I have a newish tank (3 or 4 months old now), and recently my Nitrates and Phosphates have tanked. My Hanna checkers read 0.0 and 0.00 ppm respectively, and have for the last 6 days. 6 days ago I did a SpinTouch test at the LFS, and we measured 2 ppm Nitrates and 0.1 ppm Phosphate. I'm inclined to believe my 6 0 tests in a row from my Hanna Checker, but for no particular reason other than sample size. The water samples themselves are also quite clear after adding the reagent and doing the requisite agitation, so I find the 0 measurements believable, but I have wondered if the reagent is bad (it is not expired).
Starting 6 days ago, I began to dose NeoNitro in an attempt to bring up the Nitrates. I've been adding 10mL/day to my 150 gal water volume, which should bring it up 0.5ppm/day I believe. The bottle recommended not exceeding 0.5 ppm per day, so that's where I started.
I feed a lot of food, but I do not have a ton of fish. I run my Avast Plank for about 30 seconds 5x per day. It's filled with TDO and Reef Jerkey. I also feed Reef Roids 2x per week. I have one Foxface, a couple Clowns, a Royal Gramma, a Firefish, a a couple shrimp and about a15 snails. I have a skimmer, but the cup is removed. I have a Reef Mat, but it's bypassed for now since I know they can reduce nutrients.
Since I'm still at 0 nearly a week later, I think I need to do something different. Should I get one of the food grade Nitrate products, mix it up, and start dosing more? I have a spare dosing pump, so it would be easy enough to put on a doser, if those products don't require regular mixing anyway.
For a little bit of time it looked like my Nitrate and Phosphate were bouncing back, then they tanked again.
The only thought I have is that it started dropping after I started dosing Prazi for a suspected case of gill flukes.
What's happening?
What are my options here?
Starting 6 days ago, I began to dose NeoNitro in an attempt to bring up the Nitrates. I've been adding 10mL/day to my 150 gal water volume, which should bring it up 0.5ppm/day I believe. The bottle recommended not exceeding 0.5 ppm per day, so that's where I started.
I feed a lot of food, but I do not have a ton of fish. I run my Avast Plank for about 30 seconds 5x per day. It's filled with TDO and Reef Jerkey. I also feed Reef Roids 2x per week. I have one Foxface, a couple Clowns, a Royal Gramma, a Firefish, a a couple shrimp and about a15 snails. I have a skimmer, but the cup is removed. I have a Reef Mat, but it's bypassed for now since I know they can reduce nutrients.
Since I'm still at 0 nearly a week later, I think I need to do something different. Should I get one of the food grade Nitrate products, mix it up, and start dosing more? I have a spare dosing pump, so it would be easy enough to put on a doser, if those products don't require regular mixing anyway.
For a little bit of time it looked like my Nitrate and Phosphate were bouncing back, then they tanked again.
The only thought I have is that it started dropping after I started dosing Prazi for a suspected case of gill flukes.
What's happening?
What are my options here?
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