Addition of Sugar to reduce nitrate and Phosphate levels

[mstouks]

I am a retired teacher of chemistry and of course do have a 55 gal reef tank that has had some issues with nitrate and phosphate levels in my 5 year old tank. After much reading on reduction with the use of ethanol and which has been successful I have decided to change over to the use of a simple sugar ( PRIMING SUGAR--DEXTROSE) instead of ethonal ( don't want the dreaded red slime to develop). I chose priming sugar over reg sugar due to the fact that reg sugar is a more complex sugar being composed of actually 2 dextrose molecules....therefore I had to double all set amounts. i believe the bacteria could utilize this sugar at a quicker rate. It seems to be working very well after 1 week my levels dropped from 5 ppm to zero( nitrate) and 0 for phosphate. For my tank with the actual water volume of 36 gal ( 3.5 inches of sand and 100 lbs of live rock) I used the following amount.. Days 1-3 .6 grams
Days 4-7 1.0 gram ( as measured on a cheap postage scale). I will keep my fellow reefers informed of my progress. If the nitrates and phosphate remain at current levels then my maintenance dosage will be .5 grams daily. Any feedback will be welcomed.

 

[P-Nut]

Why not just feed less instead of adding stuff to a 5 year old tank?

 

[mstouks]

I only feed once a day and only a pinch. My tank was recovering from lack of attention but now that i am unemployed i can devote more time to it and its doing much better.. thanks

 

[weyfirstreef]

Very interesting please keep the info coming i use a nitrate filter and a RDSB which work but like to feed heavy for better growth

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[JohnK]

Huh, I've always heard that carbon dosing via sugar was more difficult to employ than using vodka or vinegar. It's been a while since I read up on anything sugar related, but IIRC negative reactions by corals occured for a lot of people who tried sugar.

Keep us posted on how this goes..

 

[dannyp02908]

ive also read the same regarding sugar but he is using a diff knd of sugar. wonder if that will make a diff.

 

[mstouks]

Everything going well// Just picked up this information from the web.
Sucrose (table sugar) is a disaccharide, an organic molecule derived from glucose and fructose. Glucose, a monosaccharide, is a simpler carbohydrate, and is involved in multiple metabolic processes in a vast number or marine organisms. Both are effective as nutrient reduction tools, but should be used sparingly. I have had more consistent nutrient reduction when using glucose, and recommend it over sucrose. It is typically sold as grape sugar or corn sugar in health food stores.

levels still zero will decrease dosage to .5 garms on monday and see how it goes

 

[Conlius]

sugar or vodka both work as a carbon food source to produce more bacteria to out-compete algae. Unfortunately, whenever I added sugar, my skimmer venturi would be clogged the next day. Dosing vodka every day was horrible for me...too much measuring and dosing. I eventually turned to ecobak vodka pellets running in a small TwoLittleFishes reactor. Kept my N & P in check from there on out. Top it off every 6-9 months.