Yes. Typically 0.02ppm using Hanna ULR. It has been 0.00 a couple times.
I'm on day 2 of dosing potassium nitrate, my No3 is up to ~2 ppm and corals are looking better.
HELP! MY SPS ARE PALING AND I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO
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Yes. Typically 0.02ppm using Hanna ULR. It has been 0.00 a couple times.
I'm on day 2 of dosing potassium nitrate, my No3 is up to ~2 ppm and corals are looking better.
mcarroll
10K Club member
There are PO4 additives available. In the short term that's what I'd try. Be moderate in your doses. 0.05 ppm is plenty for the initial target.....no reason to overshoot either, so take it slow. 
There are PO4 additives available. In the short term that's what I'd try. Be moderate in your doses. 0.05 ppm is plenty for the initial target.....no reason to overshoot either, so take it slow.
Would TriSodium Phosphate be ok to use?
mcarroll
10K Club member
Hypothetically. I know nothing about contaminants or dosing rates, however.
Unless it's all you have available I'd probably try a commercial product with dosage rates on the bottle.
You shouldn't need much of it, or for very long.
Unless it's all you have available I'd probably try a commercial product with dosage rates on the bottle.
You shouldn't need much of it, or for very long.
Vaughn17
Well-Known Member
I use Seachem Activate.
A link to the product would be appreciated. I'm only finding products that remove po4, I'm intending to add it to my tank.
Vaughn17,
You can disregard my request for a link. After a fair amount of Googling, I finally found it. Thanks for the suggestion.
Vaughn17
Well-Known Member
Just got home, David, sorry. Just google Seachem. Anyway, I've dosed it for about a year, along with sodium nitrate. Corals love it. So does algae, though, so make certain you have a good clean up crew.
Monkeynaut
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What is a safe amount to raise NO3 by daily? Anyone had any issues going strait to 3-5ppm?
mcarroll
10K Club member
Not likely to be any big issues, but you risk over-shooting. The complete effects from NO3 dosing aren't immediately apparent anyway, so shooting for a minimum number can be problematic.
I would start with the minimum suggested dose or even less and only use testing to assure that you haven't over-shot your mark. Creating a nutrient spike isn't really the idea.
After you've been dosing the minimum for at least 3-5 weeks, then consider whether to increase the dose or not.
2¢
I would start with the minimum suggested dose or even less and only use testing to assure that you haven't over-shot your mark. Creating a nutrient spike isn't really the idea.
After you've been dosing the minimum for at least 3-5 weeks, then consider whether to increase the dose or not.
2¢
Matt,
Sorry I haven't responded to this question until now.
At the original time of post, no, I had 0 PO4 using Hanna ULR test. I mean 0.
I also had 0 NO3 using Red Sea Pro kit.
I've been dosing both Activate and Potassium Nitrate for a couple of weeks. Corals have colored up nicely and my RTN/STN has stopped! I finally have coralline algae growing as well. My tank is about 6 months old.
I have a lot of GHA growing and some red algae, but I'm ok with that for now. I think I boosted the NO3 too much in the beginning.
I changed from dosing directly into the overflow to adding both Activate and Potassium Nitrate to my ATO reservoir. I use about 5 gallons of fresh water per week and my reservoir is 5 gallons, so I get nice all day small additions. My PO3 is ~ 0.03 (which is 11-12 on the Hanna ULR) and NO3 ~ 2ppm
oohnoo
Active Member
Bringing this back up. I would like to start dozing and could use some guidelines. Some history. My tank is a IM 30L of which I started on May 5, 2017 by moving the contents (rock and corals) of my existing 15gal mini-reef to the new tank of which I added a new 2" sand bed and an additional 11lbs WS 2.1 Rock. Tank never went into a cycle and actually everything was doing great. Only loss I had were the PomPom's which I was supprised at but from reading up it seems they like a dirty tank (nutrients) of which the new tank didn't have. I started dozing BRG 2-part and for the most part only been adding dKH as it's the only thing being consumed right now. Testing was done almost daily to see what's being consumed.
It's a mix of SPS, LPS, Zooanthids and Palys and I'm amazed at the growth I'm seeing. I even had some SPS from my old tank that bleached out and was looking hopeless. When moved to the new tank it still wasn't doing so good which got me stated into dozing, so I fragged some branches of it and I'm now seeing some great growth with some encrusting down on the frag. One of the things which I know I shouldn't have done is I bought too many coral during those auctions here on R2R. But for the most part with a couple exceptions they're all doing great and I'm seeing good growth. But for some reason the brain coral frags I got seem to be loosing color but are growing. Not sure if it was too much light which I cut back on but they still haven't colored up.
But now I'm seeing algae growing on the sandbed and glass and I want to get under control before it gets out of control. Mainly on the sand bed but also on the frag plugs which is getting better since I moved them off the frag racks and onto the sandbed or up on the rocks. But even on the Sea Whip and a small Blueberry Gorgonian themselves which I'm surprised the Blueberry is still alive due to other issues (tough guy). I do have a small clean up crew, Blue legged crabs which are doing a great job actually and some snails. I brushed off what I could on the frags and sucked up what I could from the sand bed. I also have small refigium in one of the rear chambers.
So enough ramblings. I also want to point out this tank is in my office here at work. I do 5 gal water changes every 10-14 days. I purchased the Spectracide Stump Remover Granules and ready to rock. From what I've been reading I need to lower the Phosphates and increase the Nitrates which once increased will lower the other.
Equipment:
Innovative Marine 30L
(2) Hydra 26's w/Director
(2) Jebao Wave Makers w/ Single Controller
Neptune Apex
Jebao-4 Dozer / Dosing BRS 2-Part
ATO - Best invention since toilet paper! Well a good second at best.
Water perimeters are as follows:
Salt: Red Sea Coral Pro
Temp: 78.6
Ph: 8.27
Salinity: 1.025
dKH / Alkalinity: 8.45dKH / Hanna
Ca / Calcium: 449ppm / Hanna
Mg - Magnesium: 1350ppm / Hanna
Nitrates: 0.25 / Red Sea
Phosphates: 1.0 / Hanna
Fish: Ocellaris Clownfish (hosted to , Purple Dottyback, Yellow Prawn Goby, Cardinafish
Cleaner Shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp
Clean-up Crew: (4) Drarf Blue-legged Crab, (3) Electric Blue Hermit Crab. (3) Astraea Turbo Snails
Feeding: Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Fish: Freeze dried Brine Shrimp and a variety of frozen foods
Corals: Coral Frenzy, Reef Roids, Oyster Feast.
It's a mix of SPS, LPS, Zooanthids and Palys and I'm amazed at the growth I'm seeing. I even had some SPS from my old tank that bleached out and was looking hopeless. When moved to the new tank it still wasn't doing so good which got me stated into dozing, so I fragged some branches of it and I'm now seeing some great growth with some encrusting down on the frag. One of the things which I know I shouldn't have done is I bought too many coral during those auctions here on R2R. But for the most part with a couple exceptions they're all doing great and I'm seeing good growth. But for some reason the brain coral frags I got seem to be loosing color but are growing. Not sure if it was too much light which I cut back on but they still haven't colored up.
But now I'm seeing algae growing on the sandbed and glass and I want to get under control before it gets out of control. Mainly on the sand bed but also on the frag plugs which is getting better since I moved them off the frag racks and onto the sandbed or up on the rocks. But even on the Sea Whip and a small Blueberry Gorgonian themselves which I'm surprised the Blueberry is still alive due to other issues (tough guy). I do have a small clean up crew, Blue legged crabs which are doing a great job actually and some snails. I brushed off what I could on the frags and sucked up what I could from the sand bed. I also have small refigium in one of the rear chambers.
So enough ramblings. I also want to point out this tank is in my office here at work. I do 5 gal water changes every 10-14 days. I purchased the Spectracide Stump Remover Granules and ready to rock. From what I've been reading I need to lower the Phosphates and increase the Nitrates which once increased will lower the other.
Equipment:
Innovative Marine 30L
(2) Hydra 26's w/Director
(2) Jebao Wave Makers w/ Single Controller
Neptune Apex
Jebao-4 Dozer / Dosing BRS 2-Part
ATO - Best invention since toilet paper! Well a good second at best.
Water perimeters are as follows:
Salt: Red Sea Coral Pro
Temp: 78.6
Ph: 8.27
Salinity: 1.025
dKH / Alkalinity: 8.45dKH / Hanna
Ca / Calcium: 449ppm / Hanna
Mg - Magnesium: 1350ppm / Hanna
Nitrates: 0.25 / Red Sea
Phosphates: 1.0 / Hanna
Fish: Ocellaris Clownfish (hosted to , Purple Dottyback, Yellow Prawn Goby, Cardinafish
Cleaner Shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp
Clean-up Crew: (4) Drarf Blue-legged Crab, (3) Electric Blue Hermit Crab. (3) Astraea Turbo Snails
Feeding: Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Fish: Freeze dried Brine Shrimp and a variety of frozen foods
Corals: Coral Frenzy, Reef Roids, Oyster Feast.
mcarroll
10K Club member
Sounds to me like you're on the right track...just don't worry too much about the PO4 until AFTER you have your NO3 under control.
Once the tank is no longer N-limited, you'll find that PO4 will get used up a lot faster. I wouldn't take PO4 too much lower than 0.10 ppm, IMO.
mcarroll
10K Club member
This might be a good read too:
A Nitrate Dosing Calculator For Better Tank Health (And Better Coral Color!)
Click through the nutrient section when you're done if you want some more good reading.
A Nitrate Dosing Calculator For Better Tank Health (And Better Coral Color!)
Click through the nutrient section when you're done if you want some more good reading.
mcarroll
10K Club member
You should be able to find a plant fertilizer if you're into that, but I'm not so I can't name anything.
Brightwell and Seachem both have N and P products that are pretty widely used. You LFS should be able to get them even if they don't carry them.
Brightwell and Seachem both have N and P products that are pretty widely used. You LFS should be able to get them even if they don't carry them.
oohnoo
Active Member
Thanks for the info. One thing I just started yesterday after some reading was put my Protein skimmer on a 12 hour schedule instead of 24/7. On during day and off at night. That and get another fish for nutrient export Who doesn't like getting a new fish
Actually I had booked mark that article and briefly read it. Will read again.
Who doesn't like getting a new fishActually I had booked mark that article and briefly read it. Will read again.
This might be a good read too:
A Nitrate Dosing Calculator For Better Tank Health (And Better Coral Color!)
Click through the nutrient section when you're done if you want some more good reading.
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