How to lower nitrates

[jprincl]

So my phosphates are at .03 but my nitrates are at 42. Any safe recommendations to lower them would be helpful thanks

 

[Miami Reef]

There are several ways to lower nitrate, but most NO3 reduction methods simultaneously reduce phosphate, and yours is already borderline.

How large is your tank?
Do you keep corals?

 

[jprincl]

There are several ways to lower nitrate, but most NO3 reduction methods simultaneously reduce phosphate, and yours is already borderline.

How large is your tank?
Do you keep corals?

265 gallons and yes it’s a very full mixed reef

 

[Fish Fan]

265 gallons and yes it’s a very full mixed reef

From your pic, your tank looks great. That seems to me like a large disconnect between your nitrates and your phosphates. What test kits are you using?

 

[Gribbles]

Cmonnnnnn your tank is drop dead gorgeous lol and you think we're gonna believe you don't know how to control your nitrates? :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[Miami Reef]

265 gallons and yes it’s a very full mixed reef

Beautiful! It’s so rare to find trachyphyllia and acanthophyllia lovers these days.

This is my collection in my 260 gallon tank.

 

[Miami Reef]

Now for the recommendations:

1) Realize that Nitrate at 40 ppm will not cause any harm to your corals.

2) If you decide to reduce nitrate, remember that almost any method will reduce phosphate as well. I would purchase sodium phosphate dibasic from amazon and have it in stock in case PO4 gets too low.

3) For nitrate reduction, there are 2 primary methods: Algae-based reduction (refugium/algae scrubber) and Bacterial-based reduction (carbon dosing/biopellets.)

4) Changing water can be semi-effective, but it’s not the most efficient. It’s good to work in conjunction with the other methods above.

 

[jprincl]

Beautiful! It’s so rare to find trachyphyllia and acanthophyllia lovers these days.

This is my collection in my 260 gallon tank.

Those meats are wild

 

[jprincl]

Cmonnnnnn your tank is drop dead gorgeous lol and you think we're gonna believe you don't know how to control your nitrates? :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

lol I’m new to r2r I had to make a post to be able to message. So this is what I went with.

 

[jprincl]

From your pic, your tank looks great. That seems to me like a large disconnect between your nitrates and your phosphates. What test kits are you using?

Hanna tester

 

[Fish Fan]

lol I’m new to r2r I had to make a post to be able to message. So this is what I went with.

Awesome. Good luck!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Beautiful! It’s so rare to find trachyphyllia and acanthophyllia lovers these days.

This is my collection in my 260 gallon tank.

Beautiful! Of course, I haven’t tried one for a very long time, but the one I had looked like the front right. It seemed to just hang in there, never growing much in my tank.

 

[Miami Reef]

Beautiful! Of course, I haven’t tried one for a very long time, but the one I had looked like the front right. It seemed to just hang in there, never growing much in my tank.

The one in the front right is healthy and relatively new. The flesh is very fluffy. It probably looks dry because of the texture appearance, but it’s definitely healthy.

The only times I lose them is when a fish eats it. 100% of the foxface fish I’ve tried eat them (tried about 5-6 over the years.)

Most of the tangs I’ve tried will pick at it, too. My recent lieutenant tang went rogue, so I gave it away.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The one in the front right is healthy and relatively new. The flesh is very fluffy. It probably looks dry because of the texture appearance, but it’s definitely healthy.

The only times I lose them is when a fish eats it. 100% of the foxface fish I’ve tried eat them (tried about 5-6 over the years.)

Most of the tangs I’ve tried will pick at it, too. My recent lieutenant tang went rogue, so I gave it away.

Ah, thanks. Fish could certainly have been part of my issue as I had several over the years that might possibly have picked at them. Foxface, yellow tang, hippo tang, Kole tang, etc. not sure which of those overlapped with the coral, aside from the yellow, but some did.

 

[Miami Reef]

Yep. I had a white tail bristle tooth tang, blue tang, and Hawaiian yellow tang pick at it.

The fish are very stealthy, and any death was subtle. It’s the small but constant nipping that compounds overtime.

 

[BryanM]

Maybe I missed it, but what is your nutrient export method(s)?

I'd be hesitant to make changes on this tank, as it is indeed gorgeous. Have you been monitoring nitrates for weeks/months, and know that they are increasing, or just staying steady? If steady, nope, no changes for me... Seems like trying to fix something that isn't broken.... If they are indeed rising that is a different story.

 

[Miami Reef]

@Randy Holmes-Farley

It’s very fluffy and happy. It’s just the lines that make it look dry lol.

Hopefully you can see the bouncy movement. :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It does look good!

 

[56longroof]

In my experience carbon dosing will lower nitrates with very little to no impact on phosphate levels.