High po4, low no3

[Bryan68]

Good afternoon, I've searched the forum and honestly have myself more confused about my current situation. Tank is a transfer, established 34 gallon to waterbox 180.5. Used old live rock, added more dry rock and dry sand. Tank has been wet 3.5 months. Currently have a brown algae on the sand and hair algae on the rocks. Tank has:
1 hippo tang
1 Kole tang
1 one spot foxface
2 clown
2 Cardinals
1 purple tang
I feed 1 each 4x4 inch sheet of nori every other day. 2 cubes of rinsed mysis daily.
My issue is my po4 continues to rise, no3 stays low.
Parameters:
No3, 5ppm
Po4, .123ppm
Salinity, 1.026
Alk, 6.6
Ca, 440
Mg, 1240
So how should I go about balancing po4/no3? Lower po4 or raise no3?
Or let things go for awhile?
Thanks in advance!!!

 

[ejl2529]

Good afternoon, I've searched the forum and honestly have myself more confused about my current situation. Tank is a transfer, established 34 gallon to waterbox 180.5. Used old live rock, added more dry rock and dry sand. Tank has been wet 3.5 months. Currently have a brown algae on the sand and hair algae on the rocks. Tank has:
1 hippo tang
1 Kole tang
1 one spot foxface
2 clown
2 Cardinals
1 purple tang
I feed 1 each 4x4 inch sheet of nori every other day. 2 cubes of rinsed mysis daily.
My issue is my po4 continues to rise, no3 stays low.
Parameters:
No3, 5ppm
Po4, .123ppm
Salinity, 1.026
Alk, 6.6
Ca, 440
Mg, 1240
So how should I go about balancing po4/no3? Lower po4 or raise no3?
Or let things go for awhile?
Thanks in advance!!!

Do you have a gfo reactor?

 

[ejl2529]

Do you have a gfo reactor?

Good afternoon, I've searched the forum and honestly have myself more confused about my current situation. Tank is a transfer, established 34 gallon to waterbox 180.5. Used old live rock, added more dry rock and dry sand. Tank has been wet 3.5 months. Currently have a brown algae on the sand and hair algae on the rocks. Tank has:
1 hippo tang
1 Kole tang
1 one spot foxface
2 clown
2 Cardinals
1 purple tang
I feed 1 each 4x4 inch sheet of nori every other day. 2 cubes of rinsed mysis daily.
My issue is my po4 continues to rise, no3 stays low.
Parameters:
No3, 5ppm
Po4, .123ppm
Salinity, 1.026
Alk, 6.6
Ca, 440
Mg, 1240
So how should I go about balancing po4/no3? Lower po4 or raise no3?
Or let things go for awhile?
Thanks in advance!!!

Also, is it a fish only tank?

 

[SPR1968]

I would add GFO and personally use rowaphos. You may find the GHA is using the phosphate as a food source to grow so the real phosphate level could be higher if you have nothing in the system for phosphate export

Your nitrate level is fine at 5

Your alkalinity is on the low side at 6.6 as you have no downward ‘wiggle room’ if it drops. I would go for 8- 8.5dKH

 

[Bryan68]

I don't have a gfo reactor.
A few soft corals, one torch that is unhappy.

 

[ejl2529]

I don't have a gfo reactor.
A few soft corals, one torch that is unhappy.

I agree that a gfo reactor would be very helpful. I use rowaphos as well. I’ve used multiple GFOs and rowaphos has performed the best. A nitrate of 5 is good and can help bring out the colors of your corals.

 

[Bryan68]

Ok, I will order some rowaphos today. Any suggestions on how to bring up alkalinity without affecting calcium?

 

[ejl2529]

In a perfect world your phosphate would be as close to 0 (is .01-.03) as possible without actually being 0. Unfortunately many test kits do not test that low. A digital ULR Hanna checker can though.

 

[Bryan68]

In a perfect world your phosphate would be as close to 0 (is .01-.03) as possible without actually being 0. Unfortunately many test kits do not test that low. A digital ULR Hanna checker can though.

I'm currently using a Hanna ulr checker.

 

[William Clinton]

I have 0 no3 and a lot of po4. I’m tryna balance mine out rn

 

[Bryan68]

So here's a follow-up question, would a refugium help out the entire situation?

 

[William Clinton]

Personal advice n people may call me crazy. U could drip lanthanum chloride. If ur no3 drops to 0 then u need to dose stump remover to raise it and then po4 could balance out.

 

[SPR1968]

Ok, I will order some rowaphos today. Any suggestions on how to bring up alkalinity without affecting calcium?

Just get some alkalinity additive, I personally use Red Sea foundation B in my S650 but there are others

On the rowaphos you really need a reactor for it to be most effective and change is when spent which may be quickly when you start out.

 

[William Clinton]

U can add media to sump to drop no3 n just dose stump remover as a slow less crazy method.

 

[ejl2529]

I'm currently using a Hanna ulr checker.

Perfect!

 

[Crustaceon]

You lucked out because this is a pretty simple fix. If you have a reactor, you can use some gfo or rowaphos. If not, do what I do and toss a little media bag of seachem phosguard in a high flow area of your sump. I honestly would not mess with your nitrate level right now. 5ppm is not bad and if you wanted it slightly lower, it’s safer to just do a small water change.

 

[Bryan68]

Thank you everyone! I will start making corrections.