N03 + P04 will not raise.

[NickyReefs]

Good evening...

For some reason I am unable to raise my n03 and P04 levels at all. Tank is coming up on 2 years old. Loaded with fish heavy feeding 3x a day and dose 20ml NeoNitro + NeoPhos daily for roughly 4-5 months straight now and 0 water changes.

Waterbox 130:
Skimmer only filtration.
Alk - 7.8 stable -trident/salifert
Cal 444 stable -trident/salifert
Mag 1350 stable -trident/salifert
Salt.1.026 stable
Ph. 8.0 - 8.4 -apex
Temp 78
N03 0 -redsea/nyos
P04 0 -hanna

Lighting:
2 xr15 G5
2 kessil a360x
Ab+ spectrum 70%
PAR 220 -350 Throughout tank.

Flow:
2 icecap 4k gyres.

Reason for trying to raise nutrients is that I cannt get sps to survive. I get STN and usually takes a month before dead. ICP test came out fine. The only parameter that isent stable is N03 and P04.

 

[blaxsun]

You may want to try raising your alkalinity a bit to between 8.25-8.5dKH (I find my SPS do the best in that range). When you say "loaded with fish", what kind of numbers are we talking about here?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The Brightwell products are fairly weak and it may take more than you are dosing.

I'd aim to dose 2 ppm nitrate and 0.02 ppm phosphate per day. How does that volume of the neo products compare?

How are you dosing it?

 

[NickyReefs]

You may want to try raising your alkalinity a bit to between 8.25-8.5dKH (I find my SPS do the best in that range). When you say "loaded with fish", what kind of numbers are we talking about here?

3 4-5 inch tangs
1 4inch melanarus wrasse
1 2inch tomato clown
1 sixline
1 5inch mida blenny
1 2inch chromis
1 dottyback
1 royal gamma
2 firefish

1 fire shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
1 peppermint shrimp
5 hermits
4 snails
1 urchin
10 nsarius


Softies do OK
Lps / sps just a slow death for most of em.

 

[NickyReefs]

The Brightwell products are fairly weak and it may take more than you are dosing.

I'd aim to dose 2 ppm nitrate and 0.02 ppm phosphate per day. How does that volume of the neo products compare?

How are you dosing it?

Dosing on doser spread over the day. The auto feeder dumping pellets/reef roids 2x a day and I feed 3 cubes of frozen alon evening. Occasionally throwing Nori in 2x a week aswell.

 

[NickyReefs]

Since I've been dosing I've been getting what appears to be Green & red cyano in sandbed.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Dosing on doser spread over the day.

Do you dilute them for dosing? Do you mix them? Does it turn green from possible algae growth in it?

 

[Alex's Nano Reef]

Good evening...

For some reason I am unable to raise my n03 and P04 levels at all. Tank is coming up on 2 years old. Loaded with fish heavy feeding 3x a day and dose 20ml NeoNitro + NeoPhos daily for roughly 4-5 months straight now and 0 water changes.

Waterbox 130:
Skimmer only filtration.
Alk - 7.8 stable -trident/salifert
Cal 444 stable -trident/salifert
Mag 1350 stable -trident/salifert
Salt.1.026 stable
Ph. 8.0 - 8.4 -apex
Temp 78
N03 0 -redsea/nyos
P04 0 -hanna

Lighting:
2 xr15 G5
2 kessil a360x
Ab+ spectrum 70%
PAR 220 -350 Throughout tank.

Flow:
2 icecap 4k gyres.

Reason for trying to raise nutrients is that I cannt get sps to survive. I get STN and usually takes a month before dead. ICP test came out fine. The only parameter that isent stable is N03 and P04.

Are you running a ATO?

 

[NickyReefs]

Do you dilute them for dosing? Do you mix them? Does it turn green from possible algae growth in it?

I do not dilute... or mix. Red sea doser hooked right up to bottles. Doser spreads the amounts slowly throughout 24hrs. Not green and no algea in bottles.

 

[NickyReefs]

Are you running a ATO?

Tunze ATO

 

[Alex's Nano Reef]

Tunze ATO

Adding a ATO is what allowed me to keep sps. So just had to check a lot of people underestimate the power of salinity stability.

 

[blaxsun]

3 4-5 inch tangs
1 4inch melanarus wrasse
1 2inch tomato clown
1 sixline
1 5inch mida blenny
1 2inch chromis
1 dottyback
1 royal gamma
2 firefish

Softies do OK
Lps / sps just a slow death for most of em.

That's not an ungodly amount of fish (I have 49 in a 160-gallon for comparison), but it seems that with skimming only you should have a higher nutrient level. Do you also run a refugium?

 

[NickyReefs]

That's not an ungodly amount of fish (I have 49 in a 160-gallon for comparison), but it seems that with skimming only you should have a higher nutrient level. Do you also run a refugium?

Skimmer only.

 

[NickyReefs]

Adding a ATO is what allowed me to keep sps. So just had to check a lot of people underestimate the power of salinity stability.

Agreed... only parameter off in my tank is the N03 + P04.. the amount of $$$ spent on test kit/reagents/neonitro/neophos is getting ridiculous. I just can't imagine how I am not getting levels.. the only thing I see is green and red cyano showing up in high flow areas on the sand.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'd up the dose, and if the Brightwell products run out, I'd get food grade sodium or calcium nitrate and sodium phosphate from Amazon. They are cheaper, and come with a purity assurance that Brightwell lacks.

 

[NickyReefs]

I'd up the dose, and if the Brightwell products run out, I'd get food grade sodium or calcium nitrate and sodium phosphate from Amazon. They are cheaper, and come with a purity assurance that Brightwell lacks.

Gonna bump each one up another 10ml. Is this something that I'm going to have to dose forever or will it eventually build up enough and stableize?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Gonna bump each one up another 10ml. Is this something that I'm going to have to dose forever or will it eventually build up enough and stableize?

If nothing changes, the nitrate need will remain. The phosphate need will potentialyl reduce as the rock and sand gets more phosphate bound to it. When both are needed, feedign more is also a good option.

 

[doubleshot00]

OP i dose A LOT less than you and have a similar water volume. IDK as much as Mr. RHF but i would either get some salifert test kits to double check and go the food grade route for N and P.

I also dose only when the lights are on to 3x a day. I use the same doser to. Check and make sure the doser is dosing correctly. Mine is known to dose air sometimes.

 

[Bucs20fan]

I agree with Randy, But im wondering what is using the nitrate and phosphate that you are dosing, you say you have corals but none of them are really doing stellar.

 

[NickyReefs]

OP i dose A LOT less than you and have a similar water volume. IDK as much as Mr. RHF but i would either get some salifert test kits to double check and go the food grade route for N and P.

I also dose only when the lights are on to 3x a day. I use the same doser to. Check and make sure the doser is dosing correctly. Mine is known to dose air sometimes.

I checked the doser and she's dosing properly.i currently use 2 diffrent kits for nitrate but only the hanna ulr for phosphates. My doser is dosing through a 24hr period trying to keep consistent.