Nitrate 0, should I dose NO3?

[squarereefer]

I have a fairly new 75 gallon tank that is testing at 0 nitrate and .05 phosphorus using Hanna checkers. The tank has only been wet for 2 months, with me slowly moving coral over the last few weeks and moving all fish last weekend. The fish and coral all seem to be happy, but I am confused as to why I am not starting to see nitrates build. The tank is spotless with no signs of nuisance algae starting. It is moderately stocked (2 clown, 2 PJ, 1 firefish, 1 molly miller) and a moderate amount of coral. I have a small amount of chaeto in my fuge which was added on Friday.

My fear is that the tank did not fully cycle and will crash and kill everything, but I am not seeing any ammonia build up. The nitrates were close 5-10 ppm end of cycle, and below 5ppm after water change (salifert, did not have Hanna at that time) before stocking. I started the cycle by dosing ~2ppm ammonia which was down to 0 at the end and continues to show zero after stocking and feeding the tank.

Is it possible that the corals and chaeto are consuming nitrate as soon as it is produced keeping it at 0? If this were a cycle issue I should be seeing ammonia build, correct? Should I considering ordering NeoNitro or similar to bring NO3 up before I wind up with diatoms?

 

[Lemons]

Tank def a little young for a nutrient absorber like chaeto. Just feed a little heavy handed for a few days and see if you can get it registering

 

[gbroadbridge]

The tank and cheato is probably consuming any Nitrate that is being created by the fish.

As long as you have measurable phosphate it is probably not an issue as it is not really zero, but close.
In your position I would be dosing Nitrate up to about 2ppm using calcium Nitrate or an off the shelf Nitrate additive - mainly as a safety net in a young tank.

You could feed the fish more which would help, or not skim so much - perhaps turn the skimmer off for a while.

 

[Propane]

Your tank is cycled and yes you would see ammonia build up. What food are you feeding the fish

 

[squarereefer]

The tank and cheato is probably consuming any Nitrate that is being created by the fish.

As long as you have measurable phosphate it is probably not an issue as it is not really zero, but close.
In your position I would be dosing Nitrate up to about 2ppm using calcium Nitrate or an off the shelf Nitrate additive - mainly as a safety net in a young tank.

You could feed the fish more which would help, or not skim so much - perhaps turn the skimmer off for a while.

Thank you. I am running a very dry skim right now but can easily turn it off. Should I take the cheato out all together? For some reason, it's been hard to find in my area and my LFS just happened to have some the other day and gave me a handful (smaller than a baseball) so I tossed it in. I can limit the light and try to keep it from growing much until needed?

 

[squarereefer]

Your tank is cycled and yes you would see ammonia build up. What food are you feeding the fish

Currently feeding New Life Spectrum as the main staple and a small cube of frozen mysis every few days. I have fed the corals reef roids once so far in this tank. I did not use the roids much in the old tank becuase I felt like it contirbuted to nurtient over load. Maybe I should feed more often in this tank to push up the levels a touch.

 

[Dburr1014]

Imo, remove at least half of the Cheato, up your feeding.
This is most likely a non-issue.

Instead of buying nitrates you can always dose a couple drops of the ammonia you used.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-ammonia-dosing-for-low-nitrate-systems.987087/&ved=2ahUKEwjKrvO21an_AhV3FVkFHYLYAF4QFnoECBEQAQ&usg=AOvVaw19IdZPU68GqcexRJAEiAhm

 

[Propane]

I would try to increasing feeding more. Pellet food is usually more nutrient dense than flakes and I would do the mysis more as well.

 

[Propane]

Imo, remove at least half of the Cheato, up your feeding.
This is most likely a non-issue.

Instead of buying nitrates you can always dose a couple drops of the ammonia you used.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-ammonia-dosing-for-low-nitrate-systems.987087/&ved=2ahUKEwjKrvO21an_AhV3FVkFHYLYAF4QFnoECBEQAQ&usg=AOvVaw19IdZPU68GqcexRJAEiAhm

Before dosing ammonia consult the ammonia dosing threads to see if it’s right for you. I am currently dosing ammonia and it seems to work for me but I don’t have fish. I would feed more and remove less first. As far as turning off the skimmer I could not advise on that as I don’t have one.

 

[MrGisonni]

Dosing a little N03 using Brightwell or a product like it might be a good idea. Zero nitrates in my mixed reef led to a cyano outbreak followed by dinos. I am more concerned when my Nitrates bottom out then when they hit 30ppm.

 

[mijan]

Your tank is only 2 months old. It is cycled but it is not stable. Outside of regular water changes you really shouldn't be adding anything to your tank for at least the first 6-12 months.
If you want to add nitrates then feed more and/or skim less.

 

[MrGisonni]

Skip a water change and even leave some detritus in your sock or other mechanical filtration you may have. The tank is young and will change over and over as you add livestock. Be prepared to make small weekly changes to your maintenance and dosing schedule to ensure stability. Right now after the addition of an anthias to my 30 mixed reef and the frozen mysis shrimp he loves to eat, my nitrate and phosphate are increasing. They are slowly coming down with a small amount of gfo and a denitrification chamber with Brightwell blocks. If phosphate drops too much, I will feed more mysis, if nitrate drops, I will dose it. Modern reefing is tricky, and I now understand the train of thought to "strip it then replace it" to maintain nutrient levels that keep your reef thriving. FWIW

 

[squarereefer]

Thank you everyone for the feed back. I am going to step up the feeding and hold off on doing a water change a bit longer. I spot fed reef roids to the corals today and frozen mysis for the fish so hopefully that helps dirty up the water a smidge.

 

[squarereefer]

Your tank is only 2 months old. It is cycled but it is not stable. Outside of regular water changes you really shouldn't be adding anything to your tank for at least the first 6-12 months.
If you want to add nitrates then feed more and/or skim less.

Understood and agree. I had to move livestock from the old tank, our home is simply not conducive to leaving two tanks running while the new one stabilizes for 6-12 months. I do not plan to add any additional livestock for several months.

 

[Idech]

It took about 18 months for my 75 gallons to show nitrates and phosphates. I had to dose Neophos and Neonitro. I still have to be careful because they tend to fall back to 0. Although for the last 6-8 weeks they have been increasing.

 

[dwest]

You could leave the skimmer running but remove the collection cup. You could also reduce the photoperiod of the chaeto as well as remove most of it. I had left a couple sprigs of chaeto completely dark for over a month and it grew as soon as I turned the light back on.

I would also make sure the Hanna is working and/or it’s being used correctly. I would be suspicious if it always reads zero.

 

[Acros]

If you dose nitrates, keep an eye on your phosphates. There is a chance that the added nitrates would energize your bacteria, driving down both nitrates and phosphates to 0.

 

[squarereefer]

Tested at lunch at Nitrates are now .03 on the Hanna checker but Phosphates are up to .49ppm. I am going to redo the phosphate test when I get back today because I am having a hard time believing they jumped that quickly.

 

[WarChief]

I freaking feed my fish and corals with 4 cubes a day of brine shrimp. A handful of pellets and I couldnt get nitrates to show. I turned my skimmer off and left the socks in the sump for a while. Still none. I dosed some food grade nitrate I got off amazon and now I am steady at 15 ppm and now that I have added it it stays steadily there. Havent had to do anything. I say dose it to where you want it. If you use what I used its potent so a little then test. And I bet you will be good afterwards.

 

[dadnjesse]

Your tank is only 2 months old. It is cycled but it is not stable. Outside of regular water changes you really shouldn't be adding anything to your tank for at least the first 6-12 months.
If you want to add nitrates then feed more and/or skim less.

This.