If not GHA, what could be causing my 0 N03 and Phos?

[Rennurdoar]

So just wanted to give a quick update again, been a couple of days (You can see most updates in my build thread). Still having the 0 Nitrate and 0 Phos, so still trying to get that up. Not sure why it's 0 now I run no sump, but a 400gph cannister filter with Seachem matrix and redsea reef spec carbon in the hang on from the cannister, and an Octo Classic 2000-HOB skimmer. Also have a UV filter on 24/7.

It's been about 5/6 days since I topped off the copepods. And started dosing Oceanmagik and ProBio from @AlgaeBarn, since I had ran out for a few weeks. That, plus the 10 Astrea snails are amazing. Our water clarity has cleared back up, the GHA has definitely subsided with just a little left. Do you all think this little bit of GHA would be the cause of our 0 No3 and Phos? If not GHA, what do you think it could be?

Here's our Parameters from this evening: (I use Redsea coral pro, black bucket)

Alk: 11
Cal: 440
Mag: 1440
Sal: 1.0264 (tropic marin hydrometer)
PH: 8.06
Temp: 78.1
No3: 0
Phos: 0

Here are some images from this from 6 days ago, and tonight so you can see the difference as well!

 

[TokenReefer]

You've got a bunch of corals in there too aside from the algae; they all reduce as well as skimming and water changes if you do those. Hard to even say without knowing how much is fed tbh. I suspect some people (not you specifically) barely feed because they're scared of algae etc (I was for a period) so that's a piece I'm curious about

Tank looks good. What's your worry about the numbers? Dinos? Idk that that's automatic... Theres also test kit precision... I say just feed heavier and make sure corals get hit

 

[Rennurdoar]

You've got a bunch of corals in there too aside from the algae; they all reduce as well as skimming and water changes if you do those. Hard to even say without knowing how much is fed tbh. I suspect some people (not you specifically) barely feed because they're scared of algae etc (I was for a period) so that's a piece I'm curious about

Tank looks good. What's your worry about the numbers? Dinos? Idk that that's automatic... Theres also test kit precision... I say just feed heavier and make sure corals get hit

Thanks, yeah I'm not sure if I over feed or underfeed. I feed frozen food two or three times a day. About a cube total a day for the fish. Sometimes supplement pellet as well, but only every few days.

I dose 1/2 tsp benepets Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Then dose 30ml Pns yellow sno on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

I just made my own frozen food slurry also this week. I'll keep monitoring of course, and hope they come back up to a measurable level. Fingers crossed haha

 

[hsosa]

you can try to under skim dry and not pulll some much . some people turn off their skimmer altogether . u can also try to lower ur photo period a little for the GHA

 

[ptrick21186]

With the amount of algae in your tank you don't have 0 Nitrates or Phosphates. Most likely the nutrients are locked up in the biomass as opposed to being in the water column. That's why your test kits aren't picking them up. Once the algae dies off it will release those nutrients back into the water column where they will be measurable.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So just wanted to give a quick update again, been a couple of days (You can see most updates in my build thread). Still having the 0 Nitrate and 0 Phos, so still trying to get that up. Not sure why it's 0 now I run no sump, but a 400gph cannister filter with Seachem matrix and redsea reef spec carbon in the hang on from the cannister, and an Octo Classic 2000-HOB skimmer. Also have a UV filter on 24/7.

It's been about 5/6 days since I topped off the copepods. And started dosing Oceanmagik and ProBio from @AlgaeBarn, since I had ran out for a few weeks. That, plus the 10 Astrea snails are amazing. Our water clarity has cleared back up, the GHA has definitely subsided with just a little left. Do you all think this little bit of GHA would be the cause of our 0 No3 and Phos? If not GHA, what do you think it could be?

Here's our Parameters from this evening: (I use Redsea coral pro, black bucket)

Alk: 11
Cal: 440
Mag: 1440
Sal: 1.0264 (tropic marin hydrometer)
PH: 8.06
Temp: 78.1
No3: 0
Phos: 0

Here are some images from this from 6 days ago, and tonight so you can see the difference as well!

Is this tank at or near a window?
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?

GHA is not the cause of nitrate or Phos but feed off of them with bright light and organics being the culprit for growth.
Reduce white light intensity and number of hours of white lighting and add some snails such as :
Astrea- which I see you have
cerith
turbo grazer
trochus

A Pencil urchin

8-10 Caribbean blue leg hermits

 

[Rennurdoar]

you can try to under skim dry and not pulll some much . some people turn off their skimmer altogether . u can also try to lower ur photo period a little for the GHA

I have my skimmer currently set where it just pulls up 'dry skim'. It's a little wet still, but not much. I clean it every 3 days currently. Maybe I am just skimming too much, it is an oversized skimmer for my setup.

With the amount of algae in your tank you don't have 0 Nitrates or Phosphates. Most likely the nutrients are locked up in the biomass as opposed to being in the water column. That's why your test kits aren't picking them up. Once the algae dies off it will release those nutrients back into the water column where they will be measurable.

The amount of GHA has dramatically decreased over the last week. I tried to show the 'Before and After' Pictures so everyone could see how much has been removed already. There's 90% less now. It had never gotten to bad, or I don't think, none of the GHA was longer than a half inch, most a 1/4 inch and some overachiever's that were about 1.5 inch. But almost all the GHA is gone now, so I'm just wondering what else could cause the 0/0. I'd have thought I might see them slowly climbing back up as the GHA went away, but they haven't moved.

Is this tank at or near a window?
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?

GHA is not the cause of nitrate or Phos but feed off of them with bright light and organics being the culprit for growth.
Reduce white light intensity and number of hours of white lighting and add some snails such as :
Astrea- which I see you have
cerith
turbo grazer
trochus

A Pencil urchin

8-10 Caribbean blue leg hermits

Tank is infront of a window, with blackout curtains. But it's only a window to out front room. Which has windows that are UV tinted also. Yup, using RODI water only. I do a 5 gallon WC every Saturday to help add trace elements back (probably not needed but I do it anyway for stability)

I understand the GHA feeds on the No3 and Phos just wondering what could still be using it after I have removed maybe 90%.

CUC is currently: 5 trochus snails, 10 astrea snails, 10 cerith, 1 nassarius, 10 red/blue leg hermits, 1 cleaner shrimp, COPEPODS! lol

Also, I have my white lighting set at 15 only on my prime 16hds. So hardly any whites lol.

Thank you all for the replies also. Hopefully it'll just be one or two days now and I'll see them rising again. I was just wondering if there was anything else other than GHA that could be the cause. I was always told to get rid of the Canister filter because my nitrates would be sky high, never had them over 20 and now they're 0 lol

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have my skimmer currently set where it just pulls up 'dry skim'. It's a little wet still, but not much. I clean it every 3 days currently. Maybe I am just skimming too much, it is an oversized skimmer for my setup.



The amount of GHA has dramatically decreased over the last week. I tried to show the 'Before and After' Pictures so everyone could see how much has been removed already. There's 90% less now. It had never gotten to bad, or I don't think, none of the GHA was longer than a half inch, most a 1/4 inch and some overachiever's that were about 1.5 inch. But almost all the GHA is gone now, so I'm just wondering what else could cause the 0/0. I'd have thought I might see them slowly climbing back up as the GHA went away, but they haven't moved.



Tank is infront of a window, with blackout curtains. But it's only a window to out front room. Which has windows that are UV tinted also. Yup, using RODI water only. I do a 5 gallon WC every Saturday to help add trace elements back (probably not needed but I do it anyway for stability)

I understand the GHA feeds on the No3 and Phos just wondering what could still be using it after I have removed maybe 90%.

CUC is currently: 5 trochus snails, 10 astrea snails, 10 cerith, 1 nassarius, 10 red/blue leg hermits, 1 cleaner shrimp, COPEPODS! lol

Also, I have my white lighting set at 15 only on my prime 16hds. So hardly any whites lol.

Thank you all for the replies also. Hopefully it'll just be one or two days now and I'll see them rising again. I was just wondering if there was anything else other than GHA that could be the cause. I was always told to get rid of the Canister filter because my nitrates would be sky high, never had them over 20 and now they're 0 lol

One thing to try as UV is powerful and will penetrate shades, blinds etc is to place black construction paper on the side that faces the window for 10-14 days and you should see drastic reduction alone. It is very possible that your algae is using ammonia as a fuel source for growth and if you are getting false readings , you are seeing zero due to algae using the no3 and ammonia faster than the tests can detect.
What test kits are you using?
Take a water sample to a trusted LFS that does NOT use Api anything and have them test and see what results they come up with and to compare with yours. You will then know if you are getting false readings or not

 

[Rennurdoar]

One thing to try as UV is powerful and will penetrate shades, blinds etc is to place black construction paper on the side that faces the window for 10-14 days and you should see drastic reduction alone. It is very possible that your algae is using ammonia as a fuel source for growth and if you are getting false readings , you are seeing zero due to algae using the no3 and ammonia faster than the tests can detect.
What test kits are you using?
Take a water sample to a trusted LFS that does NOT use Api anything and have them test and see what results they come up with and to compare with yours. You will then know if you are getting false readings or not

Currently testing with Redsea and Salifert. Wanting to get a couple Hanna checkers and the Trident to go with my A3. So, if there was no GHA what could be causing 0/0. I've reduced the GHA 90% already. The rest is 1/8 to maybe a 1/4 inch in length in a small few areas now. I guess I was just expecting to see them rise as the GHA went away over the last week, maybe it just takes longer than I am thinking to come back up?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Currently testing with Redsea and Salifert. Wanting to get a couple Hanna checkers and the Trident to go with my A3. So, if there was no GHA what could be causing 0/0. I've reduced the GHA 90% already. The rest is 1/8 to maybe a 1/4 inch in length in a small few areas now. I guess I was just expecting to see them rise as the GHA went away over the last week, maybe it just takes longer than I am thinking to come back up?

It will be slow and it is possible your live rock also absorbing

 

[Rennurdoar]

It will be slow and it is possible your live rock also absorbing

Perfect, I will keep on monitoring and hopefully see a rise soon. Trying not to do too much and just let nature do its thing lol. I'm under the thinking lines that as long as you have a good CUC crew, and a great microfauna population our tanks will pretty much clean themselves. Only thing I've done in the last week was a light scrubbing with a soft toothbrush 3 days ago to clean off my rocks a little. Oh, and I'll run over the glass about once a week with the flipper.

I was only worried about the 0/0 because one of my torches is a little pale. Not sure if it's still pale because of the SVE (stray voltage event) I had 6 weeks ago... 30v going into the water from a faulty wavemaker... or if it's still pale due to the 0/0. Have one torch that hasn't fully extended for about 10 days but has been extending more and more over the last couple of days. So just wanted to get a better understanding on where my N03 and Phos could be getting used at if it wasn't from the GHA. I didn't think I'd ever have a problem with 0 nitrates on a cannister filter with all the horror stories I've heard lol

Thanks for the great replies!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Perfect, I will keep on monitoring and hopefully see a rise soon. Trying not to do too much and just let nature do its thing lol. I'm under the thinking lines that as long as you have a good CUC crew, and a great microfauna population our tanks will pretty much clean themselves. Only thing I've done in the last week was a light scrubbing with a soft toothbrush 3 days ago to clean off my rocks a little. Oh, and I'll run over the glass about once a week with the flipper.

I was only worried about the 0/0 because one of my torches is a little pale. Not sure if it's still pale because of the SVE (stray voltage event) I had 6 weeks ago... 30v going into the water from a faulty wavemaker... or if it's still pale due to the 0/0. Have one torch that hasn't fully extended for about 10 days but has been extending more and more over the last couple of days. So just wanted to get a better understanding on where my N03 and Phos could be getting used at if it wasn't from the GHA. I didn't think I'd ever have a problem with 0 nitrates on a cannister filter with all the horror stories I've heard lol

Thanks for the great replies!

You can feed the coral Reef roids . Reef Roids well known to increase Po4. If you still see zero - your test kits may be the issue.