Nutrient reduction in a nano tank

[ReeferSpot]

I started a Fiji 20 peninsula in June 2020 with rock from a tank that was started in March. I also added some live rock from my lfs. It is less than 20 gallons of water in which I change 5 gallons a week religiously, most times I change 10 gallons.

For some reason my nitrates always are 25 ppm by the end of the week. They used to be 50-80 until I removed the sand and went barebottom out of frustration 2 months ago. I've had 2 fish up until about weeks.

I'm only feeding a half a dime size of LRS frenzy once a day. When I test phosphate it is always 0 because I do have algae in the tank as well as green cyano, haven't seen any of the red stuff. I have 2 wavemakers that provide a lot of flow as well as the changing of filter floss every 3 days. Gfo and phosguard in a mess bag probably stripped the po4 that the algae hasn't use so now I have dinos! I've had good look with dino in the past by dosing h2o2 when the lights are out. Could I be feeding too much? Did I disrupt the system too much by removing the sand? I do run a skimmer and just started chaeto in the back chamber. Anything that I might be missing? Also....zero coralline! I've never had a tank without some coralline growth.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Ok I'm going to bump your thread with a shot in the dark and say get yourself some real live rock (either pulled from the ocean or established for many years in a tank) and ditch the chemicals (gfo, phosgard, ect).

 

[ReeferSpot]

I'm actually going to give it a try but I've seen so many people successfully with completely dry rock.

 

[HuduVudu]

You have no biodiversity and you have no competition in your aquarium. The chemical additions are just hiding the underlying problems.

 

[ReeferSpot]

I figured after 9 months I wouldn't have such a nutrients problem. I just started the gfo last month. I've ordered some live rock from kp aquatics to see if it helps. It will basically be another tank reboot.

 

[HuduVudu]

You will have a nutrients "problem" for the entire existence of the tank. You won't get rid of it. If you really want to overcome it you will learn how to manage it. How to make it not important and how to set up competition to ensure that it can not be dominant in your tank.

EDIT: Just a news flash, chemicals will not help you in this process any more than chemical stimulants will help you feel truly better.