Jman's 310 Upgrade!
- Thread starter jman930
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Thanks for following a long! To be honest I think I’m going to do just that. I have lots of issues to battle but life keeps getting in the way. Nitrates and phosphates are my biggest battle right now. Lots of big fish that I like to keep fat is the primary culprit.
I need to put in the effort to get my water quality good before I can add corals. My lighting needs to be replaced as well. It’s out of date and not consistent par wise.
I think my goal right now is to get the nitrates to an acceptable level (sub 20) and see if I can get an urchin to survive. Then I’ll start with some basic corals to get some pop like you suggested.
I need to put in the effort to get my water quality good before I can add corals. My lighting needs to be replaced as well. It’s out of date and not consistent par wise.
I think my goal right now is to get the nitrates to an acceptable level (sub 20) and see if I can get an urchin to survive. Then I’ll start with some basic corals to get some pop like you suggested.
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Love big tank builds. Especially in wall builds. I miss my big tank. Thought about bringing it back but I am about to sell all of my equipment. Too much life to live right now.
Like what? Lol
So for the past couple of years my tank has effectively been a fowlr. Haven’t been conscious of my nitrates or phosphates. Well the wife asked if I was ever going to get corals in the tank again. I saw that as permission to get things going! Went to start looking at my nutrient levels and found out all my kits were expired!
jumped on to the interwebs and ordered replacement reagents and a HR phosphate and nitrate checker. been working on keeping the Ph up and consistent using a Kalkwasser reactor. Had to replace my probe so get things stable though. Old prove was .5 off even after calibration.
used the new Hannah checkers and my levels are off the charts. Nitrate caps out at 75 and phosphate caps at 2.5. Pretty good chance both are over those levels.
so I have had a fuge running for about a month now. Growing cheato like crazy. But I think my levels are way too high for it to keep up. It grew so much that it filled a 40 breeder completely. So I tossed 3/4 of it away and it’s already back to about half full after a week or so.
I think I’m going to put a phosphate reactor and start a sulfer reactor to reduce the levels. It’ll take a few weeks for the sulfer reactor to kick in and start working. I don’t know how long it’ll take for the phosphate reactor to get things down to an acceptable level. Likely running 24/7 it’ll take at least a week. I still need to order a continuous dozer pump for the sulfer reactor and the sulfer beads. Phosphate will just get connected to a manifold.
I’ll post my updates here as I get the levels in check.
I do have a single head of purple tip hammer that is somehow alive. Maybe that will grow when tje levels are stable.
goal for the next 2 weeks is to reduce phosphate to 1.0.
jumped on to the interwebs and ordered replacement reagents and a HR phosphate and nitrate checker. been working on keeping the Ph up and consistent using a Kalkwasser reactor. Had to replace my probe so get things stable though. Old prove was .5 off even after calibration.
used the new Hannah checkers and my levels are off the charts. Nitrate caps out at 75 and phosphate caps at 2.5. Pretty good chance both are over those levels.
so I have had a fuge running for about a month now. Growing cheato like crazy. But I think my levels are way too high for it to keep up. It grew so much that it filled a 40 breeder completely. So I tossed 3/4 of it away and it’s already back to about half full after a week or so.
I think I’m going to put a phosphate reactor and start a sulfer reactor to reduce the levels. It’ll take a few weeks for the sulfer reactor to kick in and start working. I don’t know how long it’ll take for the phosphate reactor to get things down to an acceptable level. Likely running 24/7 it’ll take at least a week. I still need to order a continuous dozer pump for the sulfer reactor and the sulfer beads. Phosphate will just get connected to a manifold.
I’ll post my updates here as I get the levels in check.
I do have a single head of purple tip hammer that is somehow alive. Maybe that will grow when tje levels are stable.
goal for the next 2 weeks is to reduce phosphate to 1.0.
I don’t think I ever seen phosphate that high before. But if you don’t have any corals, maybe lanthanum chloride might be a cheaper option. You just have to get a 10 micro sock, but it would be the most cost effective. Then go GFO after. Cause I’m sure that phosphate is all in the rocks and sand as well.
Strips phosphates as fast as you want to dose it. It is highly effective, as long as you dose it into a <10 micron sock. It can kill coral because it is so effective.
fwiw,
Phosphate bound to the calcium in aragonite reef rock forms hydroxyapatite and has a decreased solubility as pH increases. The enamel in our teeth is made from similar material, as an example.
The reason the phosphate is released from the surface of that rock back into the water column, is due to biological processes from fungi, bacteria, etc. which produce acids from their metabolisms that help dissolve it on a very local level. The same way cavities form on our teeth.
So, to be accurate, it is referred to as ‘bio-leaching’. This helps illustrate it is an actively assisted process, which does not happen without the microorganisms, to an effective degree.
Phosphate bound to the calcium in aragonite reef rock forms hydroxyapatite and has a decreased solubility as pH increases. The enamel in our teeth is made from similar material, as an example.
The reason the phosphate is released from the surface of that rock back into the water column, is due to biological processes from fungi, bacteria, etc. which produce acids from their metabolisms that help dissolve it on a very local level. The same way cavities form on our teeth.
So, to be accurate, it is referred to as ‘bio-leaching’. This helps illustrate it is an actively assisted process, which does not happen without the microorganisms, to an effective degree.
There are risks using LC for fish too. It binds with the phosphate and if it is not filtered out properly it can kill fish as well. I have no first hand experience but I have heard of other people having issues.
I would do a lot research before trying it.
Good luck and when the tank is ready I'll have some frags for you.
This. Lanthanum Chloride. If you have tangs take it slow though.
The trick is to dose it into the high flow section of your return sump and have the particles immediately get caught into the sock. You just need to make sure you get a sock that is <10 micron. EDIT: the section should be where the water comes into the sump before the socks, just to be clear.
My friend used this method and had no issues with any of his fish.
I think the big issue what others are talking about regarding harming fish is if you dose it into your display, which some people do. This method, I do not recommend.
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Update:
having the GFO reactor online has made a substantial dent in my phosphate. Thanks @chuck! I depleted about 100 grams of gfo which took my nitrates from over 2.5 down to 1.2ppm. I have some high capacity gfo on the way (stuff is expensive) which will hopefully get it under .5ppm. I’m convinced this is due to years of phosphate in the rocks leaching out on top of my heavy feeding hand for my large fish.
next is my nitrates. They stay maxed out (over 75ppm) and I have my sulfur reactor on standby. I am using an old MRC CR 6 reactor and have 8lbs of sulfur in the main chamber and 1 gallon of ARM in the secondary. Issue I ran into was the needle valve was stuck so I had to order another one. That will be here Tuesday. The other issue was the main chamber leaked around the pvc at the top. I really really hope superglue will fix it otherwise I’m going to have to find another fix. should I use some sort of acrylic glue?
anyways I hope to have the reactor running by the end of next week. From what I’ve read I should see quick results so I’ll update in two weeks with my nitrates and phosphate.
having the GFO reactor online has made a substantial dent in my phosphate. Thanks @chuck! I depleted about 100 grams of gfo which took my nitrates from over 2.5 down to 1.2ppm. I have some high capacity gfo on the way (stuff is expensive) which will hopefully get it under .5ppm. I’m convinced this is due to years of phosphate in the rocks leaching out on top of my heavy feeding hand for my large fish.
next is my nitrates. They stay maxed out (over 75ppm) and I have my sulfur reactor on standby. I am using an old MRC CR 6 reactor and have 8lbs of sulfur in the main chamber and 1 gallon of ARM in the secondary. Issue I ran into was the needle valve was stuck so I had to order another one. That will be here Tuesday. The other issue was the main chamber leaked around the pvc at the top. I really really hope superglue will fix it otherwise I’m going to have to find another fix. should I use some sort of acrylic glue?
anyways I hope to have the reactor running by the end of next week. From what I’ve read I should see quick results so I’ll update in two weeks with my nitrates and phosphate.
Yes if you use be extremely careful. Dose in a sock. Do not put in your tank. as civic was saying about fish. Its very dangerous And Lanthanum chloride when dosing it in display will get on your fish making you think its ich. But me making that mistake i would never do again. I would do a water change its the best thing to do
Tropic Marine makes a product for reducing nitrates and phosphates. It is called Elimi NP or something like that. It is carbon dosing with something else in it I think.
I was doing carbon dosing with good success. Just put the appropriate amount of household vinegar in the sump each night and watched the phosphates and nitrates drop. I will post a link to a chart you can use to figure out how much to use.
The only other thing I am doing for nutrient removal is running a macro algae reactor at night. I use the Tunze one.
Once I get my phosphates to 0.1 I will start dosing Tropic Marin NP Bacto Balance. I am almost there. Should get there in the next week or so.
As for lanthanum chloride, I used it with good results before starting carbon dosing. I have to dose nitrates in my DT so I needed something that targeted only phosphates. It worked great for me. The key is start with a low dose say 1/2 the recommended and use a droper or syringe and inject it directly into the suction of your skimmer. If you put it in the tank or sump you run the risk of what Chuck was talking about. Directly into the skimmer will precipitate the phosphate and it will be immediately skimmed out of the tank.
I was doing carbon dosing with good success. Just put the appropriate amount of household vinegar in the sump each night and watched the phosphates and nitrates drop. I will post a link to a chart you can use to figure out how much to use.
The only other thing I am doing for nutrient removal is running a macro algae reactor at night. I use the Tunze one.
Once I get my phosphates to 0.1 I will start dosing Tropic Marin NP Bacto Balance. I am almost there. Should get there in the next week or so.
As for lanthanum chloride, I used it with good results before starting carbon dosing. I have to dose nitrates in my DT so I needed something that targeted only phosphates. It worked great for me. The key is start with a low dose say 1/2 the recommended and use a droper or syringe and inject it directly into the suction of your skimmer. If you put it in the tank or sump you run the risk of what Chuck was talking about. Directly into the skimmer will precipitate the phosphate and it will be immediately skimmed out of the tank.
@chemaholic I have some brightwell aquatics phosphate-E. Is this the same stuff you’re mentioning?
keep us updated on how quickly this drops your nitrates. I don't know anyone who's had one of these online before. I've read they can be super smelly.
