Can't get nitrate above .25

[James MacFarlane]

Oops wrong thread!

Still cool

 

[James MacFarlane]

I'd be more comfortable with 1-5 ppm nitrate.

Thanks Randy!

In my case, where feeding more is raising PO4 but not NO3, would you also recommend a food grade supplement?

 

[living_tribunal]

Still cool

Thank you, I thought I fed this Duncan to death last night.

He took the largest poop I’ve seen a frag take yet.

 

[hotdrop]

I know I spiked up my phosphate 0.10 a few times with heavy feedings but nitrates just won’t stay up. Not sure the cause I assume algee is eating it too fast. What vetiety of algee are you using?

 

[James MacFarlane]

Quick update -
I carefully dosed nitrate, it is stable at 2 ppm.

But, now I have diatoms haha. Could it be that there has been a silica issue, but not enough nitrate in the water until now for diatoms to grow?

 

[Benpastw]

Hey there! A few years ago I had the same problem (or at least i thought i did...) Have a zoa/LPS dominated tank and wanted to up the nutrients in my tank. My nitrates were reading 0 and no matter what i did i couldn't get the levels up...i tried feeding more, added nitrifying bacteria in a bottle, even bought the nitrates that you can dose (i forget the name at the moment). Anyway no matter what i did my nitrates wouldn't budge. Then i noticed my corals acting funny...Needless to say I brought a sample of water to my local store so that they could test it and lo and behold my nitrates were at over 100! The first thing I would do if i were you is to order a new test kit or use a friends that is working well before you start doing anything to try and increase levels (mine wasn't expired and still wasn't working).

 

[James MacFarlane]

Hey there! A few years ago I had the same problem (or at least i thought i did...) Have a zoa/LPS dominated tank and wanted to up the nutrients in my tank. My nitrates were reading 0 and no matter what i did i couldn't get the levels up...i tried feeding more, added nitrifying bacteria in a bottle, even bought the nitrates that you can dose (i forget the name at the moment). Anyway no matter what i did my nitrates wouldn't budge. Then i noticed my corals acting funny...Needless to say I brought a sample of water to my local store so that they could test it and lo and behold my nitrates were at over 100! The first thing I would do if i were you is to order a new test kit or use a friends that is working well before you start doing anything to try and increase levels (mine wasn't expired and still wasn't working).

Great advice! I did this with my LFS, but I bet lots of people don’t think to do so.

 

[SeaDweller]

Skim dry and cut the fuge light to 8 hours or so. Feed more and get more fish.

 

[SeaDweller]

Hey there! A few years ago I had the same problem (or at least i thought i did...) Have a zoa/LPS dominated tank and wanted to up the nutrients in my tank. My nitrates were reading 0 and no matter what i did i couldn't get the levels up...i tried feeding more, added nitrifying bacteria in a bottle, even bought the nitrates that you can dose (i forget the name at the moment). Anyway no matter what i did my nitrates wouldn't budge. Then i noticed my corals acting funny...Needless to say I brought a sample of water to my local store so that they could test it and lo and behold my nitrates were at over 100! The first thing I would do if i were you is to order a new test kit or use a friends that is working well before you start doing anything to try and increase levels (mine wasn't expired and still wasn't working).

What kind of test did you use and what did they use?

 

[James MacFarlane]

What kind of test did you use and what did they use?

I use Nyos and they use Salifert

 

[Xandernfs]

I have the same issue as you and there were a few things that I did:

• Feed multiple times a day and feed a little heavy
• Cut my skimmer time down: mine goes off from 6-11:30
• My fuge light goes off from 6-12
• I also add 20ml of Fuel daily, but I'm probably going to cut that back since it's getting expensive.

Once I get back from vacation I'm going to cut my skimmer & fuge back to 5-12. This way I can get away with dosing less fuel. I've also started to feed 2-3x a day this week too.

 

[James MacFarlane]

I know I spiked up my phosphate 0.10 a few times with heavy feedings but nitrates just won’t stay up. Not sure the cause I assume algee is eating it too fast. What vetiety of algee are you using?

Chaeto under an AI fuge light

 

[hotdrop]

Chaeto under an AI fuge light

Thats the setup i have as well i run 8 hrs at like 40% any lower and it wont grow at all

 

[shrimped]

Had the same problem a couple weeks ago. Nice people here recommended me to buy Sodium Nitrate by brand called Loudwolf. Free shipping and u get 2 bottles for $14. Worked like a charm in my system.