Problems with Low Nutrients

[DavinciClown]

So I have noticed my SPS hasn't been doing so well I have also noticed from testing that my nitrates are extremely low and phosphate also. I asked my boss where I work at, which is also my local fish store what might cause this he told me that if i was running chemipure blue it might be the issue. He advised me to remove it and to feed more. I have been doing this and nitrates are still reading 5 ppm .

I test peoples water at the store and notice their nitrates are usually around the 20 to 40 ppm range (I have seen these tanks and they have great growth without any issues.) My ph is at 8.0 and my Alk is also at 8. Could my Alk being at 8 not be suitable for so lo nutrients ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

5 ppm is plenty for SPS, assuming it is accurate. I doubt higher would be any advantage.

But it is easy to dose more nitrate if you want to experiment.

I don't see any issue with 8 dKH and 5 ppm nitrate, but your phosphate could be too low.

 

[DavinciClown]

I have tested with Red Sea for my phosphate and it always comes back as .1 when I test with the Api Test kit at work it sometimes reads .25. And how can i dose more nitrates? Can I dose reef roids as I have heard people use it to bring up their nitrates. Also I used both Salifert and an Api test kit which both read at 5ppm.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have tested with Red Sea for my phosphate and it always comes back as .1 when I test with the Api Test kit at work it sometimes reads .25. And how can i dose more nitrates? Can I dose reef roids as I have heard people use it to bring up their nitrates. Also I used both Salifert and an Api test kit which both read at 5ppm.

IMO, both nitrate and phosphate are adequately high and there should be no issue, but if you want to dose more nitrate, purchase food grade sodium or potassium nitrate, (or Seachem Flourish nitrogen or Brightwell NeoNitro if you prefer a hobby brands).

There are lots of threads here that describe how to dose these and how to calculate dosages.

 

[DavinciClown]

Okay thank you

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're welcome.

Happy reefing.

 

[PatW]

I don’t think you should be having issues because of nutrients. My nitrates run at 1 ppm and my phosphates at about .o1 ppm. I dose both to maintain them.