Nitrate and Phosphate Help

Resz · Mar 31, 2022

Hi All,
My tank is currently suffering from too low nitrate (0mg/L) and phosphate (0mg/L). I have just increased my nitrate and phosphate levels by increasing feed from 2 times a week to now 3 (spot feeding) + 1 (Broadcast feeding) times a week.

My tank is 75 gallons, has only a pair of clownfish and 14 corals that consist of Euphyllia, Trachyphilla, Goniopora, Kenya Tree, Elegance, Acanthophyllia, cynarina and Mircromussa lords.

What I feed - 1/2 cube Mysis, 1/4 tsp reef roids and some Fauna Marine LPS.

Some of my corals are unhappy but majority are alright. The frammer that I have is not as extending as before and part of my goniopora are closed but after feeding they are alright.

I need some help in what to do and I have come up with a few things but am unsure about it.

Increase Feeding Frequency
Increase Feeding Quantity
Off Skimmer and Filter Roll
Don't Water change (Currently I am doing weekly 10% water Change)
Dose Nitrate and Phosphate

I am unsure if I should do number 4 and number 5. I am thinking of only doing it as a last resort.Any input would be good on what I should do to increase my nitrate and phosphate levels.

Thank you

blaxsun · Mar 31, 2022

First and foremost, what are your nitrates and phosphates?

BigMikeFlipz · Mar 31, 2022

blaxsun said:
First and foremost, what are your nitrates and phosphates?

Reread the first sentence, are they not saying zero?

RBarth · Mar 31, 2022

Don't be afraid to dose these things. Don't be afraid of higher levels and absolutely don't quit doing water changes. I dose Neo Nitro/Neo Phos. I try to keep my Nitrates around 13 and PO4 around 0.1. I'm sure I could do this by feeding like crazy but chemical dosing is predictive.

blaxsun · Mar 31, 2022

BigMikeFlipz said:
Reread the first sentence, are they not saying zero?

Let me re-clarify: are they actually zero and what test kits were used? Also, what are the other water parameters? (since we're talking about corals and presumably not an algae outbreak).

RBarth · Mar 31, 2022

One other thing I'd 'recommend' as a euphyllia/lps dominate tank owner is HIGH magnesium. I keep my levels as close to 1500 as I can. As always, what works for me might not work for u so just know im only trying to help!

Clarkjw2002 · Mar 31, 2022

What did you test phosphates with? If not a Hanna ULR (with repeat tests for confirmation) I'd start by just dosing nitrates. Get those up to 5 or so and see where you are.

Resz · Mar 31, 2022

blaxsun said:
Let me re-clarify: are they actually zero and what test kits were used? Also, what are the other water parameters? (since we're talking about corals and presumably not an algae outbreak).

Yes they 0mg/L, I use salifret and columbo but I am switching all to salifret.
My other parameters are as follows
Alk - 6.6
Ammonia - 0.1
Nitrite - 0
Mg - 1510
Cal - 430

Resz · Mar 31, 2022

RBarth said:
One other thing I'd 'recommend' as a euphyllia/lps dominate tank owner is HIGH magnesium. I keep my levels as close to 1500 as I can. As always, what works for me might not work for u so just know im only trying to help!

My Mg levels are now above 1500. But I am changing salt brand as there is some issue with mine causing low alk.

Resz · Mar 31, 2022

Clarkjw2002 said:
What did you test phosphates with? If not a Hanna ULR (with repeat tests for confirmation) I'd start by just dosing nitrates. Get those up to 5 or so and see where you are.

I used salifret to test the phosphates. And it gets a 0mg/L reading. I am looking to get a hanna checker for phosphate as I have one for alk and it is extremely easy to use

Lavey29 · Mar 31, 2022

You should be feeding twice daily. All your other remedies are good also. Corals need nitrates and phosphate. You want 10ppm nitrates and .05 to .1 phosphate. I had to double dose neophos and neonitro for multiple weeks before I got measurable numbers. You will get dinos with zero readings and your corals will slowly die.

Resz · Mar 31, 2022

Lavey29 said:
You should be feeding twice daily. All your other remedies are good also. Corals need nitrates and phosphate. You want 10ppm nitrates and .05 to .1 phosphate. I had to double dose neophos and neonitro for multiple weeks before I got measurable numbers. You will get dinos with zero readings and your corals will slowly die.

Sorry, I feed my fishes twice daily. The 2 times a week is only for corals.
I will take note on the dosing thank you

RBarth · Mar 31, 2022

Resz said:
My Mg levels are now above 1500. But I am changing salt brand as there is some issue with mine causing low alk.

The best salt is like talking about politics and religion lol. I've had great success with RS coral pro. It puts out a nice high ALK. I'm an 11dkh guy so there again, it works for me. Just make sure u don't try n go from ur current ALK to something like mine in a day.

Macdaddynick1 · Mar 31, 2022

Resz said:
Hi All,
My tank is currently suffering from too low nitrate (0mg/L) and phosphate (0mg/L). I have just increased my nitrate and phosphate levels by increasing feed from 2 times a week to now 3 (spot feeding) + 1 (Broadcast feeding) times a week.

My tank is 75 gallons, has only a pair of clownfish and 14 corals that consist of Euphyllia, Trachyphilla, Goniopora, Kenya Tree, Elegance, Acanthophyllia, cynarina and Mircromussa lords.

What I feed - 1/2 cube Mysis, 1/4 tsp reef roids and some Fauna Marine LPS.

Some of my corals are unhappy but majority are alright. The frammer that I have is not as extending as before and part of my goniopora are closed but after feeding they are alright.

I need some help in what to do and I have come up with a few things but am unsure about it.

Increase Feeding Frequency

Increase Feeding Quantity

Off Skimmer and Filter Roll

Don't Water change (Currently I am doing weekly 10% water Change)

Dose Nitrate and Phosphate

I am unsure if I should do number 4 and number 5. I am thinking of only doing it as a last resort.Any input would be good on what I should do to increase my nitrate and phosphate levels.

Thank you

If you’re not struggling with PH you can go skimmer-less if you’re not going to add more fish.

Resz · Mar 31, 2022

RBarth said:
The best salt is like talking about politics and religion lol. I've had great success with RS coral pro. It puts out a nice high ALK. I'm an 11dkh guy so there again, it works for me. Just make sure u don't try n go from ur current ALK to something like mine in a day.

I will do it slowly. Thanks

Resz · Mar 31, 2022

Macdaddynick1 said:
If you’re not struggling with PH you can go skimmer-less if you’re not going to add more fish.

My tank is still new and will slowly be adding fishes in the future. But that is a great information. Probably in the future I would like to do a no sump no skimmer tank. But thats like way later when I am more experience.

Dburr1014 · Mar 31, 2022

Resz said:
My tank is still new and will slowly be adding fishes in the future. But that is a great information. Probably in the future I would like to do a no sump no skimmer tank. But thats like way later when I am more experience.

Don't take it offline cold turkey.
Can you put the skimmer on a timer? Maybe off for 6 hours when lights on and on the rest of the day. See what that does for n&p. You can always adjust from there.

Resz · Mar 31, 2022

Dburr1014 said:
Don't take it offline cold turkey.
Can you put the skimmer on a timer? Maybe off for 6 hours when lights on and on the rest of the day. See what that does for n&p. You can always adjust from there.

That actually is a good idea. I've completely forgotten about that. Thanks, I will look into it.

biecacka · Apr 1, 2022

Clarkjw2002 said:
What did you test phosphates with? If not a Hanna ULR (with repeat tests for confirmation) I'd start by just dosing nitrates. Get those up to 5 or so and see where you are.

my only issue with multiple test is the variety of numbers you could get. So do you just take the average? I have tried this before and got numbers from 0 to 80 on my Hanna ULS phosphorus checker. All done back to back. I have tried it with new packets of the reagent and just using the same one multiple times.

corey

Resz · Apr 3, 2022

biecacka said:
my only issue with multiple test is the variety of numbers you could get. So do you just take the average? I have tried this before and got numbers from 0 to 80 on my Hanna ULS phosphorus checker. All done back to back. I have tried it with new packets of the reagent and just using the same one multiple times.

corey

Wow, I was actually thinking of getting the hanna instrumental multiparameter one rather than the single checker. I heard it's less accurate? Have you used it before?