balancing PO4 and NO3

[mdd1986]

Hey guys, my tank has been nothing but a disaster for the past 4 months. Basically lose all of my corals.

Aside from the super high tin levels, There is algae all over my rock and glass that I'm trying to get under control. I think the issue has been my elevated PO4 levels lately. Also my alk dropped below 8 for a week due a to dosing pump failure. But I have fixed that.

This is a Triton setup with a large fuge filled with Chaeto. Basically my Chaeto seems to have stopped growing due to my NO3 bottoming out.

I'm trying to figure out how to balance all my levels. Here are my readings for the best 2 days:


NO3: 0PPM (Red Sea)
P04: .077PPM (Hanna Checker)
CALC: 410PPM
MAG: 1570
SG 1.026
ALK 9.5


Basically just looking for the best way to balance out the NO3 and PO4. Should I add food or Stomp remover to get NO3 levels.

 

[MTBake]

How old is the tank? What kind of algae are you fighting?

 

[mdd1986]

Tank has been set up since nov 2017.

Here are some pics

 

[MTBake]

Could be the start of dinos there. Kinda difficult to tell. Dosing food grade sodium nitrate would not hurt. I would only use stump remover if that's all I could get. Start slow and test often. Keep an eye on your phosphate levels as well. There is a chance for that to drop as well. I would dose up to 2ppm daily until it stays stable. And don't let phosphates bottom out either as that also causes issues.

 

[MTBake]

I used this when my nitrates bottomed out.

https://www.amazon.com/Sodium-Nitra...40713&sprefix=sodium+ni&sr=8-1&ref=mp_s_a_1_1

 

[Frogger]

Keep a close eye on the phosphate levels when you start adding nitrates. Right now nitrates are limited in your tank when you start adding nitrates your phosphates will lower. If the phosphates lower too fast you could fry your corals. If you are using GFO stop when you start adding nitrates I did not and lost half of my corals over a year ago. I had to start adding phosphates as well to keep my phosphates above 0. You might want to purchase some potassium phosphate as well.
Personally I would only use the purist chemicals in my tank Food Grade or better.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I agree I’d add nitrate or feed more. That said, elevated phosphate is not “causing” the algae (it needs enough of many things) but the algae is at least part of why nitrate is low, and adding more nitrate may allow it to grow even more.

 

[mdd1986]

Thanks for the advice. I have been feeding a lot and that seems to be keeping the Phosphates elevated. I'm only using Carbon and no GFO. I do have alot of algea growing in the fuge other than the chaato. Should i remove all of it manually so the chaeto is not out competed for nutrients? What is the best way to deal with the algea in the tank?

 

[Hans-Werner]

To me it looks like it could be the cyanobacterium Schizothrix. The hairs of Schizothrix stay nearly colorless whitish, only the surface usually is green or reddish. In my tanks Schizothrix indicated when the phosphate in the rocks got low and conditions in the tank changed to the better. I had no big problems to remove Schizothrix with a hose because the long fluffy tufts where quite loosely attached. They need to get a certain length before the hose grabs the tufts and they can be removed.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks for the advice. I have been feeding a lot and that seems to be keeping the Phosphates elevated. I'm only using Carbon and no GFO. I do have alot of algea growing in the fuge other than the chaato. Should i remove all of it manually so the chaeto is not out competed for nutrients? What is the best way to deal with the algea in the tank?

It was suggested to me long ago that iron dosing can help macroalgae outcompete green microalgae (hair algae) in a refugium, and it helped in my system. Manual removal will also help.

 

[mdd1986]

To me it looks like it could be the cyanobacterium Schizothrix. The hairs of Schizothrix stay nearly colorless whitish, only the surface usually is green or reddish. In my tanks Schizothrix indicated when the phosphate in the rocks got low and conditions in the tank changed to the better. I had no big problems to remove Schizothrix with a hose because the long fluffy tufts where quite loosely attached. They need to get a certain length before the hose grabs the tufts and they can be removed.

Yea its very easy to remove. from the glass I can basically wipe it off with my finger. I will try to remove it. I think part of the problem is since I started with Dry rock (marco rock) it made it easy for this type of algae grow on the rock's surface. Since my Alk and CAL levels have been somewhat lowered I haven't been able to get Coraline to grow. So hopefully keeping these levels up will allow it to grow to prevent algae growth on the rocks surface.

It was suggested to me long ago that iron dosing can help macroalgae outcompete green microalgae (hair algae) in a refugium, and it helped in my system. Manual removal will also help.

Thanks for the advice. I raised my NO3 level to around 10PPm last night so we will see what happens. Any idea on how much to dose or what level to shoot for? Based on my ICP test I have 0 FE in the tank.

 

[teller]

There are two products with iron + manganese for macro algae.
The two little fishies iron concentrate and kent marine iron & manganese.
Maybe you could try.
Also pax bellum arid macro algae reactor also have a iron/manganese dosing product, a little more expensive I think.
Probably there are others.
I am starting using one but is an Italian manufacturer. Before I used the seachem iron, but is iron only.

 

[mdd1986]

I was probably going to use the triton iron supplement. Just was't sure how much I should add or what level I should shoot for.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks for the advice. I raised my NO3 level to around 10PPm last night so we will see what happens. Any idea on how much to dose or what level to shoot for? Based on my ICP test I have 0 FE in the tank.

Iron will often be undetectable, unless you are maintaining quite high concentrations:

http://www.reefedition.com/my-triton-testing-results-by-randy-holmes-farley/

Iron (Fe). The natural iron level varies a lot with depth, but surface seawater may have only 0.006 µg/L. The Triton LOD = 0.3 µg/L. I dose iron, and when I dose it I boost iron to roughly 1-2 µg/L, which would be detectable. This sample was taken more than a week after the last iron dosing, and none was detected as it gets depleted in the meanwhile. I’ve not yet seen a Triton test result for a real aquarium sample that had detectable iron, but that doesn’t mean these tanks are necessarily deficient. Iron is also a case where the form is critical, and ICP cannot distinguish form. Binding to organic matter, for example, can alter the bioavailability of iron.

Here's my DIY iron recipe using Fergon tablets from the drug store:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/iron-dose.381857/

 

[mdd1986]

I'm assuming I can use these tablets dissolved in water? And just do a 1-2 UG/L a week dose?

https://www.amazon.com/Fergon-Iron-...rd_wg=VQiBg&psc=1&refRID=KVVSDDZVPQADJKP6R1PY

Thanks for the advice. much cheaper alternative to purchasing iron supplement from Triton.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

That's it, yes.
Soak one tablet in RO/Di (say, 25 mL) overnight. It will break open and discolor the water greenish . Shake it and let the solids settle out.
Then dose the clear greenish liquid above the solids.

 

[mdd1986]

Here are tonights testing results after 24 hours of dosing approx 10PPM of n03

P04: .039PPM
N03: 5PPM

Chaeto photo period is set to 8 hours.

Thoughts?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The values seem good to me[emoji3]

 

[mdd1986]

slightly off topic but I thoroughly cleaned the algea off the glass and rocks as best i could. However I noticed it starting to grow right back with small little white specs that look like little pieces of sand covering the rocks. Should I do a black out for a few days to try to get rid of whatever this is? Will the chaeto be able outcompete it?

 

[ramona]

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