NoOneLikesADryTang Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 I know your tank is still maturing, but keep in mind it’s better to have stability than chase numbers. My RFA tank has nitrates around 40, but is stable. It’s thriving and grows zoas like crazy (I have to frag them back just about every month). I don’t have much SPS in it, but I do have a forest fire digi, that’s growing very well. My point is, just because numbers work for someone else’s tank, doesn’t mean that it’s going to work for yours. Every tank is different, and that’s ok. Patience and stability are key in this hobby. Quote Link to comment
Abhijit Posted November 23, 2019 Author Share Posted November 23, 2019 @Clown79 @Tamberav @Garf Okay gents, so i finally tested my water today for PO4. Now remember, this is Day # 7 after 20% WC. So I'll do the WC today. Surprisingly, my PO4 is a notch over 0.03ppm, but much less than 0.1ppm. So I'm guessing like a 0.05-0.07 range. I used salifert, so i don't know exactly how much. My NO3 is at 40ppm. What's happening? Ideally, if my NO3 is high, my PO4 should also be high right? Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 4 hours ago, Abhijit said: @Clown79 @Tamberav @Garf Okay gents, so i finally tested my water today for PO4. Now remember, this is Day # 7 after 20% WC. So I'll do the WC today. Surprisingly, my PO4 is a notch over 0.03ppm, but much less than 0.1ppm. So I'm guessing like a 0.05-0.07 range. I used salifert, so i don't know exactly how much. My NO3 is at 40ppm. What's happening? Ideally, if my NO3 is high, my PO4 should also be high right? They can be unbalanced... Bacteria... Algae... Corals... Etc.... All need both to grow or multiply so one can be limiting. Bacteria can't lower Nitrate without PO4 and vise versa. Usually we are limited on Nitrate and have excess of PO4 but it's possible for it to go the other way. Your test kit isn't super accurate though. I honestly wonder if your rock had old organics in it which is the cause of the excess Nitrates. 1 Quote Link to comment
Abhijit Posted November 24, 2019 Author Share Posted November 24, 2019 12 hours ago, Tamberav said: They can be unbalanced... Bacteria... Algae... Corals... Etc.... All need both to grow or multiply so one can be limiting. Bacteria can't lower Nitrate without PO4 and vise versa. Usually we are limited on Nitrate and have excess of PO4 but it's possible for it to go the other way. Your test kit isn't super accurate though. I honestly wonder if your rock had old organics in it which is the cause of the excess Nitrates. @Tamberav It is possible that the rocks had some organics. I will turkey baster the rocks during every water change 1 Quote Link to comment
Abhijit Posted December 19, 2019 Author Share Posted December 19, 2019 @Tamberav So my NO3 levels have dipped. I'm in the 15-20ppm range. My PO4 however has spiked, it's at 0.25ppm. I don't know what's happening exactly. I ordered for Aquaforest NitraPhos Minus. Just got delivered today. Should i dose? I am aiming for <5ppm NO3 & 0.02-0.03ppm PO4. I want to keep a mixed reef, with few zoas, some LPS and majorly easy SPS (not acros). What do you recommend? Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted December 19, 2019 Share Posted December 19, 2019 2 hours ago, Abhijit said: @Tamberav So my NO3 levels have dipped. I'm in the 15-20ppm range. My PO4 however has spiked, it's at 0.25ppm. I don't know what's happening exactly. I ordered for Aquaforest NitraPhos Minus. Just got delivered today. Should i dose? I am aiming for <5ppm NO3 & 0.02-0.03ppm PO4. I want to keep a mixed reef, with few zoas, some LPS and majorly easy SPS (not acros). What do you recommend? If you are trying to lower both then just do a water change. Both are higher then your target. I also recommend a Hanna ulr phosphorus test kit of you are chasing po4 that low. Chasing numbers like this in a young tank is a dangerous game. Once you have coral growing....they use and need nitrate and po4 to grow and will use it up to do so naturally bringing your levels down. Your nitrate is likely dropping because your po4 is rising. Bacteria....algae...corals....they use both. Without one they can't use the other. 4 Quote Link to comment
Abhijit Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 14 hours ago, Tamberav said: If you are trying to lower both then just do a water change. Both are higher then your target. I also recommend a Hanna ulr phosphorus test kit of you are chasing po4 that low. Chasing numbers like this in a young tank is a dangerous game. Once you have coral growing....they use and need nitrate and po4 to grow and will use it up to do so naturally bringing your levels down. Your nitrate is likely dropping because your po4 is rising. Bacteria....algae...corals....they use both. Without one they can't use the other. @Tamberav That makes absolute sense. So what do you recommend? Should i take a chance with some Zoas and LPS first? See how my tank responds; like you said, since corals use NO3 & PO4, my levels might just drop naturally, i may not need to dose anything. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 10 hours ago, Abhijit said: @Tamberav That makes absolute sense. So what do you recommend? Should i take a chance with some Zoas and LPS first? See how my tank responds; like you said, since corals use NO3 & PO4, my levels might just drop naturally, i may not need to dose anything. Thoughts? Just do a waterchange, that will reduce the numbers. Dosing products and over use of media is very dicey, it can lead to many problems, especially in new tanks. 3 Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 12 hours ago, Abhijit said: @Tamberav That makes absolute sense. So what do you recommend? Should i take a chance with some Zoas and LPS first? See how my tank responds; like you said, since corals use NO3 & PO4, my levels might just drop naturally, i may not need to dose anything. Thoughts? I don't see any reason you can't get some more hardy corals. Nutrients are not that scary. Many great venders and tanks run them on the high side. Mike Sanjays tank was what? Over 50 nitrate and over 0.4 PO4? They are just more problematic in young tanks because of algae and nutrient swings. Quote Link to comment
Abhijit Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 12 hours ago, Clown79 said: Just do a waterchange, that will reduce the numbers. Dosing products and over use of media is very dicey, it can lead to many problems, especially in new tanks. @Clown79 How big a water change? Even if i change 20%, i doubt it will bring the numbers close to what I'm aiming for Quote Link to comment
Abhijit Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 10 hours ago, Tamberav said: I don't see any reason you can't get some more hardy corals. Nutrients are not that scary. Many great venders and tanks run them on the high side. Mike Sanjays tank was what? Over 50 nitrate and over 0.4 PO4? They are just more problematic in young tanks because of algae and nutrient swings. @Tamberav You think Hammers, Torches, Ricordea Mushrooms, etc would do okay? Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 35 minutes ago, Abhijit said: @Tamberav You think Hammers, Torches, Ricordea Mushrooms, etc would do okay? Yes although I would say torches are not really beginner corals, they tend to be more finicky then hammers. 1 Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 43 minutes ago, Abhijit said: @Clown79 How big a water change? Even if i change 20%, i doubt it will bring the numbers close to what I'm aiming for What is your aim? 50% drops the nutrients by 50% Quote Link to comment
Abhijit Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 4 hours ago, Clown79 said: What is your aim? 50% drops the nutrients by 50% @Clown79 I'm aiming for <5ppm NO3 & <0.03ppm PO4. I want to keep SPS Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 Did you start with live or dry rock? There is a lot more to keeping SPS than nutrients...in fact some of the best looking SPS tanks have nitrates 10-15 (some as high as 50)...and Po4 even up to 0.1-0.4 I would love to have nitrates a steady 10 1 Quote Link to comment
Abhijit Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 18 minutes ago, Tamberav said: Did you start with live or dry rock? There is a lot more to keeping SPS than nutrients...in fact some of the best looking SPS tanks have nitrates 10-15 (some as high as 50)...and Po4 even up to 0.1-0.4 I would love to have nitrates a steady 10 @Tamberav I started with dry rock, cycled media and cycled sand. What are your parameters, and what do you keep? Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 33 minutes ago, Abhijit said: @Tamberav I started with dry rock, cycled media and cycled sand. What are your parameters, and what do you keep? Young dry rock will make keeping SPS early on problematic regardless of parameters. When I had my LPS tank it ran best with Nitrate 15 and PO4 around 0.08 My new tank is only a month old...it's an upgrade though....mixed reef. Alk is 6.0 but coming up slowly to 7...Nitrate 0 which is no good but coral visibly growing as well as macroalgae and eating it up as fast as my fish can poop. This is an interesting read: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/tank-parameters-of-some-masters.263/ 1 Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 6 hours ago, Tamberav said: Did you start with live or dry rock? There is a lot more to keeping SPS than nutrients...in fact some of the best looking SPS tanks have nitrates 10-15 (some as high as 50)...and Po4 even up to 0.1-0.4 I would love to have nitrates a steady 10 My tank never looked better until I got a decent amount of nutrients. Corals finally started growing and colouring up. 3 Quote Link to comment
Abhijit Posted December 22, 2019 Author Share Posted December 22, 2019 21 hours ago, Tamberav said: Young dry rock will make keeping SPS early on problematic regardless of parameters. When I had my LPS tank it ran best with Nitrate 15 and PO4 around 0.08 My new tank is only a month old...it's an upgrade though....mixed reef. Alk is 6.0 but coming up slowly to 7...Nitrate 0 which is no good but coral visibly growing as well as macroalgae and eating it up as fast as my fish can poop. This is an interesting read: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/tank-parameters-of-some-masters.263/ @Tamberav Very interesting read indeed. Thanks a ton 15 hours ago, Clown79 said: My tank never looked better until I got a decent amount of nutrients. Corals finally started growing and colouring up. @Clown79 I'm thinking of putting in a couple of zoa frags and a couple of mushrooms. Good idea? Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 8 hours ago, Abhijit said: @Tamberav Very interesting read indeed. Thanks a ton @Clown79 I'm thinking of putting in a couple of zoa frags and a couple of mushrooms. Good idea? Yes, both corals will be fine. There are tons of hobbyists with nutrients not in the "recommended" range and their tanks are amazing as @Tamberav has already mentioned Quote Link to comment
Abhijit Posted December 25, 2019 Author Share Posted December 25, 2019 On 12/22/2019 at 7:31 PM, Clown79 said: Yes, both corals will be fine. There are tons of hobbyists with nutrients not in the "recommended" range and their tanks are amazing as @Tamberav has already mentioned @Clown79 Gotcha! Quote Link to comment
Joboo Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 Honestly I wound't worry so much about nitrates at 30-40ppm. Nano tanks are notoriously more difficult than larger tanks to manage nitrates. What type of biological filtration are you using? Do you have a cleanup crew? Thanks Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.