Struggle to keep No3 and Po4 over 0

[OGKro]

So i've been testing weekly every parameter and i've been reading 0 nitrates for a month and 0.01-0.02 phosphates. I do water changes maybe once every two weeks or even three weeks. I feed my fish daily, 1 cube of frozen food. I have 2 banggai cardinal, 1 longnose hawkfish, 5 dascyllus melanurus which are smaller fish in a reefer 250 which holds 65 gallons. I also dose around 4 ml of af power elixir which is similar to red sea ab+.

I currently am struggling with algea. For one month now i've had a lot of bubble algea and also gha growing on different parts of the scape.

Why are my nutrients almost bottomed out even tho i feed one cube of frozen food a day ? And why do i have algea issues even tho my nutrients are so low ?

 

[Formulator]

1 cube per day is not that much. But the algae is the real reason. Algae uses nitrate and phosphate to grow, so it will consume what you put in there. I would suggest using brightwell neonitro and neophos to raise your levels. That may sound counterintuitive to your algae battle, but it will actually help you and will prevent dino from taking hold when you do beat the algae.

 

[OGKro]

1 cube per day is not that much. But the algae is the real reason. Algae uses nitrate and phosphate to grow, so it will consume what you put in there. I would suggest using brightwell neonitro and neophos to raise your levels. That may sound counterintuitive to your algae battle, but it will actually help you and will prevent dino from taking hold when you do beat the algae.

How is that going to help the algea situation ?

 

[Dburr1014]

Manually pull algae, up the cuc. Urchin maybe or more snails.

IMO, I wouldn't dose neo-anything.
If you want to dose that buy loudwolf brands off Amazon. Randy Holmes-Farley has threads here how to make your own N and P for a fraction of cost and then you know what's going into your tank, IE, no fillers.

You can certainly feed more and nutrients will rise. Feed multiple times a day, frozen, then pellets or flake.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I agree with everyone. I would start feeding more and pulling out algae you can get your hands on.

 

[sharkbait-uhaha]

Manually pull algae, up the cuc. Urchin maybe or more snails.

IMO, I wouldn't dose neo-anything.
If you want to dose that buy loudwolf brands of Amazon. Randy Holmes-Farley has threads here how to make your own N and P for a fraction of cost and then you know what's going into your tank, IE, no fillers.

You can certainly feed more and nutrients will rise. Feed multiple times a day, frozen, then pellets or flake.

you have a link to this diy N & P ?

 

[Dburr1014]

you have a link to this diy N & P ?

I can find, hold on...

Thread 'DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-ammonia-dosing-for-low-nitrate-systems.987087/


Thread 'Having trouble keeping phosphates up' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/having-trouble-keeping-phosphates-up.1031371/

Math help for po4

Thread 'Trisodium Phosphate dosing math' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/trisodium-phosphate-dosing-math.354337/

 

[OGKro]

Manually pull algae, up the cuc. Urchin maybe or more snails.

IMO, I wouldn't dose neo-anything.
If you want to dose that buy loudwolf brands of Amazon. Randy Holmes-Farley has threads here how to make your own N and P for a fraction of cost and then you know what's going into your tank, IE, no fillers.

You can certainly feed more and nutrients will rise. Feed multiple times a day, frozen, then pellets or flake.

I actually stopped dosing af power elixir because dinos are also creeping up on the sandbed. Is there something else you recommend against the dinos maybe ?

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

What corals do you have? I'd hold off on dosing and add more clean up crew along with manually cleaning out the algae to start. (as others have stated) If this is a FOWLR tank I don't think I would worry to much about the low readings, just yet. IMO

 

[OGKro]

What corals do you have? I'd hold off on dosing and add more clean up crew along with manually cleaning out the algae to start. (as others have stated) If this is a FOWLR tank I don't think I would worry to much about the low readings, just yet. IMO

I have a few lps. They are still growing nicely, so i'm not too worried. I just want this ULR situation to not last for too long

 

[VintageReefer]

Do you have a conch? I have one fighting conch and maybe 10 nassarius in my 75 and they keep the sand clean. I will say that one conch probably does the work of 10 nassarius. But he can’t get everywhere at once. The combination I mentioned works very well for me. And I would say don’t get more than 1 conch. If I had a second I honestly think it would starve. They spend allll day cleaning sand. They burrow also and will keep it stirred

 

[Dburr1014]

I actually stopped dosing af power elixir because dinos are also creeping up on the sandbed. Is there something else you recommend against the dinos maybe ?

Yes, getting no3 to 10 and po4 to 0.1 or higher

 

[OGKro]

Do you have a conch? I have one fighting conch and maybe 10 nassarius in my 75 and they keep the sand clean. I will say that one conch probably does the work of 10 nassarius. But he can’t get everywhere at once. The combination I mentioned works very well for me. And I would say don’t get more than 1 conch. If I had a second I honestly think it would starve. They spend allll day cleaning sand. They burrow also and will keep it stirred

I have a conch, nassarius and babylonia snail. The sand is pretty clean. rather the rocks are looking ugly, but i manually cleaned them yesterday. Its looking a bit better but dinos is coming up since my nutrients have been so low for a while

 

[Dburr1014]

I have a conch, nassarius and babylonia snail. The sand is pretty clean. rather the rocks are looking ugly, but i manually cleaned them yesterday. Its looking a bit better but dinos is coming up since my nutrients have been so low for a while

Got a pic?

 

[VintageReefer]

Well you can diy if you want theres no harm in that.

I had the same issue and it seemed to be a phase my tank was stuck in for months - 0 nitrate and 0 or near 0 phosphates

I just bought neonitro and neophos and followed the directions and got my values above zero and after a few weeks I found I didn’t need either product anymore

 

[Formulator]

How is that going to help the algea situation ?

Corals, bacteria, and beneficial algae like coralline all use nutrients. Many nuisance algaes are opportunists that take advantage of nutrient imbalances to proliferate without competition from the beneficial organisms.

Raising nitrate and phosphate levels from near zero can help combat algae by promoting the growth of beneficial organisms and preventing the dominance of nuisance algae, thereby leading to a more stable and healthy reef aquarium ecosystem

 

[OGKro]

Well you can diy if you want theres no harm in that.

I had the same issue and it seemed to be a phase my tank was stuck in for months - 0 nitrate and 0 or near 0 phosphates

I just bought neonitro and neophos and followed the directions and got my values above zero and after a few weeks I found I didn’t need either product anymore

Well i already have nutrient raising products on hand so i think i'm going to use them slowly. Maybe i need more fish. What do you think about running the skimmer half time maybe ?

 

[PharmrJohn]

Corals, bacteria, and beneficial algae like coralline all use nutrients. Many nuisance algaes are opportunists that take advantage of nutrient imbalances to proliferate without competition from the beneficial organisms.

Raising nitrate and phosphate levels from near zero can help combat algae by promoting the growth of beneficial organisms and preventing the dominance of nuisance algae, thereby leading to a more stable and healthy reef aquarium ecosystem

Yep, yep. One of life's great truths. In addition to feeding a bit more, you can always dial down your skimmer a bit or, if you have a fuge, dial the fuge light a tad. I would explore your hardware options before dosing. But that's just me.

 

[OGKro]

Got a pic?

Only POV where you can see it. Clearly dinos and not diatoms.

 

[OGKro]

Yep, yep. One of life's great truths. In addition to feeding a bit more, you can always dial down your skimmer a bit or, if you have a fuge, dial the fuge light a tad. I would explore your hardware options before dosing. But that's just me.

Well i do have quite a big skimmer fro my tank size. But i’m bot really a fan of turning that down as it does play a role in ph and oxygen