0 nitrate, .25 phosphate

[saltyfilmfolks]

Wattson is right. Bacteria consume your phosphate. Then you skim out the bacteria with your skimmer. You tank is nitrate limited right now so you bacteria can only mupltiply so much. If you dose a little nitrate, bacteria will be able to multiply in much higher numbers. The higher numbers of bacteria consume both the phosphate and the nitrate. Then you skimmer pulls out more phosphate laden bacteria. Also read up on carbon dosing and the redfield ratio. After you learn about the science, it becomes much easier to control PO4.

Bacteria eat both.
They eat more nitrate. That's why carbon dosing hits no3 first. Also dsbs and bio pellets.

The red field ratio is the up take of an organisim.

So I agree. The system may be no3 limited. The application method is the only question.

Food imo , is a long slow steady dose of both , plus other vitamins and complex aminos and carbohydrates that are also good for everything.


A bottle of dr tims one and only would be a good thing too.

 

[wattson]

dose your nitrate to the levels spoken before.
keep all your other params to natural salt water levels .
dont change anymore water or remove and scrub rocks.
if you want ,add a bacterial additive like Dr. Tims"one and only" bacteria in a bottle..(this will help boost bacteria levels)
cut back back to half the food for fish,manually remove Bubble algae without popping them with long tweezers.(if you want to )
run skimmer once a week for only a couple of hours.
leave the tank alone ,,and let everything equalize..test your No3 and Po4 to see how things are progressing. maintain No3 levels. Po4 should start to drop..if Po4 test results are 0,,then good.
you should be track,,just takes time..patience is key

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

dose your nitrate to the levels spoken before.
keep all your other params to natural salt water levels .
dont change anymore water or remove and scrub rocks.
if you want ,add a bacterial additive like Dr. Tims"one and only" bacteria in a bottle..(this will help boost bacteria levels)
cut back back to half the food for fish,manually remove Bubble algae without popping them with long tweezers.(if you want to )
run skimmer once a week for only a couple of hours.
leave the tank alone ,,and let everything equalize..test your No3 and Po4 to see how things are progressing. maintain No3 levels. Po4 should start to drop..if Po4 test results are 0,,then good.
you should be track,,just takes time..patience is key

Honest question.
Why would you restrict the fishes food?

 

[wattson]

until he get his No3 to the levels and holding steady,,holding food back some food would be one less thing to calculate and less food is less P04..less contamination of organics and skimming too

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Is the treatment still the same?
Remove phosphates.

I would not reduce phosphate for dinos. That usually is a problem.

 

[Mikeand Mel]

I will order Dr Tim’s.
I have Microbacter 7 is this the same?
Can anyone tell by the photos if this is algae or Dino’s?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

IMO, quite possibly a dino or even Bactria.
I'd avoid the MB7 as I belive it has a in organic carbon source to feed bacterias. Some seem to feed Dino as well or at least exacerbate the prob

 

[Mikeand Mel]

First, thanks for all the advice!
Still slightly confused.....I am going to continue feeding 1 cube mysis a day.
Just ordered Dr Tims one and only, also ordered sodium nitrate (reagent grade chemically pure).
Not going to use any sort of phosphate export now,
Try to bring nitrate up? My skimmer runs 24/7...is this bad?
should i be trying to brush and siphon what ever this is off?
How about lighting?

 

[Tklb]

@Randy Holmes-Farley, I don't think this gets said enough, but thank you for the time, patience, and knowledge you lend to this forum. You are a wealth of information, and always willing to share your knowledge to help the community.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yes , I would disturb the mass as best you can and blow them off.

I personally wouldn't stop skimming, I'd let it aireate.

IF it's a dino or photosynthetic organism you can try a lights out for a couple days. Some do report success with that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley, I don't think this gets said enough, but thank you for the time, patience, and knowledge you lend to this forum. You are a wealth of information, and always willing to share your knowledge to help the community.

Thanks very much!

Happy reefing .

 

[Mikeand Mel]

Any help on dosing this stuff to raise NO3 level in a 58g tank with 20 gal sump....total water about 65-70 gal.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Use this calculator using the entry for potassium nitrate. Sodium nitrate will be very close (sodium nitrate is 15% more potent).

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/calculator.htm

 

[Mikeand Mel]

Filled out calculator (see attached). I think it says add 1 Tbls per cup of RO/DI to get a solution that will raise my tank .18 ppm of NO3 per ml i dose? If this is correct do I multiply the .18 x 1.15 for the sodium nitrate for a result of .20 increase.
Secondly if that is correct how do i go about adding this sol to the tank?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Filled out calculator (see attached). I think it says add 1 Tbls per cup of RO/DI to get a solution that will raise my tank .18 ppm of NO3 per ml i dose? If this is correct do I multiply the .18 x 1.15 for the sodium nitrate for a result of .20 increase.
Secondly if that is correct how do i go about adding this sol to the tank?

You need to enter your tank size.

In a 100 L tank, if you make a stock solution of 1 tablespoon per cup of RO/Di and add 1 mL to the tank, nitrate will rise by 0.44 ppm. (calculated for potassium nitrate, sodium is a little bit more potent)

 

[Mikeand Mel]

Thank you! I am thinking I want 5-10ppm so I should dose this at 2 different times....right?
Tonight I will dose 3 ml.....test tomorrow morning and should i dose again if necessary? Or shoukd I dose 1 ml at a time?

 

[Mikeand Mel]

Last post was completely wrong, lets try again.
Just dosed 30ml of this solution. Will check NO3 level tomorrow. If Nitrate isnt up to 5-10ppm....should I dose again?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

5-10 is pretty high, you might work up to it slowly.

measuring 24 h after dosing and you may often find almost none if it is being used rapidly.

 

[Mikeand Mel]

Measured NO3 this morning with Red Sea test registered 4+.
Did the high test adding the RO/DI to sample....non detectable....so let’s call it 4ppm.
Added vibrant this morning.
Noticed my PH is 8.01 using pinpoint monitor. Is this acceptable?
What should I be aiming for on NO3?

 

[jda]

The phosphate is probably from the dry/dead rock, if that is what you used (it looks like it). It can take up to two years before all of the bound phosphate is exported from the tank.

If the N goes up and then goes back down to zero in a few days, then the anoxic bacteria in your tank have adapted/multiplied and consumed all of it. This is normal. It can be hard to keep nitrate high in a well-established tank that can process it - any amount of sodium nitrate that I add will quickly be back down to measuring zero. I have never found nitrate near zero to be a problem.