What do you keep your Nitrates at?

[Paul B]

What test kit do you use to get that reading? Redsea only goes to 60 on the high range test.

You have to put in double the water or half the reagents. Then double the reading. I don't have test kits, the LFS tests it for me.

 

[TbyZ]

You have to put in double the water or half the reagents. Then double the reading. I don't have test kits, the LFS tests it for me.

I had some dodgy test kits at one time. That's why I didn't know I had >60 no3 & > 3.0 po4. Got my first acro, a nice light blue specimen. It turn a nice dark brown after a couple of days & then turned a brilliant pristein white by seven.

Got the no3 & po4 down to a respectable level, got another acro, & things went much better.

 

[Paul B]

My Po4 is 2.0

 

[TbyZ]

My Po4 is 2.0

Would you recommend 160ppm no3 & 2.0ppm po4 Paul ? because i believe the vast majority of hobbiests would struggle terribly with inorganic nutrients at those levels, especially if keeping sps.

 

[dansreef]

What is your filtration for inorganic nutrient export? Do you dose carbon / bio pellets?

I run two large 1 -1/2" drains from the display to the basement sump and they are filtered by two large felt socks at any given time. I rotate them out for clean socks about every 7-10 days depending on performance. The sump is a​

100 gal Rubbermaid sump that contains about 50 lbs of live rock and two large marine pure blocks. The blocks and rock are arranged to maximize flow through the materials in the sump.

I run an Algae Scrubber from 302 Aquatics... a bit oversized. I also run a Skimz skimmer. I run both at the same time which helps me keep my phosphates low. ​

I have played around with scheduling the skimmer to run part-time, but that has done nothing to raise Nitrates.

 

[dansreef]

Here is a picture of my setup. Not sure why I didn't have a cup on the skimmer.... might have been cleaning things when I took the photo a couple months ago.

 

[Brian W]

Here is a picture of my setup. Not sure why I didn't have a cup on the skimmer.... might have been cleaning things when I took the photo a couple months ago.

Very nice. What model is the scrubber from 302 Aquatics? I have the AS-04 for my 110g tank.

 

[Brian W]

Here is a picture of my setup. Not sure why I didn't have a cup on the skimmer.... might have been cleaning things when I took the photo a couple months ago.

Very nice. What model is the scrubber from 302 Aquatics? I have the AS-04 for my 110g tank.

 

[dansreef]

So... as I said.. it is a bit oversized... it is an AS-7. I got it from Joe for a good deal. In hind sight.... I wish I have an As-4. Instead of 4 - 30Watt LEDs I have 4- 50Watt LEDs. I also have it plumbed into my return as opposed to running another pump. It produces a lot of algae and other gunk... I clean it about once every 45 days or so. It is also a hatchery for pods....

 

[Brian W]

So... as I said.. it is a bit oversized... it is an AS-7. I got it from Joe for a good deal. In hind sight.... I wish I have an As-4. Instead of 4 - 30Watt LEDs I have 4- 50Watt LEDs. I also have it plumbed into my return as opposed to running another pump. It produces a lot of algae and other gunk... I clean it about once every 45 days or so. It is also a hatchery for pods....

Nice. i cant wait to get mine going. The lights that came with mine are 4 20 watts.

 

[Paul B]

Would you recommend 160ppm no3 & 2.0ppm po4 Paul ? because i believe the vast majority of hobbiests would struggle terribly with inorganic nutrients at those levels, especially if keeping sps.

No, I would not. I didn't say I recommended it, I just said thats what I have.

 

[TbyZ]

I run two large 1 -1/2" drains from the display to the basement sump and they are filtered by two large felt socks at any given time. I rotate them out for clean socks about every 7-10 days depending on performance. The sump is a​

100 gal Rubbermaid sump that contains about 50 lbs of live rock and two large marine pure blocks. The blocks and rock are arranged to maximize flow through the materials in the sump.

I run an Algae Scrubber from 302 Aquatics... a bit oversized. I also run a Skimz skimmer. I run both at the same time which helps me keep my phosphates low. ​

I have played around with scheduling the skimmer to run part-time, but that has done nothing to raise Nitrates.

Your skimmer will do nothing for nitrates.
I don't know how many fish you have, or how much coral you have, but dosing nitrates when you have such a massive amount of live rock, M.Pure blocks in the system & an algae scrubber, is just pushing poop up the hill.

If your tank is mature & stabilized, & you want higher NO3, try removing some rock & Blocks from your sump. Also try reducing the flow over your scrubber screen as well as running the lights on it for only nine hours.
Or even just running only two of the four scrubber lights (one on each side).

 

[TbyZ]

No, I would not. I didn't say I recommended it, I just said thats what I have.

Paul, I reckon your LFS has willy wonka test kits, or perhaps the operator was willy wonka?

 

[Dogtown]

Paul always throws out “shock and awe” values for everything he does. He’s great at what he does and a great guy, but he’ll be the first to admit he doesn’t have any smooth skinned SPS in his tank. Maybe some skinny dipping bud light girls! I like what he does have. His setup is unique. Different strokes for different folks.

I dose DSR method using iron, nitrate and a little vinegar. Nitrate dosed for level of 2-5, PO4 .04-.08. No gfo. Tons of flow. SPS lots of extension and happy.

 

[TbyZ]

Paul always throws out “shock and awe” values for everything he does. He’s great at what he does and a great guy, but he’ll be the first to admit he doesn’t have any smooth skinned SPS in his tank. Maybe some skinny dipping bud light girls! I like what he does have. His setup is unique. Different strokes for different folks.

Yes, Paul does have a very nice tank, and he's a lovely fella. I like his sense of humour especially. But I'm not questioning any of that.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I haven't tested N or P in idk how long in my 14g nano... SPS frags are happy and colorful. Sand is covered in algae, urchin keeps the rocks clean.

 

[srad750c]

My tank is 11 yrs old. NO3 and PO4 are 0 ppm on Red Sea Pro test kits. It just happened, tank always ran 1-2 ppm nitrate and .08 on phosphate. What a pain in the .... took me almost a year to figure out that’s no good. Finally ran across a thread describing ULN tanks. Dosed nitrate for a while, it worked for a little while. Got to be to tedious to maintain. Lowered KH to 8 and keep Ca around 400-450 ppm. I dose amino acids and vitamin supplement, colors came back after about 6-8 months. Things have really changed over the years.

 

[srad750c]

+1

I let my system find its own set point. Currently that is 0ppm NO3 (Red Sea Pro) and 0 PO4 (Hanna ULR). I feed heavy with lots of fish. Alk holds itself at 7.1-7.3. SPS, LPS mixed reef all look happy (color and PE)

I use Ca(OH)2 [ATO] and CO2 reactors. No water changes. I have ulva macro algae refugium.

I gave up controlling numbers and now: I test less often, system is way more stable and I spend more time in front of tank instead of at the lab bench testing and mixing up elixirs and potions.

Funny how the more you mess with it the worse it gets, I have learned to do what you do. Let the tank figure it out. I had a bad hair algae out break while dosing nitrate. Fought it for a long time, since I forgot about it, I had started to go away. I will get more corals now to speed up process.

 

[TbyZ]

+1

I let my system find its own set point. Currently that is 0ppm NO3 (Red Sea Pro) and 0 PO4 (Hanna ULR). I feed heavy with lots of fish. Alk holds itself at 7.1-7.3. SPS, LPS mixed reef all look happy (color and PE)

Randy from BRS describes this as having a high nutrient import tank with a high nutrient export

 

[Acrofiend]

5-10, I think running them at 0 is what kicked off the dino-pocalypse in my tank. (And SPS paling for that matter)

I’ve been having dinos at 0 nitrates also. Anyone know why?