Nitrate

[littlehermit0]

what the heck IS HAPPENING I DO EVERYTHING I CAN EVEN 50% WATER CHANGES BUT MY NITRATE SHOWED 100 TODAY ??? EVERYTHING IS ALIVE THO

 

[Mschmidt]

How's your source water? Is there trapped detritus somewhere? what else do you do for nutrient export?

 

[littlehermit0]

How's your source water? Is there trapped detritus somewhere? what else do you do for nutrient export?

My water is RO mixed with Reef Crystals, it's nitrate free I tested it, about detritus, not really sure but what's a nutrient export?, I've heard on the internet but I still don't understand the meaning of it

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

My water is RO mixed with Reef Crystals, it's nitrate free I tested it, about detritus, not really sure but what's a nutrient export?, I've heard on the internet but I still don't understand the meaning of it

When you feed the fish, you add nutrients (nitrate and phosphate). Nutrient export refers to ways of removing nitrate and phosphate.

Nitrate is removed by water changes, protein skimmer, refugium, carbon or vodka dosing....
Phosphate is removed by gfo or lanthanum.

So how are you removing the nitrate from the system? Can we see a tank pic please? A tank pic tells a thousand words.

 

[littlehermit0]

When you feed the fish, you add nutrients (nitrate and phosphate). Nutrient export refers to ways of removing nitrate and phosphate.

Nitrate is removed by water changes, protein skimmer, refugium, carbon or vodka dosing....
Phosphate is removed by gfo or lanthanum.

So how are you removing the nitrate from the system? Can we see a tank pic please? A tank pic tells a thousand words.

No way vodka wasn't a joke, but I stopped feeding and here's a pic

poor filtration you see, I have some filters that don't fit in there, so I just put 3 small one with ceramic, sponge and activated carbon

 

[Mschmidt]

My water is RO mixed with Reef Crystals, it's nitrate free I tested it, about detritus, not really sure but what's a nutrient export?, I've heard on the internet but I still don't understand the meaning of it

What @Mr. Mojo Rising said.

No way vodka wasn't a joke, but I stopped feeding and here's a pic

poor filtration you see, I have some filters that don't fit in there, so I just put 3 small one with ceramic, sponge and activated carbon

When did you put the rock in? Was it live rock? It could be die off from that.

 

[littlehermit0]

What @Mr. Mojo Rising said.


When did you put the rock in? Was it live rock? It could be die off from that.

I put 0.02 ml of vodka today, about the rock, it's possible but I don't think, it might be from the poop and food leftovers at the bottom of the tank

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I would suggest to get a small powerhead to keep the water moving in the tank, it will help the food to not sink, so it can go into the filter.

Get a couple of nassarius snails and hermits for the sand, they will eat left over food.

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

Your tank is way too new to be dosing vodka. Vodka is a very strong carbon source and I would only recommend that for old tanks like 2 years plus and advanced reef keepers. You are on your way to Dinos and you don’t want that. Let your tank get the ugly stage, then get a clean up crew, and so on. It needs to go through the process.

I do recommend dosing good bacteria to your tank to balance it out. This is what I use and it’s one vial every 2 weeks. Cheaper on Amazon

BioDigest Live Bacteria

Kick-Start Your Aquarium's Natural Filter with BioDigest Contains Bacteria to Help with Biological Filtration Available in 6, 10, 12, or 30 Vial Packs Suitable for Freshwater or Saltwater BioDigest is most commonly used when starting a new aquarium to kick-start the nitrogen cycle. It's...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[littlehermit0]

Your tank is way too new to be dosing vodka. Vodka is a very strong carbon source and I would only recommend that for old tanks like 2 years plus and advanced reef keepers. You are on your way to Dinos and you don’t want that. Let your tank get the ugly stage, then get a clean up crew, and so on. It needs to go through the process.

I do recommend dosing good bacteria to your tank to balance it out. This is what I use and it’s one vial every 2 weeks. Cheaper on Amazon

BioDigest Live Bacteria

Kick-Start Your Aquarium's Natural Filter with BioDigest Contains Bacteria to Help with Biological Filtration Available in 6, 10, 12, or 30 Vial Packs Suitable for Freshwater or Saltwater BioDigest is most commonly used when starting a new aquarium to kick-start the nitrogen cycle. It's...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

So will my inverts survive in that 100ppm nitrate for a while? I actually wanted to buy Waste Away ASF

 

[Mschmidt]

I will echo what others have said. Don't dose vodka (if you must dose carbon, start with vinegar, the margin of error is much friendlier), supplement nitrate reducing bacteria, add flow and rinse out the sponges regularly.

 

[DenverSaltyFarm]

So will my inverts survive in that 100ppm nitrate for a while? I actually wanted to buy Waste Away ASF

Other than water changes and finding a bacteria that you can dose weekly or biweekly I would not dose anything else.

Nitrate is more concerning for corals or being a food source for bad algae your invertebrates are less effected by that, however the one thing you should test for invertebrates is ammonia in the water. You want that at zero.

Typically I only add invertebrates or a clean up crew only after there is a lot of algae or diatoms everywhere for them to feed on. Unfortunately I don’t see that food source in your tank yet.

Do you have a fish in there?

 

[littlehermit0]

Other than water changes and finding a bacteria that you can dose weekly or biweekly I would not dose anything else.

Nitrate is more concerning for corals or being a food source for bad algae your invertebrates are less effected by that, however the one thing you should test for invertebrates is ammonia in the water. You want that at zero.

Typically I only add invertebrates or a clean up crew only after there is a lot of algae or diatoms everywhere for them to feed on. Unfortunately I don’t see that food source in your tank yet.

Do you have a fish in there?

I had Clownfish, they died but my ammonia is at 0.1 or 0.2 I think, it's really hard to read

 

[Brad Coughlan]

what the heck IS HAPPENING I DO EVERYTHING I CAN EVEN 50% WATER CHANGES BUT MY NITRATE SHOWED 100 TODAY ??? EVERYTHING IS ALIVE THO

I thought the same with mine, but it was to do with how you read the salifert test (in my experience anyway)

Are you taking the colour reading from the side of the test vial, or from the top?

 

[littlehermit0]

Top, like the instructions say

I thought the same with mine, but it was to do with how you read the salifert test (in my experience anyway)

Are you taking the colour reading from the side of the test vial, or from the top?

 

[Brad Coughlan]

Top, like the instructions say

Right ok, sounds different from what I had then

If you read from the side you need to divide the result by 10

Have you tried a different test kit?

 

[littlehermit0]

Right ok, sounds different from what I had then

If you read from the side you need to divide the result by 10

Have you tried a different test kit?

No, and reading from the side is only for less than 10ppm

 

[littlehermit0]

what the heck IS HAPPENING I DO EVERYTHING I CAN EVEN 50% WATER CHANGES BUT MY NITRATE SHOWED 100 TODAY ??? EVERYTHING IS ALIVE THO

UPDATE
My nitrites dropped to 0.025ppm and nitrates to 25ppm but sadly my PO4 is still at 0.5 mg/L, I bought this today

First dose today, hope it'll work (it's from that Dr Tim famous guy)