Nitrate
- Thread starter littlehermit0
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littlehermit0
Active Member
My water is RO mixed with Reef Crystals, it's nitrate free I tested it, about detritus, not really sure but what's a nutrient export?, I've heard on the internet but I still don't understand the meaning of it
Mr. Mojo Rising
7500 Club Member
When you feed the fish, you add nutrients (nitrate and phosphate). Nutrient export refers to ways of removing nitrate and phosphate.
Nitrate is removed by water changes, protein skimmer, refugium, carbon or vodka dosing....
Phosphate is removed by gfo or lanthanum.
So how are you removing the nitrate from the system? Can we see a tank pic please? A tank pic tells a thousand words.
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littlehermit0
Active Member
No way vodka wasn't a joke, but I stopped feeding and here's a pic
Mschmidt
Average Maybe
What @Mr. Mojo Rising said.
When did you put the rock in? Was it live rock? It could be die off from that.No way vodka wasn't a joke, but I stopped feeding and here's a picpoor filtration you see, I have some filters that don't fit in there, so I just put 3 small one with ceramic, sponge and activated carbon
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littlehermit0
Active Member
I put 0.02 ml of vodka today, about the rock, it's possible but I don't think, it might be from the poop and food leftovers at the bottom of the tank
Mr. Mojo Rising
7500 Club Member
I would suggest to get a small powerhead to keep the water moving in the tank, it will help the food to not sink, so it can go into the filter.
Get a couple of nassarius snails and hermits for the sand, they will eat left over food.
Get a couple of nassarius snails and hermits for the sand, they will eat left over food.
DenverSaltyFarm
Well-Known Member
Your tank is way too new to be dosing vodka. Vodka is a very strong carbon source and I would only recommend that for old tanks like 2 years plus and advanced reef keepers. You are on your way to Dinos and you don’t want that. Let your tank get the ugly stage, then get a clean up crew, and so on. It needs to go through the process.
I do recommend dosing good bacteria to your tank to balance it out. This is what I use and it’s one vial every 2 weeks. Cheaper on Amazon
www.bulkreefsupply.com
I do recommend dosing good bacteria to your tank to balance it out. This is what I use and it’s one vial every 2 weeks. Cheaper on Amazon
BioDigest Live Bacteria
Kick-Start Your Aquarium's Natural Filter with BioDigest Contains Bacteria to Help with Biological Filtration Available in 6, 10, 12, or 30 Vial Packs Suitable for Freshwater or Saltwater BioDigest is most commonly used when starting a new aquarium to kick-start the nitrogen cycle. It's...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
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littlehermit0
Active Member
So will my inverts survive in that 100ppm nitrate for a while? I actually wanted to buy Waste Away ASFYour tank is way too new to be dosing vodka. Vodka is a very strong carbon source and I would only recommend that for old tanks like 2 years plus and advanced reef keepers. You are on your way to Dinos and you don’t want that. Let your tank get the ugly stage, then get a clean up crew, and so on. It needs to go through the process.
I do recommend dosing good bacteria to your tank to balance it out. This is what I use and it’s one vial every 2 weeks. Cheaper on Amazon
BioDigest Live Bacteria
Kick-Start Your Aquarium's Natural Filter with BioDigest Contains Bacteria to Help with Biological Filtration Available in 6, 10, 12, or 30 Vial Packs Suitable for Freshwater or Saltwater BioDigest is most commonly used when starting a new aquarium to kick-start the nitrogen cycle. It's...
Mschmidt
Average Maybe
I will echo what others have said. Don't dose vodka (if you must dose carbon, start with vinegar, the margin of error is much friendlier), supplement nitrate reducing bacteria, add flow and rinse out the sponges regularly.
DenverSaltyFarm
Well-Known Member
Other than water changes and finding a bacteria that you can dose weekly or biweekly I would not dose anything else.
Nitrate is more concerning for corals or being a food source for bad algae your invertebrates are less effected by that, however the one thing you should test for invertebrates is ammonia in the water. You want that at zero.
Typically I only add invertebrates or a clean up crew only after there is a lot of algae or diatoms everywhere for them to feed on. Unfortunately I don’t see that food source in your tank yet.
Do you have a fish in there?
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littlehermit0
Active Member
I had Clownfish, they died but my ammonia is at 0.1 or 0.2 I think, it's really hard to read
Brad Coughlan
Well-Known Member
I thought the same with mine, but it was to do with how you read the salifert test (in my experience anyway)what the heck IS HAPPENING I DO EVERYTHING I CAN EVEN 50% WATER CHANGES BUT MY NITRATE SHOWED 100 TODAY ??? EVERYTHING IS ALIVE THO
Are you taking the colour reading from the side of the test vial, or from the top?
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littlehermit0
Active Member
Top, like the instructions say
Brad Coughlan
Well-Known Member
Right ok, sounds different from what I had then
If you read from the side you need to divide the result by 10
Have you tried a different test kit?
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littlehermit0
Active Member
No, and reading from the side is only for less than 10ppm
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littlehermit0
Active Member
UPDATEwhat the heck IS HAPPENING I DO EVERYTHING I CAN EVEN 50% WATER CHANGES BUT MY NITRATE SHOWED 100 TODAY ??? EVERYTHING IS ALIVE THO
My nitrites dropped to 0.025ppm and nitrates to 25ppm but sadly my PO4 is still at 0.5 mg/L, I bought this today
First dose today, hope it'll work (it's from that Dr Tim famous guy)
