Low phosphates and nitrates

[cdstanley0123]

Hi all,

My tank is 9 weeks old. It’s a 20g RedSea nano cube.

I have 2 small clownfish (juveniles) a few Zoas, 3 mushrooms, some GSP and a torch (I know I shouldn’t have added the torch, but it was a rookie mistake when the tank was only 9 days old ) all the corals are doing well. I went through a month of the torch not being open all the time (expected ) but it seems to be doing well now and is open from when the light turn on, until lights down.

I’ve been through the diatoms stage and I have some green film algae over the rocks now. The fish are happy and growing by the week.

I don’t run the skimmer that came with the set up. So I’m only using a filter sock.

I can’t seem to increase my nitrates and phosphates. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Parameters as follows;

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Alk 8.2
Magnesium 1425
Calcium 450
Nitrate between 0-5.. a guess would be 2/3
Phosphate 0-0.015
ph8.1

I’m feeding fish flakes once a day (more than the fish can eat) and I’m dosing with Seachem Phyto.

Any suggestion on how to increase my nitrates and phosphates without dumping a load of chemicals into the tank would be amazing.

I’ve read online that frozen musics shrimp could be a good options?

Many thanks :)

 

[cdstanley0123]

Hi all,

My tank is 9 weeks old. It’s a 20g RedSea nano cube.

I have 2 small clownfish (juveniles) a few Zoas, 3 mushrooms, some GSP and a torch (I know I shouldn’t have added the torch, but it was a rookie mistake when the tank was only 9 days old ) all the corals are doing well. I went through a month of the torch not being open all the time (expected ) but it seems to be doing well now and is open from when the light turn on, until lights down.

I’ve been through the diatoms stage and I have some green film algae over the rocks now. The fish are happy and growing by the week.

I don’t run the skimmer that came with the set up. So I’m only using a filter sock.

I can’t seem to increase my nitrates and phosphates. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Parameters as follows;

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Alk 8.2
Magnesium 1425
Calcium 450
Nitrate between 0-5.. a guess would be 2/3
Phosphate 0-0.015
ph8.1

I’m feeding fish flakes once a day (more than the fish can eat) and I’m dosing with Seachem Phyto.

Any suggestion on how to increase my nitrates and phosphates without dumping a load of chemicals into the tank would be amazing.

I’ve read online that frozen musics shrimp could be a good options?

Many thanks :)

Oh I have a small hammer coral frag too ( it’s fully extended and seems happy)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Dosing N and P is easy and inexpensive if you do not want to feed more.

 

[Kooma]

If corals are happy, feed a little more and test weekly. It will rise and the corals will tell you when it’s too high or too low.

 

[The_Bro]

Po4 just let it be, nothing wrong with a .015
Nitrates - I love and use Brightwells NeoNitro. I know you mentioned "without chemicals"
My tank always seem to struggle with nitrates always being low. The dosing instructions on the bottle are spot on. I have used it for years successfully.