Keeping Parameters In Check

[GoPolar]

Hey all,
Thanks for the add! I’m fairly new to reefing and salt water. I have had my tank up for about a year now. Struggling with some stuff and learning a lot! Fresh water was a breeze compared to this. Hahahaha.

Picture of my tank for fun.

Currently struggling with keeping phosphates down without bottoming nitrates. The five kinda helps but keeps PO4 at a constant .14 and NO3 at 2.2 and dropping weekly.

I keep telling myself to let it find balance and go from there but it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. Hahahaha

I have tried dosing Phosphate-E by brightwell and it has thrown off other stuff since last week. Some corals are not impressed now. Ahahaha

I have also attached my last 2 test values.

Any input is appreciated! Cheers!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family! :D

 

[edsbeaker]

Hello and Welcome!

Your calcium and alkalinity seem high, and if you are not dosing alkalinity, or calcium I’d be suspicious of those results. What test kits are you using to test your parameters ? Some test kits are just known to be inaccurate, so before giving any advice regarding your phosphate, I think it’s important to find out if your test kits are reliable.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey all,
Thanks for the add! I’m fairly new to reefing and salt water. I have had my tank up for about a year now. Struggling with some stuff and learning a lot! Fresh water was a breeze compared to this. Hahahaha.

Picture of my tank for fun.

Currently struggling with keeping phosphates down without bottoming nitrates. The five kinda helps but keeps PO4 at a constant .14 and NO3 at 2.2 and dropping weekly.

I keep telling myself to let it find balance and go from there but it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster. Hahahaha

I have tried dosing Phosphate-E by brightwell and it has thrown off other stuff since last week. Some corals are not impressed now. Ahahaha

I have also attached my last 2 test values.

Any input is appreciated! Cheers!

As your alk and CA are , phosphates are in safe high range. You can do 3-4 gallon a day water changes for next 14 days which should lower all 3 mentioned.
Also portion your foods and even lightly rinse frozen foods before feeding to tank.
This is always a level that creates mystery yet gets the blame when there is algae or other tank issues and phosphate is not limited to but is generally caused by overfeeding, decay and use of tap water and even expired RO cartridges at time. Phosphate is not toxic and it won’t directly harm anything within the tank but will keep algae very happy.
At times , we consider Phosphates above .1 as a high level and begin to combat it when is essence the zooxanthellae within coral are stimulated by phosphate which provides energy for their tissue growth. However if po4 levels are high for an extended period, the zooxanthellae can overpopulate and suddenly you see coral turning brown.
A general rule for me is , if I have higher phosphate but dont have algae, keep an eye on it but its likely not causing problems. I do run alternately chemiPure blue and Elite for Phos control.

 

[zheka757]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Waters]

Welcome :) :) !!

 

[1112-425XL]

 

[cdemoss01]

Welcome to reef2reef!

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

Welcome to R2R! Don't be a stranger, dive right in!

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here! I think your phosphates are fine, I’d be working on raising your nitrate to 10-15.

 

[Brisk]

Welcome!

 

[fishface NJ]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Peace River]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!!

 

[FrugalReeferJon]

 

[B&CinB.C.]

Hi . Welcome to Reef 2 Reef

 

[ShakeyGizzard]

Welcome to Reef2Reef

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R and the salty world. Good advice given. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people here who will support and advise you when needed.

 

[CoralB]

Welcome !! :cool:

 

[GoPolar]

Hello and Welcome!

Your calcium and alkalinity seem high, and if you are not dosing alkalinity, or calcium I’d be suspicious of those results. What test kits are you using to test your parameters ? Some test kits are just known to be inaccurate, so before giving any advice regarding your phosphate, I think it’s important to find out if your test kits are reliable.

Using all Hanna checkers for testing. Since this post, I stopped dosing nopox which was throwing my mag and all off. I have since switched to gfo to manage po4 and a co2 scrubber on my skimmer. Since then, all my parameters have been balanced and stable!

Welcome, glad you are here! I think your phosphates are fine, I’d be working on raising your nitrate to 10-15.

Thanks! Since ditching nopox and using gfo instead, things have been balanced and stable. Not sure why, but my tank hated nopox. Hahahaha

 

[Ocean_Queenie]

Hello & Welcome to R2R!