Nitrates have left town...

[Rob1208]

We're battling Dino's... I'll start there.

Our Nitrates hit zero a few weeks back and I (incorrectly) didn't think much of it. Then the dino's showed up. Our Phosphates are at .10 and they have been for the last 2 months or so. They have always been a bit on the high side (between .08 and .25).

With the World War Dinos raging on, I grabbed some NeoNitro to get the nitrates up. We've dosed the appropriate amount (just over 5ml for a 90-gallon) for four days and still have ZERO Nitrates. I recently tested the Nitrates on my currently cycling frag tank and they are around 5ppm, so I don't think the test kit is the issue. But, I have a Hanna Nitrate Checker arriving today just in case.

The NeoNitro bottle says if you don't see a bump in Nitrates, then your tank may be "carbon-limited" and you should use Reef Bio-Fuel. I have not taken that step yet.

What can I do to get some nitrates going? Thanks in advance for the guidence!

Tank Secs
90-gallon
8 months old
8 fish, 4 inverts

 

[soreefed]

Up the dose and keep dosing neo nitro… you will eventually get a reading on the test kit

 

[The_Paradox]

I have a 60g tank that gets dosed 13ml a day of NeoNitro to hold it at 0.5-2ppm nitrate. If you want to see a bump you probably need to dose something like 15ml. Wait and hour then test. Test 24 hours later and you will know your tanks daily uptake. Just know it’s going to be artificially high with a dino outbreak.

 

[Rob1208]

Thanks for the replies. The instructions were pretty adamant about not going over the dosage limit, so I shied away from that. I’ll look into doubling the dose today.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The NeoNitro bottle says if you don't see a bump in Nitrates, then your tank may be "carbon-limited" and you should use Reef Bio-Fuel. I have not taken that step yet.

That statement is just lunacy. IMO, it is good advice to NOT believe anything Brightwell claims without independent verification.

ALL reef tanks and ALL parts of the ocean are organic carbon limited for bacterial growth. All that means is that if you add organic carbon, there will be more bacterial growth. If that were not the case, such as in a reef tank that was totally stripped of something the bacteria needed, corals would also not get what they need and would already be dead.

If one did have a carbon limited situation (say, bacteria in seawater lacking any dissolved organics), how does that cause dosed nitrate to be consumed extra fast?

Just ignore that statement and dose more or feed more, and when the Neonitro runs out, switch to sodium or calcium nitrate, food grade from amazon or elsewhere. It is cheaper and comes with a purity assurance that Brightwell does not provide.

 

[exnisstech]

Why not just use sodium nitrate. You can dose it up to your desired level all at once. Just need calculate the dose

 

[Salty_Northerner]

We're battling Dino's... I'll start there.

Our Nitrates hit zero a few weeks back and I (incorrectly) didn't think much of it. Then the dino's showed up. Our Phosphates are at .10 and they have been for the last 2 months or so. They have always been a bit on the high side (between .08 and .25).

With the World War Dinos raging on, I grabbed some NeoNitro to get the nitrates up. We've dosed the appropriate amount (just over 5ml for a 90-gallon) for four days and still have ZERO Nitrates. I recently tested the Nitrates on my currently cycling frag tank and they are around 5ppm, so I don't think the test kit is the issue. But, I have a Hanna Nitrate Checker arriving today just in case.

The NeoNitro bottle says if you don't see a bump in Nitrates, then your tank may be "carbon-limited" and you should use Reef Bio-Fuel. I have not taken that step yet.

What can I do to get some nitrates going? Thanks in advance for the guidence!

Tank Secs
90-gallon
8 months old
8 fish, 4 inverts

Yup I fell for that claim too. Look what I had! Yup Dinos. And they were way worse then this.

Look now 48 hous later!



Forgive the bad photo as the light are just ramping up. But they are gone! I'm also dealing with 0/0 nutrients. And this solved the dinos for me in 2 days.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Why not just use sodium nitrate. You can dose it up to your desired level all at once. Just need calculate the dose

Calcium nitrate as Randy has been posting in all these threads lately.

@Randy Holmes-Farley what's the deal with so many posts recently on low nutrients? Is this a time of the year issue?

 

[exnisstech]

Calcium nitrate as Randy has been posting in all these threads lately.

@Randy Holmes-Farley what's the deal with so many posts recently on low nutrients? Is this a time of the year issue?

"switch to sodium or calcium nitrate, food grade from Amazon"

^^ Hmm from Randy 30 minutes ago

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Calcium nitrate as Randy has been posting in all these threads lately.

@Randy Holmes-Farley what's the deal with so many posts recently on low nutrients? Is this a time of the year issue?

It is curious. I can't remember anyone having the issue in the old days.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

It is curious. I can't remember anyone having the issue in the old days.

You and me both, heck we always tried to keep nutrients down but now so many posts people can't keep nutrients in the system! I know equipment is better but also back in the day we all or most all used real live Rock. I wonder if that coincides now to back then perhaps, or food just has gotten less nutrients in it then before?

 

[twentyleagues]

I dont know how to get low nutrients without trying very hard. In the old days when it became cool to have or try for ulns it required me to get into biopellets and I had a huge fuge to start with.
Now I have this little 30g with a single angler in it that i feed once a week. I feed the corals every other week or so. My nitrates are usually 10-15 po4 is .05-.08. I dont get it. I was worried id run into issues with dinos or something of the like with the little bioload i have.

 

[twentyleagues]

You and me both, heck we always tried to keep nutrients down but now so many posts people can't keep nutrients in the system! I know equipment is better but also back in the day we all or most all used real live Rock. I wonder if that coincides now to back then perhaps, or food just has gotten less nutrients in it then before?

Perhaps dry rock absorbing po4 and nitrate for some unknown time before it starts to level off?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Perhaps dry rock absorbing po4 and nitrate for some unknown time before it starts to level off?

Rock does bind phosphate and that certainly may play a role.

It doesn't, however, bind any nitrate.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Perhaps dry rock absorbing po4 and nitrate for some unknown time before it starts to level off?

That's an idea but I went through that before with this rock.. well maybe not! The Rock was only 5-6 months old and I always had around 15 nitrates and rode the razors Edge on p04.

Now rock in new tank and some days I can get some readable numbers and then yesterday had nadda 0/0 so just adding a correct dose of calcium nitrate and running the Neophos out and getting the food grade phosphate Randy suggested a number of times.

That TM Plus NP does nothing in my tank. It will raise the nitrates as fast as it disappears so it on the shelf marked DO NOT USE till further update lol

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Rock does bind phosphate and that certainly may play a role.

It doesn't, however, bind any nitrate.

Ok I've heard that before that rock can bind p04 but does it hit a tipping point where it'll spew it back into the water column and if so then what happens does it spike your water and then start to absorb it again like an endless cycle? Kinda curious how this works.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Ok I've heard that before that rock can bind p04 but does it hit a tipping point where it'll spew it back into the water column and if so then what happens does it spike your water and then start to absorb it again like an endless cycle? Kinda curious how this works.

No, it binds in proportion to the value in the water. Higher phosphate in the water binds more.

Thus, it makes it hard to raise it, by binding more and hard to lower it, by releasing some, f you ever choose to do so.

 

[twentyleagues]

Rock does bind phosphate and that certainly may play a role.

It doesn't, however, bind any nitrate.

I thought that but so many of these threads are popping up. Im starting a 180 with all marco rock so I guess its possible youll see posts around december from me.......lol

 

[Salty_Northerner]

No, it binds in proportion to the value in the water. Higher phosphate in the water binds more.

Thus, it makes it hard to raise it, by binding more and hard to lower it, by releasing some, f you ever choose to do so.

Now you have me thinking again.. so is there a balance equation to this or we just keep pumping p04 in and it keeps binding it up or what am I missing?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Now you have me thinking again.. so is there a balance equation to this or we just keep pumping p04 in and it keeps binding it up or what am I missing?

Calcium carbonate binds phosphate to its surface just like GFO and aluminum oxide do. There is a fixed amount of surface area so the binding is limited by that area.