Undetectable nitrates....

[JonRivers]

Hi all thanks for reading.

 

I have 60x45x45cm (I'm from the UK sorry 😊) nano reef which that I'm having issues seeing any nitrates in but I do have phosphates sitting around 0.05 according to my salifert test kit.

 

I'm having some minor issues with algae although this could be down to the age of the system which has been setup approximately 4 months, how ever I feel that this maybe caused by the po4 and no3 being out of balance.

 

I'm not new to the hobby but the situation I'm in is a new one for myself. The tank is stocked, with 2x clowns, 1x royal Gramma and a small Scopas tang which I intend to grow out before upgrading in about 2 years. There is very little coral in the tank at this stage just 2 pieces of easy to care for SPS

 

I hadn't intended to add more fish to this system however the fact I'm seeing no no3 leads me to believe I maybe about to add more.

 

I'm running a skimmer and approx 20lbs LR as filtration and I have gone bare bottom this time around (this may also be the cause of the algae issue)

 

What would your thoughts be on adding more live stock to the system?

 

Sorry for the long post!

 

I look forward to hearing your replies!

 

Jon

[MrObscura]

Just feed more. 

 

And just a warning the tang police might get on you a little. Even with the upgrade plan. Plenty of people get a tang with that plan only for one reason or another not to be able to follow through. 

[JonRivers]

Yeh totally understand the tang police thing, it wasn't something I did impulsively, I know my plan for the tank and know my LFS well enough to return the fish if it got to big before the upgrade.

 

I have tried to feed more and backed of the water changes for a few weeks but I just increases po4 I'm finding.

 

Thanks for your feedback MrObscura!

[MrObscura]

You definitely want to get no3 up, being at 0 will only lead to bad things in my experience from starving corals to dinos. 

 

Its very easy to strip a tank clean, especially a young one. I'd try pulling the skimmer off line and doing 10% water changes while feeding a decent amount. 

 

[JonRivers]

It's probably actually worth mentioning I am using AF probiotic salt. Maybe switching out the salt it a better option? I wouldn't want to switch off the skimmer whilst using that salt type because you do get a small bacteria bloom the day after a water change I find.

[MrObscura]

Yea that's probably it, with probiotic salts you're essentially carbon dosing. That's what's driving down your no3. 

 

I tried feeding benereef food which also has probiotics and it helped bottomed out my nutrients.

 

Try switching salts and keeping everything else as is, besides maybe 10% weekly waterchanges, and see what how that goes. 

[Clown79]

I've had a hard time getting my no3 up. Phos I used phyto but to get my no3 up to 5 it took feeding coral food everyday and phyto dosing every other day while cutting back on waterchanges.

 

With the tang in there, feeding nori should help raise nutrients. You could always dose nitrates.

 

Otherwise try feeding coral food and fish some frozen. Start modestly so that you don't get to high a nutrient level.

 

 

[Tamberav]

I just buy bottled nitrate and phosphate and dose them. More fish doesn't seem to help.

 

 

 

[JonRivers]

9 hours ago, Clown79 said:

I've had a hard time getting my no3 up. Phos I used phyto but to get my no3 up to 5 it took feeding coral food everyday and phyto dosing every other day while cutting back on waterchanges.

 

With the tang in there, feeding nori should help raise nutrients. You could always dose nitrates.

 

Otherwise try feeding coral food and fish some frozen. Start modestly so that you don't get to high a nutrient level.

 

 

Thanks for your feedback Clown79

 

 

It's a strange thing right! This is the first time I've gone bare bottom with a tank. 

 

Adding more live stock was only an idea because I've tried feeding more and that's not working currently.

3 hours ago, Tamberav said:

I just buy bottled nitrate and phosphate and dose them. More fish doesn't seem to help.

 

 

 

Thanks for you feedback too Tamberav. 

 

Is this something you have experienced yourself? Surely the logic is more fish = more ammonia and therefore more nitrates? 

[MrObscura]

I'd still just switch salt mixes and then just do 10% weekly waterchanges while feeding a decent amount. I'd bet you'll nutrient levels will fall in line. 

[JonRivers]

Thanks for your reply I think this approach makes the most sense

[Tamberav]

4 hours ago, JonRivers said:

Thanks for your feedback Clown79

 

 

It's a strange thing right! This is the first time I've gone bare bottom with a tank. 

 

Adding more live stock was only an idea because I've tried feeding more and that's not working currently.

Thanks for you feedback too Tamberav. 

 

Is this something you have experienced yourself? Surely the logic is more fish = more ammonia and therefore more nitrates? 

Yes in my SPS tank. 

 

I would reach the point of fish aggression and run out of room before I would end up with enough nitrates from fish alone.

 

I have a lot of coral growing and it just sucks po4 and nitrate right down.

[JonRivers]

That's exactly my worry when I put more coral in! That I'm Gunna bottom out the nutrients in the tank.

 

Do you use coral food? Did that help? Or are you just dosing nitrates right now?

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Yes in my SPS tank. 

 

I would reach the point of fish aggression and run out of room before I would end up with enough nitrates from fish alone.

 

I have a lot of coral growing and it just sucks po4 and nitrate right down.

That's what caused mine to bottom out, now I monitor it well so I never have the issues I ran into again.