Nitrates bottoming out

[CHSUB]

I mean I am not trying to chase perfection, but 0.5 nitrates is certainly low

It’s over 500% higher than mine in the first year. I see no difference in no3 at .07 to .5 to 5 ppm. I’ve had reef aquariums with many different levels…

Here is my tank now as I sit in my chair watch pregame…

 

[jessepinkmxn]

Add some hermit,emerald,and pithos crabs. Some snails would be a good idea also. That should address the algea. Get it under control first then worry about the nitrate after its addressed.

I have 4 hermits, 3 trochus, 1 mex turbo, 5 ceriths and a sand conch

 

[56longroof]

I have 4 hermits, 3 trochus, 1 mex turbo, 5 ceriths and a sand conch

Thats not nearly enough

 

[RoanokeReef]

Either feed more or do nothing. Your corals look fine, they will tell you if there's an issue, no need to chase it.

 

[jessepinkmxn]

It has been a few days,i have been feeding more and even dosed some neo nitro nitrate to raise my nitrate by 0.5, and now I have 0.0 nitrates.

 

[mcarroll]

Hello guys, im currently a month into my reef tank, and on my weekly tests my nitrate levels have steadily been dropping from 6.7 ppm to now 0.5ppm. I believe this is the reason why my frogspawn and hammers haven't been fully extending. My phosphate is 0.03, and my question is how can I safely increase my nitrates without overfeeding my fish? I just fed my corals with reef roids to hopefully bring in more nutrients.

Seems too soon for this.

How are you cleaning and filtering this tank?

Nitrates and phosphates are in balance, but quite low.....I would consider it somewhat dangerous to dose nitrates into this scenario. Driving P to zero (as a result) will have unwanted side effects.

My tank is new, not sure how well it could process ammonia, wouldnt dosing straight nitrate be safer?

Ammonia isn't poison unles the concentation is too high. You'd be dosing a tiny amount (unless there's an accident of some kind during dosing).

IMO there's no downside to dosing nitrate...it's easier to come by.

I just don't want to overfeed my clowns, I had one of them eat too much and swim weird for a few hours already lol, and I don't know if that will be able to raise my nitrates from 0.5 to 5 when the nitrates get consumed quickly

Whatever you saw was unlikely from "over feeding".

As long as you feed no more than they can consume in a minute or so, it's going to be hard to over feed.

If you feed more than that, it will be hard not to "over feed" which means that food is going uneaten in the tank and breaking down in other ways. Not what you want.

So feed the clown more, but not to the point of putting too much food in.

Its 40 gals, i think the algae in my tank might be consuming lots of the nutrients, i am going to try feeding more and test again in 2 days. I just hope I dont end up feeding the algae more. I want to get more fish, but I have to set up my QT tank first my fish right now are healthy so I do not want to get them sick.

Mentioning the algae sooner would have changed the advice you got I think.

You need to manually remove as much of that algae as possible....and I'd do it asap.

Cleanup crew can help, but from the looks of the pic there might not be any CUC present.

I have 4 hermits, 3 trochus, 1 mex turbo, 5 ceriths and a sand conch

Hermits are scavengers, so don't count.

You're basically relying on 5 tiny snails and 1 small-medium snail to clean THE WHOLE TANK. Doesn't sound reasonable when you say it out loud, right?

I would at least double the size of your crew....you probably have enough tiny snails....go for margaarite, trochus, astrea or turbos. Zebra turbos eventually get REALLY BIG so if you can get regulars do that.

It has been a few days,i have been feeding more and even dosed some neo nitro nitrate to raise my nitrate by 0.5, and now I have 0.0 nitrates.

Well that's not what we want to see.

Stop dosing N until we have more information and you have a better handle on what's going on.

Post a full update on your water parameters if possible.

 

[jessepinkmxn]

Seems too soon for this.

How are you cleaning and filtering this tank?

Nitrates and phosphates are in balance, but quite low.....I would consider it somewhat dangerous to dose nitrates into this scenario. Driving P to zero (as a result) will have unwanted side effects.


Ammonia isn't poison unles the concentation is too high. You'd be dosing a tiny amount (unless there's an accident of some kind during dosing).

IMO there's no downside to dosing nitrate...it's easier to come by.


Whatever you saw was unlikely from "over feeding".

As long as you feed no more than they can consume in a minute or so, it's going to be hard to over feed.

If you feed more than that, it will be hard not to "over feed" which means that food is going uneaten in the tank and breaking down in other ways. Not what you want.

So feed the clown more, but not to the point of putting too much food in.


Mentioning the algae sooner would have changed the advice you got I think.

You need to manually remove as much of that algae as possible....and I'd do it asap.

Cleanup crew can help, but from the looks of the pic there might not be any CUC present.


Hermits are scavengers, so don't count.

You're basically relying on 5 tiny snails and 1 small-medium snail to clean THE WHOLE TANK. Doesn't sound reasonable when you say it out loud, right?

I would at least double the size of your crew....you probably have enough tiny snails....go for margaarite, trochus, astrea or turbos. Zebra turbos eventually get REALLY BIG so if you can get regulars do that.


Well that's not what we want to see.

Stop dosing N until we have more information and you have a better handle on what's going on.

Post a full update on your water parameters if possible.

Thanks for the replies, I have been doing weekly water changes but skipped this week in an effort to boost Nitrates, I just run a filter roller and my skimmer is off for now. I have been scrubbing the Algae which I believe are diatoms with a toothbrush and using a turkey baster and then adding some coral snow to help my filter catch it. My CUC is definitely small, I got the first few when the tank just started showing diatoms but I am going to add many more trochus and cerith snails around 15 or so combined on my next visit to LFS. My current parameters are 35.1 ppt, 78.0F, 7.6 Alk, phos 0.01 I think the diatoms are consuming the p and n rapdily.

 

[jessepinkmxn]

Maybe I can add copepods which can help eat the diatoms and also provide some food for my yellow coris wrasse..

 

[mcarroll]

Thanks for the replies, I have been doing weekly water changes but skipped this week in an effort to boost Nitrates, I just run a filter roller and my skimmer is off for now. I have been scrubbing the Algae which I believe are diatoms with a toothbrush and using a turkey baster and then adding some coral snow to help my filter catch it.

Rearrange that....turn off your mechanical filter (not very reefy; more for a fish tank) and just run the skimmer.

Scrubbing with a toothbrush is more like spreading the algae around.

What you want is removal....use your fingers (or other appropriate tool) to grab/scoop/pull it out of the tank little by little.

Look at Mark's technique in this video, even if it may not be the same algae as yours:


Work in small areas like 2"x2" until that area is completely clean. Then move to a new area to clean. Etc. Try to hit it every day. If your new CUC is in place, take one of them gently and place them into one of the cleaned areas you've made.

My CUC is definitely small, I got the first few when the tank just started showing diatoms but I am going to add many more trochus and cerith snails around 15 or so combined on my next visit to LFS. My current parameters are 35.1 ppt, 78.0F, 7.6 Alk, phos 0.01 I think the diatoms are consuming the p and n rapdily.

I love cerith snails, but they are so small and mouths are so tiny their impact isn't much. Alongside bigger snails they fit nicely though. And you already have "plenty" of ceriths for that context. Focuso on Turbos first, astreas and trochus second and margaritas third. (Pink margaritas are nice since they are seeding coralline wherever they go.)

 

[jessepinkmxn]

Rearrange that....turn off your mechanical filter (not very reefy; more for a fish tank) and just run the skimmer.

Scrubbing with a toothbrush is more like spreading the algae around.

What you want is removal....use your fingers (or other appropriate tool) to grab/scoop/pull it out of the tank little by little.

Look at Mark's technique in this video, even if it may not be the same algae as yours:


Work in small areas like 2"x2" until that area is completely clean. Then move to a new area to clean. Etc. Try to hit it every day. If your new CUC is in place, take one of them gently and place them into one of the cleaned areas you've made.


I love cerith snails, but they are so small and mouths are so tiny their impact isn't much. Alongside bigger snails they fit nicely though. And you already have "plenty" of ceriths for that context. Focuso on Turbos first, astreas and trochus second and margaritas third. (Pink margaritas are nice since they are seeding coralline wherever they go.)

There is no algae to pull with my hands, its fuzz... They blow right off when you touch it. I have never heard of margaritas, and my LFS has had like no trochus snails on my last few visits, so I might consider buying them online. Ill try to siphon out as much as possible on my next water change, I am also going to order some copepods as they feed on detritus and diatoms.