Confused with latest ATI test results aka Help!

[Greg Depo]

Hey guys just got back another ATI test result and it’s a bit discouraging! So my DT is 130G and I’m running a skimmer, bio pellets, and a bfs gfo/carbon reactor using rox carbon yet still the nitrate, po4 and Phosphorus are out of this world. I know my sump could use a cleaning but I don’t understand how it could be that elevated.

This really started when I attempted to heal my powder blue tangs eye issues with kanoplex. Since then a lot of my sps has retracted and some have died totally.

Any suggestions or questions? I’ve struggled since this tanks inception about 8 years now.

Attached is the results!

 

[Greg Depo]

Hey guys just got back another ATI test result and it’s a bit discouraging! So my DT is 130G and I’m running a skimmer, bio pellets, and a bfs gfo/carbon reactor using rox carbon yet still the nitrate, po4 and Phosphorus is out of this world. I know my sump could use a cleaning but I don’t understand how it could be that elevated.

This really started when I attempted to heal my powder blue tangs eye issues with kanoplex. Since then a lot of my sps has retracted and some have died totally.

Any suggestions or questions? I’ve struggled since this tanks inception about 8 years now.

Attached is the results!

I did just notice the tank info is based in liters not gallons so it’s about 4 times smaller than the true tank. Don’t think that would matter but thought I’d mention it.

 

[Greg Depo]

I did just notice the tank info is based in liters not gallons so it’s about 4 times smaller than the true tank. Don’t think that would matter but thought I’d mention it.

Bump

 

[Greg Depo]

Some of my questions are

1. If the nitrates and phosphate are indeed that high would I see some corals succeed and grow? Because they are.
2. Wouldn’t the fish show signs of distress?
3. Besides doing a mega water change (doing 50G) tomorrow. What can I do proactively to deal with this? Shouldn’t the system process nitrates? It’s an 8 year tank with a lot of live rock??

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The N and P are very high. Have you ever tried to measure them yourself?

I don’t know what the effects would be on a tank, but they are not obviously wrong even with corals and fish seeming ok.

 

[Pod_01]

This really started when I attempted to heal my powder blue tangs eye issues with kanoplex. Since then a lot of my sps has retracted and some have died totally.

Since I know nothing about kanoplex I did a quick search:

If it was added to the main display that could be one of the reasons for the coral decline.

So carbon might be required to get it out.

Since you mentioned:

Hey guys just got back another ATI test result and it’s a bit discouraging!

Did the NO3/PO4 values go up, down or stayed flat? If they alway been elevated, they might not be causing your issue.

I would use home kit to confirm the value are elevated before doing 50% water change.

Also the I is really high, based on this:

Algae might be in your future…

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Iodine is apparently interfered with by high P in icp-aes, so it may not be accurate.

 

[Greg Depo]

Since I know nothing about kanoplex I did a quick search:

If it was added to the main display that could be one of the reasons for the coral decline.

So carbon might be required to get it out.

Since you mentioned:


Did the NO3/PO4 values go up, down or stayed flat? If they alway been elevated, they might not be causing your issue.

I would use home kit to confirm the value are elevated before doing 50% water change.

Also the I is really high, based on this:

Algae might be in your future…

I am seeing an uptick in brown algae on the rocks. As for the previous test it was much lower. In 2023 nitrate was still high at 139 but phosphate and phosphorus were just slightly elevated.

As for iodine it was actually low and I was adding a capful of brightwell iodine after water changes. Obviously that won’t be happening till I verify that number, especially after reading what Randy posted.

I’ll test tomorrow before the big water change but with my issues with coral and the algae issues it’s hard to imagine the lab test being that far off.

My biggest concern at this point is why exactly have I never been able to get this tuned in. During this water change I’m going to clean the sump and possibly remove some live rock I’ve had in a chamber to get a little more space for the reactors. I’ve wondered if a lot of detritus has been trapped in that area.

Lastly I did have one of my two return pumps fail so as I waited for ecotech to repair the pump the rate of water exchange was much less for a good 3 weeks.

Thanks for the info too.

 

[Greg Depo]

The N and P are very high. Have you ever tried to measure them yourself?

I don’t know what the effects would be on a tank, but they are not obviously wrong even with corals and fish seeming ok.

I’ve tested in the past and they (nitrate and phosphate) have always been elevated and something I’ve fought with since I moved to this new tank 3-4 years ago.

I definitely slacked on water changes for a bit but never more than 3 weeks between.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Water change will reduce the nitrate, but will be less effective on phosphate, and you may have to use a method such as lanthanum or GFO to lower it. The GFO you are using is likely depleted in less than day.

If corals and fish are fine, I would not go crazy trying to lower them. 100 ppm nitrate and 1 ppm phosphate can still have a fabulous reef tank:

Skeptical Reefkeeping 9: Test Kits, Chasing Numbers and Phosphate

By Rich Ross and Chris Jury There are many standard parameters in the reefkeeping world that aquarists strive to match in their home reefs – water quality,

reefs.com

 

[Greg Depo]

Water change will reduce the nitrate, but will be less effective on phosphate, and you may have to use a method such as lanthanum or GFO to lower it. The GFO you are using is likely depleted in less than day.

If corals and fish are fine, I would not go crazy trying to lower them. 100 ppm nitrate and 1 ppm phosphate can still have a fabulous reef tank:

Skeptical Reefkeeping 9: Test Kits, Chasing Numbers and Phosphate

By Rich Ross and Chris Jury There are many standard parameters in the reefkeeping world that aquarists strive to match in their home reefs – water quality,

reefs.com

I was hoping to hear that… do you think removing additional live rock in the sump could cause more erratic conditions? I’m running gfo high capacity but only changing it every two weeks should I increase the changes? I know the red field ratio is important and don’t want to cause another problem. Lastly what is the underlying reason for high phosphate? I do dose alk, cal, mag maybe the additional nutrients are adding to the issue?