Organic carbon dosing vs. running a carbon reactor??
- Thread starter ValG
- Start date
This is not really an either/or/vs question.
Carbon reactor uses Granular Activated Carbon, otherwise known as charcoal. It can absorb organics to polish water and remove organic based toxins/meds. Organic carbon dosing introduces elemental carbon into your tank to allow more organisms to grow that what would normally occur - the VAST majority of these are bacteria in the water column that then die and get exported via the skimmer.
Perhaps it is better to start with the problem instead of jumping right to the solution. What are you looking to achieve? Lower N and P levels, polish water, or what?
Carbon reactor uses Granular Activated Carbon, otherwise known as charcoal. It can absorb organics to polish water and remove organic based toxins/meds. Organic carbon dosing introduces elemental carbon into your tank to allow more organisms to grow that what would normally occur - the VAST majority of these are bacteria in the water column that then die and get exported via the skimmer.
Perhaps it is better to start with the problem instead of jumping right to the solution. What are you looking to achieve? Lower N and P levels, polish water, or what?
How bad are we talking? Approach will be different if you are constantly at 40N and 1.0P than they would be if you were at 4N and .1P. Also, set a target.
First thing to do:
Watch what you feed. Rinse frozen food to keep the juices out. Try and feed some pellets since they are typically clean. Lots of people can cut their nutrient levels in half by feeding more pellets and washing their mysis.
Stop feeding your coral - they don't need it. Really, they don't need it. Even if some coral happen to catch some food, the waste is huge.
Somewhat Natural:
Fuge with macro/coral export. Mushrooms, xenia, colt coral, fast growing zoas can be just as effective as macro algae.
Skim More
Water changes
Not so Natural:
Organic Carbon. Dose a liquid (dosing pump or by-hand) or use bio pellets (reactor). Both can work. Sugar water is cheap, easy and pure. Vodka, ethanol, vinegar all do the same thing.
Filter socks and poly filter - needs to be changed VERY regularly or they turn into bio filters in the same vein as bio-balls.
Lastly, don't do ANY of this too fast. Taking 30-60 days to lower the N and P is smart.
First thing to do:
Watch what you feed. Rinse frozen food to keep the juices out. Try and feed some pellets since they are typically clean. Lots of people can cut their nutrient levels in half by feeding more pellets and washing their mysis.
Stop feeding your coral - they don't need it. Really, they don't need it. Even if some coral happen to catch some food, the waste is huge.
Somewhat Natural:
Fuge with macro/coral export. Mushrooms, xenia, colt coral, fast growing zoas can be just as effective as macro algae.
Skim More
Water changes
Not so Natural:
Organic Carbon. Dose a liquid (dosing pump or by-hand) or use bio pellets (reactor). Both can work. Sugar water is cheap, easy and pure. Vodka, ethanol, vinegar all do the same thing.
Filter socks and poly filter - needs to be changed VERY regularly or they turn into bio filters in the same vein as bio-balls.
Lastly, don't do ANY of this too fast. Taking 30-60 days to lower the N and P is smart.
My N levels are barely detectable but I have plenty of nuisance algae growing, so i can't really trust the number that i am getting from testing. P hovers around .3. I do 10% WC weekly or if i miss one i do 20% the following week. I do feed quite a bit. I give some dry seaweed to my tangs every other day or so (only have two tangs, they look fat and healthy now but had serious signs of HLLE about a year ago or so). Also feed PE mysis (rinse them 2-3 times before it goes into that tank), bryne and some pellets (not on the same day of course). Also feed corals with reef chili.
+1 you need a natural exporter of nutrients. I am a huge advocate of macro algaes to do this.
Some recommendations based on this:
Start culturing gracilaria to feed your tangs instead of nori (dried nori can sometimes be high in phosphates). Just take a 5g bucket of water change water and use an air pump to heavily aerate it with a 100w equivalent CFL bulb with a clamp reflector. It should double in size every 3 weeks or so. You can use a trace elements additive to help it grow faster. This is what I do for my tomini tang.
Stop feeding reef chili as JDA said corals don't need to be fed unless they are an NPS.
Something that most people don't think about for nutrient exporting is an algae scrubber. Basically what they do is it creates an optimal place for algae to grow outside of your display tank and out competes the algae in the display for nutrients.
Here is a link to the wikipedia article on algae scrubbers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae_scrubber
Brine is nearly worthless nutritionally. PE Mysis and a good pellet are enough until you get the P under control.
Since just P is your issue, organic carbon might not be your best choice. The bacteria will require some nitrate to grow as well... you need both. GFO or Alum based removers might be better. SeaChem makes Sea Gel that has phosphate sponge and charcoal in it. GFO could work. Again, lower it SLOWLY.
Since just P is your issue, organic carbon might not be your best choice. The bacteria will require some nitrate to grow as well... you need both. GFO or Alum based removers might be better. SeaChem makes Sea Gel that has phosphate sponge and charcoal in it. GFO could work. Again, lower it SLOWLY.