Help Me Solve this Imbalance (Nitrate/Phosphate)

[dustinc]

I have a tank that was setup in January of this year with dry rock (ecoscape). I also seeded with some crushed coral from WWC and about 4 months ago added some live rock rubble from TBS to a cryptic reactor I have. Corals seem to be doing well and have solid color overall. I have this algae I just can't fully seem to break. I know the tank is only about 8 months old, but would love to come up with a solid solution to get past this stage. My parameters as of today:

Alk - 8.3
Phosphate - .02
Nitrate - .5

I do have heavy filtration (2 Clarisea SK5000 & Skimmer), but also tend to feed somewhat heavy as well. I would like to raise my nitrate for sure and ok if phosphate ticks up a bit as well. I've also been battling lower pH as I've been ramping up the CaRx (was at 7.71 this AM). Hooked up my CO2 scrubber and it's already moving in the right direction.

Open to any and all suggestions. Below are a couple photos I just snapped of the tank. It's in full daylight mode (I like a more natural light mid-day). I did scrub the rocks pretty well about a week ago and used a diatom filter I made to remove as much as possible along with my filtration. Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’d either feed more or dose N and P. Feeding is the easiest option.

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

There are a ton of options to easily dose NO3 and PO4 and get your levels up where you need them. If you feed, be sure your export is on point (which it looks like it is from the pics).

 

[dustinc]

I’d either feed more or dose N and P. Feeding is the easiest option.

If I did dose, any recommendations here?

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

I think Randy has some DIY solutions, but I use NeoNitro/NeoPhos Professional with good results.

https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/n...RbvlviIhVyh6D_R98jal2GL_XutGAgdRoCqXUQAvD_BwE

 

[painter1982]

I’d either feed more or dose N and P. Feeding is the easiest option.

If I did dose, any recommendations here?

I use neonitro and neophos from Brightwell. Work great.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If I did dose, any recommendations here?

I personally dose ammonium bicarbonate, but sodium or calcium nitrate are also good All food grade from Amazon, except maybe the calcium nitrate which can be hard to find. Urea may also be a suitable material.

I also dose food grade sodium phosphate from Amazon, though that was only during a Dino issue.

 

[twentyleagues]

What kind of algae are we talking about? The rocks were cleaned and I dont see any issue with your numbers, well phosphate is within margin of error so that could be a false reading. Being able to test positive for nitrate or phosphate means there is available nutrients for corals and algae's as long as your corals look fine, and they do. Sure a little more in the "tank" is maybe safer than running on the razors edge. Maybe your nitrate numbers are low because corals are using the ammonia produced from the fish before the biological filter gets a chance to convert it.

 

[Dan_P]

I have a tank that was setup in January of this year with dry rock (ecoscape). I also seeded with some crushed coral from WWC and about 4 months ago added some live rock rubble from TBS to a cryptic reactor I have. Corals seem to be doing well and have solid color overall. I have this algae I just can't fully seem to break. I know the tank is only about 8 months old, but would love to come up with a solid solution to get past this stage. My parameters as of today:

Alk - 8.3
Phosphate - .02
Nitrate - .5

I do have heavy filtration (2 Clarisea SK5000 & Skimmer), but also tend to feed somewhat heavy as well. I would like to raise my nitrate for sure and ok if phosphate ticks up a bit as well. I've also been battling lower pH as I've been ramping up the CaRx (was at 7.71 this AM). Hooked up my CO2 scrubber and it's already moving in the right direction.

Open to any and all suggestions. Below are a couple photos I just snapped of the tank. It's in full daylight mode (I like a more natural light mid-day). I did scrub the rocks pretty well about a week ago and used a diatom filter I made to remove as much as possible along with my filtration. Thanks

Where is the algae you don’t want?

A close look at your rocks suggests to me that there is enough algae growth (stuff nobody likes) to keep the nitrate low. Are you dosing trace eleents?

 

[archipelago]

Like Dr. Holmes-Farley mentioned, extra food is the simplest (albeit slower) way to go if you want to raise nutrients. If you dose (I usually do, almost always as a Dino preventative measure) to adjust your NO3/PO4 numbers/ratio, I would recommend testing PO4 and NO3 daily until parameters/dosing stabilize. When I dose PO4, my NO3 drops (I'm experiencing this now with a tank that is going through a small 'cycle'), and vice-versa. Also, if I am dosing any appreciable amount of NO3, I usually see a rise in alkalinity - something else to keep an eye on.

 

[CHSUB]

Side question…it looks like a lot of work to keep your glass so clean?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

. Also, if I am dosing any appreciable amount of NO3, I usually see a rise in alkalinity - something else to keep an eye on.

Yes, if you add 50 ppm of nitrate and it is consumed, you will add 2.3 dKH of alk from that consumption.

 

[dustinc]

Where is the algae you don’t want?

A close look at your rocks suggests to me that there is enough algae growth (stuff nobody likes) to keep the nitrate low. Are you dosing trace eleents?

The algae is on the rocks (if you look at the lower parts of the rocks or crevices, you'll see more that I wasn't able to brush off). As for dosing trace elements, no. Only thing I'm doing now is my calcium reactor. So far my ICP tests have come back very clean. Only thing out of balance is my Iodine was a bit low (did dose to correct that) and I was showing some Zinc levels even in RODI (I believe I corrected that by replacing my float valve, just waiting on ICP confirmation this week or next).

 

[Dan_P]

The algae is on the rocks (if you look at the lower parts of the rocks or crevices, you'll see more that I wasn't able to brush off). As for dosing trace elements, no. Only thing I'm doing now is my calcium reactor. So far my ICP tests have come back very clean. Only thing out of balance is my Iodine was a bit low (did dose to correct that) and I was showing some Zinc levels even in RODI (I believe I corrected that by replacing my float valve, just waiting on ICP confirmation this week or next).

Sounds like trace elements aren’t being depleted by algae growth. If snails aren’t eating the algae, it will be up to you to keep removing the algae until something more desirable takes over. Keeping the rock surfaces free of particulate matter by blowing it off will help the rock surfaces move away from growing obnoxious stuff.