Tip for new players Nitrate going up again

[PeterEde]

After getting NO3 under control and heading in the right direction. This week my numbers started heading up again.
I've gone from 18 up to 30ppm in a week.
what the heck is going on. It was keeping me awake.
Then I had a light bulb moment.
Refugium is working but I've been throwing lengths of culerpa into the DT for the rabbit fish.
Hmmm. Instead of removing nutrient I feed it to the fish who then pee/poo out concentrated NO3 into the tank.

Cure/tip. Don't feed your tank macro from the refugium. Nutrient export means throw it out.

Tip for new players

On the bright side my leather loves the 30ppm. But not my nem

 

[sixty_reefer]

After getting NO3 under control and heading in the right direction. This week my numbers started heading up again.
I've gone from 18 up to 30ppm in a week.
what the heck is going on. It was keeping me awake.
Then I had a light bulb moment.
Refugium is working but I've been throwing lengths of culerpa into the DT for the rabbit fish.
Hmmm. Instead of removing nutrient I feed it to the fish who then pee/poo out concentrated NO3 into the tank.

Cure/tip. Don't feed your tank macro from the refugium. Nutrient export means throw it out.

Tip for new players

On the bright side my leather loves the 30ppm. But not my nem

I would be looking at a different possibility, herbivores consuming algaes doesn’t increase nitrates.

 

[Lavey29]

Fish food and certain coral nutrition seem to be primary nitrate contributors but also how heavily stocked you are with fish versus nutrient export.

I dose PNS probio which is a natural bacteria supplement that binds organics and reduces my nitrates. I also use a bag of chemipure blue in my sump along with my fuge.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

After getting NO3 under control and heading in the right direction. This week my numbers started heading up again.
I've gone from 18 up to 30ppm in a week.
what the heck is going on. It was keeping me awake.
Then I had a light bulb moment.
Refugium is working but I've been throwing lengths of culerpa into the DT for the rabbit fish.
Hmmm. Instead of removing nutrient I feed it to the fish who then pee/poo out concentrated NO3 into the tank.

Cure/tip. Don't feed your tank macro from the refugium. Nutrient export means throw it out.

Tip for new players

On the bright side my leather loves the 30ppm. But not my nem

Well, if you are going to feed them anyway, your conclusion is not correct. If you feed them macroalgae from your tank, or you throw away the macroalgae and feed them commercial foods, the net effect may be the same.

IMO, feeding macroalgae back to the display tank is a good idea and I frequently did it.

 

[PeterEde]

Well, if you are going to feed them anyway, your conclusion is not correct. If you feed them macroalgae from your tank, or you throw away the macroalgae and feed them commercial foods, the net effect may be the same.

IMO, feeding macroalgae back to the display tank is a good idea and I frequently did it.

So much for that thought then.

 

[PeterEde]

Fish food and certain coral nutrition seem to be primary nitrate contributors but also how heavily stocked you are with fish versus nutrient export.

I dose PNS probio which is a natural bacteria supplement that binds organics and reduces my nitrates. I also use a bag of chemipure blue in my sump along with my fuge.

I have no hope of getting such products in Australia. Our stores are limited to what we can get. It's a smallish market here and companies dont want to waste 20K on such small volume sales
I am dosing NOPOX/phosporus.

Other than what I said I don't know why my nitrates have been rising the past week

 

[Lavey29]

I have no hope of getting such products in Australia. Our stores are limited to what we can get. It's a smallish market here and companies dont want to waste 20K on such small volume sales
I am dosing NOPOX/phosporus.

Other than what I said I don't know why my nitrates have been rising the past week

You get it through algae barn

 

[PeterEde]

You get it through algae barn

Not in Australia.
Likely be picked up by our customs

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Not in Australia.
Likely be picked up by our customs

Vodka works almost as well and will definitely be available in Australia.

 

[PeterEde]

Vodka works almost as well and will definitely be available in Australia.

If it's just a carbon source I am using NOPOX now.

 

[sixty_reefer]

So much for that thought then.

You may need to give more details from your tank for folks to be able to help you identify what may be causing the rise in nitrates.

below is a thread that may be helpful to understand what may be limiting your tank at the microbe level

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sixty’s-understanding-of-nutrients-2-0.916975/

 

[ss30]

After getting NO3 under control and heading in the right direction. This week my numbers started heading up again.
I've gone from 18 up to 30ppm in a week.
what the heck is going on. It was keeping me awake.
Then I had a light bulb moment.
Refugium is working but I've been throwing lengths of culerpa into the DT for the rabbit fish.
Hmmm. Instead of removing nutrient I feed it to the fish who then pee/poo out concentrated NO3 into the tank.

Cure/tip. Don't feed your tank macro from the refugium. Nutrient export means throw it out.

Tip for new players

On the bright side my leather loves the 30ppm. But not my nem

Maybe you should leave the Caulerpa in the sump to remove the No3 rather than feeding it to the fish.

 

[PeterEde]

You may need to give more details from your tank for folks to be able to help you identify what may be causing the rise in nitrates.

below is a thread that may be helpful to understand what may be limiting your tank at the microbe level

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sixty’s-understanding-of-nutrients-2-0.916975/

Just had an ICP. Only issues was no detected iodine which I am now dosing.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Just had an ICP. Only issues was no detected iodine which I am now dosing.

Icp will only tell you what’s happening in your tank at the trace elements level, they not a good way to interpret nutrient issues, To understand what’s making your residual nitrates rise you need to look at your filtration I could try and help you find a probably cause with a few questions if you like?

 

[PeterEde]

Icp will only tell you what’s happening in your tank at the trace elements level, they not a good way to interpret nutrient issues, To understand what’s making your residual nitrates rise you need to look at your filtration I could try and help you find a probably cause with a few questions if you like?

Refugium with caulerpa/chaeto/lr
Skimmer wet skimming near ltr a day
4 bio bricks genesis/mantis. More than enough for 120ltr tank.
Was fine for 2 weeks at 18ppm. Now seems stable at 30ppm. Everything happy but bta.
nh3 0ppm
No3 30
No2 .2
Ph 8.3
Kh 8.5
Mg 1350
po4 .1
Ca 1250
I missed 1 wc last week. Only thing different

 

[sixty_reefer]

Refugium with caulerpa/chaeto/lr
Skimmer wet skimming near ltr a day
4 bio bricks genesis/mantis. More than enough for 120ltr tank.
Was fine for 2 weeks at 18ppm. Now seems stable at 30ppm. Everything happy but bta.
nh3 0ppm
No3 30
No2 .2
Ph 8.3
Kh 8.5
Mg 1350
po4 .1
Ca 1250
I missed 1 wc last week. Only thing different

Have you got a po4 analysis also please?
edit just seen it

 

[sixty_reefer]

Just one more question is your po4 stable also?
and does light get spilled to the bio bricks?

 

[PeterEde]

Just one more question is your po4 stable also?
and does light get spilled to the bio bricks?

Po4 is stable
Light does reach bio bricks

 

[dthom]

Tank actually looks really good. I see the BTA on the left. Looks good. What are you seeing wrong with it?

 

[dthom]

I see some algae growth. Do you have a clean up crew?