nitrate

[jose hernandez]

so i have the hanna nitrate high range checker tested my water and it reads 2.0 is this high

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Idk I don't chase numbers or have ever checked phos. Trates or tirtes. Lol
D

 

[Sean Clark]

Most would consider that low. What are your trying to keep in the tank?

 

[jose hernandez]

only tested because my australian duncans are fully closed and my long tentacle plate is shrinking

 

[jose hernandez]

not chasing numbers usually only test when i see something wrong with my corals

 

[Sean Clark]

only tested because my australian duncans are fully closed and my long tentacle plate is shrinking

What are your other parameters? How long have they been closed up?

 

[jose hernandez]

closed up about a week
alk 10 a little high for my liking i usually have it at 9
cal 420
mag 1420
salinity 1.026
phosphate 0.08

 

[Sean Clark]

Any changes or maintenance prior to them closing? Dosing anything? Sorry for all of the questions.

 

[X-37B]

How bigs the tank?
How long has it neen running?
How may fish?
How much do you feed?
What's your lighting?

An no3 of 2 is fine and a po4 of .08 is fine also.

 

[jose hernandez]

before i would do once a month water changes but recently started doing weekly instead but stopped i was dosing trace elements about 2 months ago everything seemed to be taking off but then i was getting alot of algae on the glass and phosphate was high so stopped

 

[jose hernandez]

tank is 2 years old
200 gallons
3 xr30 g5 pros 40% on 12 afternoon off 8pm 12' above the tank running sps template
4 mp40s
fish 6 tangs purple khole unicorn mata tani leutenat
3 anthias
4 wrasse
feed 4 mysis shrimp some pellets once a day seaweed 3x a week

 

[Sean Clark]

It may be possible that the coral liked the higher nutrients that came with monthly water changes. Switching to weekly could have brought your levels down.

Do you know what they were prior to the change?

 

[Sean Clark]

Duncans are pretty hearty though.

 

[jose hernandez]

alk 8.6
cal 450
mag 1450
salinity 1.026
phosphate 0.06
nitrate 0.05
alk was always goin down figured because of growth on some of my pieces was trying to get that sweet spot but noticed evrything was looking good with the trace elments
i use tropic marin pro reef salt and the trace elements k and a as well
as far as alk cal mag use esv

 

[Sean Clark]

Nitrate 0.05 or 2 as stated earlier?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

closed up about a week
alk 10 a little high for my liking i usually have it at 9
cal 420
mag 1420
salinity 1.026
phosphate 0.08

Those numbers are fine and 2 ppm nitrate is also fine, but verging low, not high.

 

[jose hernandez]

should i dose trace elements again or stick to monthly water changes

 

[jose hernandez]

as far as nitrates 0.05 was my old readings now they are 2.0

 

[LRT]

Id let things roll for a bit.
Weekly water changes can be tricky especially if alk is constantly swinging along with that.
Id wait with water changes until you figure daily alk usage. Then try to time water change so your alk swing doesn't swing higher than 1 dkh with regular maintenance. Too many changes at once can cause more harm than good especially when tank is settled in.

 

[Sean Clark]

You increased your water changes but your nitrates went up 400%? Sounds kind of crazy. LRT is right. Let it roll for a bit to settle down.