SWSCJ
Aquarium Advice Freak
Rinsing food removes a lot of the phosphates. I had to vodka dose my tank for about 6 weeks to bring down the high levels.
Phosphates are off the chart!
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OP
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Minkota
Aquarium Advice Activist
Ok, have stopped using the food previously mentioned and have continued with the phosphate nuker and the gfo in my reactor and phosphates are still very very very high.
I just did another 100g water change yesterday and levels are still extremely high.
I checked the water before adding it to the tank and it showed no phosphates at all so whatever it is, is coming from my tank and leaching into the water.
It's my understanding that this leaching process can take months so I am assuming I will be battling this for some time.
I just did another 100g water change yesterday and levels are still extremely high.
I checked the water before adding it to the tank and it showed no phosphates at all so whatever it is, is coming from my tank and leaching into the water.
It's my understanding that this leaching process can take months so I am assuming I will be battling this for some time.
SWSCJ
Aquarium Advice Freak
Vodka dosing brought my levels down. Leaching phosphates subsided after 5 months.
OP
OP
Minkota
Aquarium Advice Activist
SWSCJ said:
I have been considering doing that but have been hesitant due to having heard horror stories from inexperienced people trying it.
OP
OP
Minkota
Aquarium Advice Activist
Just curious, if I start a "Vodka Dosing" schedule, can I stop at anytime ("Cold Turkey") or do I need to ween the tank off as gradually as it went on (a sort of Detox/Rehab for lack of a better word)?
SWSCJ
Aquarium Advice Freak
I reversed the dosing and weaned the tank.
nikki_kaiser
Aquarium Advice FINatic
SWSCJ said:
My buddy did the vodka method and ended up with cyano
. It did work though.
SaltwaterNuB
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Have you lost any fish? My ph is super dark too. I have a 135 gallon fish only tank. I did a 20g water change on sat, and 35g water change today. Will check levels tomorrow. I lost 2 damsels. Not sure if its because of the levels. I also have 3 more damsels, 2 clown, 3 shrimp, 2 urchins, 1 gunch, and a handful of hermits.
SWSCJ
Aquarium Advice Freak
What is your ph? Nitrates?
OP
OP
Minkota
Aquarium Advice Activist
nikki_kaiser said:My buddy did the vodka method and ended up with cyano
I have read that can be a side effect.
nikki_kaiser
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Minkota said:
Yes...and not all that easy to get rid of! He ended up spending two days cleaning every piece of live rock he had, replaced the sand bed (it needed it badly), switched foods, and bought a canister filter just for running phosphate removal material etc. I will tell you that while people are against canister filters, you can use them as he did and benefit! I bought one after he did because he now has no issues with phosphates and he feeds quite a bit. One other thing, while I realize the benefits of a deep sand bed, I think it is still important to clean it a small section at a time so you don't have any nasty build up. He changed water and cleaned his tank on a regular basis. He has a good clean up crew as well but some of the time stuff gets wedged under rock and will decay. Idk...in between massive clean ups, I think the canister running phosphate remover helps a lot!
SWSCJ
Aquarium Advice Freak
I didn't get the cyano, but I did get the diatoms. The cycling of a new tank can get both.
SWSCJ
Aquarium Advice Freak
I run two 550 Phosban reactors on my 450g. One with phos, the other with carbon.
OP
OP
Minkota
Aquarium Advice Activist
Just curious, It's my understanding the "Vodka Dosing" is basically a way to reduce phosphates on a reef tank without harming the corals, is there a slightly more aggressive way to do it if there are no corals. This tank is FOWLR.
crister13
Aquarium Advice Addict
Gfo, algae scrubber. Vodka helps nitrates too.
nikki_kaiser
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Minkota said:
I would use GFO. You can throw it in a fine mesh bag and into your sump or filter. You can get the mesh bags pretty cheap at petco.
OP
OP
Minkota
Aquarium Advice Activist
nikki_kaiser said:
As mentioned before, I am already running GFO in a reactor and have been for about a month now.
nikki_kaiser
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Minkota said:
How well is your protein skimmer working? What I'm asking really is how much yuck is it pulling out? If you aren't getting anything then that may be it.
There are things that I did not mention doing and left out because there are people who will say that it either is not a good idea or would make no difference...but I ran my tank with no GFO after I did it and still had no phosphates.
#1...I had a very deep sand bed. While doing research, I had read on another forum where someone else was having issues like mine. They removed their deep sand bed and went BB and eliminated them. Soooo...I got rid of my old sand bed. I divided it up and siphoned it out over the course of a month. I left it that way. I still have BB in that tank but will add a shallow sand bed soon...something I can easily and thoroughly clean as the live rock is my main source of bacteria.
#2...I did a process called "cooking live rock" that I found on the Internet. I just actually finished with my last 4 rocks...did it in stages...be sure that you eliminate ALL possibilities before you do it because its a pain. Lots of water changes...
With a tank your size, I'm guessing eliminating your sand and replacing with new dry sand would be a pain.
OP
OP
Minkota
Aquarium Advice Activist
Skimmer is working ok at best, I have tried 4 different skimmers (octopus, 2 different AquaC, and a eshoppes) and they all work about the same it will pull about 1/4" of light green skim mate about every 3 days and every now and then it will start pulling a few cups out in a days time. Currently I am running an AquaC EV 120 it seems to work the best of the 4 I've tried.
I think I might. Have better results if I could get the skimmers to work better. The phot is about 2-1/2 to 3 days worth of skimming.
The DSB is approx about 1" to 1-1/2" deep, I have considered removing it but my Wrass buries himself at night so I'm not sure I want to remove that security from him.
I have read your posts that you mentioned and I am considering cooking the rock, I just have soo much rock appox 300lbs.
I think the rock may be the source and it is just leaching large amounts as I am taking it out.
I think I might. Have better results if I could get the skimmers to work better. The phot is about 2-1/2 to 3 days worth of skimming.
The DSB is approx about 1" to 1-1/2" deep, I have considered removing it but my Wrass buries himself at night so I'm not sure I want to remove that security from him.
I have read your posts that you mentioned and I am considering cooking the rock, I just have soo much rock appox 300lbs.
I think the rock may be the source and it is just leaching large amounts as I am taking it out.
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