High Nitrates? Issue?

[tb582]

Finally got some decent Hanna checkers for Xmas - any thoughts on the high nitrates?

 

[ryanjohn1]

They are high but how does the tank look

 

[tb582]

They are high but how does the tank look

Pretty good! Fish seem great, corals could use a bit of help but I’m going to add some Kent reef additives to help with that

 

[tb582]

Pic

 

[ryanjohn1]

You may want to bring no3 and po4 down some but if everyone is happy I would not worry all the much. Are you running a skimmer?

 

[tb582]

You may want to bring no3 and po4 down some but if everyone is happy I would not worry all the much. Are you running a skimmer?

Nope just a canister filter!

 

[ryanjohn1]

May wanna think about cleaning the pads in in a bit more frequently. And maybe bump up the water change a bit more

 

[tb582]

May wanna think about cleaning the pads in in a bit more frequently. And maybe bump up the water change a bit more

Phosphates seem high too? Or not concerning?

 

[Snowxcross]

Phosphates seem high too? Or not concerning?

Yes, they're high. For most coral, 0.1-0.2 is fine, even a little higher maybe fine, but 1.6 ish... i'd run some rowaphos or do weekly water changes to get that down a bit.

 

[tb582]

Yes, they're high. For most coral, 0.1-0.2 is fine, even a little higher maybe fine, but 1.6 ish... i'd run some rowaphos or do weekly water changes to get that down a bit.

How does one run that? Looks like a filter media - I don’t have a sump - put it in the canister??

 

[Snowxcross]

How does one run that? Looks like a filter media - I don’t have a sump - put it in the canister??

Ya, just get a mesh bag put some gfo in it and put in canister or somewhere with some good water flow.

 

[tb582]

Ya, just get a mesh bag put some gfo in it and put in canister or somewhere with some good water flow.

Sorry what’s gfo??

 

[Snowxcross]

Granular ferric oxide. It removes silicates and other minerals helping to depleate phosphates.

 

[jda]

If the nitrite is really at .25, it could be interfering with the nitrate test kit.

Calclium at 300 is a concern, if not a testing error.

Nitrate at 50 could make some corals mad, but others will not care at all. Phosphate at 1.5X is high for nearly all corals, but you can likely find some that won't mind this either.

All of the talk and worry about nitrate and phosphate often lacks nuance. Some corals will die at higher levels and some won't mind. Any posts or threads with "my corals are find at 100ppm of nitrate and 1.Xppm of phosphate" often have corals that are the in the latter. It might not be worth it to you to lower these levels unless you want to dabble in a larger subset of corals - many folks do not care to mess with this.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Granular ferric oxide. It removes silicates and other minerals helping to depleate phosphates.

It binds phosphate directly. :)