Need help making sense of my parameters

[Kodski]

Hello everyone,
I'm fairly new to testing my reef. I need some help deciphering what these readings mean and what course of action I should take.

pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0.2 (I feed right before testing, otherwise it tests regularly at 0)
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Phosphate - 0
Alk - 8.5
Calcium - 510
Magnesium - somewhere around 1600 to 1700

I had basic test kits before yesterday and tested pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and nitrate. I usually test around 8pH, 0 ammonia and nitrite, but I was having issues with nitrate being around between the 20-50 range. Its been a while since I've last tested though and I'm surprised to see 0 nitrate. I feed heavily, no skimmer, and I just added some cheato yesterday. Otherwise regular 5 gallon water changes every 7-10 days. The tank is a AIO 20 gallon. I decided to go ahead and test everything as I picked up calcium, phosphate, and magnesium test kits last night.

I am seeing Dinoflagellates, but seeming to keep them under control. But not sure how to proceed without messing something up big time.

 

[andrewey]

Hey there! We'd love to help! First, if you'll pardon me, I have a couple questions

What test kit are you using (API, red sea, etc.)?
How old is the test kit/expiration date?
What salt do you use?
Do you dose anything?
What corals do you currently have in your 20 gallon and how old is the tank?

 

[Scorpius]

Zero nitrates and zero phosphates is no good. Gotta have some nutrients and that's probably why you're seeing dino's.

 

[Kodski]

What test kit are you using (API, red sea, etc.)?

Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, alk, and pH are all Red Sea kits. Phosphate(01/2022 exp) and Calcium(05/2024 exp) are Salifert kits. Magnesium is a Nyos kit ( 04/2023 exp).

How old is the test kit/expiration date?

The Red Sea kit was bought four months ago, can't find the exp date. But I remember checking it upon arrival on the kit box and it had a few years at least. All other kits were purchased last night.

What salt do you use?

I was using Seachem Vibrant Sea salt, but I have switched over to IO Reef Crystals. Due to water changes and Dilution there is probably 50/50 of each. I've done two 5 gallon water changes with the IO salt.

Do you dose anything?

I dose 3ML each of Seachem Reef Fusion 1&2 every two days.

What corals do you currently have in your 20 gallon and how old is the tank?

Currently I have a BTA which is not doing well but has been surviving in the same state for months now. I thought it was unhappy due to high nitrates. 3 Zoa frags, probably 20 polyps total. Hammer coral with two heads. Mini Maxi Carpet Nem and a 3-4" sheet of green star polyps. On Friday I added 3-4" frag of campfire montipora digitata, 4" frag of green montipora, 5 polyps of ultra rainbow cloves.

The tank was set up with cured live rock on November 10th. Originally the tank was a Fluval Flex 9g. April 18th I moved everything over to a DIY AIO 20g long tank. Last time I tested anything was about a week before the tank move.

 

[Kodski]

I should add that I feel that I feed heavily, though over the last week have been trying to feed lighter. Apparently that's the exact opposite of what I should have done.

 

[brandon429]

hey if you'll take 30 mins to read this thread, in ten pages you have a literal start to finish roadmap of maturing out a starting reef tank its pretty neat, and ongoing as we speak. it shows a way to handle all forms of parameter concern, and concern over dreaded dinos.

we havent tested params not once, thats by design.

Cycling a new Biocube 32

Hello all! My name is Daniel from Florida and I’m starting to get into the reef hobby. I have been cycling my tank for two weeks now and logging it into an app. I have recently been gifted a live rock with some good amount of coralline on it. I also got some water from and established tank. My...

www.reef2reef.com

all your params: look great. time to put them away for three months. water changes and feeding will give you all you need.

when to concern about measuring params beyond temp and salt level: after three mos of CPR guiding/mass building and some people choose to never veer from that. in nanos/ its easy.

param detailing by law is only for large reefers, we get to break all the laws. we will never measure phosphate in that reef.

 

[andrewey]

Hmm, something is a little wonky then. Have you tried doing a second test of your nitrate/phosphate? It's very possible those zero values are true, however, it would be a bit odd to come from 50 nitrate to 0 without any intervention on your part beyond regular water changes (given those have remained constant). I would first repeat the tests as that's the most likely culprit.

 

[andrewey]

As far as what action you should take, here's how I see it.
1) Retest your values to make sure your nitrate and phosphate are indeed accurate
2) The rest of your water chemistry looks fine. I would continue with your WCs as it clearly seems to work and the swtich to RC will help to lower that magnesium a bit.
3) As far as the nem is concerned, while it could be the nitrate, it's also possible it's unhappy because of your lighting or flow. Those usually are the bigger two culprits. It's hard to say and with the tank being newer, there could be some microbiological change that's angering the anemone that you wouldn't be privy to.
4) I would confirm you have dinos and the species of dino. If so, you can take steps to treat them- it may be why your nem is angry. In any event, it's usually a good idea to get them under controll as a "stable" population of dinos can always be triggered with the slightest disturbance to the tank.
5) Beyond the anemone being unhappy, it sounds like you're doing a fantastic job!

 

[Kodski]

hey if you'll take 30 mins to read this thread, in ten pages you have a literal start to finish roadmap of maturing out a starting reef tank its pretty neat, and ongoing as we speak. it shows a way to handle all forms of parameter concern, and concern over dreaded dinos.

we havent tested params not once, thats by design.

Cycling a new Biocube 32

Hello all! My name is Daniel from Florida and I’m starting to get into the reef hobby. I have been cycling my tank for two weeks now and logging it into an app. I have recently been gifted a live rock with some good amount of coralline on it. I also got some water from and established tank. My...

www.reef2reef.com

all your params: look great. time to put them away for three months. water changes and feeding will give you all you need.

when to concern about measuring params beyond temp and salt level: after three mos of CPR guiding/mass building and some people choose to never veer from that. in nanos/ its easy.

param detailing by law is only for large reefers, we get to break all the laws. we will never measure phosphate in that reef.

Brandon thank you for that thread. I've read about 10 pages of it and I will continue reading and then read it all again. Lots of great and helpful info in there. I think it shows how much we can over complicate a process some times. As I read I realized I totally forgot to mention am running a mixed bag of phosguard and carbon along with a bag of purfiltrum (basically purigen). To make sure I cover everything, I do run filter floss and change it out twice a week.

Here is how I plan on proceeding from where I am at.

1) I will remove all filter media additions and only run carbon if I'm seeing cloudy water. I will continue to use filter floss, and try to grow my cheato.

2) I will continue to feed the way I have been. Twice daily, feeding a little too much, but not tons. Feeding coral once a week.

3) I feel that I should test phosphates and nitrates in a few days just to see if I can get them to raise.

4) Once I see phosphates and nitrates, I will set aside the test kits aside from temp and salinity for 3 months.

5) I will of course continue with the weekly 5 gallon water changes.

 

[Kodski]

As far as what action you should take, here's how I see it.
1) Retest your values to make sure your nitrate and phosphate are indeed accurate
2) The rest of your water chemistry looks fine. I would continue with your WCs as it clearly seems to work and the swtich to RC will help to lower that magnesium a bit.
3) As far as the nem is concerned, while it could be the nitrate, it's also possible it's unhappy because of your lighting or flow. Those usually are the bigger two culprits. It's hard to say and with the tank being newer, there could be some microbiological change that's angering the anemone that you wouldn't be privy to.
4) I would confirm you have dinos and the species of dino. If so, you can take steps to treat them- it may be why your nem is angry. In any event, it's usually a good idea to get them under controll as a "stable" population of dinos can always be triggered with the slightest disturbance to the tank.
5) Beyond the anemone being unhappy, it sounds like you're doing a fantastic job!

I will retest nitrate and phosphate tonight. When I originally got my nem it did great for two months and never moved.

Then one day it decided to move, once it got to it's new spot, it shriveled up and has looked like this ever since. I could never figure out what happened. I didn't change anything mechanically or chemically about the tank. My mini maxi carpet nem was added a week after the bta and it's always done extremely well.

 

[brandon429]

we're against all phosphate and nitrate adsorbing media. eventually causes dinos imo



that summary above is fine. it will work/we're trading in/out water waste work for guaranteed mass building in corals, the actual exercise part is not letting focused fed protein (fed right into corals, tease them with a single drop added 20 mins before feeding) just sit there and amount to dissolved waste.

we're CPR'ing that protein back out of the tank, before it rots.

feeding more isn't work, its easy to toss in feed. the work and the sustained pain that few will do as well as Daniel is the removal part, before it breaks down into phosphate we'd normally be caring about. we're hands on exercise for three months, in a world of totally passive reefing. its guaranteed to work

can back off in time to the more conventional modes/specialized media. you'll have resistant dino free corals if you follow that cpr nano reef method. thanks for reading, Daniel has done so well!

of course chem and param testing is helpful, it'll stop that water waste loss one day.

but we are all told its the required start, no its not. that way is better for nanos. when you have commanded compliance in the reef by practice, then start backing off a bit.

 

[Kodski]

we're against all phosphate and nitrate adsorbing media. eventually causes dinos imo



that summary above is fine. it will work/we're trading in/out water waste work for guaranteed mass building in corals, the actual exercise part is not letting focused fed protein (fed right into corals, tease them with a single drop added 20 mins before feeding) just sit there and amount to dissolved waste.

we're CPR'ing that protein back out of the tank, before it rots.

feeding more isn't work, its easy to toss in feed. the work and the sustained pain that few will do as well as Daniel is the removal part, before it breaks down into phosphate we'd normally be caring about. we're hands on exercise for three months, in a world of totally passive reefing. its guaranteed to work

can back off in time to the more conventional modes/specialized media. you'll have resistant dino free corals if you follow that cpr nano reef method. thanks for reading, Daniel has done so well!

of course chem and param testing is helpful, it'll stop that water waste loss one day.

but we are all told its the required start, no its not. that way is better for nanos. when you have commanded compliance in the reef by practice, then start backing off a bit.

I just removed all phosphate and nitrate reducing media. Thank you for your wisdom. What you say makes perfect sense and I can't wait to see how it all plays out over the course of the next few weeks. I'm hoping through following your method I can nurse my BTA back to health and start to see some growth on my corals. Along with getting rid of the dino's of course.

 

[Moscar]

Hi! IMO if you use a salt mix that has the parameters you want then dosing the Seachem is probably working against you. Something that is often helpful is more frequent, small water changes. It helps smooth out the humps in water quality. Stability. Hope your BTA comes back.

 

[Kodski]

@brandon429 I removed all nitrate and phosphate reducers Thursday. I am currently only running cheato in my refugium and filter floss. I've been feeding heavy twice a day. I tested today and still tested 0 phosphates and nitrates. I plan on doing a 20% water change tomorrow. Am I still going in the right direction?

 

[Kodski]

I fed two cubes of frozen last night. I tested again today and still zero for both. I'm getting worried that I'm not going to be able to fix this..

 

[Moscar]

I fed two cubes of frozen last night. I tested again today and still zero for both. I'm getting worried that I'm not going to be able to fix this..

Look at the BRS refugium mistakes video. Cheato can do too good a job. Try running a shorter photo period for it...or even just light it up 3 days per week. Brightwell has some additives for exactly what you are trying to do by adding food. Worth looking at.

 

[Kodski]

Look at the BRS refugium mistakes video. Cheato can do too good a job. Try running a shorter photo period for it...or even just light it up 3 days per week. Brightwell has some additives for exactly what you are trying to do by adding food. Worth looking at.

Thanks for the tips. I just shortened my fuge light to 3 hours per night. I may just turn it off completely for the next two days. If I don't see any increase, I may have to start dosing. I'd rather avoid that if possible though.

 

[Kodski]

Well for the last three days my Nitrates have been 2ppm and my phosphates have been .05

I did a 25% water change yesterday, and tested today. 5ppm nitrates and .1 phosphates. I'll be running my fuge light tonight for 3 hours since its been off since Monday. I think I'll keep an eye on levels for now. But I went from having to clean diatoms from the glass every 6 hours to not touching the glass for 2 days.

Seems like everything is beginning to work itself out now. I'll keep up with feed two times daily and from there I'll be figuring out how much I can keep my fuge light on for my cheato.