Nitrates now 0.0 after successfully keep chaeto alive

[Flipper_Picker]

Hello, new to reefing. I bought this established soft coral reef 4.5 months ago. After two failed attempts to keep chaeto alive I got some really healthy chaeto locally on Dec. 17th and have been dosing ChaetoGro. The chaeto is still healthy and doing great but grows slowly. Nitrates were 16.6 and have steadily been dropping. Today my Hanna nitrate HR reads 0.0. I dose Soda Ash, Calcium Chloride and ChaetoGro. I run carbon/GFO in filter bags in the sump. I feed frozen mysis, and nano frenzy twice a day, generously. I spot feed corals reef roids and mysis a couple times a week. 4 fish total. Lots of hermit crabs, snails and bristle worms. I nolonger have any algae problems except for cleaning glass daily. I do a 5 gallon water change weekly. Haven't been able to get phosphates below 0.08 even with GFO. Is it normal for chaeto to bottom out nitrates? Should I remove all the chaeto except a small ball? Should I buy Hanna Nitrate Low Range?

Tank 40 gallon, 20 gallon sump
Nitrates 0.0
Phosphates 0.09
Alkalinity 8.5
Calcium 410
Salinity 1.025

 

[Pseudoskill]

Following. I have a very similar problem. Never had success with chaeto and started early after cycling a 40g IM tank I bought at the end of October. Chaeto is doing really well, I run carbon, no skimmer and also feed mysis generously daily. 5 small fish total. My nitrates are essentially zero as well, no change when I test using RedSea kits and my Hanna checker has ranged from 2-5.0. Wondering if I should remove the chaeto but then I'm worried I'll have a huge explosion in nitrate suddenly.

 

[fish farmer]

Pretty much what happened in my tank. I had chaeto drop my nitrates and phosphates to tested zeros. My chaeto had slowed on growth. I cut the lights to 9 hours and maintained a few strands.

I played around with feeding reef roids for a month. Shot my nitrates up to 20 ppm in few weeks, phos didn't budge. I stopped feeding it for a while and turned up the fuge light to 12 hours, chaeto grew back fast. I just maintain a small clump now.

Harvest some and see what happens.

 

[Flipper_Picker]

Pretty much what happened in my tank. I had chaeto drop my nitrates and phosphates to tested zeros. My chaeto had slowed on growth. I cut the lights to 9 hours and maintained a few strands.

I played around with feeding reef roids for a month. Shot my nitrates up to 20 ppm in few weeks, phos didn't budge. I stopped feeding it for a while and turned up the fuge light to 12 hours, chaeto grew back fast. I just maintain a small clump now.

Harvest some and see what happens.

Those are great tips, thanks. I removed half of the chaeto. I'll try reducing the light schedule if that doesn't help.

 

[kboogie]

My Chaeto melted and raised my nitrates from 35ppm to 160ppm in two weeks. I feed ChaetoGro and run the lights for 18 hours. I used a reactor. I have good flow. I don’t know what went wrong.