I'm so happy...I have Nitrates

[Siberwulf]

Nitrates have been the biggest struggle for me by FAR. For context, this is still a pretty new tank. Been up and running for about a year now. This is the full triton method, so I'm running a fuge and oversized skimmer with no water changes. (I realize my level of apathy with WCs and this was an approach I just had to explore).

I've been trying proactively to keep them off zero since the "Great Dino Bloom of 2021" with little to no success. I went with overfeeding, throwing in a whole mysis cube for my two little clown fish. I added two more fish (and had to sell them since they were not well-planned...and kinda mean) and that didn't help. I reduced my Chaeto in my sump...and that didn't help. I turned my skimmer off 4 hours a day, and that didn't help.

I finally broke down and started dosing Neo Nitro to help keep it off zero, but it felt weird to be doing this. High Nitrates are usually a problem for everyone...and here I was having to claw just to find some. Weird problem to have.

A trip to my LFS, where I was asking about "Why are my Zoas shrinking" prompted a discussion about feeding the corals...and sadly..I realize I had dropped the ball and wasn't adding any other items (except some phyto daily) to take care of this. They noted that my nitrate problem would be fixed if I fed the corals some Coral Max twice a week. Well... it didn't help!

I finally tried one last ditch effort just to see if I could get them to spike. With only two clowns in there, a quick spike (and I could do a WC to drop it if I needed to) would be fine for them. Soooo I went nuclear.

• I removed 75% of the Chaeto from the fuge
• I turned my skimmer off 12 hours a day
• I reduced the lighting (I hadn't done this before) in my sump to stay on only 4 hours a day

After a week, I tested my NO3. It was 0.4. I was pretty giddy, since this at least showed the right direction. Another test 4 days later, and they were 0.9. Both of these without dosing any NeoNitro. I'm not there yet, but I'm at least in the right direction!

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

PS: Been keeping tabs on PO4, but according to the terrible Red Sea kit, it's always sticking at .12. Algae seems to stay at bay though, with the CUC I have going.

 

[Miami Reef]

but according to the terrible Red Sea kit, it's always sticking at .12

Oh, you don’t like the Red Sea test kit? May I ask why?

 

[Siberwulf]

Oh, you don’t like the Red Sea test kit? May I ask why?

I've never looked at that wheel and thought to myself "Wow, that's exactly the color on the other side" I just splurged on a Hanna Phosphate checker since the digital readout is so nice.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for the write up!

Going forward, when the neonitro runs out, I'd suggest a different product. Neonitro lacks any purity or composition guarantee (from a company known to have poor understanding of chemistry).

IMO, the best products are (in order) food grades or acs reagent grades of

calcium nitrate > sodium nitrate > potassium nitrate.

The first can be harder to fine than the otehr two, so sodium nitrate is often the best choice. Cheap, with good purity assurance from the grade.

 

[melonheadorion]

Thanks for the write up!

Going forward, when the neonitro runs out, I'd suggest a different product. Neonitro lacks any purity or composition guarantee (from a company known to have poor understanding of chemistry).

IMO, the best products are (in order) food grades or acs reagent grades of

calcium nitrate > sodium nitrate > potassium nitrate.

The first can be harder to fine than the otehr two, so sodium nitrate is often the best choice. Cheap, with good purity assurance from the grade.

thats good to know. i havent had to dose the neo nitro in quite some time, and hopefully i dont anymore since my nitrates seem to be staying stable at a good number <10

 

[WisReef]

Thanks for the write up!

Going forward, when the neonitro runs out, I'd suggest a different product. Neonitro lacks any purity or composition guarantee (from a company known to have poor understanding of chemistry).

IMO, the best products are (in order) food grades or acs reagent grades of

calcium nitrate > sodium nitrate > potassium nitrate.

The first can be harder to fine than the otehr two, so sodium nitrate is often the best choice. Cheap, with good purity assurance from the grade.

Do you have a writeup of the proper dilution of powdered sodium nitrate?

 

[Siberwulf]

I've never looked at that wheel and thought to myself "Wow, that's exactly the color on the other side" I just splurged on a Hanna Phosphate checker since the digital readout is so nice.

I just tested my PO4 with the new Hanna...and sure enough, it was .25! I'll keep an eye on this, but feel I need to work on dropping it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Do you have a writeup of the proper dilution of powdered sodium nitrate?

You can use this calculator and the entry for nitrate from potassium nitrate (its close enough):

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

 

[Siberwulf]

Update here...I'm not really out of the clear. I was a little bummed to see my NO3 test at 0.6 on Monday (I thought it was trending up), so I went a bit harder on the Skimmer and just turned it off. I also dosed a small amount of Phosphat-E to drop my PO4 down to .08 from 0.25. Using this calculator to figure I needed 2ml in my 90g twv. Instead PO4 went UP to 0.26

I tested my NO3 again this AM and am not sure how to interpret the 1.0ppm reading...I thought it would be higher considering I'm feeding corals twice a week and pretty heavily overfeeding my fish.

Any other advise here? Here's my whole tank params:

• 90g Total Water Volume
• Oversize skimmer (was on for 12 hours a day, now off as of 4/4)
• Sump with reduced Chaeto (maybe tennis ball size)
• 1.0 NO3 (Was 0.6 on Monday
• 9.3 dkh Alk
• 1.026 Salinity
• 440 Ca
• 1600 Mg
• 0.26 PO4

I am not doing water changes in here since I'm trying to roll with the Triton Method.

I'm not sure if the answer is "Just wait longer and it'll change directions" or "Something is obviously wrong that I don't understand" sooooo.....


PS I do have a Cyano outbreak going on in the front corner of my DT, and am planning to dose Chemiclean in the future to nuke it. Could these be sucking up Nitrates that fast?

PPS: I do have a pretty hefty Aiptasia infestation and waiting for a filefish to help the four peppermints clean things up before I go chemical treatment (Aiptasia X or Joe's Juice) on it. Would these eat my nitrates up?

 

[Siberwulf]

Thanks for the write up!

Going forward, when the neonitro runs out, I'd suggest a different product. Neonitro lacks any purity or composition guarantee (from a company known to have poor understanding of chemistry).

IMO, the best products are (in order) food grades or acs reagent grades of

calcium nitrate > sodium nitrate > potassium nitrate.

The first can be harder to fine than the otehr two, so sodium nitrate is often the best choice. Cheap, with good purity assurance from the grade.

I generally get anxious when buying bags of chemicals.... is this the right one?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Assuming it is what it claims to be, yes, it is suitable.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Seems like the coral foods have higher phosphate content than nitrate, I would start feeding like crazy with foods that increase nitrate like mysis / dosing nitrate . I feed 4-5 cubes daily and a sheet of nori / one clam on the half shell. Nitrate is 10-20 and phosphate is .1. Just threw out chaeto yesterday so my numbers may go down again lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Seems like the coral foods have higher phosphate content than nitrate, I would start feeding like crazy with foods that increase nitrate like mysis / dosing nitrate .

I think it unlikely that any natural food has literally more P than N unless it has been artificially preserved with phosphate. But certainly some have more P than others.

I show a bunch of analyses here:

Aquarium Chemistry: Phosphate And Math: Yes You Need To Understand Both

Foods are by far the most important source of phosphate in most aquariums. In considering whether sources of phosphate other than foods are important, one must carefully look to the actual amounts involved to determine whether other sources are even worth trying to minimize.

reefs.com

 

[Billldg]

Thanks for the write up!

Going forward, when the neonitro runs out, I'd suggest a different product. Neonitro lacks any purity or composition guarantee (from a company known to have poor understanding of chemistry).

IMO, the best products are (in order) food grades or acs reagent grades of

calcium nitrate > sodium nitrate > potassium nitrate.

The first can be harder to fine than the otehr two, so sodium nitrate is often the best choice. Cheap, with good purity assurance from the grade.

I think a lot of us reefers have issues buying anything labeled chemicals and it not say saltwater reef tank safe. What are some brands that you would recommend so we can have a piece of mind adding these to our tanks?

Also, what are some ways to raise P04 and it not effect N03, if its possible?

I have added a TON of NeoNitro and NeoPhos, which is why I ask.

 

[Radicalrob1982]

Nitrates have been the biggest struggle for me by FAR. For context, this is still a pretty new tank. Been up and running for about a year now. This is the full triton method, so I'm running a fuge and oversized skimmer with no water changes. (I realize my level of apathy with WCs and this was an approach I just had to explore).

I've been trying proactively to keep them off zero since the "Great Dino Bloom of 2021" with little to no success. I went with overfeeding, throwing in a whole mysis cube for my two little clown fish. I added two more fish (and had to sell them since they were not well-planned...and kinda mean) and that didn't help. I reduced my Chaeto in my sump...and that didn't help. I turned my skimmer off 4 hours a day, and that didn't help.

I finally broke down and started dosing Neo Nitro to help keep it off zero, but it felt weird to be doing this. High Nitrates are usually a problem for everyone...and here I was having to claw just to find some. Weird problem to have.

A trip to my LFS, where I was asking about "Why are my Zoas shrinking" prompted a discussion about feeding the corals...and sadly..I realize I had dropped the ball and wasn't adding any other items (except some phyto daily) to take care of this. They noted that my nitrate problem would be fixed if I fed the corals some Coral Max twice a week. Well... it didn't help!

I finally tried one last ditch effort just to see if I could get them to spike. With only two clowns in there, a quick spike (and I could do a WC to drop it if I needed to) would be fine for them. Soooo I went nuclear.

• I removed 75% of the Chaeto from the fuge
• I turned my skimmer off 12 hours a day
• I reduced the lighting (I hadn't done this before) in my sump to stay on only 4 hours a day

After a week, I tested my NO3. It was 0.4. I was pretty giddy, since this at least showed the right direction. Another test 4 days later, and they were 0.9. Both of these without dosing any NeoNitro. I'm not there yet, but I'm at least in the right direction!

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

PS: Been keeping tabs on PO4, but according to the terrible Red Sea kit, it's always sticking at .12. Algae seems to stay at bay though, with the CUC I have going.

Glad to hear you've had success. I ran my tank with a zero reading for too long which opened the door and met me with either red slime or cyano. I was also always wondering why my lps and softies barely grew. I mean next to no growth. Finally over the course of a year I've raised my nitrates to around 8 to 12 ppm and seen my corals appreciate it ten fold. Also my red slime/cyano is now almost gone except some faint patches on the sand at mid day lighting. To jump start the process I started dosing nitrate from seachem. I took my time and it definitely paid off. I would recommend that product to any experienced reefer with patience. It literally began the process that fixed my tank

 

[Siberwulf]

Assuming it is what it claims to be, yes, it is suitable.

This statement makes me a little anxious. Is there any way to validate it is what it says it is, once I get it? Should I be looking for more reputable places to buy this?

 

[Siberwulf]

So I swapped up to NaNO3, and hooked it up to my DOS. Adding about 5mL/day, and already brought it from 0.0 up to 4.4, slowly. When it hits 5, I'll level that dose out so it can keep steady.... Thanks for the tips here

 

[LeftyReefer]

So I swapped up to NaNO3, and hooked it up to my DOS. Adding about 5mL/day, and already brought it from 0.0 up to 4.4, slowly. When it hits 5, I'll level that dose out so it can keep steady.... Thanks for the tips here

That sounds like what I need to do.