Controlling nitrates and phosphates.......

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

There are a great many ways to reduce nutrients. IMO, having a mix of methods can be desirable.

In my system I choose to reduce nutrients with the following mix of methods:

GFO
macroalgae
lots of live rock in refugia
organic carbon dosing (vinegar)
GAC
skimming

Other methods include:

denitrators (both carbon and sulfur based)
algal turf scrubbers
other phosphate binders
other types of organic carbon dosing
deep sand beds
organic binding polymer resins

 

[Gwitness]

Okay that sounds good! I will look into what fits my set up best and just go from there! I really appreciate all of the advice....Besides skimming, what are the 2 easiest methods that doesn't have a high risk of disaster if something gets messed up! I guess I'm just nervous to try any of the stuff and that is why I have tried to stay old school with the stuff. Clearly not working haha

 

[Gwitness]

What could be causing the Cyano?? I only feed once a day and do weekly water changes....

 

[pwhitby]

In my experience, one of the contributing factors to high nitrates are areas of water flow -or presence- with high oxygen concentration- for example filter socks and filter sponges. make sure these are submerged as much as possible to prevent aerobic bacteria taking over, at the exclusion of the anaerobes. Often I see filter socks half out of the water, and this can be as bad as running a biowheel.

 

[pwhitby]

In my experience, one of the contributing factors to high nitrates are areas of water flow -or presence- with high oxygen concentration- for example filter socks and filter sponges. &nbsp;make sure these are submerged as much as possible to prevent aerobic bacteria taking over, at the exclusion of the anaerobes. &nbsp;Often I see filter socks half out of the water, and this can be as bad as running a biowheel.<br><br>

 

[coralcruze]

to the OP,three methods that I know of are: 1. algae scrubber, 2. bio pellets but require a reactor 3. my fav. is growing macro and mangroves.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The ways to reduce cyano include:

higher flow
reduced nutrients (especially phosphate)
reduced organic matter
killing them with antibiotics or by other means
possibly restricting iron (maybe by stopping water changes for a while if you donot dose any)
tank lights off for a few days

 

[Gwitness]

The ways to reduce cyano include:

higher flow
reduced nutrients (especially phosphate)
reduced organic matter
killing them with antibiotics or by other means
possibly restricting iron (maybe by stopping water changes for a while if you donot dose any)
tank lights off for a few days

Okay thanks for that Randy.... My tank is super packed out so I don't really trust chemicals like the red slime remover and stuff, so I'm thinking of just doing more frequent water changes to get nutrients and detritus under control... I will take phosguard offline.... I don't think flow is an issue..... What about the small air bubbles that are all over my back glass and some parts of rocks? There is no gha or cyano around the air bubbles and those spots are in high flow.... Air bubbles come only when lights are on... Any idea of what it could be? Someone tried to say it's the gasses from algae or something like that

 

[coralcruze]

I agree Gwitness... red slime is just a temp fix... I would siphon out the cyano wherever you can and i personally siphon the sand but do so in small sections over time to keep detritus to a min.

 

[Gwitness]

I agree Gwitness... red slime is just a temp fix... I would siphon out the cyano wherever you can and i personally siphon the sand but do so in small sections over time to keep detritus to a min.

Yeah I siphon the sand also, but most of my detritus settles inside my rocks....I'm thinking of doing 2, 20 gallon water changes a week until I see improvement....Not that my tank is doing horrible, but I just think my nutrients are too high and it will improve my SPS color and coral growth

 

[sawdonkey]

You're trying to address a problem that you don't know exists. Before making changes in your tank, why don't you just figure out if you have an issue. You're making a lot of assumptions that you could easily confirm through testing. I suggest doing that before anything else.

 

[Gwitness]

You're trying to address a problem that you don't know exists. Before making changes in your tank, why don't you just figure out if you have an issue. You're making a lot of assumptions that you could easily confirm through testing. I suggest doing that before anything else.

I agree with you 100% and that is why I have been on here trying to figure out what the issue even is.....I just assumed it was nitrates/phosphates! That is the annoying part to me about this.....My nitrates ALWAYS read 5 or below and my phosphates ALWAYS read 0 on the salifert and the Hannah Checker....But I know I have phosphates in the tank because my glass needs cleaned every couple days and I have these random air bubbles throughout the tank on some rock and back of tank, but I have ZERO GHA and barely any Cyano......I also have A LOT of detritus in the inside of my rocks and that can mean an excess of nutrients right? That is why I assumed it was phosphates and nitrates, but like you said maybe it's not!

 

[sawdonkey]

I agree with you 100% and that is why I have been on here trying to figure out what the issue even is.....I just assumed it was nitrates/phosphates! That is the annoying part to me about this.....My nitrates ALWAYS read 5 or below and my phosphates ALWAYS read 0 on the salifert and the Hannah Checker....But I know I have phosphates in the tank because my glass needs cleaned every couple days and I have these random air bubbles throughout the tank on some rock and back of tank, but I have ZERO GHA and barely any Cyano......I also have A LOT of detritus in the inside of my rocks and that can mean an excess of nutrients right? That is why I assumed it was phosphates and nitrates, but like you said maybe it's not!

Have a lfs or someone else test it?

 

[coralcruze]

Yeah I siphon the sand also, but most of my detritus settles inside my rocks....I'm thinking of doing 2, 20 gallon water changes a week until I see improvement....Not that my tank is doing horrible, but I just think my nutrients are too high and it will improve my SPS color and coral growth

If you have a turkey baster just blow off the rock... if the detritus is extream you could take a rock out at a time in a saltwater bucket like a brute and skake it around vigeously. that should dislodge most/all detritus.

 

[Gwitness]

Been there and done that....and I bought new kits and reagents just in case it was a bad batch, STILL same results.....Tried test kits on my other tank also and they read different results.

 

[Gwitness]

Did a 20 gallon water change last night and checked nitrates with salifert kit and they were 0.2..... So I'm still going to try to keep getting some of the detritus out and phosphates lower through some water changes and just then see what happens.....

 

[coralcruze]

Did a 20 gallon water change last night and checked nitrates with salifert kit and they were 0.2..... So I'm still going to try to keep getting some of the detritus out and phosphates lower through some water changes and just then see what happens.....

i'm guessing the .2 is Po4? if so I agree lower that some more. but Nitrates should be anywhere under 5 and you are good. you don't want to lower nutriens too much. Look into redfield ratio.... thats what you want...

 

[Gwitness]

No the 0.2 is nitrates... The phosphates i really don't have a number for because it always reads 0....

 

[mike007]

I have found that doing once a month water changes are working for me.I was dosing trace elements in my 2 part and starting getting cyano. When I quit dosing and slowed down the water changes my tank has never looked better. I think that we are all looking for that magic snake oil and it doesn't exist. Most all salt mixes have everything you need as far as trace elements etc. If you use rodi water with zero tds and a good quality salt mix that's all you probably need.When we start adding trace elements and all the other additives that we are told we need that's when we start having issues in my opinion. I know that phosphates can be a problem but I think people tend to overfeed causing these issues.

 

[coralcruze]

No the 0.2 is nitrates... The phosphates i really don't have a number for because it always reads 0....

I think you are good at those numbers. you don't want to strip too much and get a steril tank. sps will start bleaching, lps the same and softies will melt away. unless of course you plan on feeding real heavy.