ZERO Phosphates and 50ppm nitratee

[Gold3nboi]

I've been running an Algea Turf Scrubber 12 hours on 8 hours off. And have filter socks in my return and also I am runing a protein skimmer. I have acros in my tank all doing fine my only concern is my nitrates I've been trying to lower them to 20ppm so I began to vodka dose since Monday, so I am 3 days in. Will vodka dosing work if I have zero phosphates. Also how shall I reduce nitrates but get my phosphates up?

 

[sp1187]

I've been running an Algea Turf Scrubber 12 hours on 8 hours off. And have filter socks in my return and also I am runing a protein skimmer. I have acros in my tank all doing fine my only concern is my nitrates I've been trying to lower them to 20ppm so I began to vodka dose since Monday, so I am 3 days in. Will vodka dosing work if I have zero phosphates. Also how shall I reduce nitrates but get my phosphates up?

12 hours on 8 hours off. where's the other 4 hours?
why run a skimmer with a scrubber?
are you testing or the lfs?
what test kit?

 

[mindme]

That's amazing. I generally get phosphates that aren't used up more than I do nitrates.

Are you sure the tests are accurate?

 

[Crustaceon]

Common result from carbon dosing. You address the imbalance by testing and dosing phosphates daily to compensate.

 

[Gold3nboi]

12 hours on 8 hours off. where's the other 4 hours?
why run a skimmer with a scrubber?
are you testing or the lfs?
what test kit?

Sorry miss calculation I run scrubber from 8pm to 4am. And I've been running it just as a complementary. And for testing I us Hannah phos ultra low checker, and for nitrates I use api I am not worried about pin pointing nitrates I usually aim to keep it around the yellow orangy side.

 

[Gold3nboi]

That's amazing. I generally get phosphates that aren't used up more than I do nitrates.

Are you sure the tests are accurate?

Yes I tested a couple times. And all same results.

 

[Gold3nboi]

So does that mean I need to dose phosphates so my carbon dosing can bring down my nitrates?

Common result from carbon dosing. You address the imbalance by testing and dosing phosphates daily to compensate.

 

[landlubber]

Common result from carbon dosing. You address the imbalance by testing and dosing phosphates daily to compensate.

i agree with this. also, you're shooting for 13:1 phosphate to nitrate as a goal (redfield ratio) and would probably cut one of your nutrient reduction methods out before the corals start to pale out and starve.

 

[Gold3nboi]

So would it be better to stop carbon,reduce ats and skimmer time and start dosing phosphates?

i agree with this. also, you're shooting for 13:1 phosphate to nitrate as a goal (redfield ratio) and would probably cut one of your nutrient reduction methods out before the corals start to pale out and starve.

 

[Crustaceon]

So would it be better to stop carbon,reduce ats and skimmer time and start dosing phosphates?

I’d just stop carbon dosing and add test/add some phosphates daily if needed. ATS are absolute nutrient reduction monsters on their own.

 

[landlubber]

So would it be better to stop carbon,reduce ats and skimmer time and start dosing phosphates?

generally in the case where i'm making a change i only do one thing at a time and observe the result. if you do a bunch at once you don't get the benefit of knowing how the changes impacted the system.
i would start with the ats myself. they are terrific at reducing phos so to begin i'd probably just reduce the photoperiod and keep your eye on things.

 

[Gold3nboi]

I’d just stop carbon dosing and add test/add some phosphates daily if needed. ATS are absolute nutrient reduction monsters on their own.

So once I get my phosphates high enough my scrubber should bring down nitrates ?

 

[Crustaceon]

So once I get my phosphates high enough my scrubber should bring down nitrates ?

Yes. The trick here is testing phosphates daily because every bit of phosphate you add is going to get used up that same day, which will also use some nitrates up in the process. I saw daily drops of .1ppm phosphate when I was reducing nitrates

 

[Thaxxx]

The first think I would do before starting/stopping any dosing or cutting down nutrient removal is get a different test kit for nitrates. I recommend a Redsea pro nitrate kit.
My nitrates read 12 ppm with my ReaSea and a 10ppm with a Salifert Nitrate Test Kit. And about 60ppm with a API test.

 

[Gold3nboi]

I see so what would be the recommended levels I can add phosphate per day?

 

[Gold3nboi]

Wow so The api can be that off on nitrates ?

The first think I would before starting/stopping any dosing or cutting down nutrient removal is get a different test kit for nitrates. I recommend a Redsea pro nitrate kit.
My nitrates read 12 ppm with my ReaSea and a 10ppm with a Salifert Nitrate Test Kit. And about 60ppm with a API test.

 

[Thaxxx]

Mine is that off. All reagents within expiration date

 

[Gold3nboi]

Oh Wow thanks I will def be getting a new test kit thanks

Mine is that off. All reagents within expiration date

 

[Uncle99]

Are you sure those test results are correct?
You said you have Acros doing fine, but your concerned about nitrates?
Except for testing phosphorus, Hanna has a margin of error to 0.04+- so a read of zero could be 0.04ppm which would be perfect.
When corals are happy, your happy.
Just watch the Nitrate number does not rise.
Maybe it’s 10ppm and API says 20ppm.
Try Salifert for Nitrate.

for me, carbon dosing daily took me 8 weeks to go from 50 to 5ppm, my P stayed at 0.05 and seemed unaffected by the carbon dose.

 

[Gold3nboi]

Are you sure those test results are correct?
You said you have Acros doing fine, but your concerned about nitrates?
Except for testing phosphorus, Hanna has a margin of error to 0.04+- so a read of zero could be 0.04ppm which would be perfect.
When corals are happy, your happy.
Just watch the Nitrate number does not rise.
Maybe it’s 10ppm and API says 20ppm.
Try Salifert for Nitrate.

for me, carbon dosing daily took me 8 weeks to go from 50 to 5ppm, my P stayed at 0.05 and seemed unaffected by the carbon dose.

I see and I will order one to have a second look and awsome, so would it be still benifical to carbon dose?