Questions about Nitrate and Phosphate

[Bmac13]

Hi all, been lurking this forum for awhile but this is my first post. I have a 32 biocube that’s been up and running for about 8months (I’m new to reef keeping).

Currently my parameters are: Temp 78, Sg 1.026, Alk 8, Cal400, Mag 1280, ammonia and nitrite 0, nitrate 30 and P04 0.25ppm. I do weekly 5.5g water changes.

My question is if other people have had success with this high of nitrates and p04.... I currently have little to no algae on my rocks and most corals seem to be doing great. I consistently have been running Chemipure elite and a few weeks ago added purigen in order to try and lower the nitrates. After adding the purigen I noticed some corals retracting and one of my hammer corals bleached (not sure if this is coincidence or not). Purigen has since been removed and things are looking happy again. I’m not sure if I should stick with these parameters or slowly attempt to lower nitrates and phosphates to a more acceptable level... Sorry if I missed anything, new to this.

Thanks!

 

[SudzFD]

If it’s working I would leave it alone! Don’t chase numbers. You May go from stable and thriving to crashing.

....and I’d say none of you parameters are out of wack.

 

[SeaDweller]

there's a saying that goes...

if it aint broken, don't fix it.

also, there's a mantra in reefing that is: don't go chasing numbers. If those levels aren't causing issues in your tank, then why worry? You can try to lower them if they're causing issues, but to "chase" numbers because someone said you should have XX.XX amount of NO3 or 0.xxx number of PO4... don't. You really have to know your tank and reef. People are so in tune with their tanks, it's nuts.

 

[Daniel92481]

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? Looking good! Welcome to R2R!

 

[Scrubber_steve]

Have po4 & no3 been steadily rising or stable at those levels for a few months?

 

[Jason mack]

Stability is everything ...my tank run perfect for over a year with 50+ nitrates ...if it's just softies and lps it wont be a problem ..even some easy sps . ...water changes will bring no3 down ....running some rowaphos in a sack will reduce phos ......

 

[hllb]

I agree. Your tank looks great so go with it!

 

[Bmac13]

Have po4 & no3 been steadily rising or stable at those levels for a few months?

They have rose slightly, but my phosphates have been 0.18+ for months. As for nitrates I’m not 100%.... after the initial cycle I was only checking nitrates very occasionally until about a month ago, I’m sure they rose again after removing the purigen.

Thanks everyone! You never know what to believe online.... See a lot of “p04 should be 0-0.02 and nitrates should be under 5”, so i was just curious as to what others thought since mine are quite a bit higher than that.

 

[Jason mack]

I agree. Your tank looks great so go with it!

I also agree your tank looks great ...its so easy too get caught up chasing numbers ...which in its self can lead to problems...

 

[Punchanello]

Those numbers are a bit high for most but if it looks great, it might be fine for you.

Quite often people give advice about numbers but fail to take the type of corals being kept in to account. Softies and LPS often tolerate and even do better in higher nutrient environments.

 

[luke fortunato]

got some really nice stuff in the tank

 

[Bmac13]

got some really nice stuff in the tank

Thanks!