Doc’sReef
New Member
Hello,
I started a new tank on August 17th 2024 using Caribsea liferock as well as about 10lbs of Carib sea ocean direct sand and 5 lbs of miracle mud.
I used bacteria and ammonia to cycle the tank which went great.
I am carbon dosing the tank, initially I used elimi NP from TM after I added livestock and began feeding. I initially thought I had reached my equilibrium and I then switched to TM NP Bacto balance which is intended to dose a small amount of NP to prevent bottoming out and is their maintenance Carbon dosing product after using Elimi NP. Unfortunately given the dry rock I have been bottoming out on my phosphate readings on multiple occasions and it’s been difficult to predict the direction and dosing. I find trying to increase feedings alone to be imprecise of a means to gauge what phosphate level I get and I don’t want to risk being at 0.00 ppm. I don’t want to be a number chaser but I also don’t want to be at 0.00 lol!
I tried using TM’s Phosfeed which is a particulate phosphate that acts as a coral “food” when running low phosphates but from what I have read isn’t intended to substantially raise phosphate levels in the water but is a supplemental feeding for corals so they don’t starve at such low levels. Since in the wild corals can thrive in rather low levels of phosphate, It is said to mimic a school of fish suddenly defecating over a reef as they pass by. But please correct me if I’m wrong isn’t that organic phosphate and isn’t this product inorganic in its composition.
I did purchase Neophos but only tried it for 3 days so far as a means of raising my measurable phosphate in the water column.
I did some more reading last night and stumbled onto posts related to Trisodium phosphate which I was intending to use in place of Neophos. I ordered a food grade additive made by Prescribed For Life off Amazon.
I never started a tank with all dry rock and I understand the phosphate is likely being bound up into the dry aragonite at this point. Thinking back to days where I had to run GFO to get rid of phosphate I must admit I felt a degree of trepidation to actually add phosphate on purpose, but times have changed lol.
As of this morning my nitrate is at 8.4ppm and phosphate is at 0.00ppm on my Hanna. NP Trident says 13ppm and 0.03 respectively.
I have ordered a Hanna phosphorus checker to get a bit more accuracy on my phosphate level.
My questions are;
I looked up the calculator on James’s planted site. I see the Phosphate dosing from potassium phosphate. Do I need to correct for this ?
Essentially I mix up the Trisodium phosphate at 1.88g per 1000ml, 1 ml will offer a 0.01ppm increase to my 65gal tank’s water level or is Trisodium slightly weaker and needs to be corrected for when dosing?
How high of an increase should I aim for on my initial dose in ppm of phosphate since I’m at 0.00 now and should I add it slowly or all at once? Should I test every 24 hours and titrate my daily Trisodium phosphate dose based off that level of consumption or does is there a lag time that can cause a sudden spike in levels ? I don’t want to shock my corals with a spike of course.
The other question I have is related to carbon dosing. Should I completely discontinue carbon dosing or just titrate down. I know at this juncture being phosphate depleted carbon dosing will be limited but once I begin adding phosphate should I resume right away at a lower dose for wait a few days? My nitrate is ok right now but my concern was looking ahead if I completely discontinue carbon dosing and the potential escalation in nitrate. I didn’t want to chase that with water changes to further lower my water phosphate level should it raise.
In regards to my carbon source the TM Elimi NP has no additional NP additive but the NP Bacto Balance does have some “small” undefined amount. Would that be the safer of the two that I have or would that confound things further when adding phosphate making it harder to know how much I’m adding in addition to the Trisodium phosphate; or perhaps my level being so low already it would be negligible?
Sorry for the long winded post but I appreciate your time and input greatly!
I started a new tank on August 17th 2024 using Caribsea liferock as well as about 10lbs of Carib sea ocean direct sand and 5 lbs of miracle mud.
I used bacteria and ammonia to cycle the tank which went great.
I am carbon dosing the tank, initially I used elimi NP from TM after I added livestock and began feeding. I initially thought I had reached my equilibrium and I then switched to TM NP Bacto balance which is intended to dose a small amount of NP to prevent bottoming out and is their maintenance Carbon dosing product after using Elimi NP. Unfortunately given the dry rock I have been bottoming out on my phosphate readings on multiple occasions and it’s been difficult to predict the direction and dosing. I find trying to increase feedings alone to be imprecise of a means to gauge what phosphate level I get and I don’t want to risk being at 0.00 ppm. I don’t want to be a number chaser but I also don’t want to be at 0.00 lol!
I tried using TM’s Phosfeed which is a particulate phosphate that acts as a coral “food” when running low phosphates but from what I have read isn’t intended to substantially raise phosphate levels in the water but is a supplemental feeding for corals so they don’t starve at such low levels. Since in the wild corals can thrive in rather low levels of phosphate, It is said to mimic a school of fish suddenly defecating over a reef as they pass by. But please correct me if I’m wrong isn’t that organic phosphate and isn’t this product inorganic in its composition.
I did purchase Neophos but only tried it for 3 days so far as a means of raising my measurable phosphate in the water column.
I did some more reading last night and stumbled onto posts related to Trisodium phosphate which I was intending to use in place of Neophos. I ordered a food grade additive made by Prescribed For Life off Amazon.
I never started a tank with all dry rock and I understand the phosphate is likely being bound up into the dry aragonite at this point. Thinking back to days where I had to run GFO to get rid of phosphate I must admit I felt a degree of trepidation to actually add phosphate on purpose, but times have changed lol.
As of this morning my nitrate is at 8.4ppm and phosphate is at 0.00ppm on my Hanna. NP Trident says 13ppm and 0.03 respectively.
I have ordered a Hanna phosphorus checker to get a bit more accuracy on my phosphate level.
My questions are;
I looked up the calculator on James’s planted site. I see the Phosphate dosing from potassium phosphate. Do I need to correct for this ?
Essentially I mix up the Trisodium phosphate at 1.88g per 1000ml, 1 ml will offer a 0.01ppm increase to my 65gal tank’s water level or is Trisodium slightly weaker and needs to be corrected for when dosing?
How high of an increase should I aim for on my initial dose in ppm of phosphate since I’m at 0.00 now and should I add it slowly or all at once? Should I test every 24 hours and titrate my daily Trisodium phosphate dose based off that level of consumption or does is there a lag time that can cause a sudden spike in levels ? I don’t want to shock my corals with a spike of course.
The other question I have is related to carbon dosing. Should I completely discontinue carbon dosing or just titrate down. I know at this juncture being phosphate depleted carbon dosing will be limited but once I begin adding phosphate should I resume right away at a lower dose for wait a few days? My nitrate is ok right now but my concern was looking ahead if I completely discontinue carbon dosing and the potential escalation in nitrate. I didn’t want to chase that with water changes to further lower my water phosphate level should it raise.
In regards to my carbon source the TM Elimi NP has no additional NP additive but the NP Bacto Balance does have some “small” undefined amount. Would that be the safer of the two that I have or would that confound things further when adding phosphate making it harder to know how much I’m adding in addition to the Trisodium phosphate; or perhaps my level being so low already it would be negligible?
Sorry for the long winded post but I appreciate your time and input greatly!
