Need help, low nitrates high phosphates...

[ReefnQueens]

150 gallon mixed reef
temp-77
salinity 1.026
ph 8.3
alk- 10.9 higher side cuz i needed to bring calcium up (had a hiccup with my trident)
calcium 450
mag-1350
nitrates-.01
phosphates-.50

ive been feeding more trying to get nitrates up and been dosing neonitro here and there
phosphates- i was gonna go back to running biopellets but imm affraid of it raising alk more so i was gonna just start running gfo
kind of unsure what to do right now , any ideas are well appreciated

 

[BYU]

phosban should work fine
but go slow and test often

 

[ReefnQueens]

phosban should work fine
but go slow and test often

Hey byu, I have brs gfo , I’m guessing same thing? Also I was talking to Andrew before , I forgot I have 4 8x8x4” bio marine blocks in my setup , probably why my nitrates are so low

 

[BYU]

i had the same problem
adding nitrates
dosing nopox and phosban
but now tank just stabilized on its own no more dosing and no more gfo for close to a year
i think it just takes time to mature but i am bare bottom so i heard it takes a longer time

 

[ReefnQueens]

That’s awesome! I’d like to get to that point. So I started running gfo last night and I just tested now and got .09, I’m gonna test again in a few hours, I don’t want it to drop down to zero, it dropped .41 over night which I feel could be too fast , I don’t notice any differences with the corals, I’m also going to remove a marine bio block and see if it effects nitrates at all..... do nitrates and phosphates balance each other out like cal and alk?

 

[BYU]

yes you should look up red field ratio
i would be careful of the drastic drop too
also depends on what corals you are keeping some are more forgiving
sps are not

also don’t feed pellets they are usually high in phosphates

 

[BloopFish]

So if you look at the ocean, a lot of processes are actually phosphate limited rather than nitrogen limited (growth of phytoplankton). In other words, organisms will readily take advantage of any phosphate available, and will consume a large amount of nitrogen in doing so. So, you probably don't lack a decent source of nitrogen in your tank - its just that so much of it is being used up because theres a phosphate party going on. Once you fix your phosphate problem your nitrates will probably go back up. Be very careful not to decrease phosphates too fast or too low, this can cause coral stress.

 

[ReefnQueens]

So if you look at the ocean, a lot of processes are actually phosphate limited rather than nitrogen limited (growth of phytoplankton). In other words, organisms will readily take advantage of any phosphate available, and will consume a large amount of nitrogen in doing so. So, you probably don't lack a decent source of nitrogen in your tank - its just that so much of it is being used up because theres a phosphate party going on. Once you fix your phosphate problem your nitrates will probably go back up. Be very careful not to decrease phosphates too fast or too low, this can cause coral stress.

Woohoo phosphate party! Ohh yea loll smh ..., I def went too fast as I luckily only noticed a pair of Duncan’s shriveled up, everything else in the tank seemed as normal, I did slow down the water running through gfo to a bare minimum early this morning , we’ll see what tomorrow morning brings

 

[Blenny&Co.]

I would recommend either running a phosphate reducer (Phosguard, GFO, Phosphate Sponge, etc). Another method would be running a macro-algae refugium or just dumping any macro algae in your tank if you don't mind the looks. Echoing as everyone else said though, don't let the levels swing lest it stress the tank inhabitants.

 

[ReefnQueens]

I would recommend either running a phosphate reducer (Phosguard, GFO, Phosphate Sponge, etc). Another method would be running a macro-algae refugium or just dumping any macro algae in your tank if you don't mind the looks. Echoing as everyone else said though, don't let the levels swing lest it stress the tank inhabitants.

thanks man, im running gfo now, im gonna test shortly , i also have a fuge with chaeto overflowing, i have to do some trimming on that too today

 

[ReefnQueens]

not sure whats going on now, now my nitrates (0.54) are towering my phosphates (0.17), i didnt add any neonitro yesterday, could nitrates be high from my pain in arse melanarus wrasse kicking sand up like 5-10 minutes before i tested causing a bit of a sand storm? or could po4 dropping too quick cause nitrates to jump up like that ? ill retest again in a few hours

 

[BloopFish]

I would suspect the nitrates are just simply not being consumed as fast due to decreased phosphate levels, therefore the nitrates will end up high when at equilibrium with your system. You don't really need to chase low phosphates if your tank is perfectly fine, you may do more harm than good if you chase 0.

 

[ReefnQueens]

I would suspect the nitrates are just simply not being consumed as fast due to decreased phosphate levels, therefore the nitrates will end up high when at equilibrium with your system. You don't really need to chase low phosphates if your tank is perfectly fine, you may do more harm than good if you chase 0.

a few days ago phosphates were .50 that i was trying to get down, not neccesarily chasing 0, just wanted it down and nitrates have normally been too low and i wanted that up..... the main reason i even wanted to change these numbers was because i was assuming it was playing a part in losing color with some of my sps, i have been testing trace elements via salifert kits and everything is in the ok range..... i once thought maybe it was due to silicates but thats no longer a problem , i do feel i might be doing more harm than good but im going to go at least a few days running gfo to see if things level out , if not ill just take gfo off and go back to where i started when my tank was happy just not the best colors

 

[MIKE NY]

IMO try to keep the trates in the the 5-10 range and the phos in the .05-.1 range. That’s seems to be the happy place for the majority of SPS in my tank. Some like more nutrients and some like less. I find that is a happy medium for most. When it varies higher or lower I either loss color or brown out.


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[ReefnQueens]

IMO try to keep the trates in the the 5-10 range and the phos in the .05-.1 range. That’s seems to be the happy place for the majority of SPS in my tank. Some like more nutrients and some like less. I find that is a happy medium for most. When it varies higher or lower I either loss color or brown out.


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Thanks dude , between the bio marine blocks , chaeto light on 24/7, it’s keep bringing everything down to zero , I removed half my chaeto then got a spike in nutrients , I let that grow back and then there went my nutrients again , then dosing neonitro and neophos was only a very short temporary fix , I think I need to start playing around with the chaeto light timing maybe go 12 on 12 off

 

[MIKE NY]

I ran my fuge 12 on and 12 off for years opposite the DT light schedule to reduce the PH swing.


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[ReefnQueens]

I ran my fuge 12 on and 12 off for years opposite the DT light schedule to reduce the PH swing.


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My ph swings not so bad I’m just thinking it’s eating up all the nutrients and now with the huge blue hippo tang gone I’m losing a lot of ?! Lol

 

[greg 45]

rowaphos

 

[vio]

If i was you, i will try to control Nitrate first, my magic # is less then 4 ppm , but NOT less then 2.5 ppm, then you deal with PO4 , after you got some Nitrate , they gone balance , Chaetto will be a way to aggressive , will take everything , NO3 and PO4 and the MOST what corals need, you will lose color for sure, i use to grow Chatoo , one or two 5 Gal. bucket in 90 gal. refuge.
Very, very gentle dose ( add. Potassium Nitrate, pharmaceutics stuff , i got in e-bay).
Those blocks u mention, lots of ppl. complain , release Aluminum , NOT to mention got full of DETRITUS.
4 x PO4 remover, is a great product, wont release iron , like 99% of GFO, ROWA is good also , but aggressive.
First and first, make sure your NO3 test , is just fine, i use list 2-3 dif. tests. compare.
Every tank is dif.
Try to read the health of corals by eye, i know is NOT easy.

 

[ReefnQueens]

If i was you, i will try to control Nitrate first, my magic # is less then 4 ppm , but NOT less then 2.5 ppm, then you deal with PO4 , after you got some Nitrate , they gone balance , Chaetto will be a way to aggressive , will take everything , NO3 and PO4 and the MOST what corals need, you will lose color for sure, i use to grow Chatoo , one or two 5 Gal. bucket in 90 gal. refuge.
Very, very gentle dose ( add. Potassium Nitrate, pharmaceutics stuff , i got in e-bay).
Those blocks u mention, lots of ppl. complain , release Aluminum , NOT to mention got full of DETRITUS.
4 x PO4 remover, is a great product, wont release iron , like 99% of GFO, ROWA is good also , but aggressive.
First and first, make sure your NO3 test , is just fine, i use list 2-3 dif. tests. compare.
Every tank is dif.
Try to read the health of corals by eye, i know is NOT easy.

Hey thanks for the info Vio, I hit a bit of a speed bump for like two weeks, my tank was suffering while my readings were ok, a few days ago I decided to remove my sand bed from my sump, I noticed it getting very black fast and my skimmer was producing more of a sulfer smell than anything, what happened? I had put my seahare in my sump after he got my tank pretty clean, he was great In my dt but not in my sump , unfortunately it died and released all sorts of toxins , all my torches and softies are fine , but about 65-70 percent of sps died , the sps didn’t lose color or start fading away , it’s skin just fell off while looking healthy it was wierd! Anyway, I shut the tank down and wet dry vacced everything out and replaced with new saltwater and been running tons of carbon, I did 3 44 gallon wc. The tank is looking better today , Nitrates were slightly above 2.5 according to Hanna and salifert , phosphorus was at 15/po4 0.046, alk 9.2 cal 430 mag 1300 , I have brs po4 remover I was going to run ....... it’s crazy how fast you can lose everything! But I am grateful I didn’t lose everything! Oh and I did remove one bio block , I plan on removing the others slowly