Low Nitrates and Alk but high phosphates

cconnolly · Jan 2, 2022

I have a 32 gallon BioCube that is about 14 months old and been doing well. I typically change about 3 gallons of water each week, dose 10mL of All for Reef daily, 8 mL of Phyto and feed Reef Frenzy daily. I change a filter floss pad daily and run a pack of chemipure elite that I change every 60 days. I have a small fuge with chaeto that has very slow growth.

About a month ago I noticed my coral growth was slowing down. So I started feeding Red Sea AB+ (4mL twice a week). My fuzzy green mushrooms are still looking unhappy and I’m getting some signs of GHA. Last night I ran a series of tests and found my levels were off from where I was expecting. All tests completed with Hanna Checkers. I’m going to have my LFS check my water today to double check my numbers.

Nitrate - .06
Phosphate - .13
Alk - 2.1
Calc - 420

Wanted to get some thoughts before I start adjusting things but I’m assuming I need to raise the nitrate and alk while bringing down the phosphate. Just not sure the best way to do so. I also realize I don’t have my pH listed and that’s because I don’t have a tester for that. I’m going to remedy that now as without knowing that I think I might throw things even more out of whack.

KrisReef · Jan 2, 2022

Time out. Alk that low is a big red flag, but it makes me wonder what tests kits you are using to get these results?

Alk is crazy low but folk always say to raise it back towards 7-8 slowly, less than a degree/day or slower? My Brain isn't reliable atm.

Don't focus on the phosphates or calc or nitrate because the water changes you will be doing for dkh will bring those towards the numbers provided by your salt mix. Presuming RODI, not tap water and a good salt that publishes their dKh and other params on the crystal box? Good Luck!

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 2, 2022

2.1 dKh or 2.1 meq/l?

cconnolly · Jan 2, 2022

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
2.1 dKh or 2.1 meq/l?

I tested it 3 times using the Hanna HI772 tester that says it’s using DKH.

Just got back from the LFS who tested it and they are saying 9.4. I’m assuming something is off my Hanna tester or the reagents.

They reported my Ph as 8.2 with nitrates at 0 and phosphates at 0.1.

HeyLookItsCaps · Jan 2, 2022

Well, if the LFS is to be trusted those are far better than what you’re getting at home!

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 2, 2022

cconnolly said:
I tested it 3 times using the Hanna HI772 tester that says it’s using DKH.

Just got back from the LFS who tested it and they are saying 9.4. I’m assuming something is off my Hanna tester or the reagents.

They reported my Ph as 8.2 with nitrates at 0 and phosphates at 0.1.

I do not think the Hanna is accurate in this instance.

cconnolly · Jan 2, 2022

So based on the assumption that Alk is ok from the lfs testing I’m going to leave that alone.

Since my nitrates are basically at zero I know I need to get those back up to 6-8 range to account for potential margin of error in the Hanna checker to ensure I’m not still at zero. Is it best to not do anything about phosphate and just focus on raising the nitrates first to see if they can achieve a healthy balance again?

As for raising the nitrates should I dose something commercial like NeoNitro or is there a more generic additive I can use or just feed more? I don’t want to create a new problem trying to solve this one.

Jen1978 · Jan 2, 2022

cconnolly said:
So based on the assumption that Alk is ok from the lfs testing I’m going to leave that alone.

Since my nitrates are basically at zero I know I need to get those back up to 6-8 range to account for potential margin of error in the Hanna checker to ensure I’m not still at zero. Is it best to not do anything about phosphate and just focus on raising the nitrates first to see if they can achieve a healthy balance again?

As for raising the nitrates should I dose something commercial like NeoNitro or is there a more generic additive I can use or just feed more? I don’t want to create a new problem trying to solve this one.

I have used NeoNitro and it worked like a charm. I can't remember the dosage I used. I think it was maybe 1/3 of the suggested. The stuff is really potent. I really only had to dose one or two days and I never had an issue since.

cconnolly · Jan 2, 2022

Jen1978 said:
I have used NeoNitro and it worked like a charm. I can't remember the dosage I used. I think it was maybe 1/3 of the suggested. The stuff is really potent. I really only had to dose one or two days and I never had an issue since.

That’s really good to hear. I was worried I was going to have to do this regularly

KrisReef · Jan 3, 2022

cconnolly said:
That’s really good to hear. I was worried I was going to have to do this regularly

Let us know how this turns out. Keeping balance is a challenge at times. I was wondering if perhaps your food additives were low in nitrate relative to phosphate? I think I would try the additive and see if you get back to balance with one or two treatments. GL

cconnolly · Jan 3, 2022

KrisReef said:
Let us know how this turns out. Keeping balance is a challenge at times. I was wondering if perhaps your food additives were low in nitrate relative to phosphate? I think I would try the additive and see if you get back to balance with one or two treatments. GL

Will do for sure. Ordered some NeoNitro that should be here on Wednesday.

I just generally feed with ReefFrenzy and the twice weekly AB+. I was about to start adding in some ROE and Oysterfeast from Reef Nutrition for some more variety. I also sprinkle a couple of pellets in each feeding so I didn’t think I was under feeding.

I also tested my second tank which I’m still starting up and doesn’t even have fish in it yet but has corals and inverts that all look happy. It also has zero nitrates but the phosphate is only .03 so clearly I’m not good at keeping nitrates in my tanks.

cconnolly · Jan 5, 2022

So my NeoNitro still hasn’t arrived due to shipping issues with unexpected snow here.

I have been feeding like crazy but still zero nitrates. The phosphates have gone done a little. That said the corals are looking much happier. Have a new head on my candy cane and the devils hand shed a layer. I did spot a couple bubble algae spots so I’ll have to clean those out.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 6, 2022

FWIW, I prefer food grade sodium nitrate (or calcium nitrate if you can find it) from Amazon and other outlets. It's cheaper and comes with a purity assurance lacking in the Brightwell product.

As to the phosphate, I'd monitor to make sure it doesn't get too low as you dose nitrate, which may need to be dosed every day.

cconnolly · Jan 6, 2022

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
FWIW, I prefer food grade sodium nitrate (or calcium nitrate if you can find it) from Amazon and other outlets

My wife is a forensic chemist and has lots of other lab scientist friends. I’m sure one of them knows where to get those things easily around me.

Do I need to watch for anything else if I end up switching to use those instead or should it be the same steps?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 6, 2022

cconnolly said:
My wife is a forensic chemist and has lots of other lab scientist friends. I’m sure one of them knows where to get those things easily around me.

Do I need to watch for anything else if I end up switching to use those instead or should it be the same steps?

Great! Nothing else to watch for, other than noting that nitrate dosing will slowly boost alkalinity.

cconnolly · Jan 7, 2022

Well the NeoNitro finally arrived and I’ve had trouble finding the non branded options so I went ahead and dosed.

Based on the formula the dose for my tank to get to normal nitrate levels seemed insanely high. So I dosed 5ML and I’ll test tomorrow to see if that is enough to get me off zero then go from there

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 8, 2022

cconnolly said:
Well the NeoNitro finally arrived and I’ve had trouble finding the non branded options so I went ahead and dosed.

Based on the formula the dose for my tank to get to normal nitrate levels seemed insanely high. So I dosed 5ML and I’ll test tomorrow to see if that is enough to get me off zero then go from there

It is a very dilute product, hence the cost concern.

cconnolly · Jan 9, 2022

And we finally have nitrates showing up. My Hanna Checker maxes at 5 and it’s saying 5. So 3 days of 5ML of the NeoNitro has worked!

Phosphates are slightly down as well.