Nitrates 0 turning off skimmer

[gusto]

Hey Everyone, 

 I recently upgrade from a nuvo 20 to a nuvo 30L things have been going well for the first two months today I noticed the corals weren't opening as much as they usually do. I just tested my water and I have 0 nitrates  and 0 phosphates. I feed a little more today and also put a little reef rods in to try and increase the nitrates. I also wanted to shut off my skimmer, how will the air exchange be without it, will the baffles be enough to add air into the tank.. I realize it's designed that way but I just wanted to make sure.. Any suggestions to help increase nitrates?

[A.m.P]

You could try dosing nitrate (seachem or DIY, or brightwell, there are a few brands) instead of feeding more, turning off the skimmer won't necessarily increase free-nitrate either.

[Clown79]

Many of us don't use skimmers and have no issues with air exchange

[xM3THODx]

6 hours ago, gusto said:

Hey Everyone, 

 I recently upgrade from a nuvo 20 to a nuvo 30L things have been going well for the first two months today I noticed the corals weren't opening as much as they usually do. I just tested my water and I have 0 nitrates  and 0 phosphates. I feed a little more today and also put a little reef rods in to try and increase the nitrates. I also wanted to shut off my skimmer, how will the air exchange be without it, will the baffles be enough to add air into the tank.. I realize it's designed that way but I just wanted to make sure.. Any suggestions to help increase nitrates?

Simply feeding more and not doing water changes will almost guarantee those levels increasing.

[gusto]

Thank you everyone..   I think just turning off my skimmer and feeding a little extra last night and this morning helped..  just tested and my Nitrates are just under 5ppm, is that possible? 

[FlytheWMark]

That seems a little quick for a jump like that.  What are you using to test?

[gusto]

Yes, I agree..  Using API which I know isn't the best but really had no problems with my tank before..  Just checked again and it's still just under 5ppm and alk is 8.5. The only ohter thing I can think of was my RODI was testing 1 on my TDS meter. I used that water to do a water change. I did receive new DI resin and now it's back to Zero.    could that have caused a problem?  

[mcarroll]

On 9/17/2019 at 9:22 PM, gusto said:

I feed a little more today and also put a little reef rods in to try and increase the nitrates.

This is only a good option if you're feeding something with that food.  Putting food to purposefully rot in the tank is not a good solution to the situation for a number of reasons we can go into if you want.

 

On 9/17/2019 at 9:22 PM, gusto said:

I also wanted to shut off my skimmer

This shouldn't be needed.  A skimmer should have almost no effect on nitrates, and has benefits (as you mentioned) outside of nutrient issues that are important.

 

Aside from live rock and a small sand bed, are you running anything else for filtration or for nutrient management?

 

14 hours ago, gusto said:

Thank you everyone..   I think just turning off my skimmer and feeding a little extra last night and this morning helped..  just tested and my Nitrates are just under 5ppm, is that possible? 

Testing error of some kind would be my guess since you re-tested twice now and got <5 ppm instead of 0 both times.

 

But that does not explain the coral problems you described.

 

How about re-tests of phosphate?

 

In both test kits, when the test concentration is near-zero (close to no-color) I'd recommend using a second test vial filled only with tank water to use as a "zero reference".  Comparing the two vials side-by-side will help you distinguish slight coloration a little better in the test sample.

[gusto]

Thank you Mcarroll for all your input, I appreciate it..  

Quote

This is only a good option if you're feeding something with that food.  Putting food to purposefully rot in the tank is not a good solution to the situation for a number of reasons we can go into if you want.

 

Sorry for the confusion but my intent wasn't to put extra food and let it rot in the tank, I only feed once a day and I was thinking to feed twice a day for a few days and my corals I feed once a week and was going to feed them twice a week

Quote

Aside from live rock and a small sand bed, are you running anything else for filtration or for nutrient management?

Chemipure Elite and Purigen

Quote

How about re-tests of phosphate?

 

  Doing that again tonight but was .25

Quote

In both test kits, when the test concentration is near-zero (close to no-color) I'd recommend using a second test vial filled only with tank water to use as a "zero reference".  Comparing the two vials side-by-side will help you distinguish slight coloration a little better in the test sample.

Thanks I will give that a try..  

 

Also a water change did help with the Duncan that wasn't opening up, might do another water change tonight since everything is looking better.   

 

Thanks again Gus

[mcarroll]

Sounds like you're doing alright with the feeding, but I still wonder about the test results.  You have high and low results for both parameters now....tie ball game in the wrong sport.  😉 

 

If you could get a LFS to re-test for you they could be your tie-breaker and then maybe you'd know where you stand at least with respect to the numbers.....which still don't line up with the coral problems you described. 

 

Is everything including the Duncan pretty much doing well/better now?

 

It sounds like you probably don't need the Chemipure or Purigen yet.  I think you can "reset" the Purigen and save it for later though.  I would simply not replace the Chemipure once its time is up.

 

If you have the time and patience can you try testing in triplicate and see if you get repeatable test results that way?   

 

Basically all that means is to take one LARGE sample of tank water and run three (or more) tests one after another using that same original tank water sample. 

 

IF there's something YOU are doing or something the KIT is doing to make the test results vary, testing this way should help to make it more clear since you know the ppm in the sample (whatever it is) will be identical for every test you run on it.

[YzF]

1 night and 5ppm of NO3 is unlikely. Like the rest said, test kit is a suspect and need to confirm. 

But going back to your original question on a periodic run of skimmer is possible. I put a timer on the skimmer and it stops for 6 hours in the day. Works for me. 

[gary.dsouza]

hi all, my nitrates are zero, and phosphates are 0.04, the problem is my torch coral is shrinking  to almost 5mm long... 

i have a 200ltr tank and i have just done a 25ltr water change.

my skimmer is back on as i have had zero nitrates for 2 weeks now .

its the red sea test kit, and  all other prams are ok..

any help please ASAP... i am struggling now with this problem..

 

[mcarroll]

Can you tell us more about the tank?

 

How old is it?  What is the lighting and flow like?  What else is living in the tank?

 

Pics help!  🙂 

[gary.dsouza]

HI i posted this topic in the wrong place, can you please look for another  action i have posted... its got photos and prams

big thanks 

[gary.dsouza]

32 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Can you tell us more about the tank?

 

How old is it?  What is the lighting and flow like?  What else is living in the tank?

 

Pics help!  🙂