The Guinea Pig Survived!!!
- bluwtr
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- Posts: 637
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:12 pm
- My SetUp: 55g, 70#'s lr, 40#'s ls, 10 DIY acrylic sump, in sump skimmer, 1 Jebao wp20 and 2 Koralia 1050 controlled by a Smart Wave, DIY LED's--12 RB, 10 UV's and 8 CW.
- Location: Gautier
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The Guinea Pig Survived!!!
Boy, if that subject line does not arouse your curiosity, nothing will!
Okay, background info--55g, 70#'s lr, 40#'s ls, Fluval 305, RO HOB Skimmer, 4 T5 bulbs, 9 fish, and different inverts.
H2O params: NH4-0, NH2-0, NH3-10, PO4-0, SG-1.025-6, Tmp-78-80, Alk-3.4 meq/L, Ca-460.
I have been fighting algae’s since I set the tank up at the beginning of Sept. When I say fighting, I do not mean diatoms and normal tank cycle blooms. I'm talking about 7-8 different species at one time from macros to micros, with dinos thrown in even. I have changed water, picked crap off of rocks, sucked junk off, scrubed garbage off, reduced feeding, changed photoperiod and still couldn't get my NO3+ below 10ppm or the algae’s to go away. The worst was the green snotty looking stuff full of bubbles. From research, I believe it is/ was a dinoflagellate mat.
Okay, so, I went to Gerwin and told him my concerns about my nitrates and the algae. Obviously, I had high nutrient levels. We talked about vodka/ sugar dosing, algae mat scrubbers etc. Gerwin then offered a product called AZ-NO3. He told me that he researched it and all of the reviews on it averaged 4 out of 5 stars, but he had never used it. I decided what the hell, didn’t really have anything else to lose. I followed the directions to a “t†and below are my observations while dosing. Note that I did not test every day because I did not expect a sudden change.
Day 1—2 drops dosed—NO3 10ppm
Day 2—4 drops dosed
Day 3—8 drops dosed
Day4—16 drops dosed=1.5ml
Day 5—32 drops dosed=3ml—NO3 3.5ppm
Day 6—Dosed 5.5ml
Day 7—Dosed 8ml—NO3 0ppm
Day 8—Dosed 8ml—NO3 0ppm
The directions say to dose at 8ml until you get 0ppm then cut the dose down to 4ml. Starts tomorrow.
Very important to note--NONE of the fish or CUC showed any adverse reaction to the dosing. I do have a large feather duster and it seems to be drawn in slightly however. I think that may be due to reduced nutrient load in the tank though rather than the dosing.
I will add some pics soon.
Again, thanks for the great recommendation Gerwin!
Wes
Okay, background info--55g, 70#'s lr, 40#'s ls, Fluval 305, RO HOB Skimmer, 4 T5 bulbs, 9 fish, and different inverts.
H2O params: NH4-0, NH2-0, NH3-10, PO4-0, SG-1.025-6, Tmp-78-80, Alk-3.4 meq/L, Ca-460.
I have been fighting algae’s since I set the tank up at the beginning of Sept. When I say fighting, I do not mean diatoms and normal tank cycle blooms. I'm talking about 7-8 different species at one time from macros to micros, with dinos thrown in even. I have changed water, picked crap off of rocks, sucked junk off, scrubed garbage off, reduced feeding, changed photoperiod and still couldn't get my NO3+ below 10ppm or the algae’s to go away. The worst was the green snotty looking stuff full of bubbles. From research, I believe it is/ was a dinoflagellate mat.
Okay, so, I went to Gerwin and told him my concerns about my nitrates and the algae. Obviously, I had high nutrient levels. We talked about vodka/ sugar dosing, algae mat scrubbers etc. Gerwin then offered a product called AZ-NO3. He told me that he researched it and all of the reviews on it averaged 4 out of 5 stars, but he had never used it. I decided what the hell, didn’t really have anything else to lose. I followed the directions to a “t†and below are my observations while dosing. Note that I did not test every day because I did not expect a sudden change.
Day 1—2 drops dosed—NO3 10ppm
Day 2—4 drops dosed
Day 3—8 drops dosed
Day4—16 drops dosed=1.5ml
Day 5—32 drops dosed=3ml—NO3 3.5ppm
Day 6—Dosed 5.5ml
Day 7—Dosed 8ml—NO3 0ppm
Day 8—Dosed 8ml—NO3 0ppm
The directions say to dose at 8ml until you get 0ppm then cut the dose down to 4ml. Starts tomorrow.
Very important to note--NONE of the fish or CUC showed any adverse reaction to the dosing. I do have a large feather duster and it seems to be drawn in slightly however. I think that may be due to reduced nutrient load in the tank though rather than the dosing.
I will add some pics soon.
Again, thanks for the great recommendation Gerwin!
Wes
- Grand Bay Reef
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Re: The Guinea Pig Survived!!!
Great info thanks
- bluwtr
- Discus Member
- Posts: 637
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:12 pm
- My SetUp: 55g, 70#'s lr, 40#'s ls, 10 DIY acrylic sump, in sump skimmer, 1 Jebao wp20 and 2 Koralia 1050 controlled by a Smart Wave, DIY LED's--12 RB, 10 UV's and 8 CW.
- Location: Gautier
- Contact:
Re: The Guinea Pig Survived!!!
Here are some pics. There are a lot more on Photobucket under "bluwtr".
Pic from a couple of weeks ago
Pics from the first day I started dosing. NO3=10ppm
Pics from Day 5. NO3=3.5ppm (Notice that the dino/cyano exploded)
Slime on everythinng
And day 7 of dosing. NO3=0!
Notice the back glass and intake of skimmer. Also notice how the slime has died.
I am still dosing per directions and I think I will do another 3 day dark cycle just to help everthing out. Will be doing a WC in the next couple of days and will suction off as much of the dead junk as I can.
Sorry for the long post, but just wanted to show the results I spoke of.
Wes
Pic from a couple of weeks ago
Pics from the first day I started dosing. NO3=10ppm
Pics from Day 5. NO3=3.5ppm (Notice that the dino/cyano exploded)
Slime on everythinng
And day 7 of dosing. NO3=0!
Notice the back glass and intake of skimmer. Also notice how the slime has died.
I am still dosing per directions and I think I will do another 3 day dark cycle just to help everthing out. Will be doing a WC in the next couple of days and will suction off as much of the dead junk as I can.
Sorry for the long post, but just wanted to show the results I spoke of.
Wes
- Gerwin
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Re: The Guinea Pig Survived!!!
great post! love the pics to see the difference, Hell I better buy some more of that stuff the algae results are amazing!
- bluwtr
- Discus Member
- Posts: 637
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:12 pm
- My SetUp: 55g, 70#'s lr, 40#'s ls, 10 DIY acrylic sump, in sump skimmer, 1 Jebao wp20 and 2 Koralia 1050 controlled by a Smart Wave, DIY LED's--12 RB, 10 UV's and 8 CW.
- Location: Gautier
- Contact:
Re: The Guinea Pig Survived!!!
I'm surprised it worked so bloody fast. One thing I forgot to mention was that this stuff makes a hell of a lot of skimmate, so if you use it make sure your skimmer is set up correctly and be sure to keep an eye on your collection cup because it WILL overflow. I'm emptying my at least once a day and if I have it set too wet I've emptied it twice a day.
Update on my inverts. My flame scallop doesn't look too happy. It is just kind of there. My feather duster actually shed it's head. Now, I don't know that I can blame it on the product or if it was just time for it to grow a new one. I will definitely keep an eye on them. My CUC is perfectly fine and just doing what they do best.
Wes
Update on my inverts. My flame scallop doesn't look too happy. It is just kind of there. My feather duster actually shed it's head. Now, I don't know that I can blame it on the product or if it was just time for it to grow a new one. I will definitely keep an eye on them. My CUC is perfectly fine and just doing what they do best.
Wes
- Sandy
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- My SetUp: 180gal saltwater reef, 6-80watt T5 lights, 2 powerheads in tank, 2 return pumps in a 40gal sump, uv sterilizer, gfo and carbon reactor.
Re: The Guinea Pig Survived!!!
Guess I missed out on the pics. Says they have been moved or deleted.
Glad to hear things are going great with your tank!
Glad to hear things are going great with your tank!
- bluwtr
- Discus Member
- Posts: 637
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:12 pm
- My SetUp: 55g, 70#'s lr, 40#'s ls, 10 DIY acrylic sump, in sump skimmer, 1 Jebao wp20 and 2 Koralia 1050 controlled by a Smart Wave, DIY LED's--12 RB, 10 UV's and 8 CW.
- Location: Gautier
- Contact:
Re: The Guinea Pig Survived!!!
I had a problem with Photobucket and the way it had my albums arranged so I moved thongs around. Obviously I screwd up the links. I will fix it and have them back up. Sorry about that.
- Gerwin
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Re: The Guinea Pig Survived!!!
Kind of par for the course with flame scallops, long term survival is not great, possible the use of phytofeast can improve this, and dusters do this from time to time or fish yank it off. Coincidence or use of AZNO3? probably coincidence but if I could put my finger on any reason it could possibly be due to the reduced levels of organics as they are both filter feeders and not necessarily from the product as much as the H2O changes to initially attempt to cure issue prior.My flame scallop doesn't look too happy. It is just kind of there. My feather duster actually shed it's head
Several others have now purchased and are trying the juice so we will see what they get and keep all informed,
Thanks Wes for the updates
- bluwtr
- Discus Member
- Posts: 637
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:12 pm
- My SetUp: 55g, 70#'s lr, 40#'s ls, 10 DIY acrylic sump, in sump skimmer, 1 Jebao wp20 and 2 Koralia 1050 controlled by a Smart Wave, DIY LED's--12 RB, 10 UV's and 8 CW.
- Location: Gautier
- Contact:
Re: The Guinea Pig Survived!!!
No problem. Update on the flame scallop--it is no more. Pulled it yesterday before I updated the pics. The ammount of skimmate that the AZ-NO3 causes to be removed is amazing. I'm still emptying once a day, but it's much more clear but still nasty stuff. Even when I try and make it drier, it still fills up kind of fast--not complaining though.
On a side note. I have used another product twice to try and go ahead and knock out some GHA as well. Wanted to see if it would work in conjuction. I've only used it twice and that is when I noticed both the scallop and feather duster starting to look poor. The more I think about it the more I suspect the second product. I was supposed to dose again today, but chose not to under caution. Will see what happens with the FD. If it improves, then I know.
Just for the record--I DID NOT BUY THE 2ND PRODUCT FROM GERWIN. Lol! Shameless plug there for you buddy.
On a side note. I have used another product twice to try and go ahead and knock out some GHA as well. Wanted to see if it would work in conjuction. I've only used it twice and that is when I noticed both the scallop and feather duster starting to look poor. The more I think about it the more I suspect the second product. I was supposed to dose again today, but chose not to under caution. Will see what happens with the FD. If it improves, then I know.
Just for the record--I DID NOT BUY THE 2ND PRODUCT FROM GERWIN. Lol! Shameless plug there for you buddy.