Nitrates stay zero Phosphates .06

[JRhymer349]

Hello,

My tank is a 13.5 gallon Fluval Evo. Only have 2 clowns, 1 BBA, 6 zoas, some GSP. My salinity is 1.026. My nitrates stay at 0.00 on a Hannah checker. And my phosphates are 0.06 on a Hannah checker. Have consistently been for about 3 months. I feed 1 to 2 times a day and I feed a combination of frozen mysis and brine shrimp that have been thawed. I have GHA and occasionally cyano that comes and goes. Zoas have been growing steadily as well. Trying to increase my nitrates but they don’t go up with increased feeding. Any help increasing them would be great.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Feeding more is he easiest plan, but N and P can both be easily dosed. :)

If you are feeding so much that piles of food are sitting on the bottom, then I'd dose.

 

[exnisstech]

Maybe try ammonium dosing. My IM20 runs levels very similar to your tank and I dose ammonium to keep NO3 detectable. I only have 3 small fish and feeding more doesn't really work for me to increase nutrients. I also dose ammonium in my SPS tank that runs low N and P with very good results.

Info Randy posted on the subject.

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...

www.reef2reef.com

And a handy dosing chart from the late @Miami Reef

DIY Ammonia Dosing Chart

Introduction: Many reef tanks have an incredible nitrate demand, and despite the additional fish and coral food, still struggle to make an impact on the nitrate level. This can subject corals, anemones, coralline, macro/microalgae, and clams to nutrient starvation. Any photosynthetic organism...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[JRhymer349]

Feeding more is he easiest plan, but N and P can both be easily dosed. :)

If you are feeding so much that piles of food are sitting on the bottom, then I'd dose.

Would you say frozen or pellets is better to feed to raise nitrates?

 

[TonyB]

Before making any adjustments I would confirm the results from that checker by referencing them against results from another test kit, especially when results leave you scratching your head. About once a month or so I check my Hannas against a reagent kit. I have had a bad batch of reagents more than once.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Would you say frozen or pellets is better to feed to raise nitrates?

Any food does it. N is a main component of any food.

 

[JRhymer349]

Before making any adjustments I would confirm the results from that checker by referencing them against results from another test kit, especially when results leave you scratching your head. About once a month or so I check my Hannas against a reagent kit. I have had a bad batch of reagents more than once.

I have. I’ve confirmed with salifert, Red Sea and API. Hanna was my last attempt to get the most accurate result.

 

[slingfox]

I run a 130 gallon that has very single readings: 0.05 phosphate and undetectable nitrates (or very nearly). I had to start dosing ammonia to get some amount of nitrates detectable. I sometimes do a corrective dose with each water change to get the nitrate level to 5ppm. I am usually okay as long as some amount of nitrates shows up on the Hanna checker.