Dropping nitrates
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reefndude
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Results after 45g worth of water changes.
No color change on salifert kit
Did notice color change on red sea kit.
Was reading 2ppm, now it looks like a shade between 2 and 1 ppm.
Gonna do one more 25g water change tomorrow. Think that will be enough for this weekend. I'll hit it again next weekend
No color change on salifert kit
Did notice color change on red sea kit.
Was reading 2ppm, now it looks like a shade between 2 and 1 ppm.
Gonna do one more 25g water change tomorrow. Think that will be enough for this weekend. I'll hit it again next weekend
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You want it reading 0?? No reason for that. Your going to go through alot of salt if you just plan on doing water changes to keep them down.
Just go get some Vodka, and you won't need to change so much water. I have a 240g tank, I dose vodka. Never have any issues with Nitrates.
Ok, so you should not be running into Nitrate problems with an ATS and a Fuge with Chaeto.
What type of lighting are you running with both??
What type of flow through the Fuge?
How big is the Fuge??
What type of lighting are you running with both??
What type of flow through the Fuge?
How big is the Fuge??
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reefndude
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This is the first time I've run into nitrate problems. Over 3 years and 2 tanks. I believe the nitrate spike is from sand bed being disturbed.
I have good flow through the fuge between the overflow and maxijet 1200. The fuge itself is about 75% of a 55g tank, lit by 5000k led flood lamp. Chaeto used to be basketball size. Ever since I harvested it last it has just shrunk down to maybe size of tennis ball. It's still alive and healthy looking, not sure why it stopped growing.
Ats is up flow design lit with red leds. It does grow some algae just not very much.
I have good flow through the fuge between the overflow and maxijet 1200. The fuge itself is about 75% of a 55g tank, lit by 5000k led flood lamp. Chaeto used to be basketball size. Ever since I harvested it last it has just shrunk down to maybe size of tennis ball. It's still alive and healthy looking, not sure why it stopped growing.
Ats is up flow design lit with red leds. It does grow some algae just not very much.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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It will remove 44% of the nitrate (0.75 x 0.75), assuming none was made during the time in question.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Might need some iron to boost the algae along.
Here's my most recent article on sources of nitrate and how to reduce it (there are MANY ways)
Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/nitrate-in-the-reef-aquarium
lots of great advice on this thread.
i would shut gfo off. macros need it and i think a lot of people underestimate the power of gfo removing po4 out of the system. i can get down to undetectable in a matter of hours.
some other remedies...
dose seachem stability.
seachem matrix media or additional LR
without phosphate, chaeto and other algae cant photosynthesize.
as randy stated , iron will give a nice boost for nutrient consumption via macros.
i would shut gfo off. macros need it and i think a lot of people underestimate the power of gfo removing po4 out of the system. i can get down to undetectable in a matter of hours.
some other remedies...
dose seachem stability.
seachem matrix media or additional LR
without phosphate, chaeto and other algae cant photosynthesize.
as randy stated , iron will give a nice boost for nutrient consumption via macros.
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reefndude
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I've dosed iron in the past but stopped. I have started dosing iron again when I noticed chaeto shrinking, maybe month now. I will pull gfo and see if that's the reason macro isn't growing.
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cperry7467
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I just ran into a similar issue in my tank. Chaeto started getting pale, no growth, and my nitrates were rising faster than normal. I had just recently started running GFO and carbon and my phosphates were zero. I turned off the reactor and after a couple of days my chaeto has greened up. From what I can tell the lack of phosphates was killing it and it stopped taking up nitrates as well. I guess I'll just run my reactor with GFO every now and then to keep the phosphates low but not zero.
cperry7467
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It's funny, I read so many posts that say "For SPS you must be as close to zero for nitrates and phosphates!" Which what's closer than zero? Sometimes it's hard to weed through the BS advice and just find the good stuff. I read Randy's articles but I blackout every time I see a formula.
cperry7467
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Actually I just looked at it and that was the thread I read that helped me figure it out. Good read, highly recommended.
bobman
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Have to tested the change water before doing your water change? Only reason I ask is changing 20% should have lowered nitrates about 20%. You might be adding nitrates with your freashly mixed water.
Just a thought I would have expected it to have come down more than this.
Just a thought I would have expected it to have come down more than this.
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FWIW, not that many nitrate kits are reliable enough to see a 20% drop .
