Do coral foods really effect nitrates and phosphates?

[Zeal]

So I haven't dosed any coral food in about a year. I always thought they were causing algae in my tank and increasing phosphates. Now that I have them to a balanced level I'm thinking of dosing some very extremely little. At the time when I was doing coral foods, I was brand new in the hobby and didn't really know what I was doing.

Now I know that less is more in the hobby and nothing happens fast.

 

[LxHowler]

Adding any organic substance has the ability to change nitrate and phosphate, but if you don't add more than your tank is capable of handling then it shouldn't be an issue. Just start slow and test after each feeding to see if it affects your levels, if it does then lower the amount of feeding until you find a level that works for your tank.

 

[Ike]

Start slow and ramp up, and don't be surprised if there is an adjustment period with some algae growth. I feed massive amounts of flake food and my tank has adjusted and I have plenty of herbivores and cleanup crew, but it takes some time to strike that balance. That said, I don't have much faith in coral foods being very useful and haven't bothered with them in many years. What corals are you trying to feed?

 

[Ike]

One last observation... Most corals outside of Acropora and Montipora seem to handle low nutrients far better for some reason, which is the opposite of what I'd expect.

 

[Alex808]

Less is more. I had my tank in the danger zone after going too heavy with reef roids.

 

[Ike]

Less is more. I had my tank in the danger zone after going too heavy with reef roids.

What's this danger zone you speak of?

I'm getting Top Gun flashbacks...

 

[Zeal]

Im doing an extremely tiny amount of Benepets right now.

 

[Ike]

Im doing an extremely tiny amount of Benepets right now.

Looking at their ingredients list and marketing it's probably more likely you're mostly feeding their bank account and your cleanup crew depending on what corals you have. The use of tertiary plants and products (garlic, yeast, corn starch, spirulina) in coral food makes me question the knowledge of whoever developed it.

 

[Alex808]

What's this danger zone you speak of?

I'm getting Top Gun flashbacks...

Danger zone is when I can’t keep the water stable lol. Nitrates and phosphate were all over the place after using reef roids. And once I stopped using it. My water never went out of wack. Maybe it was something else I did but I wasn’t feeding anything else out of the Norm as far as the fish go. So. I’m convinced less is more when it comes to reef roids at least. Othe products I haven’t tried. I’m not running a skimmer or a sump either.

 

[Uncle99]

I feed one item, each day, four about 36 months now which includes phyto, aminos, zoo, oyster eggs, cyclops.
I don’t use any powder stuff.
I feed only enough to maintain N at 6ppm, P at .2ppm.
I use Nopox to keep N/P consistent and as a carbon source.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

What's this danger zone you speak of?

I'm getting Top Gun flashbacks...

Somebody showing their age...heee

 

[LxHowler]

Danger zone is when I can’t keep the water stable lol. Nitrates and phosphate were all over the place after using reef roids. And once I stopped using it. My water never went out of wack. Maybe it was something else I did but I wasn’t feeding anything else out of the Norm as far as the fish go. So. I’m convinced less is more when it comes to reef roids at least. Othe products I haven’t tried. I’m not running a skimmer or a sump either.

In my experience reef roids can be pretty potent stuff, that's why everyone uses such small amounts. I don't think I would use it without a skimmer as the skimmer will pull any missed food out helping keep nitrate under control. I use 1/8th tap to feed a 30 gallon tank

 

[Zeal]

Looking at their ingredients list and marketing it's probably more likely you're mostly feeding their bank account and your cleanup crew depending on what corals you have. The use of tertiary plants and products (garlic, yeast, corn starch, spirulina) in coral food makes me question the knowledge of whoever developed it.

oof... well I use such a tiny amount. Will toss away and stick to Reef Roids and ME

 

[Plandauesq]

I feed one item, each day, four about 36 months now which includes phyto, aminos, zoo, oyster eggs, cyclops.
I don’t use any powder stuff.
I feed only enough to maintain N at 6ppm, P at .2ppm.
I use Nopox to keep N/P consistent and as a carbon source.

Can you post a few more pics of your tank. Looks amazing. How many gallons?

 

[Nilo S]

If I target feed ALL of my corals with reef roids, PO4 goes from 0 to 0.25~ overnight, so I only feed it to my gonioporas now. Reef Chilli doesn’t affect PO4 nearly as much as reef roids, even when broadcast-feeding.

 

[See Gee Sea]

I'm a newbie with corals but I noticed that just a few softies in my 91 gallon system took my nitrates from .25ppm to 0ppm. I've stopped doing water changes and limit skimming to 12 hours/day and it still hasn't budged. Matter of fact I have diatome algae starting back up because of it. Been feeding heavily too, dosing Reef Chili, and even added more fish. Had 2 different LFSs verify my readings to ensure my test kit wasn't bad. The corals are growing so I'm assuming it's absorbing the nitrates.

 

[Waters]

Any time I use any of those coral foods (specifically Reef Roids) I get algae explosions....even under feeding. Reef Chilie also, but not nearly as bad as RR. For what its worth, phosphate and nitrate levels never changed while dosing. It is almost like the algae jumps on the food before the coral even has a chance lol.

 

[Klaas]

I feed one item, each day, four about 36 months now which includes phyto, aminos, zoo, oyster eggs, cyclops.
I don’t use any powder stuff.
I feed only enough to maintain N at 6ppm, P at .2ppm.
I use Nopox to keep N/P consistent and as a carbon source.

Hi. I have similar levels. My P was this morning at .2. From what I read is that the recommendation is to keep P under 0.03? I have mixed reef. 450gallons corals are doing well. Keeping nitrate and Phosphate at bay via caulerpa and Chaeto growing in my sump.

 

[In the sticks]

My phosphate is .19ppm is this to high for sps