Troylee
all about the diy!!!!!
How exactly did you measure po4 at 1.3? My Hannah just flashes at 200 which is .63. Mine is currently at .54 which is super high but I haven’t had any problems with my corals
Nitrae/Phosphate Ratio - Super high Phosphate, and bottoming out Nitrate.
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SauceyReef
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I am frustrated, but really trying to tackle this with strategy and patience. I have not done anything to the tank besides water changes and removing Rods Food. I am about to do a big water change today, and wait for the NeoNitro. I could potentially use the PhosGuard as well as it comes in the mail today, or return it and wait for the NeoNitro.
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SauceyReef
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What do you mean? I am just taking the exact reading off the Hannah after the test.
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SauceyReef
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Curious if anyone knows what chaeto primarily removes, or is it a near equal split of Nitrate/Po4
What is wrong with the tank the way (numbers) it’s running currently?
Troylee
all about the diy!!!!!
Which tester do you have? There’s a couple different po4 checkers.
11f150
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whats the big water change for?
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SauceyReef
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My nitrate is bottomed out, and my Phosphate is 1.3ppm
The Hanna 713 checker which has a range of 0.00 to 2.50 ppm
I was planning on getting a turkey baster and basting all the rocks to clean off detritus. I wanted to do the big water change after this.
nothing appears adversely effected at this point? I’d be searching for the reason this happened before doing anything. I see you changed feeding with no change. What water source are you using? Rodi? Do you make it? Do you know the tds?
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LIke all organisms, it uses a lot more N than P (more nitrate than phosphate).
sixty_reefer
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It seems that you have a source of organic carbon in the system causing an imbalance on your nutrients.
you need to check your food chemical analysis and your Refugium (look for any algae going translucent) plus any other additives you may be adding as coral food.
Either way in the presence of an unknown source of organic carbon adding nitrates is often a good starting point to avoid coral coral starvation and other issues often connected to depleted nitrates (not depleted nutrients) it’s unfortunate that you already have decided on neonitro as it may not be as effective as sodium or calcium nitrate due to unknown ingredients, there is many that suspect that it may contain organic and inorganic forms of nitrogen that can be used by algae, coral and other photosynthetic organisms before they can become nitrates. if you were looking for something of the shelf I would have looked at ESV nitrate as at list it tells you the ingredients (calcium nitrate)
sixty_reefer
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If it’s thriving as many said it will remove more nitrates in comparison to phosphates if it’s melting (dying) it will remove more nitrates vs phosphates due to the carbohydrates being released into the water column that will work as a source of organic carbon reduction nitrates via carbon dosing the bacteria.
DanyL
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While some reefers do keep their phosphates high, the "high" they're referring to is usually at the range of 0.2-0.4 which indeed something you can live with, 1.35 on the other hand is a lot higher than what usually is acceptable and I wouldn't recommend staying at such high levels regardless of what others may say about chasing numbers, because it is not entirely the case here.
That being said, I wouldn't panic either.
You don't want to make drastic changes but instead to go slow, with a measured strategy to not shock the inhabitants in your tank.
As for a conservative strategy, since you'll get the GFO first I would put a very small, tiny amount of it and watch closely as PO4 start to go down. Once you receive your nitrate supplement I would switch to using it instead, that is until it is no longer effective.
I suggest not decreasing more than 0.1ppm per day, and I would let it settle for a couple of days between the next drop.
Another important thing to note here - everything that goes in the tank stays there unless you take it out.
Nutrients which are consumed by bacteria would either be eaten by larger organisms or be pulled out of the water column as organic matter by the skimmer or when you change the water.
Nutrients which are used by your chaeto will get physically pulled out as algae when it grows out.
Phosphates absorbed by a binder will get out when you remove or replace the media.
And so on and so forth.
That being said, I wouldn't panic either.
You don't want to make drastic changes but instead to go slow, with a measured strategy to not shock the inhabitants in your tank.
As for a conservative strategy, since you'll get the GFO first I would put a very small, tiny amount of it and watch closely as PO4 start to go down. Once you receive your nitrate supplement I would switch to using it instead, that is until it is no longer effective.
I suggest not decreasing more than 0.1ppm per day, and I would let it settle for a couple of days between the next drop.
Another important thing to note here - everything that goes in the tank stays there unless you take it out.
Nutrients which are consumed by bacteria would either be eaten by larger organisms or be pulled out of the water column as organic matter by the skimmer or when you change the water.
Nutrients which are used by your chaeto will get physically pulled out as algae when it grows out.
Phosphates absorbed by a binder will get out when you remove or replace the media.
And so on and so forth.
sixty_reefer
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Contains for the formation of biomass: ammonium, amino acids, hydrocarbons, nitrate, phosphorus and vitamins
apparently it’s a mix of several forms of nitrogen.
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Isn't a source of phosphate a likely explanation, not invoking some unusual carbon issue?
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Thanks. It's likely a fine choice, but i do not know that it will give different results than nitrate dosing.
sixty_reefer
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It could be a mix of both, if you look at some of the Ingredients used in rods foods they are known to be fairly high in phosphates although many forms of carbohydrates could be contributing for the nitrates to be lowering at a faster rate than usual.
sixty_reefer
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It’s a good choice for a stable tank to aid coral growth, I wouldn’t use it in this situation as I wouldn’t use neonitro for the same reason. It’s just not an effective way at raisin nitrates if that’s the end goal, many of those nitrogen compounds will be assimilated by many organisms before they get oxidised into nitrates by the beneficial bacteria.Thanks. It's likely a fine choice, but i do not know that it will give different results than nitrate dosing.
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I would not even try coming up with an explanation for the chemistry in your system. Could be a waste of time like conspiracy theories.
If your phosphates are high, just remove them with a binder like GFO or whatever you feel comfortable with. You can use tiny amounts of GFO to slowly bring phosphate down. Trying to finesse your situation with nitrate dosing could just be frustrating and a waste of time. Get back to enjoying your aquarium.
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