Phos and Nitrate levels question

[JoeSchmo45]

Hello R2R!

I have a question about algae and dosing. I've got a 5-month-old Reefer 170 that has done pretty well overall. As you can see in the video, I've got a reddish, fuzzy kind of algae over most of the rocks, sand, and snail shells. My phos and nitrate levels have been at a solid 0 (I started with live rock). I'm dosing cal and alk to maintain 420 and 8.7 respectively. I've read a lot that nitrate and phos should be kept above zero and I have the bottles for dosing those. I'm just wondering if I should be doing that when I have obvious algae. I don't want to create an explosion of algae, so I'm not sure if I should be trying to get those up to detectable levels. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!
Joe

 

[Philly Reefer]

My 1st question would be what test kit did you use for NO3 and PO4?
If you have algae, that means you do have some Phosphate and Nitrate. So you have to clean up the algae so you can get a clear reading of those 2.
But you still don't want to keep those 2 on 0.
Cause if you got dino, you'll get more problem.

 

[JoeSchmo45]

My 1st question would be what test kit did you use for NO3 and PO4?
If you have algae, that means you do have some Phosphate and Nitrate. So you have to clean up the algae so you can get a clear reading of those 2.
But you still don't want to keep those 2 on 0.
Cause if you got dino, you'll get more problem.

Hello! I appreciate the help. I'm using a Salifert kit for the nitrate, still dead zero. I'm using a Hanna ULR tester for the phosphate. The reading tonight is .01. I'm trying to avoid a dino outbreak and just not sure the best way to do that when I'm getting zero readings but plenty of algae. Thanks for the advice!

 

[lafarrow]

The colors in that video are absolutely stunning. Beautiful. I know that was not the question nor an answer for you but that is wonderful photography. HD quality!n Water so clear it looks like everything is floating

 

[JoeSchmo45]

The colors in that video are absolutely stunning. Beautiful. I know that was not the question nor an answer for you but that is wonderful photography. HD quality!n Water so clear it looks like everything is floating

Well, I sure appreciate that! Thank you. I have no idea what I'm doing as far as photography goes. Just playing with a little blue-light filter I picked up for my iphone. It works well!

 

[Philly Reefer]

Hello! I appreciate the help. I'm using a Salifert kit for the nitrate, still dead zero. I'm using a Hanna ULR tester for the phosphate. The reading tonight is .01. I'm trying to avoid a dino outbreak and just not sure the best way to do that when I'm getting zero readings but plenty of algae. Thanks for the advice!

Ok good tester.

If I were you, I would get Neo Nitro and Neo Phos.
Then slowly add so NO3 to at least 1ppm and PO4 0.02

 

[JoeSchmo45]

Ok good tester.

If I were you, I would get Neo Nitro and Neo Phos.
Then slowly add so NO3 to at least 1ppm and PO4 0.02

I appreciate the help. Those are actually the two bottles that I bought. I'll give that a shot and test daily. Thanks again!

 

[UniformedReefer]

Any results as of now? I'm in a similar boat with almost undetectable nutrients. I've been dosing Neo Nitro and phos and now I'm starting to see algae, but nutrients are still undetectable