New to the hobby need help with parameters

[Cephalo]

Hey all, I’m pretty new to this all so I appreciate the help, tank is 7 months old, 75 gallons, 60lb of live rock, 60lb of live sand, I’ve been having issues with nitrates and phosphates everything else seems to be in order, recently added denitrate which lowered my nitrates from 27ppm to 4.4ppm overnight however 8 hours later it was 14.5ppm, phosphates also have been steadily increasing while using Phosphat-E from brightwell, phosphate was at .58ppm last night around 10pm and is now at .71ppm aprox 20 hours later, I’ve been using Hanna testers for all tests if that helps, thank you

 

[Cephalo]

As for what’s all in the tank:

2 clowns
1 fairy wrasse
1 yellow Corris wrasse
1 diamond goby
1 dragon goby
1 2-3in powder blue tang

Clean up crew:
1 Conch
3 emerald crabs
3 turbo snails
10-15 small misc snails

Coral:
2 zoanthids 5-6 polyps each

There’s also a small RBTA which I haven’t seen in a couple weeks (LFS said not to worry about it but I’m worried about it )

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Did you start the tank with dry rock? Dry rock will leach phosphate like what you describe (if its not a testing error). And if the rock is leaching phosphate, then the best solution is rowa phos, or some other granular remover, they work better for long term slow removal.

The nitrate level is not that high, a simple water change would have reduced it naturally.

 

[ryanjohn1]

What foods are you feeding how much and how often

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Phosphate is .71? Or .071? .7 for phosphate is usually considered pretty high, but some have had success with higher phosphate as long as you don’t have a swing in your phosphate level.

Also you mention having a rbta, what’s your other parameters?

 

[Pntbll687]

I would get on a once a week schedule for testing phosphate and nitrate, not everyday.

Don't be chasing numbers and using all sorts of media to bring down the nutrients. They work, but they get you on the wrong path of, "use this when X is high and it comes down", which happens, but you're not addressing the cause.

Starting feeding slightly less and see if the numbers come down naturally. Foods higher in protein will end up having a higher nitrate content when they break down. Foods like pellets and flakes will have a higher phosphate content, just so you can be mindful of what your feeding.

Test once a week, do water change if necessary, enjoy the tank more and stop testing all the time.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I would get on a once a week schedule for testing phosphate and nitrate, not everyday.

Don't be chasing numbers and using all sorts of media to bring down the nutrients. They work, but they get you on the wrong path of, "use this when X is high and it comes down", which happens, but you're not addressing the cause.

Starting feeding slightly less and see if the numbers come down naturally. Foods higher in protein will end up having a higher nitrate content when they break down. Foods like pellets and flakes will have a higher phosphate content, just so you can be mindful of what your feeding.

Test once a week, do water change if necessary, enjoy the tank more and stop testing all the time.

The “the chasing number cycle” is a dangerous cycle you can fall victim too. You’ll start to worry and stress about every number, and start the endless cycle of trying to fix everything which will result in further stress for you and for your tank. I don’t chase numbers, I check every so often, if something is low or high I fix it and move on.

 

[Cephalo]

Phosphate is .71? Or .071? .7 for phosphate is usually considered pretty high, but some have had success with higher phosphate as long as you don’t have a swing in your phosphate level.

Also you mention having a rbta, what’s your other parameters?

.7 phosphates
Nitrate went from 4ppm to 27ppm in a day
480 calcium
1300 mag
8 Kh
8.2 Ph

 

[Cephalo]

The “the chasing number cycle” is a dangerous cycle you can fall victim too. You’ll start to worry and stress about every number, and start the endless cycle of trying to fix everything which will result in further stress for you and for your tank. I don’t chase numbers, I check every so often, if something is low or high I fix it and move on.

Sounds good, my initial issue was undetectable nitrates LFS said to keep it 15-20 and recommended a nitrate additive which I added at half the recommended amount which gave me a 80+ nitrate reading so I’ve just been trying to figure it out

 

[Cephalo]

What foods are you feeding how much and how often

Feeding a frozen reef mix that I wash and strain with RODI, comes in a sheet but I break off about a cube worth daily

 

[Cell]

Sustained 27 nitrate is immensely favored over a rapid drop in nitrate like going from 27 to 4 in a day. Whatever changes you make need to be done much more slowly. As is, .7 PO4 and 27 nitrate is completely fine.

 

[Cell]

Recently added denitrate which lowered my nitrates from 27ppm to 4.4ppm

Nitrate went from 4ppm to 27ppm in a day

2nd post is typo?

 

[Cephalo]

I would get on a once a week schedule for testing phosphate and nitrate, not everyday.

Don't be chasing numbers and using all sorts of media to bring down the nutrients. They work, but they get you on the wrong path of, "use this when X is high and it comes down", which happens, but you're not addressing the cause.

Starting feeding slightly less and see if the numbers come down naturally. Foods higher in protein will end up having a higher nitrate content when they break down. Foods like pellets and flakes will have a higher phosphate content, just so you can be mindful of what your feeding.

Test once a week, do water change if necessary, enjoy the tank more and stop testing all the time.

Sorry I should have explained better the initial cause was I was using a API nitrate tester which was reading 0, LFS said to be around 15-20 recommended a nitrate additive, used half the recommended dose and bought a Hanna tester reading came out at over 80ppm did 2 50% water changes over a few days with the granular denitrate and it went to 4.4 then 27 a day later I’ll leave it alone and see what it does in a week thank you

 

[Cephalo]

2nd post is typo?

No sorry it was 27ppm then 4.4 the next day and day after that is back up to 27ppm with the granular denitrate

 

[Cephalo]

Did you start the tank with dry rock? Dry rock will leach phosphate like what you describe (if its not a testing error). And if the rock is leaching phosphate, then the best solution is rowa phos, or some other granular remover, they work better for long term slow removal.

The nitrate level is not that high, a simple water change would have reduced it naturally.

Started with live rock only, added a small caribsea life rock about 4 months ago though, using a fluval 407 canister filter and it has 2 bags of fluval brand granular phosphate remover that are 2 or so weeks old, and the 27ppm is after 2 50% changes

 

[Rappa]

I had the same exact issue when I started my tank. Nitrate was @0.0 and phosphate was @ .99!!!! Tank looked phenomenal though! Do yourself a favor, and just let the rocks leach their phosphate on their own, until things stabilize. I worked so hard chasing these numbers up and down, I ended up causing myself so many problems that I am finally stabilizing a year later. BE CAREFUL WITH GFO!!! I zeroed out Phos from .99 to ZERO in like 10-14 days! Then ended up with cyanno and Hair Algae that covered every single surface of the tank. All corals that were doing great turned brown and died. I was dosing Nitrate, carbon dosing, etc.... all to chase the perfect numbers that people say we should have. Even Coraline Algae died off. I wish I just let the tank do it's thing for a year. I have had to perform ten 8-hour manual hair algae removal sessions. These new rocks are way different from the Live-rock I got 20+ years ago directly from the ocean. They definitely leach Po4 in my opinion... and I'm not even sure if it's real or if it fakes out the Hanna test. My tank looked amazing until I messed with it. Take it slow and just do water changes is my advice on this one. Good luck and I'll follow along!

EDIT- Sorry I just read that you used live rock only.. But you did add the Life Rock, which is what I have in my tank. I think that Liferock leaches Po4.