What Macroalgae Will Lower Phosphates But Not Nitrates?

[reeftankdude]

Was feeding a little heavy to up nitrates and phosphates. My nitrates are still zero and my phosphates are .25. I just added a bag of PhosGuard. My corals are looking good. I am using API test kits. I will get a Salifert phosphate kit soon. I do not want to but been thinking about adding this nitrate product. Thanks all

 

[Saltyreef]

Are you noticing any issues?
Normally near undetectable nitrates and slightly elevated phosphates is how my old reef ran best.
I wouldnt add any nitrate and pull the phosguard when phosphate is below .1

Cut back on your feeding as that is likely contributing to phospate.
You can also turn off your skimmer and pull out filter socks to help naturally raise your nitrate if desired.

I would not go down the rabbit hole of dosing though without visual confirmation your corals arent happy.

And yes ditch the api test kits for salifert.

The only hanna checker id would invest in right now is the ULR phosphates so you can be certain.
Salifert nitrate works great too.

 

[reeftankdude]

I am feeding these two foods. Thanks all

 

[reeftankdude]

Are you noticing any issues?
Normally near undetectable nitrates and slightly elevated phosphates is how my old reef ran best.
I wouldnt add any nitrate and pull the phosguard when phosphate is below .1

Cut back on your feeding as that is likely contributing to phospate.
You can also turn off your skimmer and pull out filter socks to help naturally raise your nitrate if desired.

I would not go down the rabbit hole of dosing though without visual confirmation your corals arent happy.

And yes ditch the api test kits for salifert.

The only hanna checker id would invest in right now is the ULR phosphates so you can be certain.
Salifert nitrate works great too.

cool

 

[Spare time]

None. That would be impossible unless it has some way to fixate nitrogen from the atmosphere or is unable to use nitrate (of which I don't know a single one). If you use the nitrogen product from above, do it in very, very tiny amounts as it contains ammonia.

 

[MaxTremors]

The short answer is none. Macro algae needs both nitrogen and phosphorus to create bio mass through photosynthesis. I don’t even know that there’s any variation in the ratio that different species use them.

 

[Saltyreef]

None. That would be impossible. If you use the nitrogen product from above, do it in very, very tiny amounts as it contains ammonia.

This.
To answer your original question LOL

 

[reeftankdude]

What foods raise nitrates and not phosphates?

 

[BirdFish5000]

None.

 

[Tired]

Dosing nitrates.

Don't worry too much about phosphate levels, as long as it's not "zero" and as long as the corals look fine.

 

[Spare time]

What foods raise nitrates and not phosphates?

Amino acids for corals will do so. This is how I deal with having nitrates around 1ppm constantly

 

[reeftankdude]

Amino acids for corals will do so. This is how I deal with having nitrates around 1ppm constantly

So the corals will consume the amino acids in place of low nitrates? What amino acid product do you use?

 

[Spare time]

So the corals will consume the amino acids in place of low nitrates? What amino acid product do you use?

Yes corals can use aminos as a source of nitrogen. I use reef energy as it also contains vitamins, carbs, and fatty acids (maybe there is a tiny bit of phosphate in the vitamins but I'm not sure). I also really like vitachem. However, any regular amino acid product will work (acropower, brightwell koral amino, polyp lab's blend, aquaforest, diy, etc.)

 

[reeftankdude]

Decided to add a few more fish and feed three times each day what they can eat in two minutes. I will also keep the Phosguard in the filter and monitor phosphate levels every few days. Thanks all

 

[Rtaylor]

You can also dose Lanthum chloride to lower phosphates specifically. Just be careful because you don’t need much.

 

[reeftankdude]

No blue color was showing after the first test. I did the double dosage method and could see a tint of blue when holding the test tube up to the bathroom sink light. I emptied the test tube and added clear faucet water and there was no tint of blue. I may be around 0.01. I removed the PhosGuard from my filter. What do you all think. Thanks.

 

[Tired]

Generally you don't want phosphates below 0.03, or you're courting coral stress and dinos.