Low Nitrate High Phosphate

[thesoulpatch]

Okay, so stupid kits finally came in.


I've not had great coloration in my sps but my lps and zoas are all happy and growing...and i finally got my phosphate test in (Salifert) and it was between the 1 and 3 so that's high, for my liking.

I also tested Nitrate (Salifert also) and it was like .2 or something and this was only after I added a bunch of phyto and oyster feast last night to put some stuff other than pellets in the tank to see if i could get a reading...obviously i did.

So I have taken my skimmer and my reactor with Seagel in it off line in order to raise the nitrates, but what should i do to combat the PO4? I am also currently going thru a bloom so I've got an air stone in there, most likely from adding the stuff.

But here is what I have so everyone doesn't ask the same questions over and over...

Alk 9.5-10
Calc 460
Mag 1300 ish ( i forgot the number honestly)
Nitrate .2ppm
Phosphate 1-3ppm

I have 2 AI prime (can post the lighting schedule if anyone wants to judge it or whatever also.)
It's been up for 1.5 years
I have some polpy extension but not the best.

Thanks!

 

[theMeat]

Do you have refugium or algae scrubber?

 

[thesoulpatch]

nope

oh also sorry it's a 40gal nuvo aio

the best i could do would be turn my reactor into a refuge

 

[theMeat]

nope

oh also sorry it's a 40gal nuvo aio

the best i could do would be turn my reactor into a refuge

Best thing would be run gfo to lower phosphate. Just don’t overdue and strip it down too low.

Skimmer takes out proteins before they enter the nitrogen cycle. The end game of the nitrogen cycle is nitrate. So taking it off line not helping

Seagel is a combination of carbon and phosqaurd.
The carbon is taking out nutrients that will end up being nitrate= bad for your situation.
The phosgaurd is removing phosphate but would be more effective if you just run 100% phosgaurd, or some other gfo media. Run small amounts changing frequently, until you get into more acceptable range

 

[KrisReef]

Your nitrates are 10 times too low and your phosphate 10times to high?

 

[thesoulpatch]

Your nitrates are 10 times too low and your phosphate 10times to high?

seems like it

Best thing would be run gfo to lower phosphate. Just don’t overdue and strip it down too low.

Skimmer takes out proteins before they enter the nitrogen cycle. The end game of the nitrogen cycle is nitrate. So taking it off line not helping

Seagel is a combination of carbon and phosqaurd.
The carbon is taking out nutrients that will end up being nitrate= bad for your situation.
The phosgaurd is removing phosphate but would be more effective if you just run 100% phosgaurd, or some other gfo media. Run small amounts changing frequently, until you get into more acceptable range

sounds good, I'll see what i can find at the store tmw. anyone else feel free to chime in.

 

[thesoulpatch]

Meat so are you saying I should put the skimmer back on?

 

[watchguy123]

You would want to understand why your nutrients seem to be skewed.

Feeding unfiltered frozen food can increase phosphates dramatically so not sure what or how much you are feeding or even what livestock you have. Just throwing some thoughts out though. Strange how your nitrates are so low and your phosphates so high. Either you are not feeding enough or don't have enough livestock, or you are having great nitrate removal somehow. Common ways nitrates get removed are through algae growth (algae scrubber or chaeto in refugium), live rock, ceramic material like siporax, bio balls, deep sand bed, water changes, on and on. But if you have a simple set up,, hmm. Need to figure out what is unusual about your nutrient import vs export.

If you are not feeding enough, then increasing feeding will increase nitrates but it will also increase your phosphates. You may want to consider nitrate supplementation of some type particularly if you think you have some type of supercharged nitrate removal system that is active. You may want to consider running gfo but go slowly (small amount) or you will have very very unhappy sps (eg. RTN). Lastly, before you start adding or subtracting, you want to be very certain that your testing is accurate at least within hobby kit standards. It takes some getting used to in order to get the testing kits to be both accurate and precise (within hobby kit standards) and to make sure that you are not converting numbers incorrectly. If you change anything, go slowly because its one thing to have not great coloration of your sps vs having them RTN.

I should add there is nothing worse than changing something in your tank because the test you ran is incorrect for some reason. Some reefers like 0.2 ppm nitrates but usually not in combination with phosphates that high. So if 0.2 ppm nitrates is your goal, then just work on reducing your phosphates slowly.

 

[thesoulpatch]

I have a melanarus, 2 clowns and goby that's all. I do feed frozen mysis and pellets but that's it and usually enough to get the full. They eat like 80% of what I put in.

 

[watchguy123]

I have a melanarus, 2 clowns and goby that's all. I do feed frozen mysis and pellets but that's it and usually enough to get the full. They eat like 80% of what I put in.

You may want to rinse the frozen mysis before you add it to the tank

 

[theMeat]

Meat so are you saying I should put the skimmer back on?

Yes, leave it on.
There are many natural ways nitrates can get absorbed or exported. The only way for phosphate is through algae growth.
Especially in a newish tank. Rocks, sand and media are like nitrate bank. When new they can absorb. Once full not so much.
Sounds like you’re feeding well. Keep at it and run gfo media.
Do you use rodi water? Have you tested ppm of your water source?

FWIW always heard dried foods have more phosphate then fresh or frozen, and if you want your nitrates up don’t worry bout rinsing or cutting down on frozen

 

[thesoulpatch]

Okay cool, I'll put it back on and I'm going to do a water change tomorrow to lower the phosphates some as well. My rodi water has 0 phosphate per the test but who knows.

 

[thesoulpatch]

Well i had 2 corals get rtn over night after a water change. I did nothing other than a water change....

 

[lapin]

I am wondering if you have too much bacteria in your tank (the bloom). Are you carbon dosing ? Bacteria use more nitrate than phosphate and over time carbon dosing can cause the imbalance. GFO will reduce your phosphate, as said above, go slow as not to shock your system.

 

[thesoulpatch]

Nope. I took everything off line then put just the skimmer back on. other than that I did a water change.

 

[thesoulpatch]

all my acros have rtn now?!

 

[MattL22]

Dose some nitrate see what happens same time run sm amount gfo try bring po4 down slowly in my exp as long as it’s below 1.0 u good
High nitrate low po4 seems to be great combo
The opposite acros brown out

 

[Reaper_Six_Four]

What does RTN mean?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What does RTN mean?

Rapid tissue necrosis. It means fast tissue loss from an SPS coral usually.

 

[Reaper_Six_Four]

Rapid tissue necrosis. It means fast tissue loss from an SPS coral usually.

Ty