No3 and po4 at zero. Should I dose both?

ambrosius007

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Should I dose both at the same time to try to get them in range or should I focus on raising and then the other? Also read that does nitrates may reduce phosphates?
 

CoralB

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I would dose both and hope that you dodged a situation leading you to a path of cyano and or Dino’s . It wouldn’t hurt to take measures to out compete any bad bacteria break out by dosing a good bacteria like microbactor 7 and add more flow to the tank
 
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ambrosius007

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I already have something but can’t tell if it dino or diatoms. This is the reason why I am wanting to dose and get these out of zero and get the good bacteria to out compete them.
 

CoralB

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I already have something but can’t tell if it dino or diatoms. This is the reason why I am wanting to dose and get these out of zero and get the good bacteria to out compete them.
Show pics in white lights if you can
 
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ambrosius007

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Here are pictures and video. Hope this helps.

521DFEC0-452C-4832-AAE6-A7A44CDB3876.jpeg 1313810B-232B-4D55-BFFD-D19D2EDE3BF3.jpeg 2DA04AE9-A74B-4C1D-B02F-6FF63254D888.jpeg
 
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CoralB

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Here are pictures and video. Hope this helps.
Look to me from your pics is you may have cyano . Cut back the intensity and time length of your lighting . Add microbactor 7 daily until it clears up , do manual cleaning by using a siphon gravel cleaner , run a UV light if you have one , increase flow in the tank . It will take a few weeks or so to clear this up be patient and keep your parameters as stable and correct as you can . plus don’t let your phosphates or nitrates ever zero out . Try to keep phosphates between 0.05 and .1 and nitrates between 10 to 15 ppm . Patience and consistency is king . Good luck
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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Should I dose both at the same time to try to get them in range or should I focus on raising and then the other? Also read that does nitrates may reduce phosphates?

Feeding more is likely easier, but dosing both us also fine.

demand for both may increase as you add them as organisms grow more.
 
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ambrosius007

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Let there be phosphates!!!!
Finally a reading
 

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EricR

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uhh,,, so you went zero to 0.3ish ppm in one day?
That's fairly aggressive.

EDIT -- What did you dose and how long did it maintain that level?
I'm trying to work my way up from 0.01 (occasionally 0.02) just to stay "above zero" so interested.
 
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ambrosius007

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uhh,,, so you went zero to 0.3ish ppm in one day?
That's fairly aggressive.

EDIT -- What did you dose and how long did it maintain that level?
I'm trying to work my way up from 0.01 (occasionally 0.02) just to stay "above zero" so interested.

It wasn’t overnight. I have been dosing for about a week now with a zero reading and testing every day. This is the first time I got a reading above zero. I have been dosing Brightwell NeoPhos. I will test again tonight to see what the system consumption is.
 

KStatefan

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I think I am going to over shoot on mine also. The max phosphate I was dosing was 0.08 ppm and nitrate was 2 ppm.

1660738863138.png
 
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ambrosius007

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I think I am going to over shoot on mine also. The max phosphate I was dosing was 0.08 ppm and nitrate was 2 ppm.

1660738863138.png

Yeah I definitely overshot. I figured the system was starving for them so I expect to see a drop over the next few days. I hope anyway. Otherwise will be doing some water changes.
 

EricR

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24 hours later and phosphates are back to zero.
Not sure if you already said this tank's substrate background/history so I apologize in advance:

Seems like the conventional wisdom is that new/dry rock (and even sand) can suck up phosphate for some amount of time.
 
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ambrosius007

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Not sure if you already said this tank's substrate background/history so I apologize in advance:

Seems like the conventional wisdom is that new/dry rock (and even sand) can suck up phosphate for some amount of time.
Agree! Tank is 7 months old. Mostly dry rock and live sand. Pretty sure the dry rock is sucking up the phosphates.
 

EricR

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Agree! Tank is 7 months old. Mostly dry rock and live sand. Pretty sure the dry rock is sucking up the phosphates.
I'm in the same boat -- I went with half dry rock when I did a tank transfer last Oct/Nov and I still can't get my phosphates up,,, but I haven't resorted to dosing phos yet,,, just keep OVER-FEEDING massively,,, which my soft corals and algae seem to enjoy.

My nitrates don't seem to fluctuate at all, oddly -- pretty much 8-9 ppm for a long time now.
 
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ambrosius007

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I'm in the same boat -- I went with half dry rock when I did a tank transfer last Oct/Nov and I still can't get my phosphates up,,, but I haven't resorted to dosing phos yet,,, just keep OVER-FEEDING massively,,, which my soft corals and algae seem to enjoy.

My nitrates don't seem to fluctuate at all, oddly -- pretty much 8-9 ppm for a long time now.

Curious, any sign of dinos or cynos? Wondering since you are doing good in the nitrates area with a po4 deficit.
 

EricR

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Curious, any sign of dinos or cynos? Wondering since you are doing good in the nitrates area with a po4 deficit.
So far so good.

Got GHA pockets forming on my one rock structure that was dry/white and I just keep pulling it manually (when I have ambition).

My other rock structure that was (allegedly) "aqua-cultured live rock" and was in my last tank for 7-ish months prior -- never gets a speck of algae.

EDIT -- oh yeah,,, maybe bad interpretation of one of your previous pics but,,, do you ever syphon/vacuum your sand? (That's pretty much my main drive to do water changes,,, but I guess that's a personal preference)
 
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ambrosius007

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So far so good.

Got GHA pockets forming on my one rock structure that was dry/white and I just keep pulling it manually (when I have ambition).

My other rock structure that was (allegedly) "aqua-cultured live rock" and was in my last tank for 7-ish months prior -- never gets a speck of algae.

EDIT -- oh yeah,,, maybe bad interpretation of one of your previous pics but,,, do you ever syphon/vacuum your sand? (That's pretty much my main drive to do water changes,,, but I guess that's a personal preference)

I have vacuumed my sand but usually comes back with 24-48 hours. Although recently it has slowed down since I started the dosing and getting detectable numbers.
I will continue dosing. Hopefully one day the rocks will stop sucking out my phosphates. I am trying to continue feed more frequently as well.
 

KStatefan

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I have what looks to be the same growing on my sand also. I am 14 months with water in my tank started slow no lights for 7 months. I keep using that word "hopefully" also. This is a frustrating hobby. The good news is when I tested nitrate and phosphate the had not gone up fairly flat from the last test. I only test twice per week.
 
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