Carbon dosing?

NanCrab

NanCrab

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Hi guys, I need some help here. How do I know if I need to dose carbon?

I have a couple of hammers and a frogspawn that aren’t happy.
I have Paly’s that aren’t happy and a few zoas that could be doing better. Everything else is looking good (so far)

My parameters have been rock steady for months. Latest:
Temp: 77.7
Sp Gr 1.026
dKH - 8.4
pH - 8.4
Ca+ 450
Mg+ 1250
PO4 - .08
NO3 - 5ppm
Amm- 0
NO2 - 0

Total tank volume taking rock/sand/equipment displacement into consideration ~90 gallons including sump

Currently dosing ATI Pro 2 part at 1ml/hour 24/7 with parts 1 & 2 dosing on opposite hours.
We’ve done water changes. We run skimmer and UV 24/7. No change in lighting schedule.

It was suggested I may need to dose Carbon (Vodka) but I’m not certain if that’s my next best move.
@Adam, @Shawn, @sharis100, @Steve Burton @dball711 and @ anyone else who thinks they can help!

Thanks!
Nancy
image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgCA611C49-F721-4FC3-9001-59C1390CDD4A.jpeg64C35DDA-3C9F-4449-B8F2-21FF5504EAE3.jpegF45D95DC-4CE5-4993-95C9-2337CC1C00E1.jpeg
 
@civics14 doses carbon...I believe a mixture of vodka and vinegar. He does this bc he doesn't run a refugium. That's his main way of controlling his nitrates and phosphates.
 
I would not dose carbon with those numbers. One of the main reasons I've dosed it in the past was to bring down NO3 and PO4. In your case, the NO3 is around 5 (good) and the PO4 is 0.08 (good). My goal for those two is 5 and 0.05 so you might consider your PO4 a tad high but I would not do anything to correct it if I was testing at those levels.

While I encourage you to NOT dose carbon, the easiest way is to use Red Sea's NOPOX. It works great and is a mix of alcohol, vinegar and some other proprietary stuff.
 
jcook54 said:
I would not dose carbon with those numbers. One of the main reasons I've dosed it in the past was to bring down NO3 and PO4. In your case, the NO3 is around 5 (good) and the PO4 is 0.08 (good). My goal for those two is 5 and 0.05 so you might consider your PO4 a tad high but I would not do anything to correct it if I was testing at those levels.

While I encourage you to NOT dose carbon, the easiest way is to use Red Sea's NOPOX. It works great and is a mix of alcohol, vinegar and some other proprietary stuff.
Click to expand...
I don’t want to do anything I don’t need to do, I just want the euphyllia to be happy and my paly’s and zoas to be happy and not sure what to do. I haven’t adjusted the 2 part at all because my calcium is good, mag might be a tad low but dKH is where I want it so worried about raising that. Any other ideas you fine reefers may have for me?
 
None of those pictures look like particularly upset corals to me either. Maybe if the zits stay closed for an extended time but i see colonies that have a few polyps closed.


Edit: for some reason the last picture didn't load for me. That does look a little upset.
Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk
 
With the Paly's having problems you should run carbon, as in a reactor to filter out the toxins. Not dose carbon, used to control organics NO3 & PO4.
 
ZapataInc said:
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/bulk-premium-rox-0-8-aquarium-carbon.html

This is what you need to pull anything out of the water. If you are worried about palytoxins.
Click to expand...
I’ve got that. Tyler is looking for the single reactor since I don’t think I need to run GFO. My PO4 and NO3 fluctuate some. It’s been as low as .01/0 to where it is now. I’d prefer PO4 a tad lower but have had trouble keeping Nitates present at a detectable level (I don’t have the new Hanna checker)
 
Adam said:
With the Paly's having problems you should run carbon, as in a reactor to filter out the toxins. Not dose carbon, used to control organics NO3 & PO4.
Click to expand...
Oh, I’ve got that, just started it up again but I’m not even sure that’s the problem. The hammer has been looking bad since November. It’s still hanging on but I’ve had it since the very first day we added corals to the tank. It was one or two little heads and grew like crazy and now it looks like crap. There’s something in the water or lighting making them unhappy I just can’t figure out what. As soon as I can afford the fixtures I’m switching over to only T5 lighting so my Noopsyche K 2 Pros will be for sale
 
NanCrab said:
Oh, I’ve got that, just started it up again but I’m not even sure that’s the problem. The hammer has been looking bad since November. It’s still hanging on but I’ve had it since the very first day we added corals to the tank. It was one or two little heads and grew like crazy and now it looks like crap. There’s something in the water or lighting making them unhappy I just can’t figure out what. As soon as I can afford the fixtures I’m switching over to only T5 lighting so my Noopsyche K 2 Pros will be for sale
Click to expand...


I would be interested in the noops. I've also seen several really solid t5 fixtures on here recently. What size t5 fixture do you need? 48"?
 
NanCrab said:
Oh, I’ve got that, just started it up again but I’m not even sure that’s the problem. The hammer has been looking bad since November. It’s still hanging on but I’ve had it since the very first day we added corals to the tank. It was one or two little heads and grew like crazy and now it looks like crap. There’s something in the water or lighting making them unhappy I just can’t figure out what. As soon as I can afford the fixtures I’m switching over to only T5 lighting so my Noopsyche K 2 Pros will be for sale
Click to expand...
I wouldn't do that. You're going to shock your corals if you change the lighting over without acclimation. I also wouldn't recommend doing it period. Very few folks use T-5s only for good reason - it's great as supplemental, but I'd highly recommend not using them as sole lighting without acclimating your corals first. You're also going to spend a long time and reduce success rate of acclimating new corals that came from LED tanks to sole T-5. Just my two cents.
 
I think there is some misunderstanding. Carbon dosing is to drive down nitrates, which at 5 ppm, you don't need to drive that down. It is good in my experience. Running carbon to pull out chemical warfare between corals is another story. However, if you never ran carbon, you need to be careful as well. In my first 65g reef tank, I packed a reactor up with carbon and little did I know that stripping out all those organics that fast harmed a lot of my corals. I would go easy there.

As far as phosphates, at 0.08, I've seen many established reef tanks that look great. However, my personal experience, that is tinkering on going in the wrong direction, so I usually just try to keep mind less than .05 and I have had positive results. I do this by using GFO.

If you're looking at reactors, I do not recommend BRS reactors. I use to hate GFO because it was a pain in the butt to change out, but all along it was because the reactor sucks. I chose it because I saw that many people use it, boy that was a mistake. @jcook54 had recommended me a lifegard reactor and it was the best decision ever. If you want to go smaller, I use the innovative marine one for my 54g and it is super easy as well.

Everyone has different opinions regarding lighting, but my personal opinion, changing from LEDs to a 4 bulb T5 isn't going to hurt but I'm not sure if it will help either. Most corals now days are grown under LEDs with a few exceptions out there. So, it may be better off staying where you're at now.

Don't change too many things too quickly, that can hurt you more than help you. Change one thing at a time, take the time to review the results and go from there.
 
Agree with everyone as above. If your hammer is unhappy, a time out to the bottom of the tank out of direct light might help. I find my hammers in lower light do just as well.
If you have Palytoxins, running some carbon for a day will really help.
 
I think I’ve figured it out! Maybe, please give me feedback.
I was just looking over all my numbers for the past several months. My Magnesium is several hundred points below where it was when everything was thriving. I’m wondering if that could be the problem? It’s been running around 1200-1250 but a few months ago was 1550-1600.
Thoughts?
 
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