Am I safe?

[Dan1788]

Hi all, I am down to my last fish as of Ich. I am going to be running the tank fallow for 45 days.
I have just checked my Po4 and my nitrate and the nitrate was undetectable and the Po4 was very low with little to no colour. I know my bio load has reduced some what in the last couple of weeks hence why the sudden drop.
My worry is my Alk is at 9.3 to I need to account for this ASAP or am I safe?

Thanks

 

[Jekyl]

I would get the nitrate and phosphate up. Don't want to add dinos to the list of things to take care of.

 

[Dan1788]

What the best way Reef Roids?

 

[arking_mark]

I've gone fallow 3 times in 25 years of reefing. I've always done the 76 day fallow cycle to be extra safe. If you have corals in your tank, you will need to make sure they get nutrients through feeding.

With regard to 9.3 alk. It all depends on what you are keeping your reef at. The most important thing for a successful tank is stability with slow changes.

 

[Dan1788]

Im thinking high alk & low nutrients = tank crash

 

[arking_mark]

What the best way Reef Roids?

If you have no coral in your tank, you can also just go lights off to ensure no unwanted algae.

Most of the coral-specific food provides nutrients and will help raise PO4.

 

[Jekyl]

My alk mixes to over 11 with coral pro salt.

 

[arking_mark]

Im thinking high alk & low nutrients = tank crash

If you have a sudden swing in Alk and corals in the tank, that could impact your coral.

 

[Dan1788]

I have SPS what the best way to raise Nitrate

 

[Jekyl]

I have SPS what the best way to raise Nitrate

Feeding

 

[arking_mark]

If you have a sudden swing in Alk and corals in the tank, that could impact your coral.

What salt are you using? What are you dosing? How old is the tank? What's in the tank? What are you using for filtration?

 

[Jekyl]

I have SPS what the best way to raise Nitrate

If running a skimmer let it drain back into the tank. If using chaeto cut the light schedule.

 

[arking_mark]

I have SPS what the best way to raise Nitrate

I broadcast feed reef roids and Red Sea Energy AB+.

 

[Dan1788]

What salt are you using? What are you dosing? How old is the tank? What's in the tank? What are you using for filtration?

Water changes only at the mo Nat sea water only a small amount of SPS so dosing not needed yet.
Tank just over 12 months old
SKIMMER sock and floss on the weir

 

[terraincognita]

Hi all, I am down to my last fish as of Ich. I am going to be running the tank fallow for 45 days.
I have just checked my Po4 and my nitrate and the nitrate was undetectable and the Po4 was very low with little to no colour. I know my bio load has reduced some what in the last couple of weeks hence why the sudden drop.
My worry is my Alk is at 9.3 to I need to account for this ASAP or am I safe?

Thanks

I keep elevated alk as well above 9 and never had a problem.

With nutrients bottoming out you can get spikes for sure.

The only problem with Nutrients bottoming out and spikes vs a stable high alk level is the STABILITY factor.


Stability is like 100 times more the thing to worry about than high alk levels.

 

[Dan1788]

Should I just try to raise the Po4 and nitrate slightly then and slowly

 

[arking_mark]

Should I just try to raise the Po4 and nitrate slightly then and slowly

Just feed your corals. That will raise your PO4 and NO3.

What are your target #s? I've been aiming for 0.1 > PO4 < 0.03 and 12 > NO4 > 1 on my latest tank. Haven't been able to get there yet...

 

[Dan1788]

When you 12 to 1 on no4 what kit are you testing with and are you not ÷ that by 10?

 

[Dan1788]

When you 12 to 1 on no4 what kit are you testing with and are you not ÷ that by 10?

I noticed that the test kit for salifert reads slightly different that the UK