What to adjust to lower Phos and Nitrate

[less than bread]

So a couple months ago I started getting very lazy with my 20 gallon tank. I was missing water changes, not testing, just was not on top of things. Over the last month I have buckled down and have done 10% water changes every week, I stir and vacuum the sand, clean the chambers, and I test Alk, Phos, and Nitrate at the same time each week and record the results. I have also started running carbon when I hadn't had it in before. I am finding my Phos and Nitrates are very high and seem to be increasing, even with the better maintenance over the last month.

 

Here are the figures testing once per week (Hanna Checkers):

Phos:

.30

.38

.45

.56

 

Nitrate:

11.1

37.8

21.7

55.7

 

 

There is nothing visually wrong with my fish or corals. Everything is open and happy. However, I want to get these numbers down, or at least have them stop going up.

 

What are some suggestions for how I should go about doing this? I am considering upping my water changes to 20% each week, feeding every other day, starting a fuge... I do have a small skimmer going but remains to be seen if that will do anything to help.

 

[DevilDuck]

I think a big clean after some time of neglect is free up trapped detritus which is breaking down into the nutrients you see. Since it isn't hurting anything I wouldn't change too much too quickly. The plan of upping the water changes to 20% is a good one. Perhaps vaccuum the sand every other time you water change. Sand traps a lot of gunk. Are you using floss or a sock to trap the free floating stuff?

 

[less than bread]

14 minutes ago, DevilDuck said:

I think a big clean after some time of neglect is free up trapped detritus which is breaking down into the nutrients you see. Since it isn't hurting anything I wouldn't change too much too quickly. The plan of upping the water changes to 20% is a good one. Perhaps vaccuum the sand every other time you water change. Sand traps a lot of gunk. Are you using floss or a sock to trap the free floating stuff?

 

Yep I always use floss. Something I just thought about that is also probably contributing is I am actually using Vibrant on a sea lettuce and bubble algae problem. Would that breakdown of algae cause rises in phos and nitrate that I’m just not removing fast enough?

[DevilDuck]

That definitely will contribute. I would stop running the carbon if your dosing Vibrant. Let us know how Vibrant works for you. Been a lot of debate about it lately.

 

[less than bread]

7 minutes ago, DevilDuck said:

That definitely will contribute. I would stop running the carbon if your dosing Vibrant. Let us know how Vibrant works for you. Been a lot of debate about it lately.

 

I’ve put a couple posts in the Vibrant product review thread, so far it’s good. I’ve been half dosing as recommended by my LFS when I bought the stuff. I will probably stop it soon as the algae is pretty much under control now and I can manage it by just physically removing. However, I’m worried if I do stop the Vibrant without getting my nutrients down, algae will explode.