Has Bacto Balance ever reduced NO3 in your tank?

[Miami Reef]

If NP Bacto Balance lowered nitrate, what dosage/tank size did you use?



Tropic Marin’s instructions:

• In the case of new and young tanks (0-1 years old*) no more than 0.25 ml per 100 l /25 US-Gal. tank content should be added per day.
• In tanks of a medium age (1-2 years old*) up to 0.5 ml per 100 l /25 US-Gal. can be dosed per day
• In mature tanks (>2 years old*) can receive from 0.5 to 1 ml for 100 l /25 US-Gal. aquarium water per day.

Does it really make sense to base the dosage on the tank’s age rather than the bioload and food input? @Randy Holmes-Farley @Hans-Werner

 

[areefer01]

If NP Bacto Balance lowered nitrate, what dosage/tank size did you use?



Tropic Marin’s instructions:



Does it really make sense to base the dosage on the tank’s age rather than the bioload and food input? @Randy Holmes-Farley @Hans-Werner

You have probably already seen this but here Lou talks about the various products one of which is Bacto Balance. 16:40 marker give or take a few seconds. Maybe it will help if you haven't.

 

[Pod_01]

I use it and I do have my NO3 in the 1-5 ppm range.

Sometimes it gets to below the 1ppm.
When I started with TM carbon dosing my NO3 was in the 50ppm range. I don’t believe the reduction is all due to TM NP BB but I have been using it for 4+ years.

At the moment I am using 0.5ml on 250l system.
Things look ok:

I think it works, I don’t think it is fast and I suspect other carbon sources may work faster.
So far I didn’t have bloom or slime or other things growing. I tried other sources and had bloom and slime build up and this may have been due to my inexperience.

The age recommendation, I suspect Hans Werner is being cautious. Probably doesn’t want to drive the nutrients down too fast or promote undesirables like Cyanobacteria but I am just guessing.

You can always try to dose more and if things don’t look right just reduce the dose or stop for a bit so the excess gets consumed. I would start with 1/4 recommended dose and work up from there. If your NO3 is elevated maybe try the Elimi-NP, it is bit more aggressive.

Regardless of what you use keep your eyes on PO4, my corals don’t respond well when I mess with phosphate.

Good luck,

 

[rishma]

If NP Bacto Balance lowered nitrate, what dosage/tank size did you use?



Tropic Marin’s instructions:



Does it really make sense to base the dosage on the tank’s age rather than the bioload and food input? @Randy Holmes-Farley @Hans-Werner

Yes, I think NP Bacto Balance lowers my nitrate. I don’t really understand the dose based on tank age. I focus on food input and then adjust dose based on test results.

I have used NP Bacto balance for about 6 months. I used diy NOPOx before that.

The tank is 3 years old, I used live rock and dry sand when I set it up. It’s 100L. The tank has been fairly successful but I have had bouts of issues largely around nutrients.

Stability has been my obsession for the last 6 months and the tank is thriving. I was used to larger tanks which were much more forgiving. I now add the same amount of food daily on auto feeder (it’s pretty precise).

I primarily use NP bacto balance to manage phosphate. It’s the best method I’ve used so far. Changes tend to happen slowly, which is a luxury in this little water volume.

About 6 weeks ago, I found my nitrate at zero. I am not sure over how long it occurred but I generally keep it above 5ppm. I am away from the tank for a month at a time, so it happened during that period. My daughter usually tests phosphate when I am gone and there was a period it dropped significantly, but I didn’t check nitrate at the time. The dose was 0.6ml daily of NP BB during this time.

When I got home, I got the nutrients sorted out and reestablished dosing. For 2 weeks dosing 0.7ml per day my phosphate was stable between 0.06 and 0.09 and my nitrates remained above 5ppm. I don’t pay much attention to nitrate as long as it’s not too low. I know it was around 6-7 when I started because I did the high range red sea test. Subsequent tests were done low range, and as long as it was above 5 ppm (top of range) I called it good.

My daughter did a test on Sunday, about 5 days since I had tested. My phosphate had dropped to 0.04 and my nitrates were down to 2ppm. I cut my dose of NP BB to 0.3ml per day. She tested phosphate yesterday and it was 0.06 ppm. She will test nitrate Sunday to see if it has stabilized.

So, I believe NP BB does lower my nitrate. Ideally I would like to achieve stability with both nitrate and phosphate, but if I can keep P stable and dose some ammonium I am happy with that too.

 

[Dan_P]

If NP Bacto Balance lowered nitrate, what dosage/tank size did you use?



Tropic Marin’s instructions:



Does it really make sense to base the dosage on the tank’s age rather than the bioload and food input? @Randy Holmes-Farley @Hans-Werner

You sniffed out the nonsense. There is no way that the product inventor has done anything more than guess at these recommendations.

 

[Slocke]

It kept my nitrate very low. Lower then I wanted

 

[ingchr1]

You sniffed out the nonsense. There is no way that the product inventor has done anything more than guess at these recommendations.

@Lou Ekus @Hans-Werner what say you on the recommendations/instructions?

 

[punchy7080]

It will absolutely lower nitrates. It will also seriously depress your pH. I use 4ml/day on a 75g system to keep nitrates in the 8-10 range. Also now can’t raise pH above about 7.85 at peak. Not co2 related and have same issue on 300g tank that has skimmer plumbed to outside air. Drove me crazy until I read a couple posts talking about carbon dosing and pH impact.

 

[exnisstech]

I'm getting ready to stop dosing BB. I've been dosing 0.15ml to 65g total. N and P are 0 at times so I dose both as I'm leary of zeros. I'm not a science guy and probably don't understand how some things work. To me it just doesn't make sense to dose BB then have to dose N and P because BB is lowering them to 0

Another tank I've been dosing 10ml to 285g volume. Today N is down to 3.6 after being steady around 10 for months. Tank looks good but my PO4 runs a bit high at 0.25 - 0.4 (0.31 today) and I like to keep my N closer to 10 so I'm going to stop the BB and monitor things. Tank was started in March and I started BB shortly after. Test results for a few months below. Tested with Hanna HR nitrate tester. I feed this tank heavy and do not run a skimmer. ATS and filter socks are my only nutrient export method apart from an occasional 25% WC every few weeks.

PO4 results just for reference tested with Hanna ulr phosphate tester

 

[Pod_01]

I'm getting ready to stop dosing BB. I've been dosing 0.15ml to 65g total. N and P are 0 at times so I dose both as I'm leary of zeros. I'm not a science guy and probably don't understand how some things work. To me it just doesn't make sense to dose BB then have to dose N and P because BB is lowering them to 0

Another tank I've been dosing 10ml to 285g volume. Today N is down to 3.6 after being steady around 10 for months. Tank looks good but my PO4 runs a bit high at 0.25 - 0.4 (0.31 today) and I like to keep my N closer to 10 so I'm going to stop the BB and monitor things. Tank was started in March and I started BB shortly after. Test results for a few months below. Tested with Hanna HR nitrate tester. I feed this tank heavy and do not run a skimmer. ATS and filter socks are my only nutrient export method apart from an occasional 25% WC every few weeks.

PO4 results just for reference tested with Hanna ulr phosphate tester

If your PO4 is zero or close to zero you should not be dosing TM NP BB.

Here is a chart that may be of use:

In my opinion these two are very efficient on N, P removal:

ATS and filter socks are my only nutrient export method apart from an occasional 25% WC every few weeks.

Also 25% water change will reduce NO3 by 25% each time, maybe 10% water change is less drastic.

Carbon dosing is not going to bump things up.

As an example I use TM NP BB and I only use skimmer and GAC for filtration. I use TM NP BB as bacteria food so hopefully corals feed on the bacteria and have another food source.
For reference I use 0.25-0.5 ml of TM NP BB on 65 gal system.

 

[Mschmidt]

Never has for me. But that could be because I have never used it...

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

 

[exnisstech]

If your PO4 is zero or close to zero you should not be dosing TM NP BB.

Here is a chart that may be of use:

In my opinion these two are very efficient on N, P removal:

Also 25% water change will reduce NO3 by 25% each time, maybe 10% water change is less drastic.

Carbon dosing is not going to bump things up.

As an example I use TM NP BB and I only use skimmer and GAC for filtration. I use TM NP BB as bacteria food so hopefully corals feed on the bacteria and have another food source.
For reference I use 0.25-0.5 ml of TM NP BB on 65 gal system.

This stuff is way over my head. Nitrates are dropping but PO4 stays 0.25-0.4 using BB in one tank. Water changes I do very randomly mostly to remove detritus so I don't rely on them for lowering nitrate. Another tank I have to dose N and P so I figured I would try plus NP and I'm still getting zeros. I'm just going back to dosing N and P as needed since I can wrap my simple brain around that method.

 

[C_AWOL]

This stuff is way over my head. Nitrates are dropping but PO4 stays 0.25-0.4 using BB in one tank. Water changes I do very randomly mostly to remove detritus so I don't rely on them for lowering nitrate. Another tank I have to dose N and P so I figured I would try plus NP and I'm still getting zeros. I'm just going back to dosing N and P as needed since I can wrap my simple brain around that method.

Theres likely a good amount of po4 bound up in any rock+sand you may have in your system if that's what you're experiencing.

Water changes aren't a good way to export p04 either.

 

[rishma]

It will absolutely lower nitrates. It will also seriously depress your pH. I use 4ml/day on a 75g system to keep nitrates in the 8-10 range. Also now can’t raise pH above about 7.85 at peak. Not co2 related and have same issue on 300g tank that has skimmer plumbed to outside air. Drove me crazy until I read a couple posts talking about carbon dosing and pH impact.

I see a pH dip when dosed and a small change in my average pH but your dose is much higher than I use. I’m using a fraction of an ml per 100L for a maintenance dose.

I see a really large pH drop on the rare occasion I used Plus NP.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I just started using this, I dose 5ml for the 150 gallon system every couple of days. It stays even so far.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

It kept my nitrate very low. Lower then I wanted

How long have you been dosing this?

 

[Slocke]

How long have you been dosing this?

Not anymore

 

[Slocke]

How long have you been dosing this?

I wonder what caused my slow crash more. My AI primes melting or my nitrates being <5. Probably both

 

[EliMelly]

So does it lower phosphates?

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I wonder what caused my slow crash more. My AI primes melting or my nitrates being <5. Probably both

I am way too new to make a educated guess. What was your water charge schedule?