No nitrates and high phosphates

[Just John]

I have seen other posts about this, but none matched my situation. I have a 13 gal. tank with no fish, but plenty of soft corals. I do not have an algae issue. If anything, it is too little for my couple of snails. I change 20% of the water most weeks and spot feed reef-roids once a week. My filtration is just floss and some charcoal. Finally, my Phosphate is 0.8 and Nitrate is 0.00. Why and what can I do besides dosing nitrate?

 

[ColorMeGone]

I dose ammonium bicarbonate and have for months now. This keeps my nitrates close to 10 in my 8.3-gallon nano. I run floss and change it daily but no carbon.

 

[Lavey29]

With no fish in the tank you need to dose something like neophos to raise nitrates and cut back on supplements that raise phosphate.

 

[Dan_P]

I have seen other posts about this, but none matched my situation. I have a 13 gal. tank with no fish, but plenty of soft corals. I do not have an algae issue. If anything, it is too little for my couple of snails. I change 20% of the water most weeks and spot feed reef-roids once a week. My filtration is just floss and some charcoal. Finally, my Phosphate is 0.8 and Nitrate is 0.00. Why and what can I do besides dosing nitrate?

What is being dised that is introducing so much phosphate?

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

What is being dised that is introducing so much phosphate?

The coral food, which is reef-roids.

 

[Dan_P]

The coral food, which is reef-roids.

Ok, that is probably the source of phosphate.

 

[Luminous74]

The first question I ask myself is: How are your soft corals doing? Are they healthy and growing?

The second question would be: How is the PO₄ level developing? Is it stable, or is it steadily increasing?

If the value keeps rising, your corals are not doing well, and there is no growth, this could indicate that NO₃ is limited. The connection here is that if there isn’t enough nitrogen in the system, growth is inhibited, PO₄ is not being consumed, and it will continue to rise.

A possible solution would be to dose ammonium or nitrate products or increase the number of snails and other invertebrates to support biological processes.

Additionally, I have read reports suggesting that Riffroids introduce a high amount of PO₄ into the system compared to nitrogen. You might consider switching to food products with a higher nitrogen content to balance the ratio.

 

[Luminous74]

Neophos

Ich glaube, Sie meinten NeoNitro – der PO₄-Wert ist doch schon hoch genug, oder?

 

[Just John]

The first question I ask myself is: How are your soft corals doing? Are they healthy and growing?

The second question would be: How is the PO₄ level developing? Is it stable, or is it steadily increasing?

If the value keeps rising, your corals are not doing well, and there is no growth, this could indicate that NO₃ is limited. The connection here is that if there isn’t enough nitrogen in the system, growth is inhibited, PO₄ is not being consumed, and it will continue to rise.

A possible solution would be to dose ammonium or nitrate products or increase the number of snails and other invertebrates to support biological processes.

Additionally, I have read reports suggesting that Riffroids introduce a high amount of PO₄ into the system compared to nitrogen. You might consider switching to food products with a higher nitrogen content to balance the ratio.

I can stop feeding or do it less often. The corals are doing well with a couple needing regular trimming. I haven't measured the parameters in a couple of months, because the corals are happy and I am doing 20% weekly changes that I thought would help keep nutrients from bottoming out.The issue isn't the phosphates so much as the nitrates. According to Randy's parameter table, phosphates are at the top of the acceptable range but not over it. Link to Randy's Table
It's really more the low nitrates.

 

[Just John]

Ich glaube, Sie meinten NeoNitro – der PO₄-Wert ist doch schon hoch genug, oder?

Yes, PO4 is high enough.

 

[Luminous74]

It seems that the corals are thriving and the PO₄ level is stable. In that case, I wouldn’t make any major adjustments.

You could consider adjusting the feeding routine – using less Riffroids and incorporating more nitrogen-rich food. Alternatively, you could increase the population of invertebrates (Snails) or dose ammonium or nitrate if needed.

 

[Just John]

It seems that the corals are thriving and the PO₄ level is stable. In that case, I wouldn’t make any major adjustments.

You could consider adjusting the feeding routine – using less Riffroids and incorporating more nitrogen-rich food. Alternatively, you could increase the population of invertebrates (Snails) or dose ammonium or nitrate if needed.

My concern about 0 nitrate is that this would put me at risk of dinos. I've had them and they were horrible. For the moment I am dosing nitrogen, but a real fix would be ideal. The problem with snails is that there is no algae for them to eat. I guess I can put a couple bristle stars in from another tank and give them pellet food.

 

[Luminous74]

For me, dosing nitrogen is also a real solution, as long as the conditions or our approach don't allow us to create a natural balance. There are also snails that don't just eat algae but also detritus, like Nassarius. Shrimp or crabs can also be added, as they also consume other food like frozen food."

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My concern about 0 nitrate is that this would put me at risk of dinos. I've had them and they were horrible. For the moment I am dosing nitrogen, but a real fix would be ideal. The problem with snails is that there is no algae for them to eat. I guess I can put a couple bristle stars in from another tank and give them pellet food.

I'd dose N in some form.