Confused: Zero P04 and N03

[sil40sx]

Everything looks fine and stable in my 25g tank that's why I haven't tested parameters for a while (2 months maybe). Until yesterday, I've realized that my Trachy (open brain) looks like its turning pink, it used to be red. The rest of the corals are doing good. Zoas, scoly, dendro, hammer, leather, softies, SPS frags growing and maintaining colors, and fish are super healthy.

Feeding :
- Fauna marin Ultra LPS pellets - 2 x week
- Rods Food - 1 x week
- Reef Roids - 1 x week
- V20 Reef Caviar - Everyday
- Hijkari seaweed pellets - Everyday
- NLS pellets - everyday

Dosing:
- Kalkwasser in ATO - about a gallon in 2-3 days
- Phols extra - everyday
- Phols coral vitalizer - 1 x week
- Amino acid - 2 x week
- GFO and GAC for a few days after a water change.

Water parameters:
- N03 - non detectable NYOS and API kit
- P04 - non detectable NYOS (I run out of reagent for my Hanna. Last time I checked it was 0.04)
- Salinity - 1.026 Refractrometer
- Ph - 8.2 API
- Alk 7.8 - Hanna
- Ca - 465 - Hanna
- Mg - i don't have test kit

Most recent change in the tank is I change my LED from 2 AI Primes to Radion XR30 g3 last month, and just finished my acclimating cycle last week. I also dosed Vibrant for maybe 1.5 months.

Now I'm stuck, I dont know what to do. Everything is doing great, and I dont want to make changes. I was thinking of dosing KN03 to raise my N03 a tad bit, but my P04 is already low. I tuned off my skimmer last night, I'm hoping it will raise some P04 and N03 a tad bit after a couple days. I also moved the trachy to a lower light/shaded area.

Any tips or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jasper

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If everything seems great, I would not do anything. lol

But a quick test of some added nitrate is easy enough to see if there is an apparent beneficial effect or not,.

 

[sil40sx]

I know, that's the first thing I had in mind, but I was concern with the Trachy's pale color.

So do I let nitrates increase naturally with my skimmer off, or should I dose KN03?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I know, that's the first thing I had in mind, but I was concern with the Trachy's pale color.

So do I let nitrates increased naturally with my skimmer off, or should I dose KN03?

I'd personally dose, since the skimmer has other benefits.

 

[sil40sx]

Ah ok, I'll swing by to Home Depot on the way home.

How many PPM should be my initial dose, or amount to add? I have 25g tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ah ok, I'll swing by to Home Depot on the way home.

How many PPM should be my initial dose, or amount to add? I have 25g tank.

I'd add 1 or 2 ppm nitrate.

 

[sil40sx]

I'd add 1 or 2 ppm nitrate.

Oh cool, thanks!

Now let me look for the thread where they have the formula/computation. LOL

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You can use this one.

Enter potassium nitrate and use 15% less (so 0.85 grams instead of 1 g) if using sodium nitrate and not potassium nitrate

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/calculator.htm

 

[sil40sx]

....long shot, but could I mix my KN03 solution in my ATO with kalkwasser? Hehehe

Oh, thanks for the link.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

....long shot, but could I mix my KN03 solution in my ATO with kalkwasser? Hehehe

Oh, thanks for the link.

Yes, that would be fine.

 

[sil40sx]

Yes, that would be fine.

Wow, that is awesome! I was expecting kalk and KN03 have bad interactions (whatever the term is) when mixed together.

This is great info, my lazy butt is extremely satisfied. Hahaha

 

[sil40sx]

@Randy Holmes-Farley I finally got a chance to dose KN03 the other day. My problem now is it get consumed within 24 hours.

I'm dosing 2ppm, and it keeps going back to zero the day after. Should I double the dose/amount, and keep increasing until something is left after 24hrs?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

2 ppm per day is probably enough for more organisms, but it wouldn't hurt to dose more if you have confidence in your kit.

 

[sil40sx]

2 ppm per day is probably enough for more organisms, but it wouldn't hurt to dose more if you have confidence in your kit.

Ah ok, I'll try 3 ppm tonight. And yes, I'm using NYOS kit, it reads 0, 1, 3, 5...., but I can clearly tell if its in between those numbers by the shade of the sample.

Also, I don't have a doser, and I dont want to add it on my ATO until I figured out the average consumption I need to dose, so is it ok to dump 3 ppm one time, or that's too much N03 swing?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

As best I can tell, all at once is fine.

 

[sil40sx]

Cool thanks!!!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You're welcome.

Happy Reefing.

 

[sil40sx]

You're welcome.
Happy Reefing.

I started adding KN03 on my ATO few days ago, 1/2 tsp per gallon that get consumed in 2-3 days. I was able to maintain my N03 at 3ppm every time I check at night. Everything looks good as usual, no evident negative or positive side effects, but my concern now is my P04, I used to have between 0.02 - 0.04, now it consistently reads 0.00 on hanna.

I've heard/read that having zero P04 is bad? Should I remove my GFO, or lower my N03 by reducing my KN03 dose?


EDIT: On the side note, I stopped using Kalkwasser in my ATO last night because 2 tsp is not cutting it anymore, I started dripping B-ionic last night (can't decide yet which doser to use).

 

[sil40sx]

ooops, I meant 1/4 tsp of KN03 per gallon