Brightwell to Smirnoff - a change in the manner of carbon dosing

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by steve wright, Jan 9, 2011.

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  1. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    Hmmmm

    So basically you have reached ULNS nirvana and the coral is suffering because of lack of nutrients (nourishmint).

    As always I really appreciate your documentation. Hopefully we will see images of the corals coloration going in the reverse direction.
     
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  3. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    I believe so
    hence the reduction on carbon and increase of amino based food supplement in order to put back in, what I have taken out

    none of my other corals are affected
    blues, purples, all fine
    just the green one
    I have that other green tabling acro that at 1st glance yesterday morning I felt was going same way
    closer inspection revealed I have several new growth tips hence the light coloration visible at distance

    I am going to continue indefinitely on the 2.1 mls until coloration reverses
    and I may continue on that very amount rather than increasing for future

    I may have found my maintenance dose - without the need to half my final dose

    Steve
     
  4. Nismo400rgtr

    Nismo400rgtr Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    Thanks for the update Steve. I think the aminos will really help. Not only would I increase quantity but frequency as well IMO.
     
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  5. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    Thats a good suggestion Nismo
    I was dosing amino based supplements at 5ml in 75 gallons , every other day
    I am going to dose at 7.5 ml in 75 gallons daily for a few days

    whilst keeping a check on my trates as I do this
    the vodka increased bacteria population should be able to deal with this increase IMHO

    Steve
     
  6. barbianj

    barbianj Hammer Head Shark

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    Steve, fwiw, the maintenance dose for my 125 is 2ml per day. Bioload mileage may vary, but I feed the fish every day, and the LPS and NPS nearly every day.
     
  7. Nismo400rgtr

    Nismo400rgtr Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    This is off-topic but I believe my STN issues with SPS were partially due to lack of nutrients. Not that your one pieces change in coloration is STN, but definitely an indication of something. The only negative I've noticed to the extra amino's in my tank has been increased film algae,which I will gladly tolerate over death of my coral. Even with PO4 and NO3 being Undetectable to my Sali kits. I will eventually cut back the amino's once healthier coloration in my coral is completely attained.
     
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  9. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    worth a lot barbianj - thank you

    Yes -I was advised that in my situation, having 0 N and P to start with, the methodology was going to be more about observing corals, rather than testing levels

    with the testing levels route - once N+O are 0 after X amount of weeks of 0.5ml incriments, you drop to half of what dose you had reached at that point - so if it took 7mils of Vodka to obtain the O - you then drop to 3.5 mils as maintenance dose

    in my situation I just needed to add until I saw decline in algaes and then maintain that
    if your maintenance dose in a 125 is 2mls - then it could be I could drop to using 1ml or 1.5ml per day once the desired aim on aesthetics has been achieved.

    its not off topic Nismo- its all related IMHO
    Im going to dose MB7 at 1 drop per 25 gallon per day, in addition to the Aminos
    from research I have found that the MB7 from reading Sonny X - Pro Corals - Vodka MB7 combo for combating the negatives of carbon dosing
    can compete with the nuisance bacterias that are the cause of cyno film algae etc
    basically I will target feed the corals using that pippette I have, but shortly after introduce additional bacteria to help clear up any excess nutrients that creates

    Steve
     
  10. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    I have a question regarding mechanism of action.

    I dosed MB7 when I dosed Vodka. I stopped the vodka and dosed the MB7 and really liked the results. I was able to feed a lot more with no rise in N/P or algae growth.

    If vodka promotes bacterial growth that takes up the N/P and or reduces DOC to a certain degree, and MB7 acts in the same manner but doesn't cause some of the negative side effects associated with vodka, then is it a different type of bacteria. Is MB7 the addition of the bacteria and vodka the food for that bacteria.

    Sorry long winded I know.
     
  11. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    Hi Cheryl

    yes I believe your are correct in your assesment

    the theory goes like this
    at one time, people believed that bio load was the limiting factor in terms of how much bacteria your system can accomodate
    and yet people could still have nutrient level problems despite the fact systems where mature and as such should have had an adequate bacterial population in order to process said nutrients

    experiments with many forms of carbon dosing
    where based on the premis that the nutrients where not the overall controlling factor for a limitation on bacterial population, that carbon or free carbon (the building block from which all life forms exist) was the limiting factor ( there are many in the hobby that do not agree to this and some are well known reef aquarists)

    Thus the addition of a source of free carbons, will increase the amount of bacteria the system can support (exist!) and thus that extra bacterial population can process the surplus nutrients

    Carbon is not selective over which forms of bacteria it encourages
    so cyno, and peach fuzz and all the other minor nuisance bacterias can also benefit from it

    (NB this one one reason carbon dosing of the liquid type is not ideal for new set ups, which often do have higher levels of nuisance type bacteria and as such can end up in a mess of cyno within 20 days of Vodka dosing)

    adding an additional source of beneficial bacteria such as MB7 can ensure that the bacteria types taking advantage of the increased free carbon are benficial bacteria and not the nuisance ones

    its all part of the same deal , Cheryl
    the aim is to have a tank that has its nutrient control in the hands of invisible beneficial bacteria , rather than in the hands of the ugly mess bacteria or the ugly mess algaes that would also process the same nutrients for us

    Steve
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2011
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  12. Nismo400rgtr

    Nismo400rgtr Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    So essentially I can begin to dose MB7 to help reduce the nuisance film algae on my bio-pellet dosed system?