Raising Nitrates

[Spdjnky]

I am trying to keep my nitrates up 6 ppm and keep them there on a consistent reading. I say 6 ppm because I really am not sure what the right reading is because everyones situation is different and right now I just watching my corals and everything and hope I will see where to stay at.
My question is the Protein Skimmer and how much or how long to run it. Right now I am running mine from 12 midnight to 8 in the morning. Checking my nitrates every day and dosing Sodium Nitrate. I have found the right solution so that if I dose 10 ml it will raise my nitrates 1 ppm.
So I guess my Question is should I come up with the right amount to dose with the skimmer running all the time or keep the way it is just running at night.
Thx Phil

 

[ihavecrabs]

I would keep the skimmer running at all times and adjust the amount of skimmate it is pulling (making it more dry to achieve a higher nitrate, or more wet to achieve a lower nitrate. The effects will take time to show though.

 

[Princess Hockey]

I would keep the skimmer running at all times and adjust the amount of skimmate it is pulling (making it more dry to achieve a higher nitrate, or more wet to achieve a lower nitrate. The effects will take time to show though.

Not OP, but can you explain what you mean by this? I know how to raise/lower the water level in my skimmer and raise/lower the amount of air input.

I think I've got dinos and struggling to get my nitrates above 0. I feel like I'm overfeeding. Ordered stuff to dose sodium nitrate but hasn't arrived yet. My skimmer is overkill for the size of my tank, its what came with it though.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Not OP, but can you explain what you mean by this? I know how to raise/lower the water level in my skimmer and raise/lower the amount of air input.

I think I've got dinos and struggling to get my nitrates above 0. I feel like I'm overfeeding. Ordered stuff to dose sodium nitrate but hasn't arrived yet. My skimmer is overkill for the size of my tank, its what came with it though.

He said it pretty clear, but he basically just means adjust it so it doesn't pull much skimmate. So if you have to empty the cup every week (for analogy only), then try to adjust it so you have to empty it every two weeks instead.

Over time your nutrients should raise because the skimmer is only pulling half of what it used to out of the tank. Since you are leaving it running you are still getting the ph balance and aeration benefits.

 

[Princess Hockey]

He said it pretty clear, but he basically just means adjust it so it doesn't pull much skimmate. So if you have to empty the cup every week (for analogy only), then try to adjust it so you have to empty it every two weeks instead.

Over time your nutrients should raise because the skimmer is only pulling half of what it used to out of the tank. Since you are leaving it running you are still getting the ph balance and aeration benefits.

Sorry, super newb here. So lower where the bubbles come up to slightly?

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Sorry, super newb here. So lower where the bubbles come up to slightly?

No worries! I'm not exactly a seasoned vet either!

Yeah you got it though. Just play with the water level/bubble level (lower in this case) until you notice is pulling out a little less gunk.
Me personally, I would adjust it and leave it for 2 weeks and retest nitrates and see if it helped. If you're still 0 then readjust again!

Edit: go panthers!

 

[Princess Hockey]

No worries! I'm not exactly a seasoned vet either!

Yeah you got it though. Just play with the water level/bubble level (lower in this case) until you notice is pulling out a little less gunk.
Me personally, I would adjust it and leave it for 2 weeks and retest nitrates and see if it helped. If you're still 0 then readjust again!

Edit: go panthers!

Awesome, thank you!

And go Stars!

 

[Spdjnky]

Interesting about the skimmer and I can see where you are going. My problem is that I can't seem to dial my skimmer down that much. It's a Bashsea Twisted Skimmer and along with my refugium and the Kessil H380 light that I have running over it with just sea lettuce I have growing seems to keep my No3 and PO4 almost nothing and I feed alot.

 

[Spdjnky]

I have been playing with the nitrates to see if it would help with different corals but at this point I just don't know here are some pictures. My Aussie Duncan coral is now doing great but was not for awhile and am not sure why the only thing I can think of was that I had a big emerald crap that I removed tho the fuge that was bothering it. But my flowerpot coral just dose not want to open that well. At the same time I have some Zoa's that I just don't know they are right next to some old Zoa's that came back after all the live rock was removed a year ago and cleaned because of algea. But my other corals are doing good.
I'm probably confusing everyone but I'm just trying to learn. Anyways here are some pictures

 

[dwest]

I have been playing with the nitrates to see if it would help with different corals but at this point I just don't know here are some pictures. My Aussie Duncan coral is now doing great but was not for awhile and am not sure why the only thing I can think of was that I had a big emerald crap that I removed tho the fuge that was bothering it. But my flowerpot coral just dose not want to open that well. At the same time I have some Zoa's that I just don't know they are right next to some old Zoa's that came back after all the live rock was removed a year ago and cleaned because of algea. But my other corals are doing good.
I'm probably confusing everyone but I'm just trying to learn. Anyways here are some pictures

Tank looks great! You may want to consider removing some or all algae n refugium if you are trying to increase nitrates. Also, I am a proponent of 24/7 skimming.

 

[Spdjnky]

Here are 2 pics of where I moved my Hammer coral from the hole on the left where it had been. I'm not sure why but when I first put it there it seemed to be doing great but after time with the shrimp and I guess anything that get under it it just was not opening. So I hope it does better over here.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Most of the corals look like they are doing well!

Don't pull your hair out over 1-2 corals if the rest are doing well!

 

[Spdjnky]

Thx I needed that

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Thx I needed that

Of course. I always start theory crafting and going nuts when one polyp doesn't open and it normally works it self out.

That being said flowerpots can be pretty finicky and for the first few months I had mine it was a pain. It would stay closed for weeks at a time if I barely bumped it with something. Now after about 6 months or so of it being in the tank its pretty sturdy.

Zoa's can be tricky. If you cant visually see any pests and your parameters are close enough then you might want to consider a dose of chemi clean.
WWC does this and a bunch of other reefers including me have had success with problem zoa's. My best guess is a bacterial or algae film starts to grow on the zoas that you cant see and it iritates them. After chemiclean my 200 or so heads are always open.

Just a few anecdotal experiences that may or may not help you.

 

[Spdjnky]

That's the hard part it's like why are the ones that I thought would do good and like my hammer when I first put it in I can show pics where it was happy and now while I guess I will just wait and see if it likes it's new location. And the Flowerpot it was looking allot better at first I thought that it was like the duncan that ever since the crab was gone it's happy. But not the flowerpot now I just moved it about 2-3 inches away from the duncan ?
Oh and by the way I test all the time this morning my Alk was 8.5 ppm Mag 1470 ppm Cal 422 NO3 5 and PO4 0 SP 1.025

 

[Spdjnky]

Of course. I always start theory crafting and going nuts when one polyp doesn't open and it normally works it self out.

That being said flowerpots can be pretty finicky and for the first few months I had mine it was a pain. It would stay closed for weeks at a time if I barely bumped it with something. Now after about 6 months or so of it being in the tank its pretty sturdy.

Zoa's can be tricky. If you cant visually see any pests and your parameters are close enough then you might want to consider a dose of chemi clean.
WWC does this and a bunch of other reefers including me have had success with problem zoa's. My best guess is a bacterial or algae film starts to grow on the zoas that you cant see and it iritates them. After chemiclean my 200 or so heads are always open.

Just a few anecdotal experiences that may or may not help you.

Have never tried chemi clean but it looks to me like there is some kind of red slime on the back side of the zoa frags. It's just funny that the old ones that came back are fine right next to the Fire and Ice Zoanthids that came from WWC's