How to increase nitrate and not phosphate

[Montrosereef]

I have an SPS tank with zero nitrate and 0.04 phosphate by Red Sea Pro. I see some of my acros bleached. I think hey are starving. Any ways to increase nitrate without raising phosphate. Feeding more may raise both.

 

[DrTerro]

More fish is always a good thing. Well, depending on how many you have now and size of tank. Also I personally have noticed that feeding flake food and not so much meaty like PE and brine, I get great colors and not the phos. Also maybe look into Ammino fatty acid supp. Turn of the skimmer for a while and add to food or direct to tank. I have had some good results with that alone. Last would be brightwells color up. Same thing just not so concentraded. GL

 

[Montrosereef]

Thanks! This actually is a big topic in some forum. I am dosing potassium nitrate designed for planted tank. Hope it will work.

 

[Pkunk35]

This thread might help you: http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/general-sps-discussion/89012-my-green-slimer-went-pics-acropora.html

I think we need some more tank specifics in order to answer your question better...

 

[SDguy]

If you can find a way to have aerobic biological filtration without any anaerobic areas, you should be able to produce nitrate. But this will depend on your methods of removing N&P too.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

That is not an easy question, I don't think is possible.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

I had to come back to this, very odd question !!! we do so much to get rid of this stuff, you want to add some ? don't you have any fish ?

 

[Pkunk35]

If you can find a way to have aerobic biological filtration without any anaerobic areas, you should be able to produce nitrate. But this will depend on your methods of removing N&P too.

Aren't those old penguin bio wheels supposedly exactly this? All aerobic (very fast) filtration but no anaerobic?

Wonder if an old biowheel filter would help...

 

[apicturepaints]

Have you tried dosing aminos? I have heard that combats too clean of water for SPS.

 

[Montrosereef]

I have nitrate sponges and may have to take half of them out. I have dosed potassium nitrate to 0.25 from zero. This is the most i can dose since it contains potassium. I know nitrate below 0.25 is not good for corals. I will find out how my sps reacts in a few days.

 

[Montrosereef]

Aminos add phosphate too I believe.

 

[WesF]

You could use dry ferts typically used in planted aquariums.

Calcium Nitrate
http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/i...rnEdit=2&Returnitemname=&ReturnShowItemStart=

Potassium Nitrate
http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/i...rnEdit=2&Returnitemname=&ReturnShowItemStart=

 

[robert]

I've used cal-mag 2-0-0 liquid by bontanicare - its a mix of calcium and magnesium nitrate + .1% chelated iron. Clean and metals free. Picked it up at the hydroponics store - very inexpensive.
Just to give you a feel for it - 15 mls in 90 gallons gave me about a 10ppm nitrate - I use this for new tanks which have cycled but have issues with cyano.

Fot jumpstarting tanks - ammonium-nitrate or ammonium chloride.

The best form for feeding depends on the denitrification system you use. I've used urea but now prefer ammonium nitrate. Its simpler and my phosphate removal system requires a steady source of nitrate to function effectively. Ammonium chloride would be another choice if you don't want the nitrate,

Upping the nitrate is easy and low risk. Corals will take it up but not as readily as ammonia. If your battling cyano and phospahtes are otherwise in control, adding nitrate is a neat trick.
Dosing Ammonium is reserved for idiots - and I won't help you do it. Its ok if I kill my tank - I want no part of killing yours.

I've been getting nice results, but ammonium dosing requires a very robust denitrification system and pulasile dosing at levels below what our test kits can measure. -

 

[Montrosereef]

Thanks guys! I feel much safer to use cal. Nitrate for planted tank. May try it.

 

[Chameleon]

lol...I was reading this thread and looking at the chemical shelf in my lab for nitrate salts out of curiosity and the first one I came across was silver nitrate. I bet that would do wonders for the tank :bigsmile:

 

[FlightRisk]

Montrose, I know this is a very old thread but I was just wondering what the outcome was. I have been dosing potassium nitrate only for the last three weeks to combat symptoms you have described in your tank. I have seen promising results so far but was wondering what your long term results were.

Thanks!

Nathan

 

[howaboutme]

Not Montrose..but I have dosed KNO3. I use stump remover from Lowes, called Spectracide. At the time I had cyano and had zero NO3. I dosed enough to raise my NO3 to between 2 to 5ppm and after a week and a half or two, have noticeable improvement. All cyano went away never to return. I now can keep my tank at 2 to 5ppm NO3 w/o dosing so I have stopped. The concept behind this is called the Redfield ratio.

Also..contrary to what was written a few years ago in this thread, you will never need to dose KNO3 enough to raise your K to a point that is worrisome. By the time your K rises to a bad point, your tank is already toast from high NO3.

By the way..nice to see Lake Worth...I grew up there..went to LWHS...

 

[FlightRisk]

Thanks for the reply. That was also my take on the increase of K by dosing Spectracide (which is what I am also using) My situation may slight differ in that I was dosing carbon and my NO3 and PO4 became out of balance in reference to the Redfield ratio. My corals were suffering widespread STN from the bases and after making some changes in my husbandry I think I narrowed it down to the lack of NO3. I've run GFO in the past with poor results, plus I really can't stand changing out the media... it's messy and expensive. My line of thinking was that if I can continue to dose vinegar and maintain NO3 with the Spectracide and then I can use the carbon dosing as a way to keep my PO4 consistently low. I've seen a lot of examples of people doing this temporarily but I have yet to run across an example of someone doing this long term. Before I resorted to dosing KN03 I tried everything from increasing feeding, adding fish, and even removing my DSB from the refugium to bring the nitrates to a measurable level. KNO3 dosing has been extremely successful in the short time that I have been doing it, and I think it may be my answer to the periodic bouts of STN I have experienced.

Lake Worth is where it's at! lol. We moved here after becoming tired of the South Florida way of doing things(i.e. rude neighbors and crazy drivers)... it seems like it's just far enough away from all the hubbub to actually find nice people We love it here!

 

[Keithcorals]

I've noticed a common trend more people seem to have problems with phosphate or nitrate but not both. I at one point did some experiments by adding phosphate to get rid of my nitrates they were very successful. It really seems the more I learn about this the more likely it seems that both are needed in equal amounts and if one is missing completely it's almost as bad as having too much of either one. I tried making a solution to raise nitrates with sodium nitrate but it didn't seem very strong. The next thing I'm trying is calcium nitrate

 

[FlightRisk]

I completely agree that you need both NO3 and PO4 to have a healthy tank. I feed a lot of frozen foods and never do things like vacuum my sand bed so it seems like I always have a PO4 issue present in some level or another. I do all the other normal stuff (at least I think it's normal) like weekly water changes and heavy skimming etc but the PO4 is always still there... I suppose it could be my rocks leaching or something like that but I will save that project for my next tank upgrade.


BTW Keith, I wasn't ragging on South Florida reefers

What in the world is that coral in your avatar, some kind of tort? Please tell me you have those kind of colors in your tank!