Nitrates and phosphates both at 0

[Aquatic Bobs]

Okay so my nitrates and phosphates are both had zero and I've been having this really crazy dino or diatom algae outbreak in my tank that started 5 days ago. It's brown, slimy, and literally is growing everywhere and comes back worse each day as the lights are on. My question is should I add something to bring my nitrates and phosphates up a little bit?

 

[Mikedawg]

I would begin feeding more before dosing with chemicals.

 

[Aquatic Bobs]

My tank is 4 months old and I feed once every 3 days. I feed my corals Reef roids and a pretty generous amount and I feed the fish a mix of my mysis and brine shrimp

 

[Halal Hotdog]

I personally think the 'uglies' are normal for a new tank. I would start feeding the fish everyday and just keep an eye on the parameters. There are a few things you can start dosing, but with such a new tank I would say just ride it out.

 

[Mikedawg]

My tank is 4 months old and I feed once every 3 days. I feed my corals Reef roids and a pretty generous amount and I feed the fish a mix of my mysis and brine shrimp

what about feeding every other day for a while and testing water carefully. It is difficult to dose low levels of phosphate with any degree of accuracy.

 

[marlinmon]

Overfeed, dump in phyto, and run UV.

 

[Aquatic Bobs]

Hahaha okay I'll feed every other day and add a capful of phytoplankton every other day and feed the corals every other day (spot feed). I'm just so sick of this nuisance algae problem it's seriously is almost heartbreaking :-(

 

[Hemmdog]

Hahaha okay I'll feed every other day and add a capful of phytoplankton every other day and feed the corals every other day (spot feed). I'm just so sick of this nuisance algae problem it's seriously is almost heartbreaking :-(

What kind of test kits are you using?

 

[Aquatic Bobs]

Salifert

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Hahaha okay I'll feed every other day and add a capful of phytoplankton every other day and feed the corals every other day (spot feed). I'm just so sick of this nuisance algae problem it's seriously is almost heartbreaking :-(

Don't worry, it all does fade eventually.

Once established be ready to love your tank 1 month a year and the remaining 11 months changing something that is driving you bananas.

 

[CMO]

If they aren't dinos yet they will be unless you maintain detectable nutrients until the tank is mature with good biodiversity. Feed or dose until you get at least very low level readings of NO3 and PO4.

 

[Aquatic Bobs]

In a typical situation how long does this cycle of algae take?

 

[cracker]

I agree with CMO. Dose just enough to show detectable No3, Po4. Please consider feeding the fish everyday ! They get get hungry & it's not healthy for them.
Also imo ,it's more controllable to dose than feeding more.

 

[Aquatic Bobs]

What do you mean that's more controllable to dose? What would you dose in this situation?

 

[jabberwock]

In a typical situation how long does this cycle of algae take?

There is not really anything "typical". How big is the tank? I would cut back on the reef roids to once a week depending on what corals you have. What is your lighting schedule? Is the tank in direct sunlight?

 

[CMO]

What do you mean that's more controllable to dose? What would you dose in this situation?

Food contains nutrients (NO3 and PO4) in unknown quantities. If done correctly, dosing NO3 and PO4 in pure and measurable quantities with something like Brightwell neophos and neonitro could be more controllable. There is a lag effect with dosing though so tread carefully if you go this route. Many seem to end up over dosing since they don't see immediate effects and start causing large swings.

But given where you're at with feeding I wouldn't consider dosing until you max out feeding capacity. Also reducing skimming and fuge light cycle if you're running them would come before dosing.

I feed my fish 4x per day very heavily and still have zero PO4 and NO3 BTW so depending on your situation raising nutrients could take more than just feeding.

 

[cracker]

For dosing I use sodium Nitrate for No3. You can use Spectrocide stump remover . For Po4. I use Seachem flourish phosphorus . I find that dosing so many mls of this or the other & keeping a record is much less complicated than feeding more & seeing what YA come up with.

 

[Aquatic Bobs]

I have a 75 gallon tank with 2 viparSpectra 165 watt lights. I run the blues for 11 and 1/2 hours a day and the whites for 9 hours a day. The blues are at 85% and the whites are at 70%

 

[jabberwock]

All we need now is a picture...

Sounds nice Bob. You definitely have some room to reduce lighting. Nothing drastic, just a little shaving on the percentages and time. Just a suggestion based on your original comment that it comes back after the lights have been on. Cut an hour off of each end of both cycles and drop both by 5%.

What kind of corals are you spot feeding reef roids? It is a "filter feeder" food, unless you are making a paste to feed LPS. I think you should be spot feeding meaty foods to LPS. What kinds of corals???

 

[Aquatic Bobs]

I'm feeding Reef roids to Acans, micromussa's, one war Coral, a couple of favias, Dippin Dots chalice, stylophora, acropora, montipora cap, blastos, and 5 different zoas. Oh and a purple polyp porite. I also have a trachyphyllia brain coral which gets Reef roids and a piece of shrimp.