Bottomed out nutrients

[yaboimorg]

For the last month my nitrates and phosphates have been extremely low, often not registering. while my coral looks good and I get normal algae growth on the glass my nitrates will not get elevated no matter how much I feed. What ways could I raise nitrates up to 5ppm and keep phosphates in range? The tank is around 4-5 months old and had normal nitrates before between 5-10 and phosphates in range.

 

[FrugalReeferJon]

Add more fish, run your skimmer part time or start dosing ammonia/nitrates. I’m not a big fan of feeding more to increase nitrates because you’re increasing phosphates too at the same time. But I’ve always heard dry food has more phosphates whereas wet/frozen food has more nitrates. @Randy Holmes-Farley has great info on ammonia dosing to increase nitrates.

 

[Dan_P]

For the last month my nitrates and phosphates have been extremely low, often not registering. while my coral looks good and I get normal algae growth on the glass my nitrates will not get elevated no matter how much I feed. What ways could I raise nitrates up to 5ppm and keep phosphates in range? The tank is around 4-5 months old and had normal nitrates before between 5-10 and phosphates in range.

You can buy food grade sodium nitrate, make a solution and add what you need. Ditto for phosphate. Daily dosing should be sufficient.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You may not need to do anything, but feeding more or dosing N and P are fine experiments.