Dosing phosphate and nitrate never steady..

[Hallowhead]

Howdy,

I have a 30 gallon AIO and a 34 gallon + sump frag tank..

I've bottomed out nutrients months ago and experienced algae outbreaks in both tanks.

My AIO had bad dinos and I've managed to control / eradicate them several times all in which they come back.. I dose phosphates rather heavily and when I finally have detectable levels I stop dosing and keep an eye on levels.... Weeks go by and than all of a sudden I'll wake up and dinos are back and phosphate is 0... How in good God's name do I keep phosphate stable ??

I'm currently dosing 15 ml of trisodium phosphate mix using randy's mix a day... Still almost non detectable phosphate...

I just lost loads of zoantnids in my frag tank due to red cyanobacteria.. I dosed chemiclean and didnt dose and phosphate or nitrate during treatment.. red slime was gone for like a day.. phos and nitrate are 0 still.. so begin the daily heavy dosing again... I just can't win

 

[living_tribunal]

Do you have new rock? If so, how old is the tank?

 

[Hallowhead]

Do you have new rock?

No in either tank...

However my coraline died off in my AIO with all the algae take overs

 

[living_tribunal]

No in either tank...

However my coraline died off in my AIO with all the algae take overs

Let me rephrase, did you start with dry rock? How old is the tank?

 

[Hallowhead]

Let me rephrase, did you start with dry rock? How old is the tank?

I started with dry rock in both tanks...

AIO is over a year and a half and drag system is jusr over a year

 

[Jfast]

An do u have any fish or inverts ? How much rock is in the system ? And was it live rock or dry rock

 

[Jfast]

I try to keep a few fish in every system to keep your p04 Detectable it’s hard for me to keep my nitrates detectable

 

[living_tribunal]

I started with dry rock in both tanks...

AIO is over a year and a half and drag system is jusr over a year

If it’s a year old then this most likely isn’t it. Something to consider at least. Dry rock is capable of binding massive amounts of phosphate. Dry rock acts as a phosphate buffer in our tanks, soaking it up when phosphate levels are high and releasing it when levels are low.

That doesn’t seem to be the situation however. I know Randy’s mix works well considering it takes into effect the nitrate/phosphate balance (nitrate removes phosphate).

Have you tried individually dosing nitrate first, allowing levels to get where you want them and then dosing phosphate?

 

[Hallowhead]

An do u have any fish or inverts ? How much rock is in the system ? And was it live rock or dry rock

AIO system has 15/20 pounds of rock ? And some marine pure block on middle chamber of back. It has loads of inverts. 4 large nass 2 large turbos 2 scarlett 1 blue claw several astrea ... Could it use more ?

Frag system is a little less... Several astrea 2 scarlett 2 large turbos and some other random smaller snails.. it's bare bottom so they get tossed around a lot

 

[Hallowhead]

If it’s a year old then this most likely isn’t it. Something to consider at least. Dry rock is capable of binding massive amounts of phosphate. Dry rock acts as a phosphate buffer in our tanks, soaking it up when phosphate levels are high and releasing it when levels are low.

That doesn’t seem to be the situation however. I know Randy’s mix works well considering it takes into effect the nitrate/phosphate balance (nitrate removes phosphate).

Have you tried individually dosing nitrate first, allowing levels to get where you want them and then dosing phosphate?

I have not - I typically dose them together.

But I can never ever get them stable. I used to do weekly water changes, I pushed two two weeks and now I'm once a month on both tanks

 

[living_tribunal]

AIO system has 15/20 pounds of rock ? And some marine pure block on middle chamber of back. It has loads of inverts. 4 large nass 2 large turbos 2 scarlett 1 blue claw several astrea ... Could it use more ?

Frag system is a little less... Several astrea 2 scarlett 2 large turbos and some other random smaller snails.. it's bare bottom so they get tossed around a lot

No fish? Have you tried removing all chemical filtration and seeing if levels remain stable?

 

[Hallowhead]

I try to keep a few fish in every system to keep your p04 Detectable it’s hard for me to keep my nitrates detectable

I have 5 fish in the AIO and 3 in my frag system.. I've lost a lot of fish in the frag system for whatever reason.

 

[Hallowhead]

No fish? Have you tried removing all chemical filtration and seeing if levels remain stable?

See above for fish

I have marine pure spheres in my frag tank and a bag of chemi pure blue that's expired for sure and my protein skimmer.. could my spheres be too good ?

 

[living_tribunal]

See above for fish

I have marine pure spheres in my frag tank and a bag of chemi pure blue that's expired for sure and my protein skimmer.. could my spheres be too good ?

I’d first remove them to just verify they aren’t what’s soaking up everything.

What ppm phos and nitrate are you targeting when you dose?

 

[Jfast]

Them marine pure blocks put in work in the right flow . I’ve used them for many years and will lower po4 .

 

[Hallowhead]

I’d first remove them to just verify they aren’t what’s soaking up everything.

To what ppm pho’s and nitrate are you targeting when you dose?

Il targeting anything non zero LOL.

The AIO is showing steady nitrates right now but I'm dosing 15ml of phosphate mix a day

I'd ideally like 15ppm nitrate and .1 phosphate

 

[living_tribunal]

Il targeting anything non zero LOL.

The AIO is showing steady nitrates right now but I'm dosing 15ml of phosphate mix a day

I'd ideally like 15ppm nitrate and .1 phosphate

What I’m asking is how much are you dosing? As in, what’s the equivalent ppm for the dose volume?

 

[Hallowhead]

What I’m asking how much are you dosing? As in, what’s the equivalent ppm for the dose volume?

I used randy's mix for trisodium phosphate I wanna - I don't recall off the top of my head.

As for nitrates I believe 1ml raises .25 ppm in my 30 gallons ?

 

[living_tribunal]

I used randy's mix for trisodium phosphate I wanna - I don't recall off the top of my head.

As for nitrates I believe 1ml raises .25 ppm in my 30 gallons ?

I’d verify. You may be under dosing. First try removing the spheres and see if levels remain. I’d also test nitrate and phos a couple of hours after dosing to ensure that the dose is correct. Then test a day or so afterwards to ensure they are roughly the same.

 

[Hallowhead]

I’d verify. You may be under dosing. First trying removing the spheres and see if levels remain. I’d also test nitrate and phos a couple of hours after dosing to ensure that the dose is correct. Then test a day or so afterwards to ensure they are roughly the same.

Ive tested the dose In smaller settings to confirm. I am intrigued by the tonight of removing spheres but also nervous