Is this normal?

[TangsRLife]

ive been causally reefong and just lately I've been really getting in depth and in sync with my tank. I'm not Leung track of all my data results and one thing that's confusing me is why my nitrites and nitrates are always at 0 I always hear people having issues with nitrate and removing it with water changes but I don't have any. I have plenty of live rock and have 3 tangs 2 clowns, a damsel and a Blenny. My sand bed is only 1 in deep so I don't think that my tank (125 btw) is converting the nitrate to nitrogen thus leaving my tank. My ammonia reads 0 even though I feed my fish a little more than what I should. I use a Red Sea test kit and its brand new. Can anyone help explain what's going on? Thanks

 

[cromag27]

You don't want detectable nitrites or ammonia, past the cycle. if your tank was properly cycled and you have zero no3, then it's a good thing. Believe it or not, some people struggle to keep no3 or po4.

 

[Anthony Wood]

What test kit are you using for nitrates? Is there a refugium with macro algae. It could be just that your flow is keep detritus from building up which is keeping your nitrates at zero, or in general that your system is just removing detritus so efficiently it's out of the system before nitrates are produced. Until I upgraded to my 220g and plumbed in other tanks into the system I had this zero nitrate problem with the previous 3 tanks and they were also packed with tangs amount other fish. Could never figure it out myself. Out of curiosity what is you phosphates at?

 

[TangsRLife]

I have not yet purchased a phosphate test kit. I don't have any macro algae growing in my sump. I was thinking about adding some but if my nitrates and nitrites are reading 0 I don't think I'll need it. Btw what's a good phosphate test kit brand? All I have near me is a lousy petco and they don't carry much so I order online.

 

[Anthony Wood]

Don't get macro if your already at zero nitrates. Zero nitrites is good you shouldn't have any ever after the tank is cycled. If you didn't already know you want to have a little detectable nitrates and phosphates if you have corals. Your corals will eventually turn a light pastel color without any.

Your going to have yourself a debate between people with the test kit brand question lol. Salifert, Red Sea are a couple off the top of my head. Just go on BRS and look at all the test kit reviews and decide yourself which to get. That's the best thing you can do. That being said out of pure personal preference, I use salifert test kits for everything except phosphates because they are cheap and proven reliable.

For phosphates since you are dealing with such small number sometimes, having a B.S. in chemistry doing all the types of tests countless times. I don't trust the human eye to be able to detect the minute color shade differences of titration tests for phosphates. All the other tests a titration test gets me a number close enough that I deal with not having an almost exact number is fine by me. For that reason I take the human eye element out of the process and let a diode and light detector tell shade differences for me. So I use the Hanna Checker ULR phosphorous unit.

Don't get me wrong the other well known reliable brands are good and not knocking them down its just the Hanna checker is my preference for reasons stated above. Why you get bad reviews on this specific Hanna checker comes from human error not the checker itself because it is easy to mess up if not being maticulous in every step.

 

[sa6hir]

Don't get macro if your already at zero nitrates. Zero nitrites is good you shouldn't have any ever after the tank is cycled. If you didn't already know you want to have a little detectable nitrates and phosphates if you have corals. Your corals will eventually turn a light pastel color without any.

Your going to have yourself a debate between people with the test kit brand question lol. Salifert, Red Sea are a couple off the top of my head. Just go on BRS and look at all the test kit reviews and decide yourself which to get. That's the best thing you can do. That being said out of pure personal preference, I use salifert test kits for everything except phosphates because they are cheap and proven reliable.

For phosphates since you are dealing with such small number sometimes, having a B.S. in chemistry doing all the types of tests countless times. I don't trust the human eye to be able to detect the minute color shade differences of titration tests for phosphates. All the other tests a titration test gets me a number close enough that I deal with not having an almost exact number is fine by me. For that reason I take the human eye element out of the process and let a diode and light detector tell shade differences for me. So I use the Hanna Checker ULR phosphorous unit.

Don't get me wrong the other well known reliable brands are good and not knocking them down its just the Hanna checker is my preference for reasons stated above. Why you get bad reviews on this specific Hanna checker comes from human error not the checker itself because it is easy to mess up if not being maticulous in every step.

+1

 

[cromag27]

For a fowlr I'd use api. I personally use salifert and hanna checkers for my reefs.

 

[TangsRLife]

What's a good way to "boost" nitrates? More feeding?

 

[sa6hir]

Yes feeding more will help! Try feeding more often with mixture of different foods.

FROM GOOGLE

Ammonia is the most significant dissolved waste in an aquarium. It is produced by fish wastes, rotting leftover food, and decomposing plant matter. The bacteria in your biofilter convert ammonia first into nitrite and then into nitrate. While ammonia and nitrite are highly toxic to fish, nitrate is much less so.

 

[Anthony Wood]

For a fowlr I'd use api. I personally use salifert and hanna checkers for my reefs.

What he said! Is your tank fish only with live rock (FOWLR)? If so leave the nitrates and phosphates right at zero. You are not going to change a thing not having them at zero. The only thing you'll do by trying to have detectable nitrates is create a huge headache for yourself. The reason for that being once you have them there is no turning around. You'll always be battling trying to keep them from getting too high. So save yourself the head ache and just keep doing what you are doing and enjoy the zero readings.

Do you have corals?

 

[Anthony Wood]

FROM GOOGLE

My brain is Google! Hahahaha just messing with you.

 

[TangsRLife]

Yes I have corals. I have a mixed reef. A few anemones. I just added two more tangs tues from quarantine to the display (yellow eye kole and lieutenant tang). I usually feed this now. A 2in x 5 in piece of seaweed, 1 frozen shrimp cube, and some reef chilly mixed with the shrimp. I'm still adjusting because of the tangs but I'll keep doing this and slowly move up

 

[cromag27]

You can dose nitrates but I'd just start feeding g a little more.

 

[Anthony Wood]

Yes I have corals. I have a mixed reef. A few anemones. I just added two more tangs tues from quarantine to the display (yellow eye kole and lieutenant tang). I usually feed this now. A 2in x 5 in piece of seaweed, 1 frozen shrimp cube, and some reef chilly mixed with the shrimp. I'm still adjusting because of the tangs but I'll keep doing this and slowly move up

As said feed a little more, space out your WC a reasonable amount of time farther apart or dose. But the first two should do it.

 

[saltyhog]

Keep an eye on it. I had zero nitrates for almost the first year and then they slowly rose to the point I had to carbon dose to keep them where I wanted them.