Nirate Exporting for a newb

[SF_Ice]

So I've had my tank setup for about 2.5 months now. It is a 15 gallon AIO(no skimmer). It is a pretty simple setup as far as SW goes. I'm currently sitting at about 5 PPM nitrates after doing two 20% WCs (one on Thursday one on Sunday). Before these WCs it was a solid 10-20PPM. What can I do to better export my nitrates? up to this point I've been meticulous about my weekly 20%'ers and I do not seem to have any real issues inside the tank. I have one very small zoa frag that opens daily large and wide. I was recently informed that my nitrates are very high hence the double WC to reduce them.

FWIW:
0-.25 ammo
0 nitrites
~5 Nitrates
8.2 PH
10.9 Alkalinity
0-.03 Phosphates (I think its 0)

a pair of clowns, One zoa frag, 12 blue leg hermits (very very small), 6 astrea snails.


TIA

 

[Oscaror]

So I've had my tank setup for about 2.5 months now. It is a 15 gallon AIO(no skimmer). It is a pretty simple setup as far as SW goes. I'm currently sitting at about 5 PPM nitrates after doing two 20% WCs (one on Thursday one on Sunday). Before these WCs it was a solid 10-20PPM. What can I do to better export my nitrates? up to this point I've been meticulous about my weekly 20%'ers and I do not seem to have any real issues inside the tank. I have one very small zoa frag that opens daily large and wide. I was recently informed that my nitrates are very high hence the double WC to reduce them.

FWIW:
0-.25 ammo
0 nitrites
~5 Nitrates
8.2 PH
10.9 Alkalinity
0-.03 Phosphates (I think its 0)

a pair of clowns, One zoa frag, 12 blue leg hermits (very very small), 6 astrea snails.


TIA

Is there any way to stuff chaeto in the back of that AIO?

 

[SF_Ice]

@Oscaror

I've thought about the Chaeto. However I don't seem to have anyway to light it. I cant seem to figure out anyway to do a skimmer(don't want to pay for a subpar HOB), Refugium is a good option but the lighting becomes and issue, and I don't really have any knowledge of scrubbers.

 

[Oscaror]

@Oscaror

I've thought about the Chaeto. However I don't seem to have anyway to light it. I cant seem to figure out anyway to do a skimmer(don't want to pay for a subpar HOB), Refugium is a good option but the lighting becomes and issue, and I don't really have any knowledge of scrubbers.

Have you looked up chaeto reactors? I use a fuge because I have the space but I really like these things as a compact solution for nutrient export

 

[SF_Ice]

I wonder if I could DIY something out of a Glass bottle or a Plastic bottle. use an air pump to pull water through. Use waterproof LED strip to wrap the bottle and some knobbed suction cups to stick it to the glass in one of the compartments. Would this be before or after mech/Bio filtration? in my return side?

 

[Oscaror]

I wonder if I could DIY something out of a Glass bottle or a Plastic bottle. use an air pump to pull water through. Use waterproof LED strip to wrap the bottle and some knobbed suction cups to stick it to the glass in one of the compartments. Would this be before or after mech/Bio filtration? in my return side?

Well most of these are DIY, I'll link you one of many tutorials, but they usually have a pump running water through the media reactor and are kept outside of the tank and sump/AIO compartment. It could go before or after just as long as the tank water runs through it should be fine either way.

 

[SF_Ice]

awesome! Thanks so much ill look into these and let you know what I come up with.

 

[BeejReef]

+1 for fuge, chaeto reactor, or even an algae turf scrubber. Your N and P are already pretty low. They're so scale-able though. a $10 timer and you can adjust the photoperiod in 15 minute intervals and dial it in to exactly where you need it for a set sized blob of chaeto. Not so easy to tune a skimmer that finely and less work than fiddling with a reactor.

with phosphate that low, that could be what's limiting your nitrate export

 

[SF_Ice]

Can you elaborate on that. Regarding the phosphate to nitrate relationship?

 

[btmedic04]

Corals/algae etc need both nitrate and phosphate to grow. If one is lacking, there will be little to no growth. Now with that said, 10-20 nitrates are not bad for a softy/lps based tank. How old is your system? Even on my mixed reef tanks, I run at about 5ppm but I do not chase a number and everything is growing like weeds.

 

[gmcc14]

Not sure if it will fit your tank, but I recently purchased the icecap K1 nano skimmer, I was skeptical as most nano skimmers aren’t worth the money, but this little skimmer does work. Easy to tune and pulls a good amount of skimmate. If this fits in your tank I’d highly recommend it!

 

[SF_Ice]

@btmedic04
@gmcc14

I'd like to stay away from a Skimmer right now as my family is moving and I'll be switching over to my 80g once we are settled in then ill get into my skimmer and rearrange my sump accordingly.

The tank has been setup for about 2.5 months yes it is still very young. Truthfully, I can't say that I've seen much growth from my zoa but polyp extension seems to be appropriate.

So if I'm understanding this correctly, nitrates are not required to be at a very low (<5ppm) they are essential for coral growth, both nitrate and phosphate. I know it is hard to give a particular number as each tank is different. Is there maybe a number to avoid or more a threshold to stay below? I know many preach about stability. Perhaps true stability is something more to strive for rather than a particular reading or number? Maybe I should be looking to increase Phosphate?

Please forgive me for being so green but I was told this is the place to ASK and to learn

 

[btmedic04]

@SF_Ice correct. Sub 5ppm nitrate readings are not required for the vast majority of our systems. There are some instances out there though where that would be beneficial (sps dominant tank, or to get an algae problem under control.) As far as thresholds, I would avoid 0 readings for both nitrate and phosphate as that can lead to dinos. The upper end of the spectrum is a bit more difficult to set as every tank is different. For my tanks, I personally have set about 20ppm nitrate and 0.1ppm for phosphate for my tanks but a good indicator of too high is nuisance algae growth. Once your tank has aged, your numbers will stabilize and you'll be able to tell just by observing it. Stable parameters > textbook perfect parameters. Lastly I wouldn't look into dosing phosphate just yet since your tank is so young. It still has a few more phases of algae to go through before it stabilizes

 

[SF_Ice]

Excellent. Thank you for all your advice. I’ll just keep on keeping on. I have no problems currently so I’ll maintain my schedule.

Thanks again to everyone who posted!