Reef Tank Carbon Dosing With Tropic Marin NP-Bacto Balance

[SteveDola]

I was at FFM and talking with the Tropic Marin scientist regarding the carbon dosing in a mature reef tank. Ive never done carbon dosing but many have sung the praises of the carbon dosing method over the years. He peaked my interest with its ease and commitment to how exceptional the product is...I guess hes a good salesman too. Has anyone used this product before? I know you need to get the P04 levels in the tank into the optimum range before starting the method, so Ill have to raise my P04 from ,03 to .08 but that shouldn't be too hard with their NP+ product he so gallantly provided. Are their potential side effects or concerns with this method which could result in nuking my corals (my major concern)? any experiences or advice would be appreciated. TY.

 

[Chris.sturgis]

I was looking into using it in the past but I just decided to just use vinegar and then I recently switched to a 75% vinegar/25% vodka ration. My Nitrates were around 70ppm and now its around 15. I have to feed reefroids twice a week though to keep my PO4 up.

 

[Casino]

I used it for a while. It was ok in my tank. Its suppose to keep your numbers in check by adding and removing as needed. My problem is I would bring the No3 down with massive water changes but I could not keep it there. It did slowly creep up so I believe it was doing something. I was adding about 15mls a day. My tank is just overcrowded. So I switched to elimi-np. Also dosing 10mls of Phosphat-E. Seems to be working better and Po3 creeps up slower than before so im still increasing the dosage as time goes by. Still dose the Phospahat-e. I might just switch to nopox if I see that I need to dose more than 15mls as it gets expensive and TM dosent seem to want to make a bigger bottle of elimi-np. Been thinking of just trying the DIY version. Neither of theses products do much to lower Po4 which is why I dose phosphat-e. Whatever you try to go with you just need to go slow. Whatever the directions say to dose I started with half and every week I would test and then increase the dose by 1 ml. Nopox did lower my Po3 but wanted to try TM as I thought the bacto balance would work for me. It could work in a less stolked tank. Dose during the day and split up the dosing so your PH isnt effected... can drop some with all carbon dosing. You will start to see haze on the glass and all you pump will need cleaning more frequently. As with all carbon dosing you should dose into or as close to your skimmer or dose directly into your mechanical filtration. I dose right into my reefmat and still get the hazing. Not really a big deal as I already have to scrape the glass once a week anyways. If your tank becomes cloudy stop dosing. Resume with less dose once tank is clear again.

 

[Slombardi]

I used it for a while. It was ok in my tank. Its suppose to keep your numbers in check by adding and removing as needed. My problem is I would bring the No3 down with massive water changes but I could not keep it there. It did slowly creep up so I believe it was doing something. I was adding about 15mls a day. My tank is just overcrowded. So I switched to elimi-np. Also dosing 10mls of Phosphat-E. Seems to be working better and Po3 creeps up slower than before so im still increasing the dosage as time goes by. Still dose the Phospahat-e. I might just switch to nopox if I see that I need to dose more than 15mls as it gets expensive and TM dosent seem to want to make a bigger bottle of elimi-np. Been thinking of just trying the DIY version. Neither of theses products do much to lower Po4 which is why I dose phosphat-e. Whatever you try to go with you just need to go slow. Whatever the directions say to dose I started with half and every week I would test and then increase the dose by 1 ml. Nopox did lower my Po3 but wanted to try TM as I thought the bacto balance would work for me. It could work in a less stolked tank. Dose during the day and split up the dosing so your PH isnt effected... can drop some with all carbon dosing. You will start to see haze on the glass and all you pump will need cleaning more frequently. As with all carbon dosing you should dose into or as close to your skimmer or dose directly into your mechanical filtration. I dose right into my reefmat and still get the hazing. Not really a big deal as I already have to scrape the glass once a week anyways. If your tank becomes cloudy stop dosing. Resume with less dose once tank is clear again.

I am doing the same. Elimi np and phos e. If my nutrients were in line with what I wanted and the tank looked good, not sure I would use the carbon dosing balance and risk messing with the stability.

 

[Casino]

I am doing the same. Elimi np and phos e. If my nutrients were in line with what I wanted and the tank looked good, not sure I would use the carbon dosing balance and risk messing with the stability.

I was managing my nutrients with NoPox and Phosphat-E but wanted to "tweak" it and thought that I could not dose Phosphat-E if I used the TM products. Sounds good on paper but doesn't really work... at least in my tank. Other tanks with maybe less bioload it could maybe work.

 

[SteveDola]

My PO4 is kinda low. I think if I raise it up alittle I could see improvement in coloration. I was looking to raise it from .03 to .08 to help with SPS color but also LPS enjoy the higher nutrients. Im going to try Plus NP to slowly raise PO4 and see results. KYP-

 

[Casino]

Just feed reef roids. That will raise your po4 dramatically.

 

[SteveDola]

I do 1 or twice a week.

 

[Casino]

Increase the reef roid feedings. This will be better in a way as you'll be feeding your corals more and you won't have to use chemicals.

 

[JohnK]

This all sounds so expensive.

Am I totally oversimplifying to think that all this could be accomplished with vinegar, Lanthanum Chloride (any brand / no name) / GFO, reefroids and sodium nitrate? (ie, keep nitrate and phosphate in detectable ranges, supplement organic carbon if depleted, and let bacteria do it's thing).

 

[SteveDola]

I dont think the TM products are that expensive. the balance is like 35 for the year i think (for a 50g tank).

My plan is to monitor the PO4 with daily tests for the next 2 weeks to see any PO4 trends based on the habits i have in my reefkeeping.

I did inch up the PO4 with the +NP but it was marginal (+.02). Im waiting to see any improvement and will feed reefroids tonight then test tomorrow.

 

[JohnK]

That makes sense.

Honestly, what am I doing even questioning expense in this hobby? Perhaps just my bias towards being DIY oriented?

If it works, it works. Following

 

[SteveDola]

I took pics and will try and post. I did research but there dont seem to be many before and after for carbon dosing with TM products...or any products. Just testimonials.

 

[Reefried]

My PO4 is kinda low. I think if I raise it up alittle I could see improvement in coloration. I was looking to raise it from .03 to .08 to help with SPS color but also LPS enjoy the higher nutrients. Im going to try Plus NP to slowly raise PO4 and see results. KYP-

I think all Tropic Marin are solid reliable products. I actually have some bacto balance. I have not used it yet. In your situation it is hard to say. You say you want to raise phosphate, but bacto balance will inevitably decrease your phosphate. Their whole claim is that the carbon source creates a bacteria (bloom) which will lower nutrients. However their formula states that it will not bottom them out, and create an opening in your system for things like Dino’s etc.

If you simply want to raise P04 to try and tweak coloration you may be better of just adding Phosphate. Although that then brings up the whole topic of adding end game bottled nutrient products.