Nitrates higher than phosphates

[steve_london_uk]

Hi all. Just after a little bit of advice please.

So my latest tank (Red Sea 350) I started from scratch with new dry tock, live sand and a bacteria start potion. It's been setup for around 4 weeks now and has a pair of maroon clowns and a tang along with a cleanup crew of all sorts.

My parameters are:
Salinity: 1.026
Temp: 26c
Alkalinity: 5.4 (might be Hanna check reagent being out of date, need to get a new one)
PH: 7.9
Phosphate: 0.06
Nitrates: 9.1

I've started getting a light brown algae or something coverage on rock and sand which I thought was normal with a new tank and should go but now seen some bright green appearing on some rocks. Also my latest nitrate readings I thought was a little high with the phosphates being relatively low. I am running Rowaphos (which maybe I need a little more of??) but what can I do that will solely lower the nitrates given the lower Phos levels? Most things I've seen need both to reduce.

Any advice welcome please as if I can't crack the reef game this time the whole hobby is coming to a close lol.

Thanks.

 

[IceNein]

Those seem like normal Nitrate and Phosphate levels.

The brown and green algae? Normal part of a new tank.

Do more water changes if you want to lower it, but those levels seem good to me.

 

[rishma]

I wouldn’t lower nitrate or phosphate.

I don’t support chasing any sort of ratio of phosphate and nitrate and your numbers are good. I like to keep both in a target range. In my current tank I target 0.05-0.12 phosphate and 5-15 nitrate. There is nothing special about these ranges, but they work for my current tank. Many people have higher ranges for both. In a new tank I like to keep them lower because the new rock isn’t covered with coraline and other things that prevent pest algae from taking hold.

I do not recommend driving phosphate below 0.03. While that level of phosphate is fine, I find to too close to zero and near the limits of test accuracy. That’s why I set my lower limit at 0.05. Running at zero phosphate can cause big problems and it’s often associated with Dinoflagellates, also known as dinos, that are a common and persistent pest that’s hard to get rid of. Be careful with the rowaphos.

I don’t worry much about nitrate, checking 1-2 times a month unless I do something I expect to impact my nitrate. I’d check more often in a new tank. I check phosphate often in my established reef.

My tank is happy at 0.06 phosphate and 10 nitrate. When phosphate is that low I give the corals an extra feeding. Since your tank is new, I’d do nothing.

Brown and green algae is 100% normal for a new tank. If you don’t need the lights for animals, you can reduce them or turn them off for a while. Your tank will go through a stage of different algaes as the surfaces get colonized with bacteria and other life.

 

[zerozero]

Your parameters are fine. I have PO4 at 0.1 and NO3 around 10 in a five month old tanks. I was worried about PO4 and NO3 bottoming out to zero so I deliberately feed a little heavy. The fish don't care, my corals are happy and the CUC are on top of algae. Yes, your Alk is a bit on the low side but you can tackle that with your water changes I suspect.