0 nitrates even after killing/removing all algae

[Grumblez]

Hello my refugium inadvertently turned into a algae scrubber totally overrun with GHA so I ripped ive manually removed 90+% off it had the fuge light off for 2+ weeks and did 2 doses off reef flux. The flucanzole was maybe an overreaction as while there was a small amount of GHA in my main tank it wasn't super out of control but I decided to wipe it all out with hopes when I re add macro algae it will definitely outcompete.

My nitrate trended from being steady at 10-15 after my tanks cycle to 0. (Tank is 8 months old). I assumed wiping out the GHA would return my nitrate to measurable amounts. It hasn't.

I have an auto-feeder that feeds 20-30 small TDO pellets once per day. My wife feeds the refrigerated brine shrimp in the evening while I'm gone during the week, during the weekend I feed about maybe a 1cm frozen block of reef frenzy.

Tank is a reefer 250 with 2 clowns, 3 cardinals, 2 small gobies, 1 royal Gramma and 1 tang. 2 shrimps and maybe 20 snails. Not a bunch of corals yet, and while unrelated if you see the dying hammer and bird's-nest in the pictures my pump was accidentally off for 3 days and the tank hit room temperature (62 degrees). Fortunately my other corals seem to have survived not much worse for wear.

I don't think I over-feed or underfeed so no sure what gives. Almost no algae I can find anywhere in the tank and still 0 nitrates on both Hannah and Red Sea.

 

[Grumblez]

Pics

 

[Grumblez]

I don't know why when I post on my phone I end up double posting so much sorry. Admins plz feel free to lock this thread or the other

 

[Just John]

Maybe it's because you are viewing on your phone. There are no double posts.

 

[Spare time]

I find that 0 nitrate is ok if you feed heavily or dose something like aminos to supplement some nitrogen.

 

[Lavey29]

O nitrates is not good and can lead to bad things for the tank. The corals slowly starve to death. Try taking one of your socks out. I only use one sock with my red sea XL300. I had to double dose neonitro for several weeks to get my nitrates number up. If your tank and corals seem healthy then just make small adjustments to dial in your parameters better for stability.

 

[Reefahholic]

Time to dose my friend.

 

[Just John]

Also this is on Amazon:

 

[Grumblez]

Time to dose my friend.

Maybe I just don't understand how to maintain a balance between detectable nitrates and not having algae growth.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Maybe I just don't understand how to maintain a balance between detectable nitrates and not having algae growth.

The falsehood is that there is a perfect balance that attains both things. That is often not the case. it assumes that every organisms you want to keep needs less nitrate (or phosphate) than every organism you do not (algae, cyano, dinos, etc.), which is not generally true.

Algae removal is often best addressed in other ways, such as manual removal, and herbivores.

 

[Grumblez]

The falsehood is that there is a perfect balance that attains both things. That is often not the case. it assumes that every organisms you want to keep needs less nitrate (or phosphate) than every organism you do not (algae, cyano, dinos, etc.), which is not generally true.

Algae removal is often best addressed in other ways, such as manual removal, and herbivores.

Good points. I guess I should reword having detectable nitrate that isn't immediately used up by algae.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Good points. I guess I should reword having detectable nitrate that isn't immediately used up by algae.

the best way to attain that is to get rid of the algae. lol