Nitrate dosing expectations

[Catfish2]

Corals (all frags right now) pale within a week or two of being in my system. Nitrates have been testing 0 with the red sea kit and phosphate is testing 0 with hanna ultra low checker.

System info:
-130 total gallons
-lighting: current usa t5 6 bulb fixture with 3 ati b+, 1 p+, 1 c+, and 1 ab special.
-Bio load: very small, one yellow tang, one lawnmower blenny, 25 sps frags
- running for 6 months
-filtration: marine pure block and plate, reef octopus 150, rox carbon
-salinity: 1.026
-temp: 78
-ph: 8.2
-alk: 8
-ca: 455
-mag: 1600 (last tested 6/26/17)
- nitrate: 0 (redsea)
-phosphate: 0 (hanna ultra low checker)

I've assumed low nutrients are the cause of my pale frags.

I started by feeding the fish more than they can eat at one time and spot feeding the frags with reef roids. After 3 weeks, there was no change in color or nitrate/phospate levels.

5 days ago, I started dosing sodium nitrate. I used this calculator (http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/calculator.htm) and dosed 20 ml, which should have raised nitrate by 1 ppm.

Nitrates have remained at 0 every day
Phosphate went from 0.006 to 0.012 to 0.025 to 0

The only visible change in the tank is that the fine "baby hair" like algae went from really pale to brown and has grown some. After 5 days I don't expect any change in the coral color and I haven't seen any noticeable change. (pics below for comparison)

Qeustion:
1) Am I just feeding algae? Should I remove all the algae or will that spike the nitrate too quickly?
2) is it normal to keep getting 0 nitate? If so, how long before it's detectable?
3) should I keep dosing the nitate till I hit my goal?
4) how long does it typically take to see improvement in coral color when dosing nitrate?

I'm open to any suggestions.

If this question had been answered, please point me in the right direction. I searched the form and couldn't find anything that said what to expect with nitrate levels once dosing is started.

Thanks!
Before dosing

After dosing

No algae has been manually removed.

 

[elishapep]

I have had a similar situation with dropping nitrates too low and I lost some color .. it took about 2 months for everything to get back to normal.. just be patient.. time heals all wounds

 

[Mattrg02]

Takes a few months to see a coral go from bleached out to signs of life. Dose nitrates until you keep a consistent 2ppm or so. Don't let it drop, keep it steady. Phosphate should also be detectable, just barely. I watched an. RMF acid trip millepora go from bright pinkish green to white with zero nitrates and phosphate. Now it's base is bright green with pink highlights and it's showing some green shimmer where it is white.

 

[Catfish2]

Takes a few months to see a coral go from bleached out to signs of life. Dose nitrates until you keep a consistent 2ppm or so. Don't let it drop, keep it steady. Phosphate should also be detectable, just barely. I watched an. RMF acid trip millepora go from bright pinkish green to white with zero nitrates and phosphate. Now it's base is bright green with pink highlights and it's showing some green shimmer where it is white.

Should I keep dosing the same amount or increase it?

 

[Mattrg02]

Should I keep dosing the same amount or increase it?

Just keep it around 2ppm and focus on stability.

 

[madweazl]

I have to dose approx 1ppm daily to keep levels constant (I try to keep it in the 2.5-5.0ppm range on my kit).

 

[Catfish2]

Just keep it around 2ppm and focus on stability.

Are you saying dose 2 ppm daily or dose until I get to 2ppm in the water column and keep dosing whatever amount I need to keep it stable at 2 ppm?

 

[Catfish2]

I have to dose approx 1ppm daily to keep levels constant (I try to keep it in the 2.5-5.0ppm range on my kit).

My goal is 2-5 ppm, but I'm not sure if I keep dosing the same 20 ml (which should raise it by 1ppm) I will ever get there. I'm not sure if I should dose more to get to 2 ppm or just keep dosing the 20 ml and wait for it to go up.

 

[madweazl]

Increase the dose; I went from 0ppm to 5mm instantly with no ill effects. You'll have to measure daily for a few days to figure out what you tank is consuming; for me, it is roughly .75-1ppm daily (2ml for the solution I mixed on a 74g system but I have no idea how concentrated yours is).

Edit: I should probably caveat this with, increase the dose if you trust your test results.

 

[jerl77]

I overdosed last night now they are 50
lol

 

[SashimiTurtle]

This is a great calculator for dosing KNO3(stump remover) for nitrates.
http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/calculator.htm

I've also used Seachem Flourish Phosphate for dosing phosphates. There's a formula on the bottle for the advanced dosage recommendation. I'd follow it and not the beginner dose. I don't dose NO3 or PO4 anymore but rather I feed .5ml Red Sea energy A & B and 1-2ml Oysterfeast per every 10g tank water every other day. I turn on the return pump for about 10 minutes and let the power heads mix everything up thoroughly. Sometimes I take a syringe and spot feed a few sticks, but since regaining color I just broadcast feed. I have very little algae and the sand stays white instead of getting brown when I was dosing NO3.

 

[Mattrg02]

Dose such that you stay around 2ppm.

 

[Catfish2]

Nitrate and phospate are still undetectable. I doubled the sodium nitrate dose last night.

Algae continues to grow nice and brown. I removed some of the algae thinking if there was less algae the nitrate wouldn't be taken up as quickly. We'll see how that goes.

 

[madweazl]

Nitrate and phospate are still undetectable. I doubled the sodium nitrate dose last night.

Algae continues to grow nice and brown. I removed some of the algae thinking if there was less algae the nitrate wouldn't be taken up as quickly. We'll see how that goes.

How much should your dose increase nitrates?

 

[Catfish2]

How much should your dose increase nitrates?

With the solution I made, 40 ml, which is what I dosed last night, should raise nitrates to 2 ppm. I was dosing 20 ml, which should be 1 ppm, for the last week and nitrate never budged. Phosphate increased the first 2 days, then went to 0 and has been there the last 4 or 5 days.

 

[madweazl]

With the solution I made, 40 ml, which is what I dosed last night, should raise nitrates to 2 ppm. I was dosing 20 ml, which should be 1 ppm, for the last week and nitrate never budged. Phosphate increased the first 2 days, then went to 0 and has been there the last 4 or 5 days.

If you're sure your solution is correct, you need to use another test kit to confirm your results. If you're only dosing sodium nitrate, there is no reason for the phosphates to increase (usually the opposite when dosing nitrates).

 

[Catfish2]

If you're sure your solution is correct, you need to use another test kit to confirm your results. If you're only dosing sodium nitrate, there is no reason for the phosphates to increase (usually the opposite when dosing nitrates).

Good point. The phospate has decrease overall though. It went from its baseline of 0.006-0.009 to completely undetectable now. However , it did go up for the first 2 days. I have no solid explanation for that, but I was feeding more heavily leading up to the time I startedd dosing. So, I wonder if phosphate increased because of the intentional overfeeding and then came down to 0 once the overfeeding stopped and the nitrate was being dosed.

I used the calculator mentioned above to make the solution so I'm fairly certian is correct. (1 tablespoon of potassium nitrate in 525 ml comes out to 25 ml=1ppm, but that has to be multiplied by 0.84 because I'm using sodium nitrate not potassium nitrate. So... 21 ml = 1ppm. I was actually dosing 20ml, but I figure that is close enough) if this is incorrect someone please correct me.

I don't have access to another test kit right now, but I did test some of the nitrate solution with the kit and it detected the nitrate as expected. If I can get another test kit though I will see if it gives me a different reading.

 

[madweazl]

Good point. The phospate has decrease overall though. It went from its baseline of 0.006-0.009 to completely undetectable now. However , it did go up for the first 2 days. I have no solid explanation for that, but I was feeding more heavily leading up to the time I startedd dosing. So, I wonder if phosphate increased because of the intentional overfeeding and then came down to 0 once the overfeeding stopped and the nitrate was being dosed.

I used the calculator mentioned above to make the solution so I'm fairly certian is correct. (1 tablespoon of potassium nitrate in 525 ml comes out to 25 ml=1ppm, but that has to be multiplied by 0.84 because I'm using sodium nitrate not potassium nitrate. So... 21 ml = 1ppm. I was actually dosing 20ml, but I figure that is close enough) if this is incorrect someone please correct me.

I don't have access to another test kit right now, but I did test some of the nitrate solution with the kit and it detected the nitrate as expected. If I can get another test kit though I will see if it gives me a different reading.

I haven't sanity checked anything (a few beers in) but you're sure 20ml will raise nitrates 1ppm in 130ish gallons of water?

 

[Catfish2]

I haven't sanity checked anything (a few beers in) but you're sure 20ml will raise nitrates 1ppm in 130ish gallons of water?

Well I suppose I could be wrong. The calculator was pretty straight forward, but I could have screwed up. We're all human. I just have no idea where I screwed up. The calculator says 25 ml of potassium nitrate will increase 130 gallons by 1.07 ppm. Am I using it wrong or something?

 

[Catfish2]

Testing tonight showed a nitrate of 0.6 ppm with the same redsea kit I've been using. I dosed 40 ml again.