beginner nitrate and phosphate dosing

AKABigBlack · Dec 28, 2021

i have a lowboy frag tank with a 40 breeder sump, no skimmer, and i'm currently testing 0/0 phos/nitrate. i have more than a couple zoa frags and a few lps (frogspawn, hammers, a duncan, and an acan). the frogspawn just shed and i've lost one hammer. the acan and the duncan appear fine for now.

my question is: did i lose my lps due to no phos/nitrate? how is it best to start dosing to maintain proper levels?

current parameters (all hanah and a refractometer)
salinity - 35
alk - 8.7
phos - 0
nitrate - 0
ph - 8.5

shakacuz · Dec 28, 2021

all corals benefit from some type of nutrients in the water. so i will say yes, no3/po4 being 0/0 is definitely a factor. what is your temp? cal? mag?

AKABigBlack · Dec 28, 2021

shakacuz said:
all corals benefit from some type of nutrients in the water. so i will say yes, no3/po4 being 0/0 is definitely a factor. what is your temp? cal? mag?

Temp is 78-79
Calcium 420

Picking up a mag test tomorrow.

shakacuz · Dec 28, 2021

you may have lost the LPs due to s swing of some sort, or lighting issues (too much or too little).

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 29, 2021

How did you measure those? Some kits do not test low enough to say its an issue.

AKABigBlack · Dec 29, 2021

magnesium is 1400.

test kits used:
salinity - refractometer
alk - hannah
phos - hannah
nitrate - hannah
ph - hannah
mag - nyos
calcium - red sea

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 30, 2021

Which Hanna for phosphate and nitrate?

AKABigBlack · Dec 30, 2021

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Which Hanna for phosphate and nitrate?

The phos checker is the 713, low range. The nitrate checker is the 782, high range.

thedon986 · Dec 30, 2021

I use NeoNitro and NeoPhos. There is a calculator/equation on the instructions and also cautions about how far to raise each per day.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 31, 2021

AKABigBlack said:
The phos checker is the 713, low range. The nitrate checker is the 782, high range.

The 713 has a range of +/- 0.04 ppm phosphate, so is not able to tell you phosphate is too low.

Same with the Hanna 782 for nitrate; +/- 2 ppm.

So your nutrients may be too low, or may be fine.

Feeding more may be a good experiment.

Brandon2741 · Dec 31, 2021

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
The 713 has a range of +/- 0.04 ppm phosphate, so is not able to tell you phosphate is too low.

Same with the Hanna 782 for nitrate; +/- 2 ppm.

So your nutrients may be too low, or may be fine.

Feeding more may be a good experiment.

Hi sorry to bomb in here but I had a few questions about your DIY lime water and using kalk for calcium supplement. Anyways I dont know where to go to start a new question directly to you but if you wouldnt mind helping me out either here or some other way just let me know please and thanks again, Happy New Year BTW!

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 31, 2021

Brandon2741 said:
Hi sorry to bomb in here but I had a few questions about your DIY lime water and using kalk for calcium supplement. Anyways I dont know where to go to start a new question directly to you but if you wouldnt mind helping me out either here or some other way just let me know please and thanks again, Happy New Year BTW!

Happy to.

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