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Nutrient Levels

T

Teds Reef

I have a predominantly LPS filled reef tank that is currently 5 months old. I am having trouble with my Nutrients bottoming out. Currently Nitrates are registering around 3 and phosphates are around 0 (according to Hanna). Recently I had an outbreak of Ich and most of my fish are in my hospital tank so I have been feeding much less in the main display which is why my phosphates have decreased. Should I consider adding nitrates and phosphates to the tank or should I just start feeding benepets daily? Most of my corals seem fine except my torch corals seem to be opening a little less. I have yet to turn on my protein skimmer because I have never had high nutrient levels. Thank you!
 
The Gooch

The Gooch

NJRC Member
Everything is the reef benefits from some added nutrient, and you’re less likely to see cyano if nitrates don’t bottom out. Unltil
You get a significant amount of fish back in there, reef roids for phosphate and esv nitrate.
 
ole farny

ole farny

NJRC Member
i do what gooch does for phosphate and i wouldn't feed my corals more than 2 or 3 times a week max. usually once a week, sometimes twice for me. i don't think they can handle frequent feedings on account of a pretty slow metabolism rate.
 
iman7045

iman7045

NJRC Member
Tank is still young and I’ve personally noticed myself with the few new tank starts from scratch the nutrients tend to bottom out at some point then they will later on settle out later down the line but just have to dose no3 and po4 to maintain when you want them
 
T

Teds Reef

Thanks everyone for the help. I started dosing today to keep my nutrients a little higher. The most stressful part for me has been testing my water. Between my hanna testers and my Neptune equipment my results are all over the place so I never know what to make of this. If anything makes me leave this hobby sooner then later it will be me stressing about my parameters lol.

On another note will there be any get togethers with this group coming up? Would love to meet some other hobbyists!
 
kevin

kevin

NJRC Member
My alk has been low at 4-5 so last week I did roughly about 80% water change throughout the week. Raised ALK to 7.0
I tested my nitrates yesterday w/ hanna and said 0 & phos at .187
I'm going to test today and see what it is.
I do have little GHA that came on some drag plugs and some browning on my sand. Trying to get my alk up so I can start dosing kalk
I have a small bioload for my 80g.
2 clowns
Tailspot
Midas
Watchman
Pistol shrimp
Cleaner shrimp
Peppermint shrimp
Bunch of snails

Otherwise, my corals look great (LPS )
No sps

Edit: so tested today and I got 7.9ppm nitrates lol. So maybe i tested wrong yesterday

Phos still at .18
 
Last edited:
T

Teds Reef

kevin said:
My alk has been low at 4-5 so last week I did roughly about 80% water change throughout the week. Raised ALK to 7.0
I tested my nitrates yesterday w/ hanna and said 0 & phos at .187
I'm going to test today and see what it is.
I do have little GHA that came on some drag plugs and some browning on my sand. Trying to get my alk up so I can start dosing kalk
I have a small bioload for my 80g.
2 clowns
Tailspot
Midas
Watchman
Pistol shrimp
Cleaner shrimp
Peppermint shrimp
Bunch of snails

Otherwise, my corals look great (LPS )
No sps

Edit: so tested today and I got 7.9ppm nitrates lol. So maybe i tested wrong yesterday

Phos still at .18
Click to expand...
The Hanna testers seem so sensitive. I can’t get consistent numbers. It’s frustrating.
 
Salted

Salted

NJRC Member
kevin said:
My alk has been low at 4-5 so last week I did roughly about 80% water change throughout the week. Raised ALK to 7.0
I tested my nitrates yesterday w/ hanna and said 0 & phos at .187
I'm going to test today and see what it is.
I do have little GHA that came on some drag plugs and some browning on my sand. Trying to get my alk up so I can start dosing kalk
I have a small bioload for my 80g.
2 clowns
Tailspot
Midas
Watchman
Pistol shrimp
Cleaner shrimp
Peppermint shrimp
Bunch of snails

Otherwise, my corals look great (LPS )
No sps

Edit: so tested today and I got 7.9ppm nitrates lol. So maybe i tested wrong yesterday

Phos still at .18
Click to expand...
You're going to be tired of this hobby real quick doing water changes like that. Get yourself some soda ash from brs - Pharma Soda Ash 1 Gallon Mix (Single Use). Then use their very handy dosing calculator - Aquarium and Reef Calculators - Bulk Reef Supply.
 
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