CUC Vs Nitrates

[Will1610]

Hi All,

I am really interested to know what the correlation is between increasing the CUC and decreasing nitrates.

My Nitrate wont go below .25, no matter what I do and keen to see if increasing my CUC would help?

What is the recommended CUC numbers?

My tank is fairly algae free - a tiny bit of cyno and in the gaps where there is no corroline algae I have crumbly brown/ greeny algae i sometimes siphon off/ scrub

I have a 180 l aquaone reef tank with:
1 fighting conch
1 sandsifting star fish
2 small blue hermits
4 narcissus snail
2 turbo snail
1 peppermint shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp

What other CUC members would you suggest? Would this decrease nitrate?

 

[Lasse]

0.25 ppm is way to low for me. Normally I run my tank with levels around 2-5 mg/l NO3. Lower values will give you more cyanobacteria (IMO)

But you can rise your CUC if you want - it will not rise the NO3 by it self (if you do not rise the feeding regime of external food). IMO - your problem is more a to low NO3 level - not to high.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Will1610]

0.25 ppm is way to low for me. Normally I run my tank with levels around 2-5 mg/l NO3. Lower values will give you more cyanobacteria (IMO)

But you can rise your CUC if you want - it will not rise the NO3 by it self (if you do not rise the feeding regime of external food). IMO - your problem is more a to low NO3 level - not to high.

Sincerely Lasse

Sorry i meant 26 mg!

 

[Lasse]

That´s whas a total different storry

What test do you use?

But adding more CUC will not alter the NO3 levels into a higher range - by time maybe the oposite - if your external feeding is constant.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Will1610]

That´s whas a total different storry

What test do you use?

But adding more CUC will not alter the NO3 levels into a higher range - by time maybe the oposite - if your external feeding is constant.

Sincerely Lasse

Thanks!

I use Redsea and Tetra No3

 

[Lasse]

Before doing any changes - try to validate your readings of NO3 with red sea pro NO3 test

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Firemanreefkeeper]

I have 60ish hermits, 8 nassarius snails, sandsifter star, skunk cleaner shrimp, 12 trocus snails and nitrates between 20 and 50 using redsea pro test kit. I have no algae in my display except on return nozzles as nothing can clean those. I have algae and some cyano in my sump but I can't see it so it doesn't bother me. I don't chase nitrate numbers, as long as my tank is clean and my corals are growing I leave it be.
But to answer your question, CUC crew doesn't make a difference other than eating algae as it tries to grow and consume the nitrates.

 

[West1]

I recently had a similar issue in my 45gl and although my skimmer is oversized, I was not skimming enough. Over a 3 week period, my nitrates dropped from 60ppm to 4ppm (just tested last night with RedSea Pro No3).
I dump my 1/2-3/4 full cup daily and wipe down the neck of the cup every few days. RO 110SSS for skimmer reference.
I recently started dosing DIY NoPoX and I am now skimming wet.

CUC
nassarius snails 20
Astrea snails 15
Emerald Crab 3
Lawnmower Blenny 1
small Mexican Turbo Snail 3
Bumble Bee snail 4
Bristle Worm +500 (;Nailbiting)

Noob mistake but LPS loved the high No3. I could not keep any SPS, currently have a few cheap SPS frags and they look very happy!