Great video! I had a tank set back couple. years ago after moving tank. Cyano outbreak, got it under control and most corals rebounded. In my adjustments, opted to start using NoPox again. It was about that time over several months my Zooanthids colonies started shrinking and seemed unhappy. I have just a handful of zoo's doing well and trying to hang on. Going to stop NoPox and do a water change and get back to the basics. Only dosing calcium/alk since I just have mushrooms, few zoos and 2 colonies of hammers that are really thriving well. But I agree, I think NoPox is great for Algae outbreaks, but maybe not great for long term use. Going back to regular water changes and see how things go over the winter.
I does seem counter productive to be removing nutrients with Nopox and at the same time having to over feed to compensate. Just throwing money away. Surely there has to be a happy medium somewhere? As you say very low dosing to start and watching the corals and live rock closely. I have always used Rowphos and considered switching to Nopox via a dosing pump. Now not so sure.
I agree with your assessment of NOPOX completely stripping nutrients. I use 2ml a day on a reefer 170 and it virtually eliminated Nitrates and phosphates. But I feel this does give you the opportunity to feed well. I feed frozen 2 to 3 times a day as i think our reefs are underfed in general so NOPOX gives you the leeway to keep your livestock well fed.
Your absolutely rite. Everything you’ve said I noticed with my 125 while using nopox was thinking about going back to nopox because of the cyno problem I’ve been dealing with for 2 months now. But naw I think I’ll just stick it out
Its crazy. This is almost a year ago. Now I have been dosing nitrate. I have gone in the complete opposite direction of what you would think is the right thing to do but really when you learn what the bacteria need you can get a control on growing coral well. I think dosing calc, alk, and mag is the easiest thing. Balancing the nutrients is the harder part.
This is correct your story ! I had the same experience . And now i do exactly the same like you doing now !! I have 12 tanks so i know now... Regards from Belgium , Guido
Are you target feeding the corals? I too use NoPOx and am trying to deal with why nitrates are high 30ppm in the first place. NoPOx seems to be a band aid, and id rather try and find out why the trates are high to begin with. As usual, there is often bad associated with good, and im afraid NOPOX isnt the answer. Ive yet to have any cyano or hair algae, but im so tired of the diatoms!
I am pretty bad at consistently target feeding my corals. If you are using nopox and still over 30ppm nitrates, you have an issue in your filtration system somewhere. Test your new batch of mixed salt water next time.
I cut my feeding schedule back, I was heavy handed with the LRS food lol. Also, uneaten Nori didnt help. I have switched to vinegar dosing, slowly at first and ramping up. I have two tanks, a small 50gal column mixed, and a 125gal fowlr with large species-wrasses, tangs and Damsels.The larger tank was minimal trates-10ppm which was fine. Started feeding too much and they shot up to 30. Small tank has always been a challenge with NO3 and PO4, but was manageable. Lost a Powder Brown tang and yellow goby. Were fine one day-gone the next. NOPOX is def a bandaid, and my goal is to dose vinegar and get back down to minimal NO3 and PO4, then cut back. Corals in the column tank are fine. Montes, Zoas, Hammers, Leathers, unaffected. This hobby drives me nuts. Its a source of joy, AND an ULCER lol....cheers!
@@MoeReefs In the small mixed tank (125gal is fish only) PO4 was less than 2, but my test kit may be unreliable. The corals are still rocking, and look fantastic. They seem to dig the higher NO3....sometimes I feel im chasing numbers-been thru that before. I really believe the nitrate spike was due to heavy feeding, and maybe laziness in the water exchange on my part. Both BAD outcomes and results. I just tested the 125 fowlr tank-NO3 is at 10ppm-Im cool with that. That tank is just rocking still. Im not so concerned with fish only tank. But long term, 30ppm isnt good. I like to be under 10ppm
Can you not maintain nitrates and phosphate at a certain level e.g. 5ppm nitrate and 0.05 phosphate? Reducing or increasing your nopox daily amount? Or is there something else undesirable going on with nopox?
I have a lot of touch corals under lot of water movement and do very well. If i put touch in a area of low flow it does not do as well. If i move in higher flow it improves.
I crashed my tank by going with the directions on the box, after that I figured out that 2 ml a day for a 90 gallon with 20 gallon sump is perfect, anymore than that and I had issues and even with 2 ml a day spread out through the day with a auto doser caused my water to be cloudy constantly
Can somebody help explain why my live stocks (frostbite bullet hole clownfishes x 2, fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp) died after dosing just 2 ml on a 40 gallon tank? I followed the instruction. I had my protein skimmer turned on.
I've been dosing 8ml per day for quite a while. NOPOX just didnt seem to work so I increased to 8ml where I got No3 down to 15-20ppm. Then I see this and the latest RedSea advice on use says no more than 3ml per day. I have a 120 liter system. I have now dropped to 1ml per day. But my NO3 started to rise already. My system is 2 years old with lots of bio rock and skimmer. Maybe my skimmer is not doing the job?
Depends n ur count f fish n feeding cycle, usually small tanks of that size are known for fluctuations, my guess ur tank loaded with fish n overfeeding Also 15-20 nitrate s not bad as u see in all youtube videos, dnt worry much but ensure its consistent every week, not big swings, u r still ok, i hv a big 500 with always 20 -25 nitrate with 20 fish n mixed reef, all ok for years❤ cheers
I agree keep very low over time. Dose once a month very low dose to keep things in check. I feed heavy for my fish and corals on a daily and nightly bases. I find my tank needs this. Have you heard of Rx product give it a go very good.
wow i can't believe this 4 years old video help me now, i just using nopox, and i see something strange, zoa not bloom, gsp won't bloom, now im gonna stop this nopox, my parameter ammonia : 0, nitrate : 10 ppm, phosppate : 0.25, thx again for this video
Johnathan Hibbard do u have a good skimmer? how is the results? I was told I need a really good skimmer, I don’t have a skimmer. And been dosing like 0.5 ml every other day
I removed my carbon as well. Also I added a second return pump in the tank for a much more turn over rate. And throughly cleaned the back of my tank and algae is gone so happy. I do still use the product like rowaphus but I use it 2 days a week then remove. Man you tank is sexy I wish I could keep corals alive like you. I’m sure you’ll fine that balance you want bro great job.
I think turn over rate is one of those things that if you go too much it is not as good so be care full with that. I have I replace the original one with 1 mj1200. Its almost been 2 weeks since nopox and I just did a nitrate test today and it is back to 0 and that is with a low level test for accuracy. I feed a lot of food too. If you want a good filtration throw that marine pure in the back and add 2ml microbacter7 after each water change. My phosphate is at .01 steady with 3 teaspoons of rowaphos in the reactor. Easy. And you have the same skimmer so I would be surprised if you need more filtration than that.
Moes Nano Reefs oh snap so too much Filtration is bad! Thanks a lot man. Did not know that! So how will I be able to tell if the Filtration is too much. Dude you have good experience shared in every video top videos my favorite Micro bacter 7 sounds good
I never dosed straight vodka so I am not really sure. I just didnt really feel safe dosing something you can get from the abc store. Nopox was developed by redsea and their marine biologists. The tiny amount of nopox dosing really makes it affordable so why take the chance on something else just to save $2. I would also stay away from sugar dosing as that can have some negative side effects that effect your filtration equipment.
Have the same problem as you I have a mixed reef and never a day goes by we’re all my corals are happy there is always one of them not happy weather it be a simple coral or one of my torches or hammer heads or a Duncan and a toad, I am also weaning of NoPox and I don’t run Carbon have not done for over 6 months now don’t see the point when my water is crystal
Interesting video. My nitrates were at 50 and my phosphate was 0.11 I had tufts of air algae all over my rock. I started dosing nopox and after 3 months my nitrate started to drop, it came down to 10 but my phosphate was still high. My tank was 180 litres and I was dosing 2.5 m a day. I emailed redsea and explained that my nitrate had dropped but my phosphate was still high and they said just keep dosing 2.5m and eventually my phosphate would start to drop. Unfortunately I think my nitrate must have dropped to zero as I suddenly had a massive outbreak of slime over everything , it blocked my skimmer, my filter and my powerheads. My corals never looked very happy when I was using nopox. I slowly reduced the nopox and after 2 weeks I stopped using it. Since I’ve stopped using nopox my corals look a lot healthier. My nitrate has gone back up to 40. I’ve managed to reduce my phosphate to 0.06 using rowaphos and the hair algae has gone. I’m just keeping things stable and doing 25 litre water changes once a week. I don’t think I will use nopox again as it seemed to do more harm than good.
I would not use nopox if you have a lot of lps as it deprives a lot of nutrients. Those nitrate levels seem very high. Do you have any bio media to help the filtration? I have never seen my nitrates above 10ppm but I always use either marine pure or seachem matrix rocks to help the bacteria filter better. My corals are also healthier after stopping nopox but I have seen some amazing tanks on nopox.
@@MoeReefs I have an external filter with 2 kilo of biohome media. I'm hoping this will help lower my nitrate. I have a Mandarin and a scooter Blenny so I do feed quite a lot to make sure they don't starve. I have mainly soft corals. I do have a hammerhead and a goniopora that's doing very well.
@@andy2798100 Is it a canister filter you are using as an external filter or a hang on the back and what size tank? Rowaphos is the best for the phosphates that I have found but even too much of that is not good. Eventually it just takes time. I found after 6 to 8 months my tanks just leveled out and got much much easier to maintain.
Moes Nano Reefs my tanks 245 litres. I’m using a tetratec ex800 external filter. I use 200 ml of rowaphos and change it every 3 weeks. I have 4 baskets in the filter. The bottom basket has floss to trap waste, the two middle baskets have biohome media and the top basket has a bag of rowaphos and a bag of carbon. My tank has about 25 kilo of live rock in it.
Moes Nano Reefs I upgraded from 180 litre tank to a 245 litre tank six weeks ago. It has 10 small fish in it so it’s probably going to take a few months to settle.
@@MoeReefsI've been using nopox for 2 years now. I've been keeping a reef for 7 years. I love nopox and it works for my needs. Having said that, if your tank doesn't need it because it's already good with water changes and filtration, it will definitely make things too clean. I have an 80 gallon tank with 5 fish and a lot of coral. I run a protein skimmer, filter socks and Kalk (1 1/4 tsp per 5 gallons in my ato), plus 2ml of nopox (every other day). My tanks parameters are rock solid and have been for years doing this. I have a biopellet reactor that sits empty because I like nopox a lot more. Nopox truly does work well. Too well if you use too much. Test often and find the sweet spot no matter what method you go with.
You can’t always follow the directions on the box for things like this. You have to watch your tank and understand a little bit about water chemistry. Also, once you have established a loving, attentive, sexual relationship with your tank, it will let you know what is likes and what it doesn’t
I've not see a good explanation on how it works. Normally in a aquarium you have wastes - Fish eat = ammonia in the water = death - A bacteria that is on every fish will convert ammonia to nitrite = less toxic then a 2nd bacteria again on every fish (you don't have to find it) converts Nitrite to less toxic Nitrate Nitrate = food for ugly green hair algae What eats Nitrate? - Plants - what is thy by product? - Anaerobic bacteria - low oxygen bacteria only found deep in poorly perfused rocks or deep sand beds. How does Nopox help with aerobic bacteria ? What is the name of the bacteria it helps grow? How does this bacteria convert Nitrate and Phosphate to ??? Where does the nitrate and phosphate go? What is it converted to. They never answer this. Its just hey I dump this stuff in my tank and it lowers my Nitrates by magic.
Great video! I had a tank set back couple. years ago after moving tank. Cyano outbreak, got it under control and most corals rebounded. In my adjustments, opted to start using NoPox again. It was about that time over several months my Zooanthids colonies started shrinking and seemed unhappy. I have just a handful of zoo's doing well and trying to hang on. Going to stop NoPox and do a water change and get back to the basics. Only dosing calcium/alk since I just have mushrooms, few zoos and 2 colonies of hammers that are really thriving well. But I agree, I think NoPox is great for Algae outbreaks, but maybe not great for long term use. Going back to regular water changes and see how things go over the winter.
I does seem counter productive to be removing nutrients with Nopox and at the same time having to over feed to compensate. Just throwing money away. Surely there has to be a happy medium somewhere? As you say very low dosing to start and watching the corals and live rock closely. I have always used Rowphos and considered switching to Nopox via a dosing pump. Now not so sure.
I agree with your assessment of NOPOX completely stripping nutrients. I use 2ml a day on a reefer 170 and it virtually eliminated Nitrates and phosphates.
But I feel this does give you the opportunity to feed well. I feed frozen 2 to 3 times a day as i think our reefs are underfed in general so NOPOX gives you the leeway to keep your livestock well fed.
Hi, I've just started using no pox, thanks for for your advice. Steve 🐠
Your absolutely rite. Everything you’ve said I noticed with my 125 while using nopox was thinking about going back to nopox because of the cyno problem I’ve been dealing with for 2 months now. But naw I think I’ll just stick it out
Its crazy. This is almost a year ago. Now I have been dosing nitrate. I have gone in the complete opposite direction of what you would think is the right thing to do but really when you learn what the bacteria need you can get a control on growing coral well. I think dosing calc, alk, and mag is the easiest thing. Balancing the nutrients is the harder part.
This is correct your story ! I had the same experience .
And now i do exactly the same like you doing now !! I have 12 tanks so i know now...
Regards from Belgium , Guido
Have you tried Brighwell Aquatics neo nitro in conjunction with nopox. Adding nitrates to feed the bacteria will help you keep those LPS happy.
Are you target feeding the corals? I too use NoPOx and am trying to deal with why nitrates are high 30ppm in the first place. NoPOx seems to be a band aid, and id rather try and find out why the trates are high to begin with. As usual, there is often bad associated with good, and im afraid NOPOX isnt the answer. Ive yet to have any cyano or hair algae, but im so tired of the diatoms!
I am pretty bad at consistently target feeding my corals. If you are using nopox and still over 30ppm nitrates, you have an issue in your filtration system somewhere. Test your new batch of mixed salt water next time.
I cut my feeding schedule back, I was heavy handed with the LRS food lol. Also, uneaten Nori didnt help. I have switched to vinegar dosing, slowly at first and ramping up. I have two tanks, a small 50gal column mixed, and a 125gal fowlr with large species-wrasses, tangs and Damsels.The larger tank was minimal trates-10ppm which was fine. Started feeding too much and they shot up to 30. Small tank has always been a challenge with NO3 and PO4, but was manageable. Lost a Powder Brown tang and yellow goby. Were fine one day-gone the next. NOPOX is def a bandaid, and my goal is to dose vinegar and get back down to minimal NO3 and PO4, then cut back. Corals in the column tank are fine. Montes, Zoas, Hammers, Leathers, unaffected. This hobby drives me nuts. Its a source of joy, AND an ULCER lol....cheers!
@@KillerKev1961 What has you po4 been?
@@MoeReefs In the small mixed tank (125gal is fish only) PO4 was less than 2, but my test kit may be unreliable. The corals are still rocking, and look fantastic. They seem to dig the higher NO3....sometimes I feel im chasing numbers-been thru that before. I really believe the nitrate spike was due to heavy feeding, and maybe laziness in the water exchange on my part. Both BAD outcomes and results. I just tested the 125 fowlr tank-NO3 is at 10ppm-Im cool with that. That tank is just rocking still. Im not so concerned with fish only tank. But long term, 30ppm isnt good. I like to be under 10ppm
Can you not maintain nitrates and phosphate at a certain level e.g. 5ppm nitrate and 0.05 phosphate? Reducing or increasing your nopox daily amount? Or is there something else undesirable going on with nopox?
I have a lot of touch corals under lot of water movement and do very well. If i put touch in a area of low flow it does not do as well. If i move in higher flow it improves.
I crashed my tank by going with the directions on the box, after that I figured out that 2 ml a day for a 90 gallon with 20 gallon sump is perfect, anymore than that and I had issues and even with 2 ml a day spread out through the day with a auto doser caused my water to be cloudy constantly
I agree. I have a 90G with a 20G sump and I dose 1ML a day, and even that sometimes to too much. I now dose 1ML 4 days a week.
Can somebody help explain why my live stocks (frostbite bullet hole clownfishes x 2, fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp) died after dosing just 2 ml on a 40 gallon tank? I followed the instruction. I had my protein skimmer turned on.
Probably caused a bacterial bloom which left no oxygen in the tank .
I've been dosing 8ml per day for quite a while. NOPOX just didnt seem to work so I increased to 8ml where I got No3 down to 15-20ppm.
Then I see this and the latest RedSea advice on use says no more than 3ml per day.
I have a 120 liter system. I have now dropped to 1ml per day. But my NO3 started to rise already.
My system is 2 years old with lots of bio rock and skimmer. Maybe my skimmer is not doing the job?
Depends n ur count f fish n feeding cycle, usually small tanks of that size are known for fluctuations, my guess ur tank loaded with fish n overfeeding
Also 15-20 nitrate s not bad as u see in all youtube videos, dnt worry much but ensure its consistent every week, not big swings, u r still ok, i hv a big 500 with always 20 -25 nitrate with 20 fish n mixed reef, all ok for years❤ cheers
ive been thinking of using nopox just to lower my nitrates down to around 3-5 and then to use some gfo to counter the phosphates, is this a good idea?
I believe that products like NOPOX bio pellets and the like should be used as an adjunct, not a fix all. IMHO
I agree keep very low over time. Dose once a month very low dose to keep things in check. I feed heavy for my fish and corals on a daily and nightly bases. I find my tank needs this. Have you heard of Rx product give it a go very good.
Would I need to run skimmer 24/7 while using NoPox?
Yes.
Moes Nano Reefs Got it. Thanks.
ITS CRUCIAL TO HAVE A GREAT SKIMMER!
wow i can't believe this 4 years old video help me now, i just using nopox, and i see something strange, zoa not bloom, gsp won't bloom, now im gonna stop this nopox, my parameter ammonia : 0, nitrate : 10 ppm, phosppate : 0.25, thx again for this video
Would .5 ml every other day be to much for a 10 gal nano
That should be fine.
@@MoeReefs hey thanks for the reply.
Johnathan Hibbard do u have a good skimmer? how is the results? I was told I need a really good skimmer, I don’t have a skimmer. And been dosing like 0.5 ml every other day
@@MoeReefs what about 150 gallon + 75 gallon sump ?
@@Ray-wr2wr It has actually been years since I last used Nopox. What ever the instructions say to dose, I would cut that in half. It's potent.
I removed my carbon as well. Also I added a second return pump in the tank for a much more turn over rate. And throughly cleaned the back of my tank and algae is gone so happy. I do still use the product like rowaphus but I use it 2 days a week then remove. Man you tank is sexy I wish I could keep corals alive like you. I’m sure you’ll fine that balance you want bro great job.
I think turn over rate is one of those things that if you go too much it is not as good so be care full with that. I have I replace the original one with 1 mj1200. Its almost been 2 weeks since nopox and I just did a nitrate test today and it is back to 0 and that is with a low level test for accuracy. I feed a lot of food too. If you want a good filtration throw that marine pure in the back and add 2ml microbacter7 after each water change. My phosphate is at .01 steady with 3 teaspoons of rowaphos in the reactor. Easy. And you have the same skimmer so I would be surprised if you need more filtration than that.
Moes Nano Reefs oh snap so too much Filtration is bad! Thanks a lot man. Did not know that! So how will I be able to tell if the Filtration is too much. Dude you have good experience shared in every video top videos my favorite
Micro bacter 7 sounds good
You could be fine with 2. Just keep checking the nitrates every once in a while. I just know I am pulling it off with 1.
Do you need protein skimmer I change 110 litres water changes every week cheers
Excellent video, very helpful 👍
What is the difference between nopox and dosing straight vodka
I never dosed straight vodka so I am not really sure. I just didnt really feel safe dosing something you can get from the abc store. Nopox was developed by redsea and their marine biologists. The tiny amount of nopox dosing really makes it affordable so why take the chance on something else just to save $2. I would also stay away from sugar dosing as that can have some negative side effects that effect your filtration equipment.
Have the same problem as you I have a mixed reef and never a day goes by we’re all my corals are happy there is always one of them not happy weather it be a simple coral or one of my torches or hammer heads or a Duncan and a toad, I am also weaning of NoPox and I don’t run Carbon have not done for over 6 months now don’t see the point when my water is crystal
You really need to watch my newest video. I went in the complete total opposite direction. Dosing nitrates. Huge difference on coral growth.
What is the video called pls ?
@@MoeReefs
Have been using no pox but i cheked nitrate today it was over 50
And phosphate is 0.01 what shoud i do
Interesting video.
My nitrates were at 50 and my phosphate was 0.11 I had tufts of air algae all over my rock.
I started dosing nopox and after 3 months my nitrate started to drop, it came down to 10 but my phosphate was still high.
My tank was 180 litres and I was dosing 2.5 m a day.
I emailed redsea and explained that my nitrate had dropped but my phosphate was still high and they said just keep dosing 2.5m and eventually
my phosphate would start to drop.
Unfortunately I think my nitrate must have dropped to zero as I suddenly had a massive outbreak of slime over everything , it blocked my skimmer, my filter and my powerheads.
My corals never looked very happy when I was using nopox.
I slowly reduced the nopox and after 2 weeks I stopped using it.
Since I’ve stopped using nopox my corals look a lot healthier.
My nitrate has gone back up to 40.
I’ve managed to reduce my phosphate to 0.06 using rowaphos and the hair algae has gone.
I’m just keeping things stable and doing 25 litre water changes once a week.
I don’t think I will use nopox again as it seemed to do more harm than good.
I would not use nopox if you have a lot of lps as it deprives a lot of nutrients. Those nitrate levels seem very high. Do you have any bio media to help the filtration? I have never seen my nitrates above 10ppm but I always use either marine pure or seachem matrix rocks to help the bacteria filter better. My corals are also healthier after stopping nopox but I have seen some amazing tanks on nopox.
@@MoeReefs I have an external filter with 2 kilo of biohome media. I'm hoping this will help lower my nitrate.
I have a Mandarin and a scooter Blenny so I do feed quite a lot to make sure they don't starve.
I have mainly soft corals.
I do have a hammerhead and a goniopora that's doing very well.
@@andy2798100 Is it a canister filter you are using as an external filter or a hang on the back and what size tank? Rowaphos is the best for the phosphates that I have found but even too much of that is not good. Eventually it just takes time. I found after 6 to 8 months my tanks just leveled out and got much much easier to maintain.
Moes Nano Reefs my tanks 245 litres. I’m using a tetratec ex800 external filter. I use 200 ml of rowaphos and change it every 3 weeks.
I have 4 baskets in the filter. The bottom basket has floss to trap waste, the two middle baskets have biohome media and the top basket
has a bag of rowaphos and a bag of carbon. My tank has about 25 kilo of live rock in it.
Moes Nano Reefs I upgraded from 180 litre tank to a 245 litre tank six weeks ago.
It has 10 small fish in it so it’s probably going to take a few months to settle.
So 10ml for a 250g?
I would start with 5ml.
With such a small tank you would be better just doing high volume water changes 😑
Im too lazy for that lol. Have not done anything less than monthly water changes in a few years now. I quit nopox almost 2 years ago now.
@@MoeReefsI've been using nopox for 2 years now. I've been keeping a reef for 7 years. I love nopox and it works for my needs. Having said that, if your tank doesn't need it because it's already good with water changes and filtration, it will definitely make things too clean. I have an 80 gallon tank with 5 fish and a lot of coral. I run a protein skimmer, filter socks and Kalk (1 1/4 tsp per 5 gallons in my ato), plus 2ml of nopox (every other day). My tanks parameters are rock solid and have been for years doing this. I have a biopellet reactor that sits empty because I like nopox a lot more. Nopox truly does work well. Too well if you use too much. Test often and find the sweet spot no matter what method you go with.
Nice little tank! I like the purple lights!
NOPOX is 1/2 of a system.
Please please follow Red Seas directions!
You can’t always follow the directions on the box for things like this. You have to watch your tank and understand a little bit about water chemistry. Also, once you have established a loving, attentive, sexual relationship with your tank, it will let you know what is likes and what it doesn’t
I've not see a good explanation on how it works. Normally in a aquarium you have wastes
- Fish eat = ammonia in the water = death
- A bacteria that is on every fish will convert ammonia to nitrite = less toxic
then a 2nd bacteria again on every fish (you don't have to find it) converts Nitrite to less toxic Nitrate
Nitrate = food for ugly green hair algae
What eats Nitrate?
- Plants - what is thy by product?
- Anaerobic bacteria - low oxygen bacteria only found deep in poorly perfused rocks or deep sand beds.
How does Nopox help with aerobic bacteria ? What is the name of the bacteria it helps grow? How does this bacteria convert Nitrate and Phosphate to ??? Where does the nitrate and phosphate go? What is it converted to.
They never answer this. Its just hey I dump this stuff in my tank and it lowers my Nitrates by magic.
The bacteria is taken out with the skimmer . It's very simple.