Nitrates Won’t Go Down!

[Jhillreef]

How much NOPOX are you using and how many gallons of water are in the system? @Wildreefs is also experiencing troubles with dosing.

Wb Frag 105 so I’m doing 20ml

 

[Outlaw Corals]

I had very high nitrates and phosphates back in February and the algae was horrible. My tank was a complete eyesore. A friend of mine told me to get an algae scrubber. So I ordered one right away I even paid for two day shipping. That’s how bad my tank was looking, so I hooked up the scrubber as soon as I got it and after a month my tank looked brand new I couldn’t believe it. And my nitrates and phosphates were down through acceptable range.

 

[SGV - Bluestar]

Try a 50% water per day for 3 days.

 

[Jhillreef]

I had very high nitrates and phosphates back in February and the algae was horrible. My tank was a complete eyesore. A friend of mine told me to get an algae scrubber. So I ordered one right away I even paid for two day shipping. That’s how bad my tank was looking, so I hooked up the scrubber as soon as I got it and after a month my tank looked brand new I couldn’t believe it. And my nitrates and phosphates were down through acceptable range.

That’s my next move. I don’t have much algae. Just some hair on few rocks…

 

[ReeferSpot]

You need to dose some phosphate to bring your nitrates down. Your po4 is low compared to your nitrates. I don't know the science behind it but it's worked for me every time. I believe a tank can't process nitrates unless it has enough phosphate to use in that process.

 

[Icryhard]

Nitrates high but Phos is good. Why ?

careful, 0.01 is on the very low side. Not sure what kind of corals you're keeping, but they could become starved with a phosphate that low.

 

[Jhillreef]

You need to dose some phosphate to bring your nitrates down. Your po4 is low compared to your nitrates. I don't know the science behind it but it's worked for me every time. I believe a tank can't process nitrates unless it has enough phosphate to use in that process.

How do I dose them?

 

[ReeferSpot]

How do I dose them?

There are a few ways but I always use Neophos by brightwell.

 

[Jhillreef]

There are a few ways but I always use Neophos by brightwell.

Ordered!

 

[ReeferSpot]

Ordered!

It's probably best to figure out why your phosphate and nitrates are so out of balance so you don't have to keep dosing.

 

[PeterEde]

I can’t get my nitrates down! I’ve been dosing Nopox for over a month. They are always 50-60 tested with Hanna checker.. I do water change and can get them to about 40. Any ideas? Nopox I thought would work.

Yeah I thought nopox worked too. Then I stopped and it got worse
Add bio media, I just added more and water changes. Since I am now using NSW instead of mixed salt 20 liters is $5 so I do 1-2 WC a week.
You can calc how much drop each change can make
Current NO3 / Water quantity.
How many feeds per day.
Using socks? How often changed/cleaned

 

[PeterEde]

Also, feed pellets daily. Frozen mysis every other day

Do you rinse the mysis or just drop in a cube. I find these frozen foods increase NO3 fastest. Reduce Mysis would be my first suggestion

 

[Crustaceon]

You’re phosphate-limited. Bacteria from carbon dosing can’t reduce nitrates without having access to phosphates. What’s happening is your dosing nopox, Nitrates and Phosphates are being consumed but Phosphates are bottoming out, stopping the process. You need to dose phosphate along with nopox and make sure your skimmer is working correctly. Try to keep Po4 at least at .08 ppm and test DAILY when adding nopox.

 

[Katze]

Hello!

I really don't recommend this but this is my experience, and some will definetely hate it:
I tried many many things to decrease those nitrates, nothing worked. For me NOPOX usually decreased phosphates more than nitrates. So after trying: more biological filtration, larger waterchanges, less feeding, carbon dosing and refugium, nothing worked. I personally don't really care about nitrate anymore, since I keep softies and LPS corals. If algae bothers you then you could get something that eats it, mainly fish.
In a nutshell, my experience: Corals don't care about nitrates as long as you have everything else checked and good to go, mind you that coloration could change and may reduce growth speed however I don't have experience with that.

My current nutrients: NO3: 50-100 PO4: 0,0X
Specific corals in my display: torch, zoas, acan echinata, clavularias, mushrooms and other hardy softies. (no sps)

 

[Crustaceon]

You need to dose some phosphate to bring your nitrates down. Your po4 is low compared to your nitrates. I don't know the science behind it but it's worked for me every time. I believe a tank can't process nitrates unless it has enough phosphate to use in that process.

I’ve always had nitrate reduction stop from carbon if Po4 dropped below .02ppm. My theory is bacteria starts having trouble finding that required component and begins to starve at and below that level.

 

[Jhillreef]

Really appreciate the help y’all ! We will see how the neo does Saturday when it arrives. Stay tuned