I’m giving up.

[Gaines69]

Seems that no matter what I do I cannot get dKH, NO3, and PO4 to go down. I have been doing 20% weekly water changes with distilled water, I have cut down on feedings, and I am keeping on top of cleaning filter media. Heck I even set up a small refugium that hangs on the side of my tank. It has cheto and live rock rubble and is attached to a submersible pump so there is plenty of flow. Everything seems to be doing good. Clown fish are active and hungry all the time. Sea whip is doing good so far. Cuc is active and pistol shrimp is as grumpy as ever. I’m tempted to put all fish in a bucket with the live rock and do a 100% water change. I don’t know.. should I grab another bottle of live bacteria and dump it in? I don’t have any algae blooms yet. ( knock on wood). Water is crystal clear. My system has copepods etc. (find them in the filter all the time). I really want to add a couple of soft corals to go along with my sea whip but these perimeters need to be correct before I add anything else.

 

[mitch91175]

When you say you cannot get dKH down what are you trying to have it and where is it currently? Also what are your other parameters to where you seem so concerned with them? How long has your tank been setup? Did you start out with dry rock, live rock?

I’d also get RODI instead of distilled water as well.

 

[Brew12]

Seems that no matter what I do I cannot get dKH, NO3, and PO4 to go down. I have been doing 20% weekly water changes with distilled water, I have cut down on feedings, and I am keeping on top of cleaning filter media. Heck I even set up a small refugium that hangs on the side of my tank. It has cheto and live rock rubble and is attached to a submersible pump so there is plenty of flow. Everything seems to be doing good. Clown fish are active and hungry all the time. Sea whip is doing good so far. Cuc is active and pistol shrimp is as grumpy as ever. I’m tempted to put all fish in a bucket with the live rock and do a 100% water change. I don’t know.. should I grab another bottle of live bacteria and dump it in? I don’t have any algae blooms yet. ( knock on wood). Water is crystal clear. My system has copepods etc. (find them in the filter all the time). I really want to add a couple of soft corals to go along with my sea whip but these perimeters need to be correct before I add anything else.

What salt are you using, and what is your current dKH?

What are your NO3 and PO4 levels?

 

[Hitman]

I had the same battle for about 6 months after I set up my 240 gallon tank. I added 4 of the large bottles of Bio Spira, and turned off my Skimmer and reactors for 3 full days. On the 4th day I turned everything back on. Then the 5th day I tested and bam everything but PO4 was at or bellow the levels I was shooting for. I’m still battling PO4 but seeing it’s my predator tank that is feed heavily it’s kinda my fault. I’m awaiting my ROWAPHOS order to get here Tuesday with hopes it works as the HC GFO from BRS is just not cutting it. I only use RO/DI water. Your DKH will be controlled by the salt you use unless you dosing 2 part. Hope that long story helps you some.

 

[HB AL]

What are the levels of each, also I have what I consider a successful reef with a large mix of corals and lots of fish. You say everything is doing good, so the water in the tank must not be all that bad. I try not to over think things as long as everything seems to be doing well.

 

[jsker]

What salt are you using?

Are you running GFO?

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Of the 3 parameters you listed, only PO4 can pose a long term challenge if you have a lot bound into the sand/rockwork. NO3 and Alk are easily reset through water changes/moderating dosing, etc. Can you share the specific levels that have you concerned as well as the tank size. If you have recently added the fuge, you will need to give it time to get into stride and start down the path of nutrient reduction.

As others have pointed out, if your tank is doing good, in spite of the high readings, then you should go slow as hasty actions pose more threat than high readings.

Dennis

 

[Alfrareef]

What are current water parameters?

 

[Gaines69]

Tank has been up and running for almost two years. It’s a 29 gal cube and I’m running. 75 gal hob biowheel filter which I put my own media in. I have nitrate cut to fit filter pads, carbon in a media bag, two bags of Purigen and the two bio wheels. All my rock is live rock and I started with live sand. I have plans to get a rodi system but I just moved back into my own place after being in a hotel for 8 month. Harvey thought I needed 4’ of water in my old apartment. Lol. Funds are tight right now so I’m doing what I can.
PO4 is staying between .25 and .50. Never goes below .25
dKH is 15. It’s never been below 14 and has gotten as high as 18
NO3 is greater than 160. Lowest it’s been is 40 ppm
Calcium is staying between 400 and 520.
Ammonia is always at zero
Nitrite is always at zero
PH ranges between 7.0 to 8.4 ( currently out of ph testing supplies. Will get more on the 20 th.
When I moved the tank into our new place the first part of June I did about a 50% water change. It was at a friends home during the 8 months and she was using tap water for top off etc.
I use IO sea salt was using the reef salt until I ran out last water change.
I am not running GFO. This tank is over six years old and cannot be drilled. I’m trying to diy a sump so I can add a slimmer and a bigger fuge. Just trying to figure out how to do it without drilling.

 

[Alfrareef]

First I would get rid of all those filters, keeping only the purigen.
Second, do a large (50%) wc.
Third, get a new set of test kit.
Forth, buy Red Sea NOPOX and do some GFO.
Fifth, probably you should swap the sand... (and before the wc...)
Good luck. Everything will become ok.

 

[Hitman]

IO salt has a high DKH. The last bucket I bought a fresh batch mixed to 1.026 on a calibrated refractometer had a DKH of 14. I’m switching to Red Sea Blue bucket which from reviews is closer to 8 DKH in a fresh mix.

 

[Brew12]

IO salt has a high DKH. The last bucket I bought a fresh batch mixed to 1.026 on a calibrated refractometer had a DKH of 14. I’m switching to Red Sea Blue bucket which from reviews is closer to 8 DKH in a fresh mix.

Did you have that on regular IO or on Reef Crystals? I never say dKH that high when I used IO. I do much prefer the Blue Bucket that I use now.

 

[Benny Morosco]

Seems that no matter what I do I cannot get dKH, NO3, and PO4 to go down. I have been doing 20% weekly water changes with distilled water, I have cut down on feedings, and I am keeping on top of cleaning filter media. Heck I even set up a small refugium that hangs on the side of my tank. It has cheto and live rock rubble and is attached to a submersible pump so there is plenty of flow. Everything seems to be doing good. Clown fish are active and hungry all the time. Sea whip is doing good so far. Cuc is active and pistol shrimp is as grumpy as ever. I’m tempted to put all fish in a bucket with the live rock and do a 100% water change. I don’t know.. should I grab another bottle of live bacteria and dump it in? I don’t have any algae blooms yet. ( knock on wood). Water is crystal clear. My system has copepods etc. (find them in the filter all the time). I really want to add a couple of soft corals to go along with my sea whip but these perimeters need to be correct before I add anything else.

What are you testing the water with just a question because back in the day I used an old kit once and my reading were all over the place I bought a new kit and everything was good.

 

[Gaines69]

What are you testing the water with just a question because back in the day I used an old kit once and my reading were all over the place I bought a new kit and everything was good.

I’m testing with API master reef kit. It’s less than a year old. Expires in 2022.

 

[Larry L]

Other than the alk being a bit high, those numbers look fine to me, especially if a) everything currently in the tank looks fine, and b) you just want to add some softies. I rarely am able to get my phosphates below 0.3, but even my SPS are fine with that. I'm not sure how SPS would like nitrates at 160 but softies would be ok with that, I have run softie tanks in the past with that kind of nitrate level. If nitrates are high because of the tank having been topped off with tap water, and you've stopped doing that, then I'd expect them to gradually drop over time with regular water changes (assuming your salt-mixing water is not high in nitrates), or you could do some carbon dosing with vinegar or NOPOx or something like that to bring them down.

I'd measure alk in some freshly-mixed saltwater, and see how high it is. Like some previous posts said you could switch salt brands to something that is supposed to mix up with a lower alk, or you could add small amounts of muriatic acid (from the hardware store) to your newly-mixed water to get the alk down to where you want it before adding it to the tank.

 

[Gaines69]

Thanks everyone. I feel a lot better now. Going to stick to my 20% water changes but I think I’ll do them every two weeks instead of every week. I’ll get more Chaetomorpha for my little fuge and let it do its thing. Think I’m going to cut back to feeding to once a day for now. I’ll just alternate between frozen and flakes. Only problem with having only Purigen in my filter is that the flow coming back into the tank is too strong plus I need something to collect larger particulates from the water. I’ll remove the carbon after a week so it has time to polish the water.

 

[Hitman]

Did you have that on regular IO or on Reef Crystals? I never say dKH that high when I used IO. I do much prefer the Blue Bucket that I use now.

Regular IO both buckets I’ve bought this year have tested really high. My local shop has had the same issue and have switched to Red Sea Blue bucket with great results.

 

[Gaines69]

I’m just not sure I can find any other salt in my local area. I’m gonna test my water next time. I know that the distilled water has zero everything because I tested it. Lol

 

[Hitman]

I’m just not sure I can find any other salt in my local area. I’m gonna test my water next time. I know that the distilled water has zero everything because I tested it. Lol

BRS sells the blue bucket and free shipping. They also have the cheapest price I’ve found.

 

[Brew12]

I’ll remove the carbon after a week so it has time to polish the water.

The carbon is one thing I would continue using.