# Nopox - does it really work



## george (Apr 11, 2009)

I read a lot about nopox (Red Sea NO3O4-X) and it claims to be a great way to "allow an optimum growth of corals and a better coloration of them".

I have also saw people saying it is not that good and better stick with carbon and GFO.

Any insight for those that tried it? 

A similar question for the Red Sea Coral Colors - does it really work?


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

I hope you did not mean *nopox*, because it translates as materials that flare up and burn easily and used in the ammunition 

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## lewig (Aug 4, 2013)

george said:


> I read a lot about nopox (Red Sea NO3O4-X) and it claims to be a great way to "allow an optimum growth of corals and a better coloration of them".
> 
> I have also saw people saying it is not that good and better stick with carbon and GFO.
> 
> ...


NOPOX works, but reducing nitrates much faster than phosphate. It just take time.Has been using it for past 6+ month, algae gone but corals start to lose color, because PO4 and NO3 fell to undetectable levels. Noticed, that NOPOX require constant adjustment of the dose, different from the manufacturer suggestion As for Coral colors - very good product. Has been using it too for 3+ month, seen positive changes in color ; easy to dose based on calcium uptake


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Sig, for flare ups I use magnesium and set it on fire and see how it reacts when it hits the salt water  (just kidding).

Nopox is called the Red Sea NO3O4-X Nitrate & Phosphate Reducer which is also sold by CC (http://www.canadacorals.com/collect...s/red-sea-no3-po4-x-nitrate-phosphate-reducer).


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

I do not want to remove any algae as I have none in my tank, just a nice way to keep the nitrates and phosphates under control.

I have not used any carbon dosing or GFO for the time being but I feel like it is time to start and during researching saw this nice method and before jumping into the fray, wanted to see if it actually works.

I am open to any suggestions which requires little maintenance (having 2 kids under 3 does not leave too much time for other activities).


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## svc123 (Feb 5, 2012)

Works well for nitrates but not for phosphates. I use Rowaphos at 1 gram per gallon in a reactor and change it every 3 weeks for phophate.

Everything NOPOX tells you to do in the instructions is correct except for the recommended starting doses. Here's what I did:

My target nitrate level for optimum coral growth is between 1 and 1.5 ppm. 

What I did is I started with 1 ml (for roughly 200 GAL of water) in order to start the bacteria growth. This is essential or it will take forever for it to start working for you. My nitrates were undetectable. 

I've been dosing the same for about 6 weeks and I got a little worried when I hit 0.75 ppm. At the time I wanted to stay around 0.5 ppm. I decided to use their chart for coloration and I bumped up my dose to what they recommended which was 16 ml for my 200 gallons. 

Next day the water was crystal clear but my goni and sun were not happy. A lot of my zoas were closed and my brain coral looked like he was a wrinkly old man. I tested nitrates and got zero. I stopped the dose and it took 3 days for the corals to look happy again.

Stuff works well. (Have 2 kids under 1 and 1 5 year old- know how hard it is to make time!!) What I will do when I go above my new target is to dose about 1/4 of what is recommended and start there. 

What size is your tank and what are you getting for nitrates right now? What are your targets?


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Hi Svc,

My tank is a standard 75G and I get at the moment less than 0.5 ppm nitrates. I did had a spike on nitrates to about 15 as I forgot to clean and blow the crud from the sump. 

My goal is nitrates at around 0.2 and phosphates at around 0.05-0.08.

Based on what I read on nopox, it seems most people see a limit of 0.08 for phosphates so maybe it cannot go lower than that using their method.


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## svc123 (Feb 5, 2012)

Hi George.

I have roughly 200 gallons of total water- I have approx 45 fish, and lots of CUC. I feed 5x daily- 4 dry feedings and 1 frozen food feeding. I like to keep my fish fat, just like my cat. I also feed my corals 2x per week. I manage to keep phosphates between 0 and 0.04 and nitrates around 0.5 - 1.0 doing a 25% WC and vacuum my sand every three weeks and doing what I have written below. 

If you have 75 G of water (75 is less the rock, sand, plus sump) I would dose 0.3 ml which is approx 1/3 of what I am dosing. This will start the bacteria growth.

Test water weekly. Use a reliable test kit. I use red sea. I like the fancy colour wheel. I have heard good things about the salifert test kit but I find their colour charts are too small to see. See whether nitrates go up, down or stays the same and adjust your dose accordingly. If it creeps up close to 1 ppm they recommend 2 ml per 25 g which would make your dose 6 ml. I would probably start at 1/4 of that. 1.5 ml total dose when you get to 1 ppm.

For your phosphates you can use 75 grams of Rowa in a reactor or I have heard good things about the Chemi-pure elite which comes in a media bag. The only thng that worries me is they say it doesn't need to be changed for 4 months. I replace my rowa and carbon every 3 weeks. Thats when I need to clean my glass daily. This method keeps my phosphates at 0 in the beginning of my media change and 0.04 at the end. I've tried to push 4 weeks and I end up around 0.10.


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

I agree with the protocols that member svc123 is running by using N03 P04 X
I have successfully used this product with good results to reduce and hold nitrates down.
My feedings are similar and media is also to svc123
I got turned on to N03 P04 X by member PaulF757 and it has worked well for me on nitrates - even with my feeding regimes I am consistently running 0.5 nitrates
I recommend this product 
If you want to research further, I suggest checking the extensive review on reef central forum - I found that to be very helpful for dosing etc


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