Low Nutrients what to add.

[rushbattle]

yep.. time for some shrimp.. and a snail or two..

I got shrimp, urchins, snails, crabs, and worms to up my bioload. Seems to have helped but N and P is still zero.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

do not want to add a fish.. I cant... the purpose of this is to make sure the Frags do not carry ick into the tank.. all frags are in theQT for 76 days.. which can be a hard thing... IF I add a fish and the frags have any ICK the fish will be a host... and all bets are off...

It is nearly impossible to avoid the Ick parasite in a marine tank. It is way more important to keep your fish healthy and stress free. This keeps the Ick from showing up, healthy fish will fight it off naturally. That in mind you can qt and treat a tang to ensure it is parasite free using copper and the tank tranfer method. Add it to the frag qt for algae control and a nutrient source for the corals.

 

[Brew12]

Bobby,,, respectfully...ick..si . it is a problem and always will be if you do not QT your fish.. I have had healthy systems and have had ich.. Fish carry ick.. I have seen and had tank wipe outs ... i have been doing this for over 30 years. Healthy fish can live with ick.. but the second and issue occurs .. a stress factor ect.. the ick will no longer be in check for lack of better words... This is another issue for another day in the disease forum... I appreciate your opinion.. I do.. I have gone the way you suggest and have had fine results for years.. but one spring.. or two it went bad.. I now QT everything that is wet.. too much at stake in my DT...

Have you considered using old take water when you do a water change to add to your frag tank?

 

[markalot]

Regardless of ich or not these are acros so QT is a good idea to keep AEFW out. You can dip and scrape and hope but nothing is as good as QT for acro pests.

 

[Ike]

Disappointed to see all the suggestions for dosing nitrate and phosphate. It's just a bandaid, not a fix to the actual problem. It's also risky and can be a very difficult balancing act.

Lastly, anyone suggesting nitrate dosing for a coral quarantine tank or coral for coral health should read up on the preferred nitrogen source of corals. Corals must expend extra energy to take in nitrogen via nitrate. If you're going to dose, small amounts of ammonium is probably best. However, I don't recommend dosing liquid for this type of issue as there are too many unknowns and too many risks.

 

[Szigedi]

There is nothing wrong with dosing nitrate or phosphate as a temp solution while everything gets balanced.

 

[blasterman]

I'm also a fan of Seachem Flourish. Note it has both nitrate and phosphate.

Yes, it may be easier to just add more fish, but in my frag tanks I often don't want to deal with more fish, and new tanks can take months before nitrate begins to process and I don't want to deal with all the nutrient cycles.

 

[blasterman]

Disappointed to see all the suggestions for dosing nitrate and phosphate. It's just a bandaid, not a fix to the actual problem. It's also risky and can be a very difficult balancing act.

Lastly, anyone suggesting nitrate dosing for a coral quarantine tank or coral for coral health should read up on the preferred nitrogen source of corals. Corals must expend extra energy to take in nitrogen via nitrate. If you're going to dose, small amounts of ammonium is probably best. However, I don't recommend dosing liquid for this type of issue as there are too many unknowns and too many risks.

I've dosed ammonia in SPS frag tanks that have low bio load and it works. Ammonia is not poison to corals - it's food, and eventually ends up as nitrate. However, this does not solve the phosphate problem. I'm not a fan of ULN tanks and IMO, they are more unstable and more prone to sudden chemistry changes that affect corals more than higher nutrient tank.