my experiment with sugar dosing.
- Thread starter rotarygeek
- Start date
srfisher17
Active Member
Originally Posted by nycbob
http:///forum/post/2732302
this may sound rude, but why get into this hobby if u dont hv time to take care of it? it's like getting a dog, and not having time to walk, feed or groom it. if u time to go on this forum, i am sure u hv time to change water once a week.
Rude? This is a very appropriate comment. You know folks from NYC can't be rude, even when they try.
http:///forum/post/2732302
this may sound rude, but why get into this hobby if u dont hv time to take care of it? it's like getting a dog, and not having time to walk, feed or groom it. if u time to go on this forum, i am sure u hv time to change water once a week.
Rude? This is a very appropriate comment. You know folks from NYC can't be rude, even when they try.
fau8
Member
Originally Posted by nycbob
http:///forum/post/2732302
this may sound rude, but why get into this hobby if u dont hv time to take care of it? it's like getting a dog, and not having time to walk, feed or groom it. if u time to go on this forum, i am sure u hv time to change water once a week.
Its not about being rude or criticizing what someone is trying to do its about keeping motivation to keep a beautiful hobby pratical. We are trying to accomplish something on a small scale that nature has perfected. As we all know this is a very time consuming hobby and when we skimp in one area it will come back at you. We also know as much as we try there are no quick fixes.
I for one do not believe that this attempted fix will work but I applaud him for the dedication to trying to make things better. His last response pretty much spelled it out. We all get busy and run into motivation issues but lets be responsible and take care of the life we remove from the ocean. Sometimes that means getting rededicated and sometimes its time to break it down and take a break.
http:///forum/post/2732302
this may sound rude, but why get into this hobby if u dont hv time to take care of it? it's like getting a dog, and not having time to walk, feed or groom it. if u time to go on this forum, i am sure u hv time to change water once a week.
Its not about being rude or criticizing what someone is trying to do its about keeping motivation to keep a beautiful hobby pratical. We are trying to accomplish something on a small scale that nature has perfected. As we all know this is a very time consuming hobby and when we skimp in one area it will come back at you. We also know as much as we try there are no quick fixes.
I for one do not believe that this attempted fix will work but I applaud him for the dedication to trying to make things better. His last response pretty much spelled it out. We all get busy and run into motivation issues but lets be responsible and take care of the life we remove from the ocean. Sometimes that means getting rededicated and sometimes its time to break it down and take a break.
rotarygeek
Member
its not that im too lazy to do the water changes, its just that with work and my girl and life andeverything else your priorities change. and believe me, i have lots of other animals that are all healthy and well cared for. i didnt take your comment like it was rude becuase i know you dont know my circumstances, so its cool. but sometimes it feels like i dont have the time to breathe, much less do a time consuming water change the old fashion way. and according to everybody else who has done this, it does work. but me being the skeptical guy i am, i want to try it out for myself and be proof positive if it does.
srfisher17
Active Member
IMO & IME; sugar dosing can be a good supplement to water changing, not a substitute. Water changes are needed for many reasons other than just reducing nitrates. If you just use one of the many nitrate reduction methods and don't do water changes, you will end up with a very unhealthy tank with low nitrates.
jerryatrick
Active Member
Originally Posted by RotaryGeek
http:///forum/post/2732538
its not that im too lazy to do the water changes, its just that with work and my girl and life andeverything else your priorities change. and believe me, i have lots of other animals that are all healthy and well cared for. i didnt take your comment like it was rude becuase i know you dont know my circumstances, so its cool. but sometimes it feels like i dont have the time to breathe, much less do a time consuming water change the old fashion way. and according to everybody else who has done this, it does work. but me being the skeptical guy i am, i want to try it out for myself and be proof positive if it does.
We have all been there. I wouldn't call it lazy but you choose to do other things when you could do a water change. I don't blame you, we all need to sit down and relax. Water changes are not fun and with larger tanks they can be time consuming.
I hope it works for you. I shall follow your progress.
rotarygeek
Member
yeah i guess we all know how it is. but thanks for following along, hopefully ill be able to post some positive results soon for everybody who is following this. i am wondering if i should do a water change now, becuase if i do, it will mess with the results of my test.... so i dont know if i wanna wait it out a little longer or not.
jerryatrick
Active Member
Originally Posted by RotaryGeek
http:///forum/post/2732726
yeah i guess we all know how it is. but thanks for following along, hopefully ill be able to post some positive results soon for everybody who is following this. i am wondering if i should do a water change now, becuase if i do, it will mess with the results of my test.... so i dont know if i wanna wait it out a little longer or not.
For the overall health of your tank? Yes you should do a water change.
For proving that sugar dosing lowers nitrates? You should not do a water change.
Tough one
My advice.... Do the water change and get those nitrates down to zero. I will then still believe that sugar dosing helped.
http:///forum/post/2732726
yeah i guess we all know how it is. but thanks for following along, hopefully ill be able to post some positive results soon for everybody who is following this. i am wondering if i should do a water change now, becuase if i do, it will mess with the results of my test.... so i dont know if i wanna wait it out a little longer or not.
For the overall health of your tank? Yes you should do a water change.
For proving that sugar dosing lowers nitrates? You should not do a water change.
Tough one
My advice.... Do the water change and get those nitrates down to zero. I will then still believe that sugar dosing helped.
rotarygeek
Member
well it has only been a little over two weeks, so i do have some more time i could wait it out.....
jerryatrick
Active Member
Originally Posted by RotaryGeek
http:///forum/post/2732742
well it has only been a little over two weeks, so i do have some more time i could wait it out.....
Good luck
http:///forum/post/2732742
well it has only been a little over two weeks, so i do have some more time i could wait it out.....
rotarygeek
Member
well this morning my nitrates are kinda imbetween 80 and 40 ppm. the colors arent too distinct so its hard to tell exactly, but it does look lighter than before. also im seeing lots of tiny white strands light everybody else mentions in my sump. and im getting a pinkish algea in my sump. its the exact same color as the purple up bottle. anybody know what this is?
rotarygeek
Member
yay i made it to page two.... anyways. anybody know what this pink algea is? i know im supposed to get the white strands of algea, but i never read anything about pink algea. hopefully someone with more experience in sugar dosing will chime in and let me know if this is normal or not.
rotarygeek
Member
Well i got a update for you. My nitrates appear to be about 40. Im up to 3/8 tsb a day, but since im seeing results here im not going to increase it anymore. I also got pictures of everything for you all. Figure you would like to see what im talking about. First up is a full tank shot. Next is the patch of red slime algea. I don't know if you can see the white patch in the middle, or the green hair algea on the sand, but look anyways. Third is my sudden outbreak of coraline algea. That rock had none on it, then after a week of dosing purple up, its covered. Wow that macro setting makes a big difference in picture quality. Now that i stopped dosing, it stopped growing. Fourth pic is of my sump. From left to right it goes like this. Overflow line and skimmer, live rock and cheato, then return pump. And last picture is of the pink algea that is growing in my sump. I cant' get a good picture of it next to a bottle of purple up, but its the same color.....
rotarygeek
Member
And here is an actual picture of my nitrate test. I can't really tell, but it looks close to 40 ppm to me. Kinda imbetween 40 and 80 i guess.
Then my ph...
So you tell me what they look like to you. i wish i had something digital to look at to tell me actual numbers.
Then my ph...
So you tell me what they look like to you. i wish i had something digital to look at to tell me actual numbers.
rotarygeek
Member
Come on, someone help me out here.
prime311
Active Member
The pink stuff is bacteria. Sugar dosing promotes the multiplication of anaerobic bacteria. This same bacteria is what uses the Nitrates. This is also why your skimmer works like crazy for a few days after starting to sugar dose. The bacteria tends to collect in areas of low flow.
rotarygeek
Member
Ok i can understand bacteria, but i thought i was supposed to get white stringy like bacteria. I didn't see anybody else mention getting a pink colored bacteria. As for what my levels are, can you take a stab at that? I can't really tell, best as i can see its imbetween 40 and 80 ppm still.
rotarygeek
Member
Ok looks like this thread is slowing down. Lots of people viewing, but nobody commenting. This morning my results are....
Nitrates = 40 - 80 ppm still
Ph = 8.0
My ph has gotten better, but seems like the nitrates are stuck. Reffering back to all the threads i could, i guess my options are to wait it out, or up the dose till i see another change. Since today would be day 4 of 1/4 tsb sugar, ill up the dose to 3/8 tsb. Besides that, there isn't anything new to report, mostly cuz i haven't even looked at my sump just yet. I did try feeding some nori yesterday. Everybody loved it, except for my lawnmower blenny. The one i actually bought it for. He won't go near it. He eats the hell out of mysis shrimp, but not the nori. Wierd.
Nitrates = 40 - 80 ppm still
Ph = 8.0
My ph has gotten better, but seems like the nitrates are stuck. Reffering back to all the threads i could, i guess my options are to wait it out, or up the dose till i see another change. Since today would be day 4 of 1/4 tsb sugar, ill up the dose to 3/8 tsb. Besides that, there isn't anything new to report, mostly cuz i haven't even looked at my sump just yet. I did try feeding some nori yesterday. Everybody loved it, except for my lawnmower blenny. The one i actually bought it for. He won't go near it. He eats the hell out of mysis shrimp, but not the nori. Wierd.
sly
Active Member
It may take him awhile to get used to the nori. Try soaking it in some garlic juice if you have any.
I feed my yellow tang romaine lettuce hearts and I've been using it for so long that now even my clowns are eating it! I think a fish will get used to just about anything if it's around enough.
I feed my yellow tang romaine lettuce hearts and I've been using it for so long that now even my clowns are eating it! I think a fish will get used to just about anything if it's around enough.
sly
Active Member
It may take him awhile to get used to the nori. Try soaking it in some garlic juice if you have any.
I feed my yellow tang romaine lettuce hearts and I've been using it for so long that now even my clowns are eating it! I think a fish will get used to just about anything if it's around enough.
I think the thread is not slowing down as much as people are just anticipating your results... I've never used sugar and so I can't offer any suggestions. Whenever I had nitrate problems in the past I would trace it down to some deficiency in the system and correct it. IMO, sugar dosing is just a cover-up for a real problem. But it can have its uses to temporarily lower the nitrate long enough to keep your livestock alive until you find the source.
I feed my yellow tang romaine lettuce hearts and I've been using it for so long that now even my clowns are eating it! I think a fish will get used to just about anything if it's around enough.
I think the thread is not slowing down as much as people are just anticipating your results... I've never used sugar and so I can't offer any suggestions. Whenever I had nitrate problems in the past I would trace it down to some deficiency in the system and correct it. IMO, sugar dosing is just a cover-up for a real problem. But it can have its uses to temporarily lower the nitrate long enough to keep your livestock alive until you find the source.