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Nitrate and Phosphate instability problem


duncantse

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Just a quick update. Took GFO offline and started dosing seachem flourish phosphorous. 

 

Acros are still pale but they have some crazy PE now

 

All PO4 testing were taken with ULR Phosphorous Hanna Checker at the same time daily. 

 

Feb 3 0.018 ppm  

Feb 4 0.021 ppm dosed 1mL 

Feb 5 0.043 ppm dosed 1.5mL 

Feb 6 0.061 ppm dosed 1.5mL 

 

I usually check all my parameters before a water change on Sunday so I'll take a look at nitrates if they have decreased or not. 

 

Will dose up to 0.1 ppm PO4 and then stop dosing. Will feed a little heavier when it gets to 0.1 ppm to try and maintain stable PO4 levels. 

 

Currently feeding 1/2 cube hikari mysis , 1/4 tbsp NLS pellets

Will up to 1/2 cube hikari mysis, 1/2 tbsp NLS pellets when 0.1ppm PO4 is reached.

If PO4 is still dropping I will up to 1/2 cube hikari mysis and 1 tbsp NLS pellets

 

Any feedback is appreciated on my approach to this. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Its been about 2 weeks and here are my results so far.

I stopped dosing phosphates and my levels have remained a steady o.o6 which is good.

Nitrates are still at 25ppm so I started dosing noxpox.

Been on noxpox for a week now with a daily dose of 2mL on a 37gallon tank.

After a week, it seems like my phosphates have gone back down to 0 and my nitrates are getting lower as the color does not look exactly like 25 anymore on the salifert tests.

Question is do you think noxpox was that effectively that it bottomed out my phosphates that quick?

I will be dosing phosphates again daily until my nitrates come down to about 5ppm

Acros are looking less paler than before so I believe this approach is working.

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17 minutes ago, duncantse said:

Its been about 2 weeks and here are my results so far.

I stopped dosing phosphates and my levels have remained a steady o.o6 which is good.

Nitrates are still at 25ppm so I started dosing noxpox.

Been on noxpox for a week now with a daily dose of 2mL on a 37gallon tank.

After a week, it seems like my phosphates have gone back down to 0 and my nitrates are getting lower as the color does not look exactly like 25 anymore on the salifert tests.

Question is do you think noxpox was that effectively that it bottomed out my phosphates that quick?

I will be dosing phosphates again daily until my nitrates come down to about 5ppm

Acros are looking less paler than before so I believe this approach is working.

spacer.png

Nopox requires a very good skimmer and at 25ppm, I wouldn't resort to chemical filtration.

 

It will cause more issues.

 

A simple waterchange or a smaller amount of frozen food would reduce your nitrates.

 

25ppm isn't a huge deal.

 

Yes, using nopox will reduce your phosphate

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SliceGolfer
37 minutes ago, duncantse said:

Its been about 2 weeks and here are my results so far. I stopped dosing phosphates and my levels have remained a steady o.o6 which is good. Nitrates are still at 25ppm so I started dosing noxpox. Been on noxpox for a week now with a daily dose of 2mL on a 37gallon tank. After a week, it seems like my phosphates have gone back down to 0 and my nitrates are getting lower as the color does not look exactly like 25 anymore on the salifert tests. Question is do you think noxpox was that effectively that it bottomed out my phosphates that quick? I will be dosing phosphates again daily until my nitrates come down to about 5ppm. Acros are looking less paler than before so I believe this approach is working.

Yes, dosing a carbon source will cause your N03 and P04 to drop and for certain at 0.06ppm P04 it would drop to zero quickly. The carbon source breaks down P04 that N03 can consume and convert into food for your SPS. I recommend keeping your P04 at or around 0.10ppm while you dose NOPOX to get your N03 to your desired level. 

 

Go here, and fast forward to 30:50 for visuals

 

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46 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Nopox requires a very good skimmer and at 25ppm, I wouldn't resort to chemical filtration.

 

It will cause more issues.

 

A simple waterchange or a smaller amount of frozen food would reduce your nitrates.

 

25ppm isn't a huge deal.

 

Yes, using nopox will reduce your phosphate

 

I do also have some brown algae in my tank and thinking it was also from high nitrates. My goal is to aim for 5ppm nitrates as I want a baseline levels of my tank.  

 

I do weekly water changes of 10% and it's been maintaining my nitrate levels at 25ppm. Maybe I could stop carbon dosing but I was just worried as every tank thread I searched up, their tanks are always below 10. 

 

15 minutes ago, SliceGolfer said:

Yes, dosing a carbon source will cause your N03 and P04 to drop and for certain at 0.06ppm P04 it would drop to zero quickly. The carbon source breaks down P04 that N03 can consume and convert into food for your SPS. I recommend keeping your P04 at or around 0.10ppm while you dose NOPOX to get your N03 to your desired level. 

 

Go here, and fast forward to 30:50 for visuals

 

 

Okay I see that makes more sense. So dosing phosphates is the way to go right now until I see my nitrates go down to a level that I want? 

 

After my parameters are within range I will likely stop dosing both phosphates and noxpox and see if the levels will remain stable 

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15 minutes ago, duncantse said:

 

I do also have some brown algae in my tank and thinking it was also from high nitrates. My goal is to aim for 5ppm nitrates as I want a baseline levels of my tank.  

 

I do weekly water changes of 10% and it's been maintaining my nitrate levels at 25ppm. Maybe I could stop carbon dosing but I was just worried as every tank thread I searched up, their tanks are always below 10. 

 

 

Okay I see that makes more sense. So dosing phosphates is the way to go right now until I see my nitrates go down to a level that I want? 

 

After my parameters are within range I will likely stop dosing both phosphates and noxpox and see if the levels will remain stable 

There are always "guidelines" but there are many hobbyists who run high nitrates, there are some that don't even test.

Same goes with phos.

 

The more natural the better. The more you try to alter things, the more other parameters are affected.

 

Nitrate can effect phos and alkalinity.

 

Magnesium can effect ca and alk. 

 

Products are on the market for a reason, to make money and they aren't a problem to use but should be used with full understanding of how it will effect your system overall and preferably as last resorts with other methods haven't worked.

 

Algae is a normal thing in the ocean and in tanks. Sterile tanks are great to look at but overall are not healthy, have imbalances, and then end up with worse problems.

 

 

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