1 fish dead another almost (Dosing seaklear)
- Thread starter High Plains Reefer
- Start date
Don't worry too much about a reactor until you know what your nitrates are - if they aren't too high, then it won't work very well.
If you do water changes, vacuum the heck out of about 10% of the sand. Don't disturb too much at once - 10% is about perfect. I start on one end and work my way across hoping to get all the way in a year or 18 months.
If you do water changes, vacuum the heck out of about 10% of the sand. Don't disturb too much at once - 10% is about perfect. I start on one end and work my way across hoping to get all the way in a year or 18 months.
it is not surprising that the Nitrates are close to zero. If they test out close to zero (or even less than 5) on Salifert, then the bio pellets will not help too much IMO. If you want suggestions, then let me know. If you are going to go with bio pellets, then that is cool.
The main issue with phosguard or GFO is that they are not sustainable. They are very effective at one-off fixes. There are sustainable ways to keep PO4 low without using either.
The main issue with phosguard or GFO is that they are not sustainable. They are very effective at one-off fixes. There are sustainable ways to keep PO4 low without using either.
High po4 is likely accommodated with high no3.
Seakleer, is a concentrate of lanthanum chloride. Phosphate RX and most liquid phos removers are watered down versions of LC. It is a good way to remove po4 from .3 to about .1. Read here for all the nitty gritty details. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1474839&highlight=seaklear+phosphate+remover
GFO is great but with levels that high, you'd burn through a lot. I've dosed LC directly to the sump with no issues, not recommending that, but never had an issue with fish.
Bio pellets are a great way to for no3 and po4 reduction, but that takes time.
Seakleer, is a concentrate of lanthanum chloride. Phosphate RX and most liquid phos removers are watered down versions of LC. It is a good way to remove po4 from .3 to about .1. Read here for all the nitty gritty details. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1474839&highlight=seaklear+phosphate+remover
GFO is great but with levels that high, you'd burn through a lot. I've dosed LC directly to the sump with no issues, not recommending that, but never had an issue with fish.
Bio pellets are a great way to for no3 and po4 reduction, but that takes time.
Sustainable is a bad word since everything needs work - nothing is free. My apologies for the terminology.
Get the bacteria working in the sand. Even the worst sand beds can handle nitrate pretty well. The aragonite to bind phosphate and then the bacteria will unbind it when needed. This can only work when the sand is not bogged down by junk and debris, so it either needs to be cleaned somewhat regularly or replaced. If you maintain your sand bed correctly, this is easy, effective and sustainable (with some work) with undetectable levels of both N and P all naturally. I can give more details if anybody is interested.
I am not saying that you cannot accomplish this with carbon, GFO, etc., but you are on your own. I prefer to let the bacteria find a equilibrium and my tanks have always looked as good as any that I have seen... so this dogmatic dinosaur is not changing anything - people had nice reef tanks before vodka, GFO, vinegar, zeolite or huge protein skimmers.
djkms, or whatever his handle is, and I are somewhat talking about this in his thread and we had another thread on RC that I might be able to find a link to if anybody is interested. Perhaps he will chime in with his experiences and stuff.
FWIW, I used to use carbon (sugar) on my FOWLR with much success since I only had Sea Floor (large shells and hunks of rock that the triggers could not move around) and no sand. I had shrooms and a few leathers in the tank and even they would suffer if the nutrients got too low... and it is hard to make those metallic red shrooms suffer. Once the N got low enough, I would use GFO to mop up the rest of the P.
Get the bacteria working in the sand. Even the worst sand beds can handle nitrate pretty well. The aragonite to bind phosphate and then the bacteria will unbind it when needed. This can only work when the sand is not bogged down by junk and debris, so it either needs to be cleaned somewhat regularly or replaced. If you maintain your sand bed correctly, this is easy, effective and sustainable (with some work) with undetectable levels of both N and P all naturally. I can give more details if anybody is interested.
I am not saying that you cannot accomplish this with carbon, GFO, etc., but you are on your own. I prefer to let the bacteria find a equilibrium and my tanks have always looked as good as any that I have seen... so this dogmatic dinosaur is not changing anything - people had nice reef tanks before vodka, GFO, vinegar, zeolite or huge protein skimmers.
djkms, or whatever his handle is, and I are somewhat talking about this in his thread and we had another thread on RC that I might be able to find a link to if anybody is interested. Perhaps he will chime in with his experiences and stuff.
FWIW, I used to use carbon (sugar) on my FOWLR with much success since I only had Sea Floor (large shells and hunks of rock that the triggers could not move around) and no sand. I had shrooms and a few leathers in the tank and even they would suffer if the nutrients got too low... and it is hard to make those metallic red shrooms suffer. Once the N got low enough, I would use GFO to mop up the rest of the P.
Looks like you may have over dosed. 1oz treats 5000 gallons at levels of 250 pp billion. Our readers do pp million. Which is 250 ppb is 0.250ppm on our readers so unless your phosphates are sky high is extremely too much and that's in 5000 gallons. Looks like you treated for 7500 gallons and extreme high phosphates. Just going off the stick I found on the Internet. I'm looking at a dose for mine using clear pond product of 0.0003ml per 100 gallons. But I'm no math major
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
PO4 does not leech, it just does not get bound anymore - the result would be the same as if it did leech... it rises. Once phosphate binds, it is bound until the aragonite is melted or some bacteria unbinds it to immediate consume. Some organics on the rock might die resulting in some increase phosphate, but this is not true phosphate leeching.
This post sums it up with the sandbed, which is the key:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=21765620&postcount=86
You can read that whole thread if you want for more info. I got confused in it for a while, so ignore my posts.
Basically, it breaks down like this:
1). Have aragonite
2). Let your tank cycle the whole way (nitrate cycle too) - can take 4-6 months
3). Don't disturb the equilibrium by using GFO, vinegar, etc.
4). Keep the sand clean so that the bacteria can be in control - replace the sand or clean it slowly but methodically
5). Clogged up sand will starve out the bacteria and once all of the aragonite is bound up with phosphate, you will have phosphate issues... so don't let it get clogged up. Old tank syndrome is actually "clogged up sandbed" syndrome.
It works and is sustainable, but it takes some effort to clean or replace. The best thing is that the bacteria count will rise/fall as needed to support your load as it grows/shrinks.
If you want to see this working, feel free to stop by. I have 2 tanks with pretty much just waveboxes, skimmers, heaters a return pump - undetectable N and P, good color and growth.
This post sums it up with the sandbed, which is the key:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=21765620&postcount=86
You can read that whole thread if you want for more info. I got confused in it for a while, so ignore my posts.
Basically, it breaks down like this:
1). Have aragonite
2). Let your tank cycle the whole way (nitrate cycle too) - can take 4-6 months
3). Don't disturb the equilibrium by using GFO, vinegar, etc.
4). Keep the sand clean so that the bacteria can be in control - replace the sand or clean it slowly but methodically
5). Clogged up sand will starve out the bacteria and once all of the aragonite is bound up with phosphate, you will have phosphate issues... so don't let it get clogged up. Old tank syndrome is actually "clogged up sandbed" syndrome.
It works and is sustainable, but it takes some effort to clean or replace. The best thing is that the bacteria count will rise/fall as needed to support your load as it grows/shrinks.
If you want to see this working, feel free to stop by. I have 2 tanks with pretty much just waveboxes, skimmers, heaters a return pump - undetectable N and P, good color and growth.