Creeping nutrients

[kweigum]

Hey! So I have phos and nitrates creeping slowly every day in my tank unless I feed a small amout…
150 gallon display
25 gallon sump

fish list:
1 royal gramma ( full grown)
2 oscellaris clowns (medium size)
1 mag foxface. (7”)
1 blue throat trigger (4”)
1 Diamond goby( 5”)
1 lyretail anthias (4”)
1 marine betta(5-6”)
1 earmuff wrasse (5”)
1 Fiji exquisite wrasse(5”)
1 linespot wrasse(3.5”)
1 cleaner wrasse(3,5”)

have a handful of leathers, mushrooms, zoas, lps, and a few sps( all open and colorful and doing well) couple bubble tips on each end of the tank..

also a pretty wide variety of cuc.
Couple big brittle stars
Skunk cleaner and fire shrimp
Quite a few turbos , trochus, nassarius, conchs, and hermits

just wanted a vague amount I should be feeding these guys…. Feed mostly mysis 2x a day.. 3or 4 cubes a day, nori a couple times a week, and rods original a couple times a week( was my staple but seemed to raise nutrients quicker and made film algae hard to keep up with), as well as occasional clam for the trigger

how much frozen food should I be going through? Am I feeding too much? As it sits I have to do about a 20% weekly sometimes biweekly w/c also trying to get a small refugium going but the chaeto is not wanting to take off( using chaeto grow 1x a week) chaeto ball is tight and dark green just not growing fast( about tennis ball size) just ordered 3 more clumps same size

nitrate is between 10-15
Phosphate keeps trying to creep up to the .2 range between water changes ( some of my sps starts to close up when it gets around that unless I feed like 2 cubes of frozen a day and that’s about all that keeps my nutrients stable… just feel like that’s not enough food for my fish/ inverts

had nuisance algae…GHA, amphi Dinos, And cyano for a while and I couldn’t keep nutrients in my tank no matter how much I fed. Now most nuisance is all gone and having a hard timekeeping nutrients lower, lucky I have a lot of time on my hands or it wouldn’t be going so well.

thanks! Open to any suggestions, may just be over stocked

 

[Lavey29]

Nitrate level is fine. Phosphate slightly elevated but not bad. What else do you have for export? Skimmer? what light are you using for your chaeto fuge? I found using Neptune gro light made a huge difference for my growth. My chaeto is bigger then a football now and I trim it weekly. Water changes will bring down nitrates but do very little for phosphate. You can try a bag of chemipure blue in your sump for phosphate. I like to use phosguard because it walks the phosphate level down slowly day by day. I also recommend dosing PNS probio which is a natural heterotrophic bacteria supplement that breaks down organic waste thus reducing the nitrate level in the tank. Corals love it too.

 

[kweigum]

Nitrate level is fine. Phosphate slightly elevated but not bad. What else do you have for export? Skimmer? what light are you using for your chaeto fuge? I found using Neptune gro light made a huge difference for my growth. My chaeto is bigger then a football now and I trim it weekly. Water changes will bring down nitrates but do very little for phosphate. You can try a bag of chemipure blue in your sump for phosphate. I like to use phosguard because it walks the phosphate level down slowly day by day. I also recommend dosing PNS probio which is a natural heterotrophic bacteria supplement that breaks down organic waste thus reducing the nitrate level in the tank. Corals love it too.

I am using a tunze eco chic 8831 light.maybe not enough light? I do have a reefer skimmer that came with the tank, and using felt filter socks that I change about every other day… recently shut off my uv sterilizer to gain extra bacteria…. I run 2 bags of Chemipure elite as well

 

[Lavey29]

I am using a tunze eco chic 8831 light.maybe not enough light? I do have a reefer skimmer that came with the tank, and using felt filter socks that I change about every other day… recently shut off my uv sterilizer to gain extra bacteria…. I run 2 bags of Chemipure elite as well

You have a pretty big system so maybe a small GFO/carbon reactor might be the next step to control phosphate? Nitrates are easier to manage. Avoid flakes or pellet because that adds phosphate as does coral additives like reef roids or AB plus. These supplements can spice phosphate also.

 

[kweigum]

You have a pretty big system so maybe a small GFO/carbon reactor might be the next step to control phosphate? Nitrates are easier to manage. Avoid flakes or pellet because that adds phosphate as does coral additives like reef roids or AB plus. These supplements can spice phosphate also.

Thank you!!! I think I am going to at least try a new fuge light and see if that gives me the boost I’m looking for first. I have a successful fuge earlier in the year but had to get rid of it because it stripped all my nutrients, which in turn gave me a bad Dino problem ‍ I just don’t get it…. Along with an ich outbreak at the same time. Dosed h2o2 for a few months. Got rid of all the ich but really put a dent in my bacteria I had developed…. Trying to stay as natural as I can at the moment…. Don’t really like using Chemipure or anything but was kinda my only option to slow stuff down. Hoping to get rid of that soon!

thanks for the advice! If that doesn’t work may try a carbon reactor! Fed pellets yesterday as they seem cleaner then frozen but boy did it ramp up the nutrients!!!!!

 

[Lavey29]

Thank you!!! I think I am going to at least try a new fuge light and see if that gives me the boost I’m looking for first. I have a successful fuge earlier in the year but had to get rid of it because it stripped all my nutrients, which in turn gave me a bad Dino problem ‍ I just don’t get it…. Along with an ich outbreak at the same time. Dosed h2o2 for a few months. Got rid of all the ich but really put a dent in my bacteria I had developed…. Trying to stay as natural as I can at the moment…. Don’t really like using Chemipure or anything but was kinda my only option to slow stuff down. Hoping to get rid of that soon!

thanks for the advice! If that doesn’t work may try a carbon reactor! Fed pellets yesterday as they seem cleaner then frozen but boy did it ramp up the nutrients!!!!!

Yes pellets do that stick to frozen. Try PNS probio. It really keeps the tank clean and lowers nutrients. It's all natural too. I dose it once a week.

 

[kweigum]

Yes pellets do that stick to frozen. Try PNS probio. It really keeps the tank clean and lowers nutrients. It's all natural too. I dose it once a week.

I will! Thank you! Ordering some now

 

[Lavey29]

I will! Thank you! Ordering some now

I can go like 10 days now between sock changes because of PNS.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If you feel you need to feed more, youi should. Just up the export of N and P through any of the many suitable emans, including growing macroalgae, GFO, organic carbon dosing, etc.

 

[kweigum]

If you feel you need to feed more, youi should. Just up the export of N and P through any of the many suitable emans, including growing macroalgae, GFO, organic carbon dosing, etc.

I would I just don’t want to intentionally over feed them either. They’re all plump. But all look so hungry all the time and I’m a sucker for all those eyes staring at me. Was just looking more for a guide on how much I “ should” be feeding. Unless that just depends on my nutrients if my fish are all plump. I like to feed at least 2x a day for my active fish. Just kinda curious how much each feeding they should be getting seems like no matter how much I put in it all gets eaten pretty quick. The foxface, starry blenny( forgot to mention him above) and trigger are hogs

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would I just don’t want to intentionally over feed them either. They’re all plump. But all look so hungry all the time and I’m a sucker for all those eyes staring at me. Was just looking more for a guide on how much I “ should” be feeding. Unless that just depends on my nutrients if my fish are all plump. I like to feed at least 2x a day for my active fish. Just kinda curious how much each feeding they should be getting seems like no matter how much I put in it all gets eaten pretty quick. The foxface, starry blenny( forgot to mention him above) and trigger are hogs

I don't know the best ways to gauge feeding for any particular species.