Nitrates and PO issues

[lurpy]

Hi all I'm kinda new to the reading. Right now I'm at war with nitrates an PO being high. I have a over sized skimmer for my tank and I have a refuge. With bio pellets and soso flow. I have done around 85 gallons of water change and only feed 1 to 2 times a week. But yet I cant get my nitrates down. Going to sound nuts but its above 100ppm and PO I think it is around 1.0. Just started nopox last night. Only have around 8 fish in the tank. I'm thinking about trying a sulfur reactor once I find a cheap one I can afford.any tips would help. I just dont know any reefers around me.

 

[Spare time]

Have you tried multiple test kits? Also, do not run nopox and biopellets at the same time.

 

[lurpy]

Yes. Had my lfs test

 

[Pistondog]

Hi all I'm kinda new to the reading. Right now I'm at war with nitrates an PO being high. I have a over sized skimmer for my tank and I have a refuge. With bio pellets and soso flow. I have done around 85 gallons of water change and only feed 1 to 2 times a week. But yet I cant get my nitrates down. Going to sound nuts but its above 100ppm and PO I think it is around 1.0. Just started nopox last night. Only have around 8 fish in the tank. I'm thinking about trying a sulfur reactor once I find a cheap one I can afford.any tips would help. I just dont know any reefers around me.

Is any chaeto growing in your fuge? If not, make sure your light is adequate. There are cheap horticulture leds on Amazon that do a good job (CANAGROW 200W, courtesy of member ippyhop).
Is the skimmer pulling stuff out?
Nopox is similar to carbon dosing, which encourages bacteria growth to use up the excess nitrates and phosphate. It takes a month to start working so be patient. Keep your skimmer running to pull out bacteria and oxygenate the water.
If the phosphate is that high, you might try brightwell aquatics phosphat-e, which is lanthanum. Be warned this is a sledgehammer and must be used cautiously. I drip 10 to 20 ml diluted in 1 liter rodi into my overflow over 8 hours into a 5 micron filter sock. It can kill fish if misused, but is very effective at removing phosphate.
And of course, try to find the root cause of your high nutrients.
Good luck, we've all been where you are, you'll get it fixed.

 

[lurpy]

Is any chaeto growing in your fuge? If not, make sure your light is adequate. There are cheap horticulture leds on Amazon that do a good job (CANAGROW 200W, courtesy of member ippyhop).
Is the skimmer pulling stuff out?
Nopox is similar to carbon dosing, which encourages bacteria growth to use up the excess nitrates and phosphate. It takes a month to start working so be patient. Keep your skimmer running to pull out bacteria and oxygenate the water.
If the phosphate is that high, you might try brightwell aquatics phosphat-e, which is lanthanum. Be warned this is a sledgehammer and must be used cautiously. I drip 10 to 20 ml diluted in 1 liter rodi into my overflow over 8 hours into a 5 micron filter sock. It can kill fish if misused, but is very effective at removing phosphate.
And of course, try to find the root cause of your high nutrients.
Good luck, we've all been where you are, you'll get it fixed.

Ya cheato is growing just lil slow I have a Amazon grow light on it it's a dark green just slowly growing. Light is a lil high may drop it closer like 12 to 18 inch to water line.

 

[thejuice24]

Age of the tank? What’s you water volume?

 

[Pistondog]

Ya cheato is growing just lil slow I have a Amazon grow light on it it's a dark green just slowly growing. Light is a lil high may drop it closer like 12 to 18 inch to water line.

I have mine sitting on the tank edge with a 1/2 air gap, closer is better

 

[lurpy]

Age of the tank? What’s you water volume?

Around 2 year and about 110gal

 

[lurpy]

I have mine sitting on the tank edge with a 1/2 air gap, closer is better

Ty

 

[lurpy]

Is any chaeto growing in your fuge? If not, make sure your light is adequate. There are cheap horticulture leds on Amazon that do a good job (CANAGROW 200W, courtesy of member ippyhop).
Is the skimmer pulling stuff out?
Nopox is similar to carbon dosing, which encourages bacteria growth to use up the excess nitrates and phosphate. It takes a month to start working so be patient. Keep your skimmer running to pull out bacteria and oxygenate the water.
If the phosphate is that high, you might try brightwell aquatics phosphat-e, which is lanthanum. Be warned this is a sledgehammer and must be used cautiously. I drip 10 to 20 ml diluted in 1 liter rodi into my overflow over 8 hours into a 5 micron filter sock. It can kill fish if misused, but is very effective at removing phosphate.
And of course, try to find the root cause of your high nutrients.
Good luck, we've all been where you are, you'll get it fixed.

Skimmer is pulling stuff out just not a hole lot.

 

[Pistondog]

Skimmer is pulling stuff out just not a hole lot.

My skimmer (omega 150) was oversized for my 75 gal, that was the fad a couple of years ago. But now some think the skimmer is less efficient. I bought an Octo 150, which has an adjustable speed pump, makes all the difference running at 60% speed. you might try adjusting the airflow down with an inline valve if there is no adjustment, or change the skimmer height.

 

[lurpy]

My skimmer (omega 150) was oversized for my 75 gal, that was the fad a couple of years ago. But now some think the skimmer is less efficient. I bought an Octo 150, which has an adjustable speed pump, makes all the difference running at 60% speed. you might try adjusting the airflow down with an inline valve if there is no adjustment, or change the skimmer height.

I have a curve 9 cant control the speed but I can put a valve on the air line

 

[andrewey]

I think you're headed for some problems. I think you should slow down A LOT! Remember, your tank is used to high nutrients. Throwing the kitchen sink isn't a very good idea, but more importantly, it could really harm your tank. You'll want to lower those levels slowly. Plus, at your current rate of additions, you won't know what's working and what's not. I'd suggest taking a deep breath and optimizing what you have first.

I think you're trying to do too many things too quickly right now. It's ok. It's just nitrate and phosphate . Try and optimize one form of nutrient export first. Give it some time. See if that works. In theory, all of the tools you have will likely get the job done- you probably don't need all of them in tandem

 

[Spare time]

Skimmer is pulling stuff out just not a hole lot.

Wet or dry skim? Also you can try using waste away to seed the biopellets if you'd like, just do it slowly

 

[lurpy]

I think you're headed for some problems. I think you should slow down A LOT! Remember, your tank is used to high nutrients. Throwing the kitchen sink isn't a very good idea, but more importantly, it could really harm your tank. You'll want to lower those levels slowly. Plus, at your current rate of additions, you won't know what's working and what's not. I'd suggest taking a deep breath and optimizing what you have first.

I think you're trying to do too many things too quickly right now. It's ok. It's just nitrate and phosphate . Try and optimize one form of nutrient export first. Give it some time. See if that works. In theory, all of the tools you have will likely get the job done- you probably don't need all of them in tandem

i took out the bio pellets about 30 mins ago and dropped my refug light 18 inch. it was about 23 inchs from the water level see if that will help the cheato take off more.

 

[lurpy]

Wet or dry skim? Also you can try using waste away to seed the biopellets if you'd like, just do it slowly

I didnt have many biopellets at this time may 1/4 cup so i just took them off for right now and going to try to use nopox to get them down slowly.

 

[lurpy]

i took out the bio pellets about 30 mins ago and dropped my refug light 18 inch. it was about 23 inchs from the water level see if that will help the cheato take off more.

also thank you for the help. All i have running is nopox and skimmer and cheato. and im only putting in 6 ml a day of nopox. if i read it right think thats what i should be doing.

 

[Spare time]

Any clue where it all came from?

 

[lurpy]

Any clue where it all came from?

no not at this time. only thing i can think of is sand bed or skimmer isnt tuned right. skimmer is rated for up to i think 240 gal. i have like 110 gal of water volume. but i may go bigger later so i went big on skimmer.
crazy i would think with everything being that high i would have algae all over but i have none?

 

[Spare time]

no not at this time. only thing i can think of is sand bed or skimmer isnt tuned right. skimmer is rated for up to i think 240 gal. i have like 110 gal of water volume. but i may go bigger later so i went big on skimmer.
crazy i would think with everything being that high i would have algae all over but i have none?

Are corals browned out or anything?