So my cycle seems to have stalled at high nitrates. Help please? :D

[mrhasan]

Hello Shelly,

By how much can it reduce the nitrate? I think I currently have a 40ppm of nitrate and will be doing a massive water change and will add chaeto but would also like to have something that can work in reducing the nitrate.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Cal_stir

Problem with vodka dosing is that it requires more po4 than no3 to work, and if you don't have enough of one or the other available then the process stops and you are just getting the fish drunk.
Fish are very tolerant to no3, 100 ppm doesn't hurt them.

This is correct. I have a fish only system that nitrate is consistently 60-80 ppm. Nitrate bothers inverts (inc coral) much more than fish.

Vodka dosing did not a thing for my SPS tank, although it did manage to brown the corals out really well. From chats with Randy Holmes-Farley, I think vinegar is the better solution, especially when combined with lime water (kalkwasser) dosing.

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Hello Shelly,

By how much can it reduce the nitrate? I think I currently have a 40ppm of nitrate and will be doing a massive water change and will add chaeto but would also like to have something that can work in reducing the nitrate.

I only had 5ppm when I used it in my QT tank. It reduced those nitrates very quickly (overnight). I don't know how much it will reduce how quickly, but I do know that it works.

You should do the big waterchanges first (that's instant nitrate reduction). I'd only use this stuff if waterchanges weren't possible (or illadvised) or if the source of the nitrates couldn't be identified and stopped.

[Myka]

That IO Natural Nitrate Reducer is essentially ground up biopellets suspended in a liquid.

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by Myka

That IO Natural Nitrate Reducer is essentially ground up biopellets suspended in a liquid.

I suspected as much. Good to have confirmation! As long as the dosages on the bottle are followed, an OD shouldn't happen. It is probably a good product for easing into the use of non-recirculating biopellet reactor, then. Do you think?

[Myka]

I don't know anything about a non-circulating biopellet reactor, sorry. The IO product seems like a good choice for a nano tank or an application where there is no space for a reactor. Overdosing would be the same as biopellets (or any other carbon source) where the biggest problem would be bacteria bloom which threatens the tank with oxygen deprivation (lethal firstly to fish). So essentially not usually a problem with a functioning skimmer.