1 month old tank parameters

[Drew1900]

So my tank is 1 month old and fully cycled. I did water changes last week to bring my nitrates down. Last week after the water change my parameters were

Nitrate 5
Phosphate .03
PH 8.15
Salinity 35

Today I did my weekly tests and they were as follows


Nitrate 5
Phosphate .01
PH 8.15
Salinity 35


I am not surprised to see the phosphate levels decrease being that diatoms showed up this week, however I have read that if nitrate or phosphate get down to 0, it can cause massive algae issues. Should I take any corrective action to increase phosphate?(maybe a little ghost feeding?) Or just let it be for now and see how things play out. Also my CUC will be added tomorrow.

 

[paulsz]

you can try a little ghost feeding. The issue with 0 phosphate is not algae issues, it's actually the opposite! Having phosphates encourages algae growth.

Algae isn't bad. It's part of a natural marine environment. You just want it to be fairly minimal and have snails or other herbivores in your tank that can eat it before it gets out of control.

You are right to say you shouldn't drop your phosphates to 0. THat can lead a lot of times to dinos, which is worse to deal with than any other algae.

If you keep your Nitrates 5-10ppm, and phosphates 0.03 or even up to 0.1, you should be okay! Your tank will go through an ugly phase of diatoms and algae. It's part of the natural cycle of the aquarium.

 

[Drew1900]

That’s exactly what I was thinking. Thanks

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yourt readings will be pretty consistent until you have bio waste being produced from fish. You can even add a black molly or two to your tank and feed them sparingly and they will produce a little waste to get the anerobic bacteria active.
The mollies also will nibble on the algae

 

[Drew1900]

Yeah I wish my clownfish were ready to be added to the DT, but they have 3 weeks left in their copper treatment.