At a loss at this point.

[kilnakorr]

Not an chemist, but doesn't nitrite interfere heavily with nitrate tests?
I'd rule out nitrite first to make sure nitrate readings are accurate.

 

[VintageReefer]

Yep, mushrooms continue to die and at hundreds of dollars a piece it’s annoying.

Guarantee you. Your mushrooms are not dying due to your nitrate and phosphate. Mushrooms love dirty / high nutrient water

Do you have pics from mushrooms originally being added, and then during the decline to death process ?

Do you have issues with other corals besides the mushrooms

 

[CHSUB]

I’m doing g two gallons a day and it’s doing nothing.

Too small, do a couple of 20 gallon WC.

 

[Wolters_88]

Guarantee you. Your mushrooms are not dying due to your nitrate and phosphate. Mushrooms love dirty / high nutrient water

Do you have pics from mushrooms originally being added, and then during the decline to death process ?

Do you have issues with other corals besides the mushrooms

Nope. Just mushrooms.

I’m at the lake house. I will post some pics when I get home tonight.

 

[Wolters_88]

Too small, do a couple of 20 gallon WC.

Even when I go they are back to where they were in a couple days.

 

[vandy]

I'd recommend sending off an ICP test so see if there is a bigger issue in your tank than high nitrates.. mushrooms wouldn't die because of that

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Not an chemist, but doesn't nitrite interfere heavily with nitrate tests?
I'd rule out nitrite first to make sure nitrate readings are accurate.

It does. In some kits , 1 ppm nitrite can read as 50-100 ppm nitrate.

 

[Wolters_88]

Guarantee you. Your mushrooms are not dying due to your nitrate and phosphate. Mushrooms love dirty / high nutrient water

Do you have pics from mushrooms originally being added, and then during the decline to death process ?

Do you have issues with other corals besides the mushrooms

Before and now on my OG

 

[Wolters_88]

I'd recommend sending off an ICP test so see if there is a bigger issue in your tank than high nitrates.. mushrooms wouldn't die because of that

I just did because I’m going to start moonshiners and to me this didn’t look that bad?

 

[vandy]

I just did because I’m going to start moonshiners and to me this didn’t look that bad?

looks like you have a big iodine issue in your tank, did you accidentally dump in some coral dip? Work on getting that down ASAP

 

[Wolters_88]

looks like you have a big iodine issue in your tank, did you accidentally dump in some coral dip? Work on getting that down ASAP

Nope, I don’t put anything in my tank but saltwater, nopox, alk, calcium, mag and NP-bacto-balance. Is there an easy way to get it out? I would assume carbon but I have carbon going from my ozone reactor.

 

[vandy]

Nope, I don’t put anything in my tank but saltwater, nopox, alk, calcium, mag and NP-bacto-balance. Is there an easy way to get it out? I would assume carbon but I have carbon going from my ozone reactor.

A bunch of water changes and carbon from what I’ve read. What brand ICP test did you use? I’ve seen @Randy Holmes-Farley talk about the inaccuracies of these iodine results in other threads so you might want to pick up a different tester to verify the results

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Christoph

Any reason to think this value may not be real iodine?

 

[Christoph]

@Christoph

Any reason to think this value may not be real iodine?

No. - Iodine in ICP-MS is free of interferences. Iodine measurement works very well on our ICP-MS method.

Edit: Looking at the results the most concerning aspect is the high nitrate while phosphate is close to undetectable. - This can point towards P limitation. I would recommend to remove all GFO based media (if you are using any), wet skimming, and water changes to get rid of the nitrate. The water changes should also be used to correct salinity and bring down the elevated iodine.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks, Christoph. Wolters, are you sure you did not add a supplement that might contain it? I have seen a few very high I for unexplained reasons.

I agree that very low phosphate is a concern.

 

[Mels_Reef]

Just a suggestion but I would quit throwing supplements at the high nitrates and do an 80% water change to get the nitrates down. I would also only feed strained mysis for a while to ensure no food is causing the issue either

 

[Sdoutreefer]

I am no expert, but I tend towards watching the tank more than chasing numbers....

So the same question, what is the problem? Is something wrong in the tank, critters suffering, etc?

I would agree, to a certain extent. Sometimes the only issue is nitrate being too low, or in my case, undetectable. And if your tank is young, you don’t know exactly if your issue is an issue. For example, I’m definitely in the uglies. All coral are happy. All fish, inverts, etc. are happy. My only gripe with the tank is the algae developing. This is completely normal, unfortunately, and something I wouldn’t consider an issue. But, the undetectable No3 is a big time issue.

 

[Wolters_88]

No. - Iodine in ICP-MS is free of interferences. Iodine measurement works very well on our ICP-MS method.

Edit: Looking at the results the most concerning aspect is the high nitrate while phosphate is close to undetectable. - This can point towards P limitation. I would recommend to remove all GFO based media (if you are using any), wet skimming, and water changes to get rid of the nitrate. The water changes should also be used to correct salinity and bring down the elevated iodine.

I don’t have any GFO in the system. The only thing I’m using is NP-Micro-balance and NO-POX. Everyone says the NO-POX doesn’t remove PO4 but it 100% removed it in my system. I’m dosing it at 15ML a day trying to get the nitrates down. I only feed LRS herbivore fish food and nori twice a week. Other than that the only thing being dosed are the normal three and I have a kalk stirrer from avast to keep the PH up.

 

[Wolters_88]

Thanks, Christoph. Wolters, are you sure you did not add a supplement that might contain it? I have seen a few very high I for unexplained reasons.

I agree that very low phosphate is a concern.

Nope. I don’t dose anything to my tank. I’m more the fish poop will feed the corals type.

 

[Wolters_88]

Just a suggestion but I would quit throwing supplements at the high nitrates and do an 80% water change to get the nitrates down. I would also only feed strained mysis for a while to ensure no food is causing the issue either

I have done that and the NO3 will be at the same level in one week. That’s not normal and something off. That’s what I can’t figure out.