't happy before and growing but now that everything is happy and growing again, you are adding 2-part to supplement while you start slowly dialing back your CaRX again and lowering the pH to keep up with the demand. Got it. Glad everything is on the up and up again. Let's see those colonies grow out again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 What test kit are you using to test nitrates? Have you tried comparing your results to another test standard? I'm eternally an auditor at heart, I always question the validity of my testing equipment. Most fish stores will test your water parameters for free if you want to double check that your test is accurate. What does your biological filtration outside of bio pellets do you have? Macro algae in the sump? I'm a believer in using algae as a good tool to remove nutrients from the water and a source of food for pods. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 21, 2015 Author Share Posted September 21, 2015 What test kit are you using to test nitrates? Have you tried comparing your results to another test standard? I'm eternally an auditor at heart, I always question the validity of my testing equipment. Most fish stores will test your water parameters for free if you want to double check that your test is accurate. What does your biological filtration outside of bio pellets do you have? Macro algae in the sump? I'm a believer in using algae as a good tool to remove nutrients from the water and a source of food for pods. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I'm using Red Sea. I bought a brand new test about 2 months ago, same results. I've tested store water and other tanks water and gotten lower level results, so I don't think it's wrong. And ty has tested it in the past and it showed the same. Pellets and live rock are my filtration for nitrates. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 What test kit are you using to test nitrates? Have you tried comparing your results to another test standard? I'm eternally an auditor at heart, I always question the validity of my testing equipment. Most fish stores will test your water parameters for free if you want to double check that your test is accurate. What does your biological filtration outside of bio pellets do you have? Macro algae in the sump? I'm a believer in using algae as a good tool to remove nutrients from the water and a source of food for pods. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I'm using Red Sea. I bought a brand new test about 2 months ago, same results. I've tested store water and other tanks water and gotten lower level results, so I don't think it's wrong. And ty has tested it in the past and it showed the same. Pellets and live rock are my filtration for nitrates. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk The FarmerTy Nitrate standard Gig'em... duh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Ok..... Bad news...... My alk is still low at 5.42 Good news...... My Nitrates are down too!,!,!,! Test reads 10 ppm. It hasn't been lower than 30 for months! No wonder things have started growing again! Po4 read 0.00 also, but I feed today so looks like we're back on track! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Yikes! That's some crazy low alk! Was it just drifting in that direction or was that something that happened overnight? Glad the nitrates are finally going down for you. Do you think it's the combo of adding more biopellets and a new pump or maybe decreasing your GFO usage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Yikes! That's some crazy low alk! Was it just drifting in that direction or was that something that happened overnight? Glad the nitrates are finally going down for you. Do you think it's the combo of adding more biopellets and a new pump or maybe decreasing your GFO usage? I think it's a little of both. Less aggressive gfo usage and adding the proper amount of pellets. It has been drifting for a while as I've been tuning my carx back up. But it has been harder to keep up the last 2 weeks. I'm adding more alk solution each day and testing until I get it to about 7 or so, then concentrating on tuning the carx again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Did you change the CaRX settings dramatically? I usually just turn up the pH and leave the drip rate the same, always. That way when I need to reset it back, I just get it back to the same pH I had it set at before and viola, instantly calibrated again. Main reason I do that is because I actually have a reading for the pH that I can gauge my adjustments with versus the flow rate, where I would have to measure the change in flow each time manually with a cup and timer. I like option 1 better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.