NoPox Oversose Experience

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caller89

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Hi fellow Reefers

I thought I would post a recent experience I had with overdosing NoPox.

On Saturday my tank finally finished cycling after nearly 4months, I was very patient with the cycling.

As expected my Nitrates and Phosphates were off the scale. I did a 50% water change left it 24hours and tested again. Nitrates and Phosphates were still to high even for fish.

On Sunday I set one of my dosing heads up with NoPox which I have had plenty of experience and sucess with. My plan was to bring Nitrates and Phosphates down slowly via carbon dosing and weekly small water changes.

Here comes the but ! Instead of setting my dosing head to 9ml per day , I set it to 90ml per day.

Come Sunday evening I noticed my tank became slightly cloudy , that's when I went over my tank and my settings! Bang there it was 90ml per day ! My first reaction was turn off the dosing head and leave it overnight !

Photo one below was the morning after ! As you can see a huge bacteria bloom within the water column. You couldn't see your hand if you put it in the tank.

At this stage it's normally panic ! Planning 100% water change , stripping the sump out for cleaning ! However I remained calm and remembered not to react instantly.

Monday after work I turned my UV filter on that was currently off during my cycling! 24 hours later my tank was almost clear , photo 2.

The only challenge I had was my protein skimmer! Even with it dialed back to the lowest setting It could . It was still pouring water over the cup. So I just switched it off until this evening when the water cleared.

Alought it is still dialed right back its skimming all the dead bacteria excessively.

Another 24hours my tank should be completely clear and recovered however I will still need to pull my sump out , clean all my pumps , Skimmer, wave makers.

They are currently coated in slug and film from the bacteria.

The outcome and lessons learnt from thus experience are as followed.

1. Always check your dosing setting , easy human error, however this could have been a fully stocked tank with devastating losses.

2. Don't react immediately, you can make things worse! Wait it out and adjust slowly.

3. It's always good to have a UV filter installed. Without this being available immediately could have prolonged the recovery.

I hope this thread helps anyone who has or is experiencing this issue.

Happy reefing

20221205_191745.jpg 20221206_214910.jpg
 
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caller89

caller89

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How’s your nutrients after the bloom? Probably all in check.
I havent tested yet , wanted to get my water cleared first, I will test tomorrow evening and post the findings.

Not expecting anything to be in check thats for sure lol
 
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I havent tested yet , wanted to get my water cleared first, I will test tomorrow evening and post the findings.

Not expecting anything to be in check thats for sure lol
Looking forward for the results
 
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caller89

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Looking forward for the results
So just tested my tank following the bloom! Interesting values, see below.

Nitrates - 11.3
Phosphates - 0.12
PH 7.9

Let me know your thoughts.
 

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sixty_reefer

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Do
So just tested my tank following the bloom! Interesting values, see below.

Nitrates - 11.3
Phosphates - 0.12
PH 7.9

Let me know your thoughts.
Do you have your previous levels? I was expecting a large drop as that’s what a bloom would of caused, I see them lasting longer wend initial nutrients are lower.
You won’t have a no2 test kit also to see if that’s making any interference with the final results?
 
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caller89

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Do

Do you have your previous levels? I was expecting a large drop as that’s what a bloom would of caused, I see them lasting longer wend initial nutrients are lower.
You won’t have a no2 test kit also to see if that’s making any interference with the final results?
Prior to the bloom my results were as followed.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrates - 50+
Phosphates - 1.61
PH - 8.23

Just tested my Nitrites , im reading 78ppb so 0.078ppm
 

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An update on the tank , water column is completely clear now , Protein skimmer cup cleaned 4th time in 24 hours!

However this time iv managed to dial my Skimmer back to its normal setting and the cup is capturing well !

20221207_185751.jpg 20221207_185826.jpg
 
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Maybe I don't see em but why no animals of any kind 4 months in? Since carbon dosing now why did ya wait 4 months to start? Your definitely extremely patient which could be a good thing but also slows things down to a crawl unnecessarily, just wondering. I havnt cycled a tank in decades since I always start with alot of my live rock, etc..
 
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caller89

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Maybe I don't see em but why no animals of any kind 4 months in?
I'm really fussy when it comes to cycling ! I like to really put the tank through its paces before adding live stock , as my sand and rock were dry , as you will know it's a completely different cycling process and takes alot longer to establish beneficial bacteria

6months is the longest iv waited. However I'm all ready to go on this one. I will put some Chromis in and monitor the tank for about 4weeks before adding or transferring any corals from my other tank.
 

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I'm really fussy when it comes to cycling ! I like to really put the tank through its paces before adding live stock , as my sand and rock were dry , as you will know it's a completely different cycling process and takes alot longer to establish beneficial bacteria

6months is the longest iv waited. However I'm all ready to go on this one. I will put some Chromis in and monitor the tank for about 4weeks before adding or transferring any corals from my other tank.
Man you replied fast, i edited my post and added some stuff.
 
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Man you replied fast, i edited my post and added some stuff.
Sorry quick fingers lol

So its only been about a week and half since I managed to clear ammonia and Nitrites within 12 hours, that's my goal for deciding when the tank is cycled.

Dry rock and sand takes for ever to zero out the Nitrites, its painful , the moment it clears I add 2ppm ammonia until I can clear both ammonia and Nitrites within 12hours from adding 2ppm ammonia after each time they both zero out.

Also the uptake of alkalinity during the cycling process was extreme , alough I have a Calcium reactor I left this off and just dosed 10ml per day to maintain 8.5dkh , I have a reef factory KH keeper plus , so was testing every 4 hours.

I don't actually fully understand the process of KH uptake when cycling with dry rock and sand, iv never had this when cycling with live rock and sand, however this is second time cycling with dry rock and sand and both occasions KH uptake has been strong. Hopefully something can explain this to me in the future.
 

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Funny and different from my recent experience. When I switched out my 90g with my 180g in August 2021 I added a bunch of dry rock to all the live rock to fill the larger tank and it had the opposite effect releasing alk/calc as corals and coraline were growing but I didn't have to dose either for the 1st 5 months or so. After 35+ years I'm still learning and having different things occur.
 
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caller89

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Funny and different from my recent experience. When I switched out my 90g with my 180g in August 2021 I added a bunch of dry rock to all the live rock to fill the larger tank and it had the opposite effect releasing alk/calc as corals and coraline were growing but I didn't have to dose either for the 1st 5 months or so. After 35+ years I'm still learning and having different things occur.
I agree with that ! Every tank is different and throws me every time I set up a new tank.

Iv never gone this advance on a tank ! It's definitely been a huge learning curve.
 
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Advance is good, just don't make things complicated, keep it simple and the system will be easier to maintain not a dreaded chore, and the results will be great.
Thank you for the advise , really appreciate that ! I'm sure we will cross paths again when I need some help
 
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