I am having issues reducing nitrates in my 180g display. They have been at 25 for the longest time. I believe my growth and colors are ok but there is room for much improvement - nitrate reduction being one of them with a goal to get between 1-5. The tank has been up for a little over a year and a half in this incarnation of it. Here are some params from my last test:
Tank: 180g w/ 40 sump
Cal: 415 (Salifert)
Alk: 8.4 (Hanna)
Nitrate: 25 (salifert)
Phos: .04 (Hanna ULR)
Mag: 1320 (Salifert)
I do run filter socks and change every 3 days or when clogged. I am dosing vinegar at 37ml/day during daylight hours and slowly raising. I am skimming wet. I use a DOS for AWC and do about 1.7g a day. My reef has about 18 fish. I feed LRS (2-3 times a week), pellets (2x day auto feeder), Nori (every other day). I also have snails, shrimp, and crabs as a CUC. I do run GAC and GFO.
My first thoughts are to stay the course and keep upping my vinegar dose 4ml weekly. I was also thinking I may add vodka to get more diversity in nitrate reducing bacteria. I'm not against BioPellets but that would add a equipment charge and thus another point of failure/complexity/issues I really dont want to do. My LFS recommended Dr. Tims waste away but not sure about adding more chemicals. I could easily change my AWC to do more per day. My reservoir is 50 gallons so I could easily program that in either a continuous water change or take x gallons out then put x gallons back in but I am not sure on a daily dose to reduce nitrates.
What are your thoughts on the above?
Tank: 180g w/ 40 sump
Cal: 415 (Salifert)
Alk: 8.4 (Hanna)
Nitrate: 25 (salifert)
Phos: .04 (Hanna ULR)
Mag: 1320 (Salifert)
I do run filter socks and change every 3 days or when clogged. I am dosing vinegar at 37ml/day during daylight hours and slowly raising. I am skimming wet. I use a DOS for AWC and do about 1.7g a day. My reef has about 18 fish. I feed LRS (2-3 times a week), pellets (2x day auto feeder), Nori (every other day). I also have snails, shrimp, and crabs as a CUC. I do run GAC and GFO.
My first thoughts are to stay the course and keep upping my vinegar dose 4ml weekly. I was also thinking I may add vodka to get more diversity in nitrate reducing bacteria. I'm not against BioPellets but that would add a equipment charge and thus another point of failure/complexity/issues I really dont want to do. My LFS recommended Dr. Tims waste away but not sure about adding more chemicals. I could easily change my AWC to do more per day. My reservoir is 50 gallons so I could easily program that in either a continuous water change or take x gallons out then put x gallons back in but I am not sure on a daily dose to reduce nitrates.
What are your thoughts on the above?