Jump to content
Premium Aquatics Aquarium Supplies

Nitrates High!!


Abhijit

Recommended Posts

NoOneLikesADryTang

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. 

Link to comment

@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? 

Link to comment
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. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
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

  • Like 1
Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...

@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? 

 

Link to comment
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.

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
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? 

Link to comment
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.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
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.

 

 

Link to comment
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 

Link to comment
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?

Link to comment
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. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment

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

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
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? 

Link to comment
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/

  • Like 1
Link to comment
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. 

 

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
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?

Link to comment
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

Link to comment

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

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...