Help! Reef tank might be too clean.

[ReefAddiction34]

I have a reefer 250 which has been up and running for about two years.
My concern is that the tank is very low nutrient with nitrate=o and phosphates=o.
I’m just looking for some guidance as how I can safely increase these nutrients for better growth and color of my sps.
I have recently started dosing amino acids with Redsea ab+. I feed with oyster feast and reef roids 2x week, and the fish get fed nightly with hikari mysis and pellets with selcon. Hey also do about a 10% water change weekly and I’m running a UV sterilizer and skimmer.

Questions I had:
1. Would it be better to feed more?
2. Should I turn off the skimmer?
3. Should I do less frequent water changes?
4. Should I start dosing nitrates and phosphates? And if so what is the easiest and least expensive way to do so

I hope some of my fellow reefers out there might be able to help with this question. Thanks in advance.

 

[eggplantparrot]

why not add a fish you want

 

[Kal93]

Dosing nitrates and phosphates would be more consistent (versus feeding more), as you can calculate your desired levels and don't have to worry about additional detritus.

What test do you use for nitrates and phosphates? I've found that a couple don't detect near zero levels; your levels may be higher than you think.

 

[ReefAddiction34]

I could certainly add more fish, but I don’t think that will get my levels where they need to be.

I use Redsea testing kits.

Does anyone have experience with dosing nitrates and phosphates?

 

[DeniableArc]

I have a reefer 250 which has been up and running for about two years.
My concern is that the tank is very low nutrient with nitrate=o and phosphates=o.
I’m just looking for some guidance as how I can safely increase these nutrients for better growth and color of my sps.
I have recently started dosing amino acids with Redsea ab+. I feed with oyster feast and reef roids 2x week, and the fish get fed nightly with hikari mysis and pellets with selcon. Hey also do about a 10% water change weekly and I’m running a UV sterilizer and skimmer.

Questions I had:
1. Would it be better to feed more?
2. Should I turn off the skimmer?
3. Should I do less frequent water changes?
4. Should I start dosing nitrates and phosphates? And if so what is the easiest and least expensive way to do so

I hope some of my fellow reefers out there might be able to help with this question. Thanks in advance.

What is your primary export method, fuge,carbon dosing?

 

[DC Reefer]

Following

 

[ReefAddiction34]

What is your primary export method, fuge,carbon dosing?

I used to have a refugium but I took out the chaeto because it only seemed to be stripping the nutrients more which makes sense.
I use filter floss for mechanical filtration and have a skimmer. Not dosing carbon or anything like that.
I turned off my skimmer for awhile, but recently saw some posted by Randy Holmes about the benefit of a skimmer even with low nutrients in your tank (mainly getting rid of dissolved organics And supplying O2 to the water).

I can’t really understand why the tank is so dang clean, I’d kill for nitrates of 5-10 and a touch of phosphate lol.

Im starting to keep track now that I’m dosing aminos Redsea ab+. Hopefully this will help with coral health as well.

I feed pretty heavy just about every night. Not sure if I should also start maybe daily oyster feast and reef roids in the morning.

 

[schuby]

So you feed heavy, only run a skimmer (no macro-algae, ATS, GAC, or GFO), and you have zero phosphates and zero nitrates? Maybe your definition of "feed heavy" is very different than mine.

What fish do you have, how many, and what size? How much hikari shrimp and pellots (what kind) do you feed each day?

If you have high import/feeding with high export (those together equal high nutrient flow), then very low phosphate and nitrate is not necessarily detrimental to SPS. Since you say you don't have high export (skimmer is not), then it doesn't seem possible for you to have a good flow of nutrients through your tank. Your SPS might simply be starving.

Dosing phosphate and nitrate, to keep them both from zero, may not be that beneficial to your SPS. It would help with dinos and and other undesirables.

Some pics of your tank and SPS, in white light, would be helpful for us to better understand your situation.

 

[ReefAddiction34]

 

[ReefAddiction34]

Here are a few pics of the tank.

Your right. Perhaps my definition of heavy feeding may not actually be so.
I have a purple tang, starry blenny, mystery wrasse and sunburst anthia as far as fish.
Feeding consists of a pinch of pellets, about a quarter cube of hikari mysis shrimp, few drops of selcon, and occasionally I add some spirulina loaded brine shrimp (hikari frozen).
For coral feeding, I also feed reef roids and oyster feast about 2x week.

 

[Uncle99]

I would be checking my test kits.
0 nitrates in any tank is virtually impossible.
At the least, a trace would be detectable

 

[ReefAddiction34]

I would be checking my test kits.
0 nitrates in any tank is virtually impossible.
At the least, a trace would be detectable

Test kits are not expired and I have had good experiences with Red Sea in the past. Additionally the other tank I have will register nitrates and phosphates with the same test kit.

 

[Uncle99]

Just seems odd that you have fish, you feed, they expel ammonia, and your filter system can convert all of it at all times.
And with no fuge.......
Amazing....

 

[ReefAddiction34]

Just seems odd that you have fish, you feed, they expel ammonia, and your filter system can convert all of it at all times.
And with no fuge.......
Amazing....

Yea it’s really annoying. I’d really like slightly higher levels to get those sps to grow and color up nicely. I’ll see if someone local to me has a different test kit, but the kits are good I believe.
I guess I’m just looking for some opinions on how to increase these levels and if anyone had a similar issue but was able to find something that worked for them.

 

[bobnicaragua]

I would leave the skimmer on and add a fish or 2.

 

[schuby]

Wow, that's a lot of coral! I could easily believe that amount of coral could consume that small amount of nutrients. You could feed the tang some nori. The slower digesting food is good for them.

More fish and more fish food would likely be better for the SPS (fish poop is excellent coral food). Increasing the oyster feast and reef roids should help, too.

I hope that someday my frags will grow up to consume so much nutrients that I almost don't need any macro-algae.

 

[ReefAddiction34]

I think my current plan is to keep the skimmer on, increase nightly fish feedings, increase coral feedings to 3x week, continue with aminos daily, and I’ll consider adding another fish or two. I’m hoping to avoid dosing nitrates and phosphates, but at some point it may be the next option. I’ll definitely need some guidance if I reach that point.
Not sure if going to biweekly water changes would be a good idea... the thought there is decreasing nutrient export and keeping the tank a little dirtier. But weekly changes also provides more stability and trace elements that are important.

I do feed the tang Nori a few times a week. It absolutely loves it!

 

[schuby]

Instead of dosing nitrates, consider dosing ammonia. You should be able to find a few threads on here about it and why it may be more beneficial to your corals.