Bacto Balance, or Elimi-NP?

[Dave-T]

I have a 240 gallon mixed reef (350 gallon total system), coming up on one year old. I'm trying to lower my N&P and have decided to try carbon dosing. My nitrates are getting up to about 17, and my phosphates to .3, before I knock them back down with a 25% water change every two weeks or so. I'd like to get away from having to do these water changes, and want more stability in my nutrients. My target nutrient levels are 10 Nitrates and 0.1 Phosphates. After doing some research, I came across this, and decided to give NP Bacto Balance a try. But then I came across this on BRS, which says that Bacto Balance is intended for systems with nitrates at 1-2 and phosphates at 0.03-0.1. I'm much higher than that, and that is much lower than I ever want to get, at least for the nitrates.

But the product description says that ELimi-NP is for systems with an N to P ratio of 10:1 or lower. Mine is about 50:1, and my target ratio is 100:1. This 10:1 thing is new to me, do people actually target that?

So should I be using Elimi-NP instead? Would I ever want to use Bacto Balance, given that my target nutrients are well above what bacto balance is designed for?

 

[KStatefan]

I have a 240 gallon mixed reef (350 gallon total system), coming up on one year old. I'm trying to lower my N&P and have decided to try carbon dosing. My nitrates are getting up to about 17, and my phosphates to .3, before I knock them back down with a 25% water change every two weeks or so. I'd like to get away from having to do these water changes, and want more stability in my nutrients. My target nutrient levels are 10 Nitrates and 0.1 Phosphates. After doing some research, I came across this, and decided to give NP Bacto Balance a try. But then I came across this on BRS, which says that Bacto Balance is intended for systems with nitrates at 1-2 and phosphates at 0.03-0.1. I'm much higher than that, and that is much lower than I ever want to get, at least for the nitrates.

But the product description says that ELimi-NP is for systems with an N to P ratio of 10:1 or lower. Mine is about 50:1, and my target ratio is 100:1. This 10:1 thing is new to me, do people actually target that?

So should I be using Elimi-NP instead? Would I ever want to use Bacto Balance, given that my target nutrients are well above what bacto balance is designed for?

This was Lou's answer to that question when I asked him last year.

"Don’t worry too much about that 10:1 ratio. It is not as important as the PO4 concentration. So as long as your PO4 is above 0.1ppm, then stick with the ELIMI-NP. When the PO4 drops to below 0.1ppm then switch over to the NP-BACT Balance."

 

[Dave-T]

I just got some Elimi-NP. A couple things... The bottle is really small, it will only last me a month or two depending on how much I dose. Why don't they sell it in larger quantities? The other thing is that it says on the bottle "Store the bottle tightly sealed!". This makes me think that it wouldn't work in a dosing container, which is what I wanted to do. Probably also why they don't sell it in larger containers.

Does anyone have any advice for what I should do if I want to dose it with an auto doser? Maybe I should just use vodka...

 

[Dave-T]

Anyone? I'd like to know if it's safe to auto-dose Elimi-NP, and also what measurement they're using when they recommend 10:1 nitrate to phosphate. I've always heard it should be 100:1, the 10:1 thing must be using some other units, correct?

 

[Pod_01]

Yup I used doser, no issue. If concerned just put less in the container.
The ratio is correct and TM recommend 10:1. Since it is recommendation you can pick different ratio. I don’t recommend you chase numbers, things usually went sideways for me when I tried.
The second post tells you that TM considers PO4 to be critical and should be watched when carbon dosing.

Good luck,

 

[Koty]

Elimi NP is costly, but IME it works simply because corals look good (not sure if it's the most efficient carbon dosing for the $. I struggled to get my PO4 toward 0.1 ppm but discovered that my skimmer desperately needed cleaning. To reduce NO3/PO4, efficient carbon dosing should be coupled with extensive skimming. It gets rid of both the organics before they decompose and the bacteria in the water column that feed on the carbon.