Yes, It's what is known as the limiting effects of Redfield's Ratio
Orca nitra guard bio cubes discussion
- Thread starter irie ivan
- Start date
Ok. Bummer.
Will start GFH as I still have phosphate/cyano issues and see how it goes. I don't want o run the GFH intermittently for fear of clumping , but what is he next if Nitrate starts rising?
Decrease or stop GFH?
Add titanium cubes?
The ultmate goal being a stable tank with minimum tampering.
Will start GFH as I still have phosphate/cyano issues and see how it goes. I don't want o run the GFH intermittently for fear of clumping , but what is he next if Nitrate starts rising?
Decrease or stop GFH?
Add titanium cubes?
The ultmate goal being a stable tank with minimum tampering.
Great. Thanks.
The 'quality' of my skimmate has improved immensely since adding the biocubes on Sunday evening.
Whereas it was a watery light brown before with most of the gunk being deposited on the neck and lid via splattering, and sticky foam, it is now turning into a pleasing dark liquid with foam that is... different. It is wetter but less watery, if that makes sense. The muck is now in the cup instead of on the neck and lid.
Whereas it was a watery light brown before with most of the gunk being deposited on the neck and lid via splattering, and sticky foam, it is now turning into a pleasing dark liquid with foam that is... different. It is wetter but less watery, if that makes sense. The muck is now in the cup instead of on the neck and lid.
Last edited:
Hi Guys... Im having endless issues with my cubes... Im running about 5ltrs now in my system appr 1200 Lts in total. I have a ATS which normally kept my no3/po4 at zero...
When I bought the cubes I had hoped to completely remove the ATS, as its a mission to remove a kg+ of algae from the system every week... the ats also cleaned up my water a bit too good, which some of my corals didnt appreciate...as im sure it was almost ulns.
These cubes, till now dont seem to have kicked in, I am running them from December. Had a huge spike in January after removing my ats and depending solely on the cubes. I did a huge waterchange about 3 weeks ago, re-commisioned my ats to take care of the no3/po4 - in the hope that between the ats/ cubes (smart bomb method).. they would reach some kind of equilibrium and I would start to see some sort of algae recession in my ats.... to further note... I have no algae at all in my display - never had any.
So to the experts... whats going on here??... is the ATS more efficient at getting to the no3/po4 than the cubes?? .. cos Im seeing no difference... its like the cubes in my system could be some old ceramic rings and my system wouldn't care less.
At present I have zero no3/po4 - as this is my normal readings when running my ats... the scary part is i have tremendous algae growth in my ats... so Im not sure how to kick the cubes in...
Please, Please help!!!!
When I bought the cubes I had hoped to completely remove the ATS, as its a mission to remove a kg+ of algae from the system every week... the ats also cleaned up my water a bit too good, which some of my corals didnt appreciate...as im sure it was almost ulns.
These cubes, till now dont seem to have kicked in, I am running them from December. Had a huge spike in January after removing my ats and depending solely on the cubes. I did a huge waterchange about 3 weeks ago, re-commisioned my ats to take care of the no3/po4 - in the hope that between the ats/ cubes (smart bomb method).. they would reach some kind of equilibrium and I would start to see some sort of algae recession in my ats.... to further note... I have no algae at all in my display - never had any.
So to the experts... whats going on here??... is the ATS more efficient at getting to the no3/po4 than the cubes?? .. cos Im seeing no difference... its like the cubes in my system could be some old ceramic rings and my system wouldn't care less.
At present I have zero no3/po4 - as this is my normal readings when running my ats... the scary part is i have tremendous algae growth in my ats... so Im not sure how to kick the cubes in...
Please, Please help!!!!
@dono
what is your sequence? First the ATS then the cubes?
Also what cubes do you have? the newer Titanium or the "normal" ones?
What I do not understand is the algae on the ATS would be bound to the same Redfield ratio than the "normal" cubes.
Only thing I can assume is that the flow past the cubes is not OK. The No3/PO4 is either not getting there or bypasses the setup. Maybe the same water ends up being re-circulated with the bubbles?
what is your sequence? First the ATS then the cubes?
Also what cubes do you have? the newer Titanium or the "normal" ones?
What I do not understand is the algae on the ATS would be bound to the same Redfield ratio than the "normal" cubes.
Only thing I can assume is that the flow past the cubes is not OK. The No3/PO4 is either not getting there or bypasses the setup. Maybe the same water ends up being re-circulated with the bubbles?
Last edited by a moderator:
Progressively reduce the lighting on the ATS so the cubes have a chance to get their fair share of nutrients so they can cycle.
Well,, my sump is outside... so my whole sump act as one huge ATS.... I've got unbelievable podlife in there. My sump is made up of 4 chambers. So i clean out one compartment a week..
I've got a 12 000 Ltr -return, but realistically its probably closer to 8 000.
I get passive water movement thru the cubes as it sits in my 1st chamber along with my skimmer. Im running about 4lts of titanium with 1 lt of normal cubes.
I will take a few pics later and upload... thanks for the help guys.
I've got a 12 000 Ltr -return, but realistically its probably closer to 8 000.
I get passive water movement thru the cubes as it sits in my 1st chamber along with my skimmer. Im running about 4lts of titanium with 1 lt of normal cubes.
I will take a few pics later and upload... thanks for the help guys.
@RocketRooster... I ran them for two months without the no algae in the sump.... just dependent on the cubes... thats when I had the no3/po4 spike...
I was also advised by Mark to up the dosage has I may have dosed two low when I started the system..
I dont think i can turn of the ats light... as the rest of the world my kill me for turning off the sun...hahah... just talking kak...lol.
I was also advised by Mark to up the dosage has I may have dosed two low when I started the system..
I dont think i can turn of the ats light... as the rest of the world my kill me for turning off the sun...hahah... just talking kak...lol.
Last edited by a moderator:
Sounds good, for better results, make 1L orca bombs and you will see a difference
Now the titanium cubes will not remove PO4, only the 1 L of normal cubes will, so when your an them without the ats they would not cope
Look forward to pics
Now the titanium cubes will not remove PO4, only the 1 L of normal cubes will, so when your an them without the ats they would not cope
Look forward to pics
Hah! I missed that bit.
Are the cubes sitting at the bottom of the sump? That would kill their performance.
So what you are saying is to make smaller clusters of cubes? 5 of them instead of one big ball?
Yes, better flow and easier to work with
Ive got them in two big pool weir baskets... turned against each other.... Im running a resun 80l/pm air pump... 
.. cos someone said the more air the better.... so the cubes are literally flying about between the two baskets... also, those holes give me good water flow thru them..... I reckon that must be acting like a reactor.. lol .. kak thing is that Im seeing no result in algae recession in my ats.
.. cos someone said the more air the better.... so the cubes are literally flying about between the two baskets... also, those holes give me good water flow thru them..... I reckon that must be acting like a reactor.. lol .. kak thing is that Im seeing no result in algae recession in my ats.I was hoping to see that the cubes out-compete the algae... hence leading to the removal of the ats completely. As the saving had from not being hands on with ats would mean that I can invest in the replacement of the cubes....
However till date, the ats is running at such optimum levels that the cubes dont stand a chance (or so it seems) . So im starting to think that the cubes are not as efficient as the ats is. I think my system is just a little bit different to the norm.. hence most people may not experience what I am.
In no way am I putting down the cubes, my buddy says its working for him, he doesnt run a ats.. so im inclined to believe that yea, when there is no other means of no3/po4 reduction then the product can work its magic.
In my case, its seems that the ats is just aggressive in dealing with no3/po4... thus the cubes cant really do much.
as stated earlier, i even completely removed every last strand of algae from my sump - to give the cubes some time to mature... this was about a month of no ats and climbing no3/po4 - early January.
The goal:
I just want to remove my ats, and run the cubes.. .that will be my ideal... however I cant seem to get ahead of the issue without creating a rising no3/po4 environment... and for how long??.. and if the ats starts up again..over time.... will the ats then render the cubes useless again???
However till date, the ats is running at such optimum levels that the cubes dont stand a chance (or so it seems) . So im starting to think that the cubes are not as efficient as the ats is. I think my system is just a little bit different to the norm.. hence most people may not experience what I am.
In no way am I putting down the cubes, my buddy says its working for him, he doesnt run a ats.. so im inclined to believe that yea, when there is no other means of no3/po4 reduction then the product can work its magic.
In my case, its seems that the ats is just aggressive in dealing with no3/po4... thus the cubes cant really do much.
as stated earlier, i even completely removed every last strand of algae from my sump - to give the cubes some time to mature... this was about a month of no ats and climbing no3/po4 - early January.
The goal:
I just want to remove my ats, and run the cubes.. .that will be my ideal... however I cant seem to get ahead of the issue without creating a rising no3/po4 environment... and for how long??.. and if the ats starts up again..over time.... will the ats then render the cubes useless again???
my take on the ats still growing and the cubes (apparently, and i use that word with caution) not working as there is little visable sign of activity. The ats is established and will be removing NO3 from the system. the cubes will establish to a point of ballance (equilibrium) with regards to the amount of available nutrient for the bacteria and yeastes to grown with. thus if the scrubber is well esytablished and removing No3 very efficiently, then the cubes dont have the available nutrient to establish with a visable effect (which is what i think you want to see to know that they are working.)
nbut i think they probably are establishing and working away, but with the combination of cubes and the ats they just working slower.
just 2c at any rate