Phosphate and NItrate

[Hookster15]

for some reason i can not get my Phosphate or my nitrate to rise , phosphate is at 1ppb on a hanna, nitrate is at .02 on red sea pro ( can only see it from the side the .02 is just a ball park) may be lower.

how can i raise the two? If feed 4 times a day like two cube's 4 times a day and the only thing rising is the glass algae.

Feeding corals once a day with reef chili and oyster feast

skimmer has been off for 2 months

Tank 55 gal

calcium 450
mag 1350
alk 8.5

salt at 1.025
ph 8.3

 

[DeniseAndy]

More about aquarium equipment and inhabitants needed. How old is the system?

 

[Hookster15]

More about aquarium equipment and inhabitants needed. How old is the system?

system 3 years old , custom sump, return pump filter socks and charcoal canister . 2 sps corals 3 leather corals,4 sets polyps and 5 fish 6 snails and a emerald crab.

 

[heifinator]

I want to be you... You really shouldn't have an issue feeding enough to get a po4 / no3 rise. Feed more would be my typical advice and should still hold true. Enough import and you will exceed your export and see a rise.

 

[HB AL]

How many gallons is the tank. Unless you have corals that are suffering and have ruled out other possible causes I wouldn't worry about it. If the amount of food you feed is more than enough for the fish then you could broadcast feed the corals something like reef roids, phytoplankton, etc.. and add some something like aminos to the tank and that should slowly raise your levels. If your corals are doing fine then they are prabably getting plenty of what they need and your reading is just what isn't being consumed.

 

[Hookster15]

How many gallons is the tank and how many fish do you have. Unless you have corals that are suffering and have ruled out other possible causes I wouldn't worry about it. If the amount of food you feed is more than enough for the fish then you could broadcast feed the corals something like reef roids, phytoplankton, etc.. and add some something like aminos to the tank and that should slowly raise your levels. If your corals are doing fine then they are prabably getting plenty of what they need and your reading is just what isn't being consumed.

sorry see original post made updates.

 

[HB AL]

Yea posted at same time and edited my post

 

[DeniseAndy]

I would not worry unless something is off. Corals, algae, etc. As said above.

 

[mcarroll]

I think I agree....if all is well, that's not the time to go tweaking things in the tank. Were there any issues?

Put the skimmer back on since it's mostly doing aeration anyway....it's not great at removing nutrients and aeration is very important.

And if you're overfeeding on any front now, go back to normal feeding rates. (Don't underfeed either tho....it's better to err on the side of more than less if you're close.)

 

[Hookster15]

I think I agree....if all is well, that's not the time to go tweaking things in the tank. Were there any issues?

Put the skimmer back on since it's mostly doing aeration anyway....it's not great at removing nutrients and aeration is very important.

And if you're overfeeding on any front now, go back to normal feeding rates. (Don't underfeed either tho....it's better to err on the side of more than less if you're close.)

Sounds good Thanks.

 

[Ferrell]

+1 sounds like your tank is consuming what you feed. That’s awesome. Mine kinda went the other way..,

Just anecdotal but FWIW I had the same issue with my 5 month old 75, nitrates slowly went down, added more fish (5 total), bottomed out zeros and looked good, until it didn’t. Cyano s and Dino’s started taking over. Vacuumed, blacked out and water change after blackout. Viola I have nitrates again. Control my feeding now with only frozen with a few treat pellets, not an all pellet diet any more, ever. I was just getting too many nutrients and wasn’t getting consumed as I thought. Live and learn.