Phosphates and Nitrates

[Jamie S]

Good Morning, I'm having a hard time getting my frogspawn and hammer corals to open up. Also I'm starting to notice a little bleaching on the tip of one my acros. My nitrates are 0 and I'm trying to get them up with a little heavier feeding. Any other ideas to raise them without dosing nitrates? Also my phosphates are hovering between .17 and .3. I'm running GFO and phosguard and can't seem to get them much lower. I only have my GFO reactor about half filled and i may fill it about 3/4 when i change the media this week. Any other advise would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[amado]

I would dip the corals if possible. I won’t make changes in my tank for one coral. If everything else is doing fine I would just change water. Sometime fish/inverts bother the coral.
I have clown fish that try to host the hammer corals. Causing them to close up. The hammer coral might be getting too much light or flow so measure par and move it as needed. Be careful with GFO to much is not good for your tank.

 

[redfishbluefish]

What nitrate kit are you using and how old? I'd have an LFS or a reefer friend test your nitrates with their kit. I can't see how you could have phosphates that high with zero nitrates. They are kissing-cousins and go hand in hand with nitrates typically considerably higher than phosphates.

 

[Jamie S]

What nitrate kit are you using and how old? I'd have an LFS or a reefer friend test your nitrates with their kit. I can't see how you could have phosphates that high with zero nitrates. They are kissing-cousins and go hand in hand with nitrates typically considerably higher than phosphates.

Yes I agree and thought it was odd as well. I use the Hannah Phosphate checker and the red sea nitrate. They both have been reading like this for a over a month now. I got both of them last summer brand new so they're less than a year old.

 

[Foxchase]

Yes I agree and thought it was odd as well. I use the Hannah Phosphate checker and the red sea nitrate. They both have been reading like this for a over a month now. I got both of them last summer brand new so they're less than a year old.

I would have someone else check the nitrates. Its very odd that you have 0 while at the same time having such high phosphates. Both of those will bother corals. Neophos will get your nitrates up easily without also adding phosphates which you need to avoid.

 

[brokereefer]

I think you mean NeoNitro rather than NeoPhos to get those nitrates up.

I’m actually running into the same situation as the OP. Phos was around 0.2-0.3 and Nitrates were undetectable. Had it verified by LFS. What I was told was that I had too much filtration (skimmer, chaeto, and a couple large MarinePure blocks in addition to live rock) that was knocking the nitrates down. Once the nitrates bottomed out, it limits the ability of bacteria to process the Phos. In other words, nitrates become a limiting reagent for Phos consumption. I’m not 100% sure, but it seemed plausible.

For now I’m feeding heavier, added NeoNitro, and used some lanthanum chloride (since GFO alone has only brought it down to a certain point). I’m running my skimmer only part-time now. If things don’t improve, I may have to remove some of my MarinePure.

 

[NJTaxMan]

I had the same issue as well. Look for the thread called algea bloom. I brought everything down to undetectable and i had a dino and diatom explosion that almost killed my tank. I put on a UV sterilizer, turned off my skimmer (for a while) and added some potassium nitrate. Within a few days, all of my euhpillyia are happy and playful again and the tank looks amazing.

 

[Hockeynut]

I hate to ask this but I have to, are you measuring what you have used or what is left in the Red Sea syringe? It is what’s used not what’s left.
also whit phosphate that high you should have a pretty bad algae problem, do you?
also I would get new test kits and try again or find the closest member and have them test your water. Something is not right. Good luck.

 

[Jamie S]

I think you mean NeoNitro rather than NeoPhos to get those nitrates up.

I’m actually running into the same situation as the OP. Phos was around 0.2-0.3 and Nitrates were undetectable. Had it verified by LFS. What I was told was that I had too much filtration (skimmer, chaeto, and a couple large MarinePure blocks in addition to live rock) that was knocking the nitrates down. Once the nitrates bottomed out, it limits the ability of bacteria to process the Phos. In other words, nitrates become a limiting reagent for Phos consumption. I’m not 100% sure, but it seemed plausible.

For now I’m feeding heavier, added NeoNitro, and used some lanthanum chloride (since GFO alone has only brought it down to a certain point). I’m running my skimmer only part-time now. If things don’t improve, I may have to remove some of my MarinePure.

I too run a refugium, skimmer runs 24/7, and a few MarinePure blocks in the sump and live rock along with filter socks that i change every 3-4 days.. I'm running bare bottom so i felt the blocks would be needed to make up for having no sand. Maybe I'll set the timer for my skimmer with the APEX and maybe start having it run for 18 hours/day.

 

[Jamie S]

I had the same issue as well. Look for the thread called algea bloom. I brought everything down to undetectable and i had a dino and diatom explosion that almost killed my tank. I put on a UV sterilizer, turned off my skimmer (for a while) and added some potassium nitrate. Within a few days, all of my euhpillyia are happy and playful again and the tank looks amazing.

So far no algae bloom. The tank doesn't have much algae so far even though it's only 6 months old now. I didn't seem to go through the ugly phase very long.

 

[Jamie S]

I hate to ask this but I have to, are you measuring what you have used or what is left in the Red Sea syringe? It is what’s used not what’s left.
also whit phosphate that high you should have a pretty bad algae problem, do you?
also I would get new test kits and try again or find the closest member and have them test your water. Something is not right. Good luck.

The kit di have doesn't have the syringe. This is the kit I'm using. No I don't have an algae bloom.

 

[Jamie S]

I would dip the corals if possible. I won’t make changes in my tank for one coral. If everything else is doing fine I would just change water. Sometime fish/inverts bother the coral.
I have clown fish that try to host the hammer corals. Causing them to close up. The hammer coral might be getting too much light or flow so measure par and move it as needed. Be careful with GFO to much is not good for your tank.

Thanks Amado, i think i started slow with the GFO by only filling the reactor halfway. The hammer and frogspawn were under the powerheads so they weren't getting too much flow. I moved them out a little bit from underneath to see if that helps.

 

[Hockeynut]

Where are you located? Maybe someone will test for you to confirm your numbers.
if you are close to me I will test for you.

 

[Jamie S]

Where are you located? Maybe someone will test for you to confirm your numbers.
if you are close to me I will test for you.

Thanks! I'm in Manalapan. I was at your house with my daughter recently picking up fish from NY Aquatics we ordered. I appreciate the offer I may take you up on it.

 

[Hockeynut]

Thanks! I'm in Manalapan. I was at your house with my daughter recently picking up fish from NY Aquatics we ordered. I appreciate the offer I may take you up on it.

Ok wasn’t sure it was you. Come by I will test it

 

[Foxchase]

Thanks! I'm in Manalapan. I was at your house with my daughter recently picking up fish from NY Aquatics we ordered. I appreciate the offer I may take you up on it.

I'm in brick if you need someone to stop by and test your water for you, i wouldn't mind either.

 

[Jamie S]

I'm in brick if you need someone to stop by and test your water for you, i wouldn't mind either.

Actually that would be pretty awesome of you. I’d love to have an experienced reefer take a look at my setup and give me some pointers.

 

[diana a]

@Jamie S I have a Nyos Nitrate kit I could use to test your water. I am out of Hanna reagent for my phosphate kit. I live between Rt 79 and Hwy 34 (near Newman Springs Rd/Holmdel Park area) I am available Saturday