Odd Test results

[Rmckoy]

something isn’t making sense .
Since transferring everything from the 90 gal to the 230 it started with a extremely high phosphate level with zero nitrates .
I dosed Esv nitrate to bring it to balance .

since I have had around 5ppm nitrate and around .03-.06 phosphate

maintaining 7.5 dkh alk
425 cal
1.025-1.026 salinity

Just finished testing and after I thought my nitrates would be through the roof …. 0ppm
And 0.159 ppm phosphates

why am I having a hard time keeping nitrates ?
By looking at the tank I would assume higher .

 

[KrisReef]

My Nitrates (and Phosphate) rely upon feeding the fish. Nitrates don’t accumulate like P that precipitates on the rock. The new tank changed equilibrium and you saw the p swings. I believe N is consumed along with P by coral growth.

 

[Rmckoy]

My Nitrates (and Phosphate) rely upon feeding the fish. Nitrates don’t accumulate like P that precipitates on the rock. The new tank changed equilibrium and you saw the p swings. I believe N is consumed along with P by coral growth.

This issue was resolved over a year ago .
suddenly reappeared

 

[Dan_P]

something isn’t making sense .
Since transferring everything from the 90 gal to the 230 it started with a extremely high phosphate level with zero nitrates .
I dosed Esv nitrate to bring it to balance .

since I have had around 5ppm nitrate and around .03-.06 phosphate

maintaining 7.5 dkh alk
425 cal
1.025-1.026 salinity

Just finished testing and after I thought my nitrates would be through the roof …. 0ppm
And 0.159 ppm phosphates

why am I having a hard time keeping nitrates ?
By looking at the tank I would assume higher .

What do mean ”by looking at the tank you assume nitrates were not undetectable”?

 

[Freenow54]

I experienced that when I started my new tank, and was well into cycling it. Nitrates did not show up for a month

 

[Rmckoy]

What do mean ”by looking at the tank you assume nitrates were not undetectable”?

By looking I would guess high nitrates ( >10ppm )

 

[Dan_P]

By looking I would guess high nitrates ( >10ppm )

Help me out. What are you seeing that makes you conclude that? Maybe I did not magnify the photo enough or got distract by the coral

 

[Rmckoy]

Help me out. What are you seeing that makes you conclude that? Maybe I did not magnify the photo enough or got distract by the coral

There really isn’t a lot of coral .
The algae , red slime on the rocks , or the thick layer of green algae I just scraped off the glass .
I’ll attach a picture of my sump .
that will be enough
Cheato covered in red slime

 

[Rmckoy]

Gha algae on some rocks .
red slime .

 

[Rmckoy]

Help me out. What are you seeing that makes you conclude that? Maybe I did not magnify the photo enough or got distract by the coral

Ok so …. If perhaps what I’m seeing is only a mature system .
why am I having issues keeping nitrates ?

 

[Dan_P]

Ok so …. If perhaps what I’m seeing is only a mature system .
why am I having issues keeping nitrates ?

Hey thanks for walking me through the details. Here are some thoughts and observations.

When I see macro algae overgrown by cyanobacteria, I assume the algae is in trouble. Algae becomes unhealthy if it is underfed, overcrowded, or there is a problem with illumination. Based on the depleted nitrate in your system, I presume the Chaeto is starving and has become a playground for cyanobacteria. Too much Chaeto growth could have been the thing that tipped your low nitrate system to one of depletion. Consider cleaning out the sump.

The phosphate level could be sufficiently high to make life easy for nuisance algae growth even with depleted nitrate. The system is not depleted of nitrogen, it is just not getting converted to nitrate. Could the dying Chaeto be the main cause?

Mats of cyanobacteria and other fast growing algae might now be taking over for the Chaeto. At least for esthetic reasons, consider siphoning out as much cyanobacteria as you can and give other life a chance to grow in its place.

 

[Rmckoy]

Hey thanks for walking me through the details. Here are some thoughts and observations.

When I see macro algae overgrown by cyanobacteria, I assume the algae is in trouble. Algae becomes unhealthy if it is underfed, overcrowded, or there is a problem with illumination. Based on the depleted nitrate in your system, I presume the Chaeto is starving and has become a playground for cyanobacteria. Too much Chaeto growth could have been the thing that tipped your low nitrate system to one of depletion. Consider cleaning out the sump.

The phosphate level could be sufficiently high to make life easy for nuisance algae growth even with depleted nitrate. The system is not depleted of nitrogen, it is just not getting converted to nitrate. Could the dying Chaeto be the main cause?

Mats of cyanobacteria and other fast growing algae might now be taking over for the Chaeto. At least for esthetic reasons, consider siphoning out as much cyanobacteria as you can and give other life a chance to grow in its place.

If I were to remove another few handfuls of cheato .
Is it safe to go back to a ball size and ditch the rest ?
Remove 25% of the cheato ?

 

[Lavey29]

If I were to remove another few handfuls of cheato .
Is it safe to go back to a ball size and ditch the rest ?
Remove 25% of the cheato ?

I don't think your chaeto is bottoming your nitrates unless you have a huge fuge. How many fish in the big tank? Do you dose any denitrifying bacteria?

 

[Rmckoy]

I don't think your chaeto is bottoming your nitrates unless you have a huge fuge. How many fish in the big tank? Do you dose any denitrifying bacteria?

Not dosing nitrifying bacteria .
Last time I counted was 14 fish

yellow tang
Yellow belly blue tang
Orange shoulder
Sailfin
Juv emperor angel
Foxface
Mel wrasse
Flame hawk
Green mandarin
Lawn mower blenny
2 clown fish
2 springeri damsels
And there should be …. A yellow flanked fairy wrasse ( haven’t seen him today )

 

[Lavey29]

Not dosing nitrifying bacteria .
Last time I counted was 14 fish

yellow tang
Yellow belly blue tang
Orange shoulder
Sailfin
Juv emperor angel
Foxface
Mel wrasse
Flame hawk
Green mandarin
Lawn mower blenny
2 clown fish
2 springeri damsels
And there should be …. A yellow flanked fairy wrasse ( haven’t seen him today )

And roughly how many corals?

 

[Rmckoy]

Fuge section of the sump measures 13”x12” by 11” deep

 

[Rmckoy]

The fuge section is the 2nd chamber of my sump .
it also has the return from the external skimmer and that’s what the air bubbles in the back left corner are from .
From there it goes through a bubble trap and the next section is my pump that feeds my skimmer .
Next is another bubble trap and the return pump

 

[Dan_P]

If I were to remove another few handfuls of cheato .
Is it safe to go back to a ball size and ditch the rest ?
Remove 25% of the cheato ?

If you want to keep some Chaeto for future use, maybe keeping a small amount might be worth a try. Keep a close eye on its health. There might not be enough nitrogen to keep it healthy at this time.

By the way are you dosing any trace elements? Just curious.

 

[Rmckoy]

And roughly how many corals?

Corals ….
Xenia , gsp , and palys . A few small open brains , 2 maxi mini carpet anemones and a bta hiding in the back

all sps died in the cold snap we had in the winter

 

[Rmckoy]

If you want to keep some Chaeto for future use, maybe keeping a small amount might be worth a try. Keep a close eye on its health. There might not be enough nitrogen to keep it healthy at this time.

By the way are you dosing any trace elements? Just curious.

The only trace elements dosed are what ever is in esv b ionic 2 part