Advice if lowering Nitrates and Phosphates Needed

[Pattheerin]

Hi all,

Recently had a death in the tank, and couldn't find the fish after a few days. Needless to say, got a large bacteria bloom, and a big spike in nitrates and phosphates. Previously nitrates tested anywhere from 2.5-5, and phosphates very low. I'm now getting readings of nitrates around 25-35, and need to get another phosphate reading today, but testing pretty high.

I did a 25% water change two days ago, waited 24 hours and no difference in either. I'm wondering if I should let it run it's course to return to normal, or if I should start dosing something to help out?

Thanks for any input you guys can provide!

 

[Webslinger]

feed less. put some marco algae in sump

 

[Pattheerin]

feed less. put some marco in sump

Hey there, am definitely feeding less, thanks for the suggestion. Don't have a sump though.

 

[Webslinger]

look into GFO

 

[dannysreeftank]

I vote running a new bag of chemi pure. https://amzn.to/38VbNI9

 

[Webslinger]

I vote running a new bag of chemi pure. https://amzn.to/38VbNI9

yep. gfo and carbon work well together

 

[Spieg]

Nitrate is the least damaging form of nutrient buildup (25-35 nitrate may cause some algae growth, but won't hurt your fish in the short term). Not knowing any details about your tank setup and filtration (other than you don't have a sump). Nitrate is not going to go down without some method of export. If you don't have any mechanical export (skimmer, reactor, scrubber, etc...), then an additional water change is your best bet.

 

[Pattheerin]

I vote running a new bag of chemi pure. https://amzn.to/38VbNI9

Can chemi pure blue be used in a canister filter without a sump or skimmer?

 

[Crustaceon]

Keep doing frequent water changes and siphon your sand while you’re at it. It’s by far the easiest and probably the safest way to go. The lack of change in nitrate level after the water change was probably due to the bacterial bloom dying off and releasing N03 + P04.

 

[Pattheerin]

yep. gfo and carbon work well together

This would be the chemi pure elite, rather than chemi pure blue, correct?

 

[Webslinger]

blue