How to carefully raise nitrate level of 0 ppm to 3 ppm

[Peter Brom]

Update: yesterday I bought 2 clownfish from the LFS. Also got feeding instructions and made a cover today so they don't jump out. Interesting to see how much the Nitrate level will rise in the coming days.

The Clownfish seem to do fine, they are active and like the food (frozen) I gave them. Tomorrow they will get some pellets.

 

[Fishy888]

Update: yesterday I bought 2 clownfish from the LFS. Also got feeding instructions and made a cover today so they don't jump out. Interesting to see how much the Nitrate level will rise in the coming days.

The Clownfish seem to do fine, they are active and like the food (frozen) I gave them. Tomorrow they will get some pellets.

They’re looking good. But please let things settle down for a while. The system needs the ammonia from the fish waste so the bacteria that break down the ammonia into nitrite; and the bacteria that break down nitrite into nitrate can build up and thrive. Just don’t dose anything you can’t test for. Keep us posted on how the clownfish are doing.

 

[Peter Brom]

Will do, thank you.

 

[Dburr1014]

Update: yesterday I bought 2 clownfish from the LFS. Also got feeding instructions and made a cover today so they don't jump out. Interesting to see how much the Nitrate level will rise in the coming days.

The Clownfish seem to do fine, they are active and like the food (frozen) I gave them. Tomorrow they will get some pellets.

What were your feeding instructions?

Feed at least 2x a day.

Frozen is typically higher in nitrates than phosphates.

Pellets and flake are typically higher in phosphate than nitrates.

Reef roids are really high in phosphate.

No more fish for now, let them settle in.
Tank will start going thru some changes.

 

[Fishy888]

What were your feeding instructions?

Feed at least 2x a day.

Frozen is typically higher in nitrates than phosphates.

Pellets and flake are typically higher in phosphate than nitrates.

Reef roids are really high in phosphate.

No more fish for now, let them settle in.
Tank will start going thru some changes.

This is awesome advice. I also use a combination of pellets and frozen to keep my nutrients where I want them. At this point give your system a month at least before getting more fish and don’t be alarmed because of the algae that is coming. It needs to come to use up whatever nutrients you aren’t able to export. That algae will feed your CUC too. Do you have a clean up crew yet? Like snails, hermit crabs, or worms yet in your system yet? If not I’d look into getting some before you get anymore fish.

 

[Reef Psychology]

Update: yesterday I bought 2 clownfish from the LFS. Also got feeding instructions and made a cover today so they don't jump out. Interesting to see how much the Nitrate level will rise in the coming days.

The Clownfish seem to do fine, they are active and like the food (frozen) I gave them. Tomorrow they will get some pellets.

Looking good. There's a lot of thoughts when it comes to nitrates/phosphates and nutrients these days, but IMO beginner reef keepers should stay away from most 'nutrient additives' for the first year. It's a delicate balance and its VERY easy for things to get out of control. The new nifty trend is keeping phosphates and nitrates at a particular ratio. I think it's rather pointless. Our test kits are notoriously prone to error and false-positives not to mention general inaccuracy. Dosing nitrates/phosphates based on hobby level test kits is kinda crazy IMO.

Try to keep your tank clean, but not TOO clean. I use a teaspoon of RowaPhos changed out every 2 weeks. This keeps phosphates at 0, but if I take out the GFO it will rise to 0.07 in 3 days and say there, but then I'll see algae staring to grow on the returns. So I carbon dose and use GFO to keep nitrates/phosphates reading at 0. Doesn't mean they aren't there. Just that they are being taken out of the water before they can be detected. I feed almost exclusively frozen and reefroids to keep nitrates and phosphates coming into the system at about equal ratios.

Anyway, sorry for the wall of text. This can be an extremely complex hobby, but I guess that's why it's so fun and addictive.

 

[Peter Brom]

What were your feeding instructions?

Feed at least 2x a day.

Frozen is typically higher in nitrates than phosphates.

Pellets and flake are typically higher in phosphate than nitrates.

Reef roids are really high in phosphate.

No more fish for now, let them settle in.
Tank will start going thru some changes.

Hi, I'm feeding the Clownfish 2 times a day. In the morning I give them a very small piece of frozen food and late afternoon a couple of pellets. The clownfish are very active and doing good. In the evening they find a spot in the upper right corner where they stay. Will do a complete test in a couple of minutes to see the effect of adding the Clownfish.

Thanks for all your advise, very pleased with it.

 

[Peter Brom]

This is awesome advice. I also use a combination of pellets and frozen to keep my nutrients where I want them. At this point give your system a month at least before getting more fish and don’t be alarmed because of the algae that is coming. It needs to come to use up whatever nutrients you aren’t able to export. That algae will feed your CUC too. Do you have a clean up crew yet? Like snails, hermit crabs, or worms yet in your system yet? If not I’d look into getting some before you get anymore fish.

Hi, I have a clean-up crew, will add the pictures of the snails and crabs I have. I have 2 Trochus, 2 Baccinulum and 1 Pagurites. The Trochus are cleaning the glass and rocks, slowly. The Trochus and Baccinulum are not visible a lot, but I can see the sand moving so they are ok I think.

 

[Peter Brom]

Lots of thanks to all of you, very pleased with the way it's going atm. I did a complete test of the water parameters and indeed the Nitrate en Nitrite numbers are rising very slowly. See below all the current parameters:

Temp: 26 celsius (stable)
SG: 1.023 (Stable)
Nitrate: from 0 ppm to 0.8 ppm
Nitrite: from 0 ppm to 0.077
Phosphate: from 0.01 to 0.04
Amoinia: from 0 to 0.1
KH: from 8.05 DKH to 9.01 DKH (this went up the last couple of days. It was stable at around 8 dkh for a month)
Calcium: from 431 to 464
Magnesium: 1194 to 1210
PH: 8.5 (stable)

The only thing I'm noticing is that when I'm feeding the Clownfosh with pellets, see the picture that the pellets go down to the sand floor very quickly. The Clownfish don't have time to get them fast enough. Not sure if these are the best pellets to use. Will monitor it in the coming days.

 

[Peter Brom]

Herby a very short video of the Clownfish.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Pellets and flake are typically higher in phosphate than nitrates.

I assume that means relatively higher? I do not know if there is any food that is actually higher in P than N.

Ron Shimek analyzed a bunch of different foods, including dry, frozen, nori, and whole fish (silversides).

Based on the protein content he reported and the P values he measured, they all have N/P ratios between 5 and 33.

Ron's article:

Untitled

 

[Dburr1014]

I assume that means relatively higher? I do not know if there is any food that is actually higher in P than N.

Ron Shimek analyzed a bunch of different foods, including dry, frozen, nori, and whole fish (silversides).

Based on the protein content he reported and the P values he measured, they all have N/P ratios between 5 and 33.

Ron's article:

Untitled

Thanks for the article. Some of the phosphorous he measured are even higher than I would have expected.
Are you saying that all foods are higher in N than P?
Including reef roids?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks for the article. Some of the phosphorous he measured are even higher than I would have expected.
Are you saying that all foods are higher in N than P?
Including reef roids?

I've not seen any data for Reef Roids, but certainly it is the case the most tissues (except bones) are much higher in N than P.

 

[Fishy888]

Lots of thanks to all of you, very pleased with the way it's going atm. I did a complete test of the water parameters and indeed the Nitrate en Nitrite numbers are rising very slowly. See below all the current parameters:

Temp: 26 celsius (stable)
SG: 1.023 (Stable)
Nitrate: from 0 ppm to 0.8 ppm
Nitrite: from 0 ppm to 0.077
Phosphate: from 0.01 to 0.04
Amoinia: from 0 to 0.1
KH: from 8.05 DKH to 9.01 DKH (this went up the last couple of days. It was stable at around 8 dkh for a month)
Calcium: from 431 to 464
Magnesium: 1194 to 1210
PH: 8.5 (stable)

The only thing I'm noticing is that when I'm feeding the Clownfosh with pellets, see the picture that the pellets go down to the sand floor very quickly. The Clownfish don't have time to get them fast enough. Not sure if these are the best pellets to use. Will monitor it in the coming days.

I used Ocean Nutrition flake food when I first started. I’ve never tried their pellets however. I imagine their pellets are pretty good too. I use New Life Spectrum pellets these days.

I like to drop a few pellets in at a time so I can see my fish eating it. Just a small pinch. That gives the fish a chance to eat most of it before giving them more. It’s ok if a few pellets hit the ground since your CUC will likely eat what the fish miss.

Keep up the good work! You’re doing great so far. If I were you though I’d research, research, research! Take time to watch your fish, find out as much as you can about them. Also research different creatures you’ll want to add. If you want LPS and SPS eventually research what it takes to keep them as well as the corals themselves.

 

[Crabby48]

Indeed that should happen.

But I checked it multiple times with the Hanna Nitrate checker and the red sea test kit and both had the same result. The only thing that happened is that the skimmer worked overtime. Had to empty and clean it almost daily.

You only replaced 40 percent of the water so you removed 40 percent of nitrate. The other 20 percent is in the tank. Test error at some point or tester has an amount of accuracy. I would never keep no3 and po4 that low as it’s almost nothing for corals and test accuracy. Ultra low nutrient tanks need feed throughout the day in my trials

 

[Dburr1014]

You only replaced 40 percent of the water so you removed 40 percent of nitrate. The other 20 percent is in the tank. Test error at some point or tester has an amount of accuracy. I would never keep no3 and po4 that low as it’s almost nothing for corals and test accuracy. Ultra low nutrient tanks need feed throughout the day in my trials

40% from 100% is 60%
So he left 60% nitrate.

 

[Crabby48]

40% from 100% is 60%
So he left 60% nitrate.

Haha thanks. I was sitting on a hand so math got hard