Add more fish to get nutrients up?

[aaron186]

I have a Red Sea Reefer 425 (47”x22x22”) that I’m trying to run an SPS dominant tank. I’m having trouble getting my nutrients up. My tank has a filter roller, refugium and RO 150sss skimmer. I struggle to keep my pH over 8 so I’m reluctant to shut down my refugium and skimmer (running a CO2 scrubber. I just dosed 10 mL of brightwell neo nitro and 3 hours later my nitrate is 0.05 on a Hanna and 0 on Salifert.

I currently have 12 fish in the tank:
Purple Tang
Whitetail Tang
Foxface
2x clowns
Melenarus wrasse
Coral beauty
Bicolor blenny
Watchman Goby
Fire Fish
Royal Gamma
Damsel

I’m using Avast Marine Plank with reef jerky and feeding the equivalent of 4 cubes of frozen food per day.

Should I add more fish? I don’t have agression issues currently. My tangs get along. The wrasse did kill a different fairy wrasse a month ago but everything else seems to get along. 12 fish in 4 ft tank seems about right to me.

Anything else I should do to avoid 0/0 nitrates and phosphates?

There’s no algae issues in my tank btw.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Can you just give more food to the existing fish?

 

[aaron186]

Can you just give more food to the existing fish?

I’m dumping 4 cubes in there already. Seems like a lot for 12 fish. I guess I can up it but it hasn’t seemed to make a difference in the nutrients

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’m dumping 4 cubes in there already. Seems like a lot for 12 fish. I guess I can up it but it hasn’t seemed to make a difference in the nutrients

More food to the same fish will be at least as effective as the same "more food" to more fish.

But if you do not want to feed more, with or without more fish, dosing N and P is easy and inexpensive.

 

[hexcolor reef]

Just feed more you have everything you need to keep the water clean and clear. Add a lot of hermit crabs, as much as you can to eat the uneaten food.

Connect your skimmer to a long hose and feed it to a window to pull in outside air. That will solve your PH issue

 

[aaron186]

More food to the same fish will be at least as effective as the same "more food" to more fish.

But if you do not want to feed more, with or without more fish, dosing N and P is easy and inexpensive.

I’ll give it a shot. My only issue with more food is that it’s burning through my filter rolls pretty quickly. One roll is lasting about 2-3 weeks right now which isn’t great on the wallet. Maybe dosing N/P is the right route. I wouldn’t mind adding more fish to the tank though if I am able to. I think 12 fish is probably pushing what I should be at though

 

[gbroadbridge]

I have a Red Sea Reefer 425 (47”x22x22”) that I’m trying to run an SPS dominant tank. I’m having trouble getting my nutrients up. My tank has a filter roller, refugium and RO 150sss skimmer. I struggle to keep my pH over 8 so I’m reluctant to shut down my refugium and skimmer (running a CO2 scrubber. I just dosed 10 mL of brightwell neo nitro and 3 hours later my nitrate is 0.05 on a Hanna and 0 on Salifert.

I currently have 12 fish in the tank:
Purple Tang
Whitetail Tang
Foxface
2x clowns
Melenarus wrasse
Coral beauty
Bicolor blenny
Watchman Goby
Fire Fish
Royal Gamma
Damsel

I’m using Avast Marine Plank with reef jerky and feeding the equivalent of 4 cubes of frozen food per day.

Should I add more fish? I don’t have agression issues currently. My tangs get along. The wrasse did kill a different fairy wrasse a month ago but everything else seems to get along. 12 fish in 4 ft tank seems about right to me.

Anything else I should do to avoid 0/0 nitrates and phosphates?

There’s no algae issues in my tank btw.

I'd dose some DIY Nitrate and Phosphate instead of using the expensive branded bottles.

You will then be dosing something where you know exactly the ingredients and the concentration.

 

[aaron186]

Just feed more you have everything you need to keep the water clean and clear. Add a lot of hermit crabs, as much as you can to eat the uneaten food.

Connect your skimmer to a long hose and feed it to a window to pull in outside air. That will solve your PH issue

Yea I considered an outside line. The issue is with where my tank is, there’s no real way to add a line and not have it make a U shape in my wall. I’m worried condensation will eventually clog the air line

 

[aaron186]

I'd dose some DIY Nitrate and Phosphate instead of using the expensive branded bottles.

You will then be dosing something where you know exactly the ingredients and the concentration.

What do you recommend?

 

[hexcolor reef]

I’ll give it a shot. My only issue with more food is that it’s burning through my filter rolls pretty quickly. One roll is lasting about 2-3 weeks right now which isn’t great on the wallet. Maybe dosing N/P is the right route. I wouldn’t mind adding more fish to the tank though if I am able to. I think 12 fish is probably pushing what I should be at though

Shut off your filter roll until you get the tanks NP up

 

[gbroadbridge]

What do you recommend?

There are a number of alternatives where you can buy the dry chemicals from amazon and mix yourself.

Sodium Nitrate or Calcium Nitrate for a Nitrate additive.
Sodium Phosphate for a Phosphate additive.

There are recipes discussed in the Chemistry forum.
If you use food grade or better you will know that the purity is fine for your tank.

 

[dadnjesse]

Shut off your filter roll until you get the tanks NP up

This