I Run the Most thriving SPS Tank on 0 P and 0 N

[Daniel@R2R]

This has been an interesting discussion. Boiling it all down, would the following be good, practical insights for a newbie?

1. For these purposes, a newbie would be someone who is new to the hobby, doesn’t have a lot of technical background regarding water parameters, doesn’t have a lot of large corals to suck up N and P and likely doesn’t have the skill or time for advanced reef keeping methods or corrective actions.
2. There are apparently successful tanks with high N & P, those with zero or close to zero N and P, and plenty in between.
3. A good target for the newbie would be to seek low but detectable N & P for the following reasons:
   1. Zero N & P could lead to dinos.
   2. Zero detectable N & P could starve corals or at least limit growth.
   3. Having detectable N &P ensures that your nutrient export isn’t removing nutrients faster than your corals so that your corals always have at least as much as they need.
   4. Avoiding high N & P helps to avoid nuisance algae outbreaks like green hair algae (GHA).

Some practical advice on how to safely maintain low but detectable N & P while minimizing the possibility of nuisance algae outbreaks would seem to be a useful extension of the guidance for newbies. I didn’t see a lot of that above, so here are some initial thoughts as a starting point (based on my own experiences and research over the years):

1. Use algae turf scrubbers (ATS) or macro algae like Chaeto in refugiums, rather than media like GFO, since media may absorb nutrients too quickly, thus outcompeting corals for nutrients.
   1. I’ve tried lots of scrubbers and refugium setups. I personally find the relatively new RAIN scrubbers from Santa Monica Filtration to be the easiest and most effective. I found lighted Chaeto refugiums can be hard to establish in new tanks and can make sump maintenance a pain while potentially growing GHA along with the Chaeto if not well maintained.
2. If N & P are undetectable, the best ways to obtain slightly higher nutrient levels would be as follows:
   1. Decrease or eliminate the use of media like GFO.
   2. Decrease light timing for ATS/refugium.
   3. Increase feeding.
   4. (As a last resort) Dose NeoPhos and/or NeoNitro, but in small amounts throughout the day rather than large amounts periodically. An automated doser would be ideal.
3. Begin growing coralline algae immediately and as quickly as possible to outcompete nuisance algae for space on the rocks.
   1. Use Coralline In A Bottle to seed the tank faster.
   2. Use mostly actinic/blue spectrum lighting until coralline is established since that’s better for coralline while nuisance algae prefers white and red spectrums.
   3. Keep pH close to 8.3. A CO2 scrubber may be needed for some setups.
   4. Keep temp 78-82.
4. Add a clean-up crew (CUC) to eat detritus and algae. My favorites:
   1. Snails (especially those that can right themselves or breed).
   2. Hermits (but only red-leg and blue leg, and not too many).
   3. Emerald crabs.
   4. Shrimp (cleaner or fire).
   5. Bristleworms, copepods and amphipods.
5. Eliminate detritus build-up. Options include:
   1. Mechanical filtration like sponge, filter socks or filter rollers. My new favorite by a mile is the ClariSea roller.
   2. Blow off rocks during water changes. If you have a filter roller, you could also do without a water change.
   3. Periodically clean pipes & sump.
   4. Use good circulation to avoid dead spots.
   5. Dr. Tim’s Waste Away.
6. If you still get GHA or other nuisance algae, some of the best steps are as follows:
   1. First, remove as much as possible from the tank. Removing the rock from the tank and scrubbing in tank water during a water change is ideal, but you’ll have to scrub in place inside the tank while siphoning away the algae during water change if aquascaping or corals don’t allow removing the rocks.
   2. Second, use a treatment based on bacteria (not miracle chemicals) to fight back the remaining algae. Vibrant Liquid Aquarium Cleaner for Reef Tanks and Dr. Tim’s Recipe (includes several days of Refresh & Waste Away) are apparently good options, though newbies should research carefully before trying any treatment.
   3. Keep N & P low and the red/white spectrum lighting low until coralline thrives instead of nuisance algae.
   4. A UV sterilizer could be helpful to kill floating algae spores, though it probably isn’t necessary in the average size newbie tank if everything else above is in check.

Any corrections or updates that might help a newbie?

This really is an excellent post in a really great discussion!

 

[sixty_reefer]

This really is an excellent post in a really great discussion!

That was a remarkable post by @Terrp

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have very little to none myself and no issues

 

[sixty_reefer]

I have very little to none myself and no issues

This thread is quite old but nothing changed since, is much wider known today that the principle is right but it will take some time on zero nutrients for issues to arise as it’s not known for sure how long will take for bacteria to start to perish on zero nutrients, could be days, weeks or months. little is a good thing to have, none may be just walking the line.

 

[MnFish1]

That was a remarkable post by @Terrp

One other suggestion for a Newbie - would be a large wallet