No3 reduction help - Page 2

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/02/2009, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redfishsc

Nitrate is mildly toxic to many organisms. Some fish seem to be susceptible to it, but not (that I know of ) at your levels. A cephalapod would likely die overnight in your tank though.

Now if you have enough light for some clams, get yourself a couple big'uns, like some derasa or squamosa. They tend to eat nitrate for lunch.

I think clams might be out...until i finish my over driven light fixture that is almost done (6 bulbs, individual reflectors, 1 IC600 and one no name VHO ballast

).

I thought clams liked a low amount of No3, nothing over 20 ppm...? I dont know much about clams though....

I retested No3 tonight, and it looks like its about 25-50 ppm. So definite improvement in just 3 weeks. I only have to scrape my glass once every 5 or so days, instead of every 3 days.

sedor · 12/02/2009, 08:44 PM

The response your skimmer is having to the vodka seems similar what mine does. It seems it will almost shut down for a while and simply build "mud" on the riser tube, then just when its getting nice and dirty it will really start pumping out the sludge.

My current situation is almost identical to yours (except your adding coral, and i've nearly lost all of mine). I use to have very minimal issues with NO3, I started vodka dosing mostly to combat low PO4 levels. I was always told to start feeding a little heavier in addition to the carbon dosing, so that's what I did. Then I had a mandarin die and I was never able to find the body which prompted me to check my NO3 levels and it blew me away when I saw 50 ppm! At the time I was only dosing 1 ml of vodka and 5 drops of mb7 as a maintanence dosage, but since then i've been building up .5 each week. Currently i'm at 2.5 and I still haven't started to make a dent in the nitrates

Sometimes it takes a couple months to see results with vodka dosing though, so just stay at it and follow your routine and you should be fine.

A couple notes on the skimmer performance. What I have found to work is to just not mess with it. Everytime I up my vodka dosage, and clean my skimmer cup (which I do weekly so it usually falls on the same day) it seems the skimmer stops working for 2 or 3 days. Once its all caked in grime again it seems to start working. I would just let your skimmer build up some dirt for a while and see what happens. I'm not saying don't empty out the skimmate, but maybe don't scrub the walls down as often. Then again, I could be completely wrong about this, its just an experiment I am in the middle of.

redfishsc · 12/02/2009, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1DeR9_3Hy

I think clams might be out...until i finish my over driven light fixture that is almost done (6 bulbs, individual reflectors, 1 IC600 and one no name VHO ballast

).

I thought clams liked a low amount of No3, nothing over 20 ppm...? I dont know much about clams though....

I retested No3 tonight, and it looks like its about 25-50 ppm. So definite improvement in just 3 weeks. I only have to scrape my glass once every 5 or so days, instead of every 3 days.

Nice improvement, that's right on track. Keep it slow and steady. Once you get down to around 10ppm you might want to upgrade to a Salifert nitrate kit, which is WAAAAY more user friendly than some others. It measures down to 0.2ppm pretty well.

One word of caution about what you are doing with your T5s. I would personally not overdrive any T5 with a VHO ballast OTHER than Icecap--- especially a "no name" VHO ballast. Icecaps are designed for overdriving T5's and adjust their output accordingly, but a no-name VHO ballast may well burn out your T5 lamps very quickly.

I just don't think there is such thing as a generic equivalent (or even close!) to an Icecap. They are costly, but do their job well.

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/02/2009, 09:40 PM

Thanks for the tip on the salifert, ill try and pick one up this weekend.

As far as the ballast goes, here is what i am using:

Ive had the fixture on for about 5 hours total (i need to clean up the wiring before its ready for the big show) and the only bulb that burned out was one being driven by the IC. All the bulbs im using though are atleast 12 months old, so...its expected. It did glow a cool orange color before the cathode poped

Here is with flash:

And same room, with the lights still on only without flash:

Its coming along, but i ran out of time because ive been working on getting my frag tank lights up (which just got finished tonight). At any rate, ill keep this updated as the vodka gets dosed. Im hoping by week 5-6 i will be able to test the water with an orange cap again.

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/08/2009, 09:11 PM

Well today is day 2 of the MB7 expirence. So far, skimmate has about trippled as far as output goes. Im dosing 1.2 ml of vodka, and 2 capfulls of MB7. Also im following the instructions to the "T" on this one, so the skimmer goes off for 4 hours (timed on my RKL, another great use of those darn things) when i hit standby mode after dosing the MB7.

Note on skimmer production:

It used to take about 20-30 minutes for the skimmer to build enough foam to make a head and pour over the top of the neck. Now it does this in less than 5. I attribute it directly to the MB7, although i dont know if its been formulated to increase skimmer production or if my bacteria colonies are really just exploding that quickly. I plan on doing a N03 test this weekend, so it should be interesting to see what comes of this...

moze229 · 12/08/2009, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1DeR9_3Hy

Well today is day 2 of the MB7 expirence. So far, skimmate has about trippled as far as output goes. Im dosing 1.2 ml of vodka, and 2 capfulls of MB7. Also im following the instructions to the "T" on this one, so the skimmer goes off for 4 hours (timed on my RKL, another great use of those darn things) when i hit standby mode after dosing the MB7.

Note on skimmer production:

It used to take about 20-30 minutes for the skimmer to build enough foam to make a head and pour over the top of the neck. Now it does this in less than 5. I attribute it directly to the MB7, although i dont know if its been formulated to increase skimmer production or if my bacteria colonies are really just exploding that quickly. I plan on doing a N03 test this weekend, so it should be interesting to see what comes of this...

I notice you are following the instructions to the T on this one, which is great. It has been noted in several threads though, that many do not really see much difference between leaving the skimmer on or turning it off during dosing MB7. It's been said that the bacteria addition can actually bring O2 levels down, so it may be better to leave the skimmer on and just add a little extra. I left my skimmer on while I was in "high nutrient" mode, and it still seemed to work effectively. Now, I'm not saying Brightwell doesn't know what they are talking about, or that you are making a wrong choice by following directions. Just thought I would bring that up

I wouldn't mess with turning it off myself.

I too first noticed that I had to clean my glass less and less. After the "high nutrient" dosing of MB7, I starting dosing sugar. I figure whatever is in there was jump started by the MB7, and adding it while sugar dosing may be futile. I haven't cleaned my glass in over two weeks and all I see is a slight biofilm

Matt

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/08/2009, 09:40 PM

Thanks for the words Matt.

I just cleaned the glass again tonight, the last time was Friday. So i went from every 3 days to every 4 days....a slight improvement.

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/10/2009, 07:10 PM

I have left the skimmer on the past two times, and the only difference i see is the skimmate production ceases for about an hour after adding MB7. Ill just leave it on from here out, thanks again.

Also did a N03 test tonight, and its showing 25-50...so no real news yet.

menthol · 12/10/2009, 08:55 PM

I've had almost the same problem as yours, I have had 25ppm NO3 and ZEROppm PO4 on my 135gal for 7months. nothing seems to work, i did not want to dose vodka or any carbon source, i've minimized my feedings, i have a low bioload, changed 20% of water every week, etc, etc. Like i said, nothing seems to work.

But... i was always very successful with my smaller/NANO tanks of reducing NO3 by using this method of changing water....

httx://saltaquarium.about.com/od/nitratecontrol/ss/sbsnitratereduction_2.htm

...but doing so in my 135gal would turn out to be very expensive and laborious.

I was desperate.... so i did it!.... hehe.

It worked! after this WC method, my reading was "undetectable" NO3, i was expecting it would have just been halved or less, but to my surprise, turned out ZERO. after a week, i had a somewhat a NO3 reading of less than 5ppm, but after my weekly WC, back to ZERO. It has been like this for almost a month now, and it makes me happy, hehe.

HTH.

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/11/2009, 10:25 AM

Thanks for the read, im always open to new (to me) ideas

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/12/2009, 11:49 AM

Im beginning to think i should call shenanigans on my N03 test kit.

I tested my new prop tank downstairs (120 gallons'sh) which has almost no bio load, some macro, and about 50 frags. It also tested 50+ for trates....which alarmed me since its loaded with sps that friend is storing in my tank until he fixes his cal reactor (setosa, sarashoni, many montis...).

But then i looked at the corals and they are not behaving like 50+ No3 would make them. They have great color, great PE, and there is no algae anywhere (i just added the macro 2 days ago). Again, this does not follow the standard high nitrate tank (lots of algae, browned out sps, poor husbandry, poor make up water...)...so i got to really wonder about the accuracy of the test.

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/12/2009, 08:13 PM

I went out and got my water tested by another store, different kit than mine and the other stores.

It agrees with my kit(s), 80-100 No3. Im in week 5 i beleive of dosing, and nearing the end of week 1 with the MB7 + vodka.

Talking with the owner of the store, we went back and talked about everything in the tank and everything i have done. He suggested (and mentioned it was sort of a last resort) that i remove all the sand & LR and start anew. Since i do have about 60 lbs of LR that has been curing since june, this is an option that could be done this weekend.

Anyone have any input on this? I really do think my LR or LS is behind this since i have been doing everything perfectly and i still ended up with high No3. Dont ask me why or how the LR or LS or both are causing this, but its the only constant between the two tanks other than the make up water (and i have tested the make up water thoroughly, its good).

arredondojason · 12/12/2009, 10:14 PM

I would try dosing vodka here is a great link that gives you the doses and everything step by step.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

hope it helps you out.

menthol · 12/12/2009, 11:38 PM

vacuum the sand first, or siphon/take it out and wash it. I do not think that the LR's got anything to do with it.

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/12/2009, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arredondojason

I would try dosing vodka here is a great link that gives you the doses and everything step by step.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

hope it helps you out.

Im heading into week 5 or 6 of vodka and week 2 of MB7. There is some serious No3 reserves in my tank, its not budging down at all.

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/13/2009, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by menthol

vacuum the sand first, or siphon/take it out and wash it. I do not think that the LR's got anything to do with it.

Thanks for the tip, i siphoned off about 2" of the top layer when i first started battling the No3. It sucked out most of the detrius mulm i could see, and a lot of worms.

Im letting the rock sit in a 5 gallon bucket with pump + heater for the night, then i will test in the morning for am, trite, and trate. If all check out @ 0, ill be switching rock and sand tomorrow. Ive got another 20 gallons made up and ready to go as well, so ill be doing a pretty good sized WC as well and probably continuing with the vodka dosing (bust starting back at .2 ml).

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/13/2009, 01:17 PM

It is done.

I removed all the old sand, and all the water that was in the tank when i removed the old sand (about 5 gallons). I kept the current LR in their, after putting a piece in a batch of new make up water for an hour and testing it only to find a 0 No3 reading (maybe i didnt give it enough time). I added back about 10 lbs of dry sp. grade aragonite from caribsea, and added all the new make up water i had (about 12-13 gallons) then topped off with the old water.

After doing all that my No3 reading is between 25-50. Im hoping to pick up another 15-20 gallons today to do another WC. I have about 40 gallons total water after rock/sand displacement. Changing 15 gallons out of 40 should net me how much of a reduction? Im just trying to find some way to measure the effectiveness of this new sand change and also determine if the rock needs to go as well.

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/16/2009, 09:15 AM

And the verdict is...

The substrate change had a positive affect on lowering my No3 levels. I did a 50% WC last night. Before the WC the No3 test was solid red (50+), after the WC the color was a faint pink (12.5-25). The real test will be over the next few days to see if it creeps back up...until then, i will be getting ready to do another big WC either tonight or tomorrow.

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/29/2009, 06:07 PM

It has been almost 6 full weeks of vodka dosing and almost 3 weeks with MB7 added into that, and im finally seeing a drop in No3 on my test kit.

I tested the tank on the 19th, and again got a reading of around 25-50 (color was closer to 50). I tested again tonight, and could finally use the low range side of the test kit to get a measure! Yay! It put my No3 somewhere around 25, maybe a little bit lower...it looks like i am on my way.

I plan on doing a maintenance dose when i get to around 10 and i want to see if i can hold that number. How hard should that be?

redfishsc · 12/29/2009, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1DeR9_3Hy

I plan on doing a maintenance dose when i get to around 10 and i want to see if i can hold that number. How hard should that be?

Why settle for 10? If you are using the Salifert kit, just keep dosing (carefully and observantly) until you get to the "below 0.2" mark.

HOB · 12/29/2009, 09:31 PM

400 + gallon heavily stocked system and always battled nitrates and phosphates. Tried DSB and RDSB, extra large refuge with cheto, extra tub with live rock etc... and my phosphates came down but my nitrates remained. It wasn't until I set up a sulfur denitrator (from the DIY plans on RC) that my nitrates came down. It took like a week to see results. Those things really friggin work! It is gratifying to see 0 nitrates come out from the denitrator when your tank is reading 50 +.

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/30/2009, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redfishsc

Why settle for 10? If you are using the Salifert kit, just keep dosing (carefully and observantly) until you get to the "below 0.2" mark.

10 because i beleive in a wives tail that says soft corals like a little nitrates (i have 90% soft corals as of right now, which is probably all this tank will be since its getting taken down within a year).

I dont know if thats true or not, but ive never seen a great looking ULNS softie tank either

1DeR9_3Hy · 12/30/2009, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOB

400 + gallon heavily stocked system and always battled nitrates and phosphates. Tried DSB and RDSB, extra large refuge with cheto, extra tub with live rock etc... and my phosphates came down but my nitrates remained. It wasn't until I set up a sulfur denitrator (from the DIY plans on RC) that my nitrates came down. It took like a week to see results. Those things really friggin work! It is gratifying to see 0 nitrates come out from the denitrator when your tank is reading 50 +.

See here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1766092

Im just waiting for the reactor to show up now...

1DeR9_3Hy · 01/06/2010, 10:52 AM

Im down around 20-25. Odd enough, im starting to see cyano in my overflow (its out of sight, so i dont really care...).

I know sonnyX had mentioned that if you see a cyano bloom right after you start dosing that you should stop, then restart...but this is going into week 7. Any advice on this?

Its only a little patch of cyano growing on some new tubing that is in the tank (from the BRS reactor). Maybe its leaching out a little bit of P04 and the cyano is growing on it because of that?

redfishsc · 01/06/2010, 11:21 AM

I would occasionally get cyano when dosing sugar, glucose, and/or vitamin C.

I actually just ignored it even when it was in the display tank. Maybe I'd siphon it out here and there, but it eventually went away totally.

It was worse in the refugium, near the surface, where there was high light and low flow.

12/02/2009, 08:44 PM	#27
sedor Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 4,689	The response your skimmer is having to the vodka seems similar what mine does. It seems it will almost shut down for a while and simply build "mud" on the riser tube, then just when its getting nice and dirty it will really start pumping out the sludge. My current situation is almost identical to yours (except your adding coral, and i've nearly lost all of mine). I use to have very minimal issues with NO3, I started vodka dosing mostly to combat low PO4 levels. I was always told to start feeding a little heavier in addition to the carbon dosing, so that's what I did. Then I had a mandarin die and I was never able to find the body which prompted me to check my NO3 levels and it blew me away when I saw 50 ppm! At the time I was only dosing 1 ml of vodka and 5 drops of mb7 as a maintanence dosage, but since then i've been building up .5 each week. Currently i'm at 2.5 and I still haven't started to make a dent in the nitrates Sometimes it takes a couple months to see results with vodka dosing though, so just stay at it and follow your routine and you should be fine. A couple notes on the skimmer performance. What I have found to work is to just not mess with it. Everytime I up my vodka dosage, and clean my skimmer cup (which I do weekly so it usually falls on the same day) it seems the skimmer stops working for 2 or 3 days. Once its all caked in grime again it seems to start working. I would just let your skimmer build up some dirt for a while and see what happens. I'm not saying don't empty out the skimmate, but maybe don't scrub the walls down as often. Then again, I could be completely wrong about this, its just an experiment I am in the middle of. __________________ Ryan

01/06/2010, 11:21 AM	#50
redfishsc Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Wake Forest, NC Posts: 3,696	I would occasionally get cyano when dosing sugar, glucose, and/or vitamin C. I actually just ignored it even when it was in the display tank. Maybe I'd siphon it out here and there, but it eventually went away totally. It was worse in the refugium, near the surface, where there was high light and low flow. __________________ "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins” -- Søren Kierkegaard Current Tank Info: ghetto grad school reef.....11g rimless tank, 36X9X9, lit by Cree and Rebels scobbled together. Stocked mostly with free stuff I got from panhandling my fellow reefers.

12/02/2009, 09:40 PM	#29
1DeR9_3Hy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,575	Thanks for the tip on the salifert, ill try and pick one up this weekend. As far as the ballast goes, here is what i am using: Ive had the fixture on for about 5 hours total (i need to clean up the wiring before its ready for the big show) and the only bulb that burned out was one being driven by the IC. All the bulbs im using though are atleast 12 months old, so...its expected. It did glow a cool orange color before the cathode poped Here is with flash: And same room, with the lights still on only without flash: Its coming along, but i ran out of time because ive been working on getting my frag tank lights up (which just got finished tonight). At any rate, ill keep this updated as the vodka gets dosed. Im hoping by week 5-6 i will be able to test the water with an orange cap again.

12/08/2009, 09:11 PM	#30
1DeR9_3Hy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,575	Well today is day 2 of the MB7 expirence. So far, skimmate has about trippled as far as output goes. Im dosing 1.2 ml of vodka, and 2 capfulls of MB7. Also im following the instructions to the "T" on this one, so the skimmer goes off for 4 hours (timed on my RKL, another great use of those darn things) when i hit standby mode after dosing the MB7. Note on skimmer production: It used to take about 20-30 minutes for the skimmer to build enough foam to make a head and pour over the top of the neck. Now it does this in less than 5. I attribute it directly to the MB7, although i dont know if its been formulated to increase skimmer production or if my bacteria colonies are really just exploding that quickly. I plan on doing a N03 test this weekend, so it should be interesting to see what comes of this...

12/08/2009, 09:40 PM	#32
1DeR9_3Hy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,575	Thanks for the words Matt. I just cleaned the glass again tonight, the last time was Friday. So i went from every 3 days to every 4 days....a slight improvement.

12/10/2009, 07:10 PM	#33
1DeR9_3Hy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,575	I have left the skimmer on the past two times, and the only difference i see is the skimmate production ceases for about an hour after adding MB7. Ill just leave it on from here out, thanks again. Also did a N03 test tonight, and its showing 25-50...so no real news yet.

12/10/2009, 08:55 PM	#34
menthol Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Philippines Posts: 147	I've had almost the same problem as yours, I have had 25ppm NO3 and ZEROppm PO4 on my 135gal for 7months. nothing seems to work, i did not want to dose vodka or any carbon source, i've minimized my feedings, i have a low bioload, changed 20% of water every week, etc, etc. Like i said, nothing seems to work. But... i was always very successful with my smaller/NANO tanks of reducing NO3 by using this method of changing water.... httx://saltaquarium.about.com/od/nitratecontrol/ss/sbsnitratereduction_2.htm ...but doing so in my 135gal would turn out to be very expensive and laborious. I was desperate.... so i did it!.... hehe. It worked! after this WC method, my reading was "undetectable" NO3, i was expecting it would have just been halved or less, but to my surprise, turned out ZERO. after a week, i had a somewhat a NO3 reading of less than 5ppm, but after my weekly WC, back to ZERO. It has been like this for almost a month now, and it makes me happy, hehe. HTH.

12/11/2009, 10:25 AM	#35
1DeR9_3Hy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,575	Thanks for the read, im always open to new (to me) ideas

12/12/2009, 11:49 AM	#36
1DeR9_3Hy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,575	Im beginning to think i should call shenanigans on my N03 test kit. I tested my new prop tank downstairs (120 gallons'sh) which has almost no bio load, some macro, and about 50 frags. It also tested 50+ for trates....which alarmed me since its loaded with sps that friend is storing in my tank until he fixes his cal reactor (setosa, sarashoni, many montis...). But then i looked at the corals and they are not behaving like 50+ No3 would make them. They have great color, great PE, and there is no algae anywhere (i just added the macro 2 days ago). Again, this does not follow the standard high nitrate tank (lots of algae, browned out sps, poor husbandry, poor make up water...)...so i got to really wonder about the accuracy of the test.

12/12/2009, 08:13 PM	#37
1DeR9_3Hy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,575	I went out and got my water tested by another store, different kit than mine and the other stores. It agrees with my kit(s), 80-100 No3. Im in week 5 i beleive of dosing, and nearing the end of week 1 with the MB7 + vodka. Talking with the owner of the store, we went back and talked about everything in the tank and everything i have done. He suggested (and mentioned it was sort of a last resort) that i remove all the sand & LR and start anew. Since i do have about 60 lbs of LR that has been curing since june, this is an option that could be done this weekend. Anyone have any input on this? I really do think my LR or LS is behind this since i have been doing everything perfectly and i still ended up with high No3. Dont ask me why or how the LR or LS or both are causing this, but its the only constant between the two tanks other than the make up water (and i have tested the make up water thoroughly, its good).

12/12/2009, 10:14 PM	#38
arredondojason Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 988	I would try dosing vodka here is a great link that gives you the doses and everything step by step. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php hope it helps you out.

12/12/2009, 11:38 PM	#39
menthol Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Philippines Posts: 147	vacuum the sand first, or siphon/take it out and wash it. I do not think that the LR's got anything to do with it.

12/13/2009, 01:17 PM	#42
1DeR9_3Hy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,575	It is done. I removed all the old sand, and all the water that was in the tank when i removed the old sand (about 5 gallons). I kept the current LR in their, after putting a piece in a batch of new make up water for an hour and testing it only to find a 0 No3 reading (maybe i didnt give it enough time). I added back about 10 lbs of dry sp. grade aragonite from caribsea, and added all the new make up water i had (about 12-13 gallons) then topped off with the old water. After doing all that my No3 reading is between 25-50. Im hoping to pick up another 15-20 gallons today to do another WC. I have about 40 gallons total water after rock/sand displacement. Changing 15 gallons out of 40 should net me how much of a reduction? Im just trying to find some way to measure the effectiveness of this new sand change and also determine if the rock needs to go as well.

12/16/2009, 09:15 AM	#43
1DeR9_3Hy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,575	And the verdict is... The substrate change had a positive affect on lowering my No3 levels. I did a 50% WC last night. Before the WC the No3 test was solid red (50+), after the WC the color was a faint pink (12.5-25). The real test will be over the next few days to see if it creeps back up...until then, i will be getting ready to do another big WC either tonight or tomorrow.

12/29/2009, 06:07 PM	#44
1DeR9_3Hy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,575	It has been almost 6 full weeks of vodka dosing and almost 3 weeks with MB7 added into that, and im finally seeing a drop in No3 on my test kit. I tested the tank on the 19th, and again got a reading of around 25-50 (color was closer to 50). I tested again tonight, and could finally use the low range side of the test kit to get a measure! Yay! It put my No3 somewhere around 25, maybe a little bit lower...it looks like i am on my way. I plan on doing a maintenance dose when i get to around 10 and i want to see if i can hold that number. How hard should that be?

12/29/2009, 09:31 PM	#46
HOB Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 61	400 + gallon heavily stocked system and always battled nitrates and phosphates. Tried DSB and RDSB, extra large refuge with cheto, extra tub with live rock etc... and my phosphates came down but my nitrates remained. It wasn't until I set up a sulfur denitrator (from the DIY plans on RC) that my nitrates came down. It took like a week to see results. Those things really friggin work! It is gratifying to see 0 nitrates come out from the denitrator when your tank is reading 50 +.

01/06/2010, 10:52 AM	#49
1DeR9_3Hy Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,575	Im down around 20-25. Odd enough, im starting to see cyano in my overflow (its out of sight, so i dont really care...). I know sonnyX had mentioned that if you see a cyano bloom right after you start dosing that you should stop, then restart...but this is going into week 7. Any advice on this? Its only a little patch of cyano growing on some new tubing that is in the tank (from the BRS reactor). Maybe its leaching out a little bit of P04 and the cyano is growing on it because of that?