CloudReefer
Active Member
Hello, my phosphates and nitrates are being incredibly stubborn and will not increase. Some info:
1. Tank is about 7 months old.
2. Nitrates have never read higher than 1ppm.
3. Phosphates will go up but it takes significant overfeeding...
4. I think overfeeding is starting to lead to a small patch of cyano forming on my sandbed
5. Current notable residents:
a. Juvenile yellow wrasse
b. Small lawnmower blenny
c. Adult firefish
d. Two juvenile banggai cardinals
e. Couple of cleaner shrimp, typical hermits, snails etc.
f. Lots of bivalves, worms, barnacles, sponges, tunicates etc. on some TB live rock, but mostly started with dry marco rock
g. 1 small SPS and a couple of small LPS (from the live rock)
6. Filtration = skimmer, <1 cup of skimmate per week. No other filtration.
7. I'm using Hanna colorimeters to test for these items
I have completely stopped adding anything to the tank except for live phyto, frozen food and occasional pellets or bits of nori. I feed so much nothing in the tank gets particularly excited when I go to feed. lol
Anyway, nitrates won't move higher than 0.5 ppm, and phosphates barely go up. Attached is a snip from my reef log for the last couple of months for reference. It took very heavy feeding to maintain the phosphate levels. Note that I rarely test for nitrates because it basically never changes. Also, the alk is gradually dropping because I stopped dosing anything to maintain the level so I could better manage nutrients.
So, my questions are:
Should I start dosing nitrates and possibly phosphates? If yes, what is the most cost-effective way to do so?
Would adding more livestock help?
Everything in the tank is healthy, I'm just ready to be past the last of the uglies and start adding more corals and clams but I don't wanna do that until I solve the nutrient issue.
Side question: Is there any testing equipment that would be more precise and accurate than the Hanna colorimeters, without getting into research level lab equipment?
Thanks!
1. Tank is about 7 months old.
2. Nitrates have never read higher than 1ppm.
3. Phosphates will go up but it takes significant overfeeding...
4. I think overfeeding is starting to lead to a small patch of cyano forming on my sandbed
5. Current notable residents:
a. Juvenile yellow wrasse
b. Small lawnmower blenny
c. Adult firefish
d. Two juvenile banggai cardinals
e. Couple of cleaner shrimp, typical hermits, snails etc.
f. Lots of bivalves, worms, barnacles, sponges, tunicates etc. on some TB live rock, but mostly started with dry marco rock
g. 1 small SPS and a couple of small LPS (from the live rock)
6. Filtration = skimmer, <1 cup of skimmate per week. No other filtration.
7. I'm using Hanna colorimeters to test for these items
I have completely stopped adding anything to the tank except for live phyto, frozen food and occasional pellets or bits of nori. I feed so much nothing in the tank gets particularly excited when I go to feed. lol
Anyway, nitrates won't move higher than 0.5 ppm, and phosphates barely go up. Attached is a snip from my reef log for the last couple of months for reference. It took very heavy feeding to maintain the phosphate levels. Note that I rarely test for nitrates because it basically never changes. Also, the alk is gradually dropping because I stopped dosing anything to maintain the level so I could better manage nutrients.
So, my questions are:
Should I start dosing nitrates and possibly phosphates? If yes, what is the most cost-effective way to do so?
Would adding more livestock help?
Everything in the tank is healthy, I'm just ready to be past the last of the uglies and start adding more corals and clams but I don't wanna do that until I solve the nutrient issue.
Side question: Is there any testing equipment that would be more precise and accurate than the Hanna colorimeters, without getting into research level lab equipment?
Thanks!
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