Carbon dosing - method testing started

Definitely thinking about biopellets now. I was a big fan of vodka for a while but stopped when I switched tanks to let the new one settle with such a loss in rock sand and a lot of new water. Wasn't sure where to start dosing. But maybe I'll start with bio pellets instead.

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I think you need to send your research to the manufactures of Biopellets and then pick up some stock in that company.

Amazing difference.

If it was just the algae difference I would still be amazed, but the visual differences in the frogspawn if something else.

 

Awesome work Steve! Thanks for this experiment and all the time you've put in to get the results. I've been away for a while, and just came across the thread and have now read every page. This thread is a def bookmark for me. Thanks again! K+

 

Awsome results steve, just got back home from the military and things look amazing. Im wondering though (may be a bit off topic but...) how would any form of carbon dosing to get rid of algae affect the pod population in a tank? Seeing that I have a mandarin and if the pod population depends on algea it would seem counter productive to get rid of all agae in the tank?

 

I am actually impressed at how fast the bio-pellets are working. I decided to include them on my setup from the beginning. As soon as my tank cycled and I added a CUC and a couple of clowns, I then added the Ecobak to my system. It seemed to take about 6-7 weeks before I could see the tumbling action change. To what I assume was less tumbling because of the bacteria finally coating the pellets. I assumed it would at least take this long given the small amount of bio-load in the tank. But your setup has very little bio-load as well, and the results are amazing. I am really happy with my decision to add these to my system, as I have had no detectable nitrates and 0.04 is the highest my phosphates have shown on a hanna checker the entire time the my system has been running. This is one of the best threads I've ever seen! Thanks again for taking the time and effort that have.

 

It's interesting that the GFO tank corals are bleaching. The two most likely possibilities for why carbon dosing is associated with bleaching of LPS corals is:

A) Nutrient limitation
In theory, if nutrients are two low, zooxanthellae will not be able to function and supply the host coral with organic products.

B) Organic carbon is driving pathogenic bacteria.
There have been a number of studies showing organic carbon, and especially complex organic carbon sources, such as carbohydrates (i.e. biopellets) can drive pathogenic bacteria and increase coral morality. However, organic carbon levels in our tanks seem to be low, so, it is questionable if carbon dosing would raise OC levels high enough to be of concern.

If the corals are bleaching in the GFO tank though, that suggests a phosphate limitation. So, this would indicate that the Bio-pellets are not as effective against phosphate for some reason. Another possibility though, is the bacteria sloshing off of the biopellets is an effective food source and is feeding the corals and making up for the nutrient deficiency. If not, this could be a problem, as phosphate limits coral growth and can drive cyano. It would be nice to test PO4, but unfortunately, it will likely just test 0, unless you have access to expensive lab equipment LOL.

It might be interesting at some point, after the experiment is winding down, to add GFO to all of the other tanks. After all, many people in real life will be running a mixture of GFO and carbon dosing. And this would help confirm whether or not there is a nutrient limitation, or if the results are due to an interaction with the food web.

 

Thank you Mr. Bill

your welcome and the pellets are certainly worth considering IMO lynnmw1208

Thanks malac0da
Please share your experience if you do go that route

I am surprised myself Cheryl
had no previous experience with the pellets, and its been fascinating

Thank you Ultraner

Thank you jessel518
I woke up at 5 am , saw your post and then flipped the lights on for a study
IMHO, there is no difference in the pod mass in either of the 4 set ups
both copepods and amphipods are running all over available surfaces
there is still enough to feed them it seems irrespective of the algae reduction

Thank you dowtish
I have also seen many accounts of pellets taking 6 weeks or longer to display any signs of activity, so was pleasantly surprised when I noted some clumping after 3rd week, which indicated bacteria had started to colonise
Hannah checker on my shopping list now.

Thanks m2434 - Great contribution
and yes, adding GFO to the mix later is a good suggestion

Hannah checker - sourced, Shanghai - I will recieve it next week.


monitored temps periodically on all 4 set ups yesterday

GFO tank due to location and having reactor pump (added source of heat)
is running warmest and peaked at 82.7
Vodka tank - no additional pump, closer to open door thus benefiting from front room air con peaked at 81.8
Bio Fuel tank - no additional pump , closer still to door, 79.8
Pellet set up - additional reactor pump, facing open door - 80.1

so whilst the pellet run tank is cooler than both the Vodka and GFO set ups (which IME are still within reasonable temp range) its not as cool as the Bio Fuel run set up, yet corals look happier
thus temp dismissed from the possible causes IMO

 

Another possibility is water clarity with extreme DOC removal there is virtually nothing to refract the light as before and what your are seeing is light inhibition.

 

Great point :thumb_up: Actually I noticed Hanna just came out with a new checker for water color ;D

https://hannachecker.com/index.php?...n=com_virtuemart&Itemid=29&vmcchk=1&Itemid=29

Alternatively, you could put a white piece of paper behind each tank. If you have a DSLR, or other camera capable of of manual settings. Take a picture, with identical settings. Then we can white balance it and see what the offsets are between the tanks.

 

Actually it occurred to me that yet another possiblity is all three in some combination.