Over 1 year in and still having parameter issues...

[rhitee93]

Woah, and it doesn't look like you have many corals. I wonder what is using up the nitrates? Do you run a skimmer/refugium?

Yeah, that's what's got me a bit worried. I'm running a roller mat and a skimmer, but have turned both of them down significantly in the last 3 weeks. I had some chaeto growing in a fuge, but removed that entirely at least 2 weeks ago. All of this in parallel with what I think is a drastic increase in feeding.

This is what my nitrates and phosphates have looked like since I started the tank:

I've read that it is hard to overfeed with frozen foods since 98% of what you are putting in is water. Do you ever use any flake or pellet foods?

I will say that even with two feedings a day using 2 frozen cubes a feeding, the fish don't leave much uneaten. In the tank I have a <4" foxface rabbitfish, <3" tomini tang, 2 <2" clowns, a <1" green spotted puffer, and a 1" yellow watchman goby.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Okay and can I dose Neonitro & Neophos at the same time or space them out?

You can dose those however you want.

That said, you can get diy products for less with a better purity and composition guarantee..

 

[CallMeLloyd]

Yeah, that's what's got me a bit worried. I'm running a roller mat and a skimmer, but have turned both of them down significantly in the last 3 weeks. I had some chaeto growing in a fuge, but removed that entirely at least 2 weeks ago. All of this in parallel with what I think is a drastic increase in feeding.

I've read that it is hard to overfeed with frozen foods since 98% of what you are putting in is water. Do you ever use any flake or pellet foods?

I will say that even with two feedings a day using 2 frozen cubes a feeding, the fish don't leave much uneaten. In the tank I have a <4" foxface rabbitfish, <3" tomini tang, 2 <2" clowns, a <1" green spotted puffer, and a 1" yellow watchman goby.

I do use pellets/flakes sometimes as well. Also spot feed Reef roids for the few corals I have. I also don't use any roller mats, skimmer, or refugium and I have no nitrates.

 

[CallMeLloyd]

Also been thinking about adding some more dry rock to the tank and adding a bottle of Dr. Tim's One & Only. Not sure what that would do but shouldn't hurt anything either.

 

[Xanthurum]

 

[CallMeLloyd]

@Xanthurum Very nice, I'm going to up my feeding amount and see if that helps raise nitrates.

 

[CallMeLloyd]

With increased feedings for a week would that be long enough to see nitrate readings? If I feed 2 cubes a day for a week and at the end of the week I'm still testing 0 then what? Feed even more? I did look at my filter pads in my HOB last night and they are pretty nasty.

 

[rhitee93]

My nitrates hit zero this morning, so I don't think heavy feeding is doing it for me. Thinking about dosing now...

 

[CallMeLloyd]

My nitrates hit zero this morning, so I don't think heavy feeding is doing it for me. Thinking about dosing now...

I might end up in the same boat, I've been sitting at 0 Nitrates for months now. Originally I was feeding about half a cube and some pellets a day. Then started feeding 1 cube & pellets. Now I'm at 2 cubes a day... If I have to feed anymore I'll have to feed 3 times a day. Currently only feeding twice a day before I leave for work & before lights out. I already have my Neonitro just incase I have to end up dosing, but I just hope feeding more and doing biweekly WC's raise nitrates. Originally when I started this tank I wasn't wanting to dose anything, as I felt like it would just make the hobby more complicated than it already was for me...

 

[CallMeLloyd]

Just dosed 3mL Neonitro & 3mL Neophos. Will test tomorrow and share results.
Tonight I tested 0.0 Nitrate 0.03 Phosphate

 

[rhitee93]

Interested to see your results. The obvious question in my tank is "What ugly thing is consuming all the nitrate, and will explode all over the tank if I start giving it more fuel?"

 

[rhitee93]

Well, I threw in the towel this afternoon as well.

I'm waiting on some NaNO3 to arrive, but I already had some reagent grade KNO3 on hand from some other interests of mine. I figured a few mg of potassium wouldn't be the end of the world so I mixed up a 1M solution of it, and put 5ml of that in the tank. An hour later I got a nitrate reading of 0.2ppm with my Hana tester. My system has about 108 gallons total water, so I was expecting something more like 0.7ppm.

We'll see what it says in the morning.

 

[CallMeLloyd]

Well, I threw in the towel this afternoon as well.

I'm waiting on some NaNO3 to arrive, but I already had some reagent grade KNO3 on hand from some other interests of mine. I figured a few mg of potassium wouldn't be the end of the world so I mixed up a 1M solution of it, and put 5ml of that in the tank. An hour later I got a nitrate reading of 0.2ppm with my Hana tester. My system has about 108 gallons total water, so I was expecting something more like 0.7ppm.

We'll see what it says in the morning.

But hey you're heading in the right direction lol. I'm hoping I get some kind of Nitrate reading tonight. After I get Nutrients set I'm going to work on stabilizing my alk. Only got a few corals so my Cal & Mag levels are pretty much stable and get bumped up by water changes. My alk drops too fast, water changes don't keep it up.

 

[rhitee93]

I'm still trying to get fish only to work. I've got a nice GSP colony going as a canary in the coal mine, but no other coral.

Once my nitrate and phosphate stop bouncing around I'll give coral a go, and then start worrying about all those other parameter thingys

I'll report back in the morning...

 

[CallMeLloyd]

Just got done testing, still 0.0 Nitrate 0.03 Phosphate. Going to increase dose to 5mL NeoNitro & Neophos.

 

[rhitee93]

Well, I don't think dosing is the answer in my case. I decided to put in another 5ml of my stock solution towards the end of the day yesterday. As best as I can do the math, each of the doses I put in yesterday should have added 0.75ppm of nitrates to the system.

One hour after the first dose I measured 0.2ppm. I added the 2nd dose a couple of hours before lights out. This morning I measured 0.0ppm. Something is using up the nitrates as fast as I put them in.

I've noticed the very light growth of GHA that was on my rocks seems to have changed to something else. The rocks look more brown. Also, the GHA that was growing on the back wall of the tank seems to have been replaced with something more slime like that has bubbles sticking to it.

I'm wondering if these aren't dinos of some sort.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, I recommend 2 ppm as a starting dose of nitrate, and folks often have to add much more every day.

 

[Xanthurum]

Pump the brakes reefers. It’s time to slow things down and take a breather. My favorite piece of advice is that nothing good happens fast in this hobby. If you are going to increase feeding give it time to see if it helps, if you’re going to start dosing nitrates give it time to see if it helps. It may take a month to see consistent results.

 

[rhitee93]

FWIW, I recommend 2 ppm as a starting dose of nitrate, and folks often have to add much more every day.

Pump the brakes reefers. It’s time to slow things down and take a breather. My favorite piece of advice is that nothing good happens fast in this hobby. If you are going to increase feeding give it time to see if it helps, if you’re going to start dosing nitrates give it time to see if it helps. It may take a month to see consistent results.

Yep, I hear you and I'm trying not to overreact. I was feeling that dosing nitrates to a tank this young was a bit rash in the first place, so once I saw that it was immediately getting consumed I thought I should stop until I understood what is using them.

I can keep dosing for a while if y'all think that was a reasonable plan.

FWIW, there has been a noticeable bloom of brown stuff on the rocks and sand in the last few hours. Looks like diatoms to my inexperienced eye. I'd say whatever it is has doubled in density in the last 3 hours...

 

[CallMeLloyd]

FWIW, I recommend 2 ppm as a starting dose of nitrate, and folks often have to add much more every day.

Look like a 2ppm dose of NeoNitro for a 55 gallon tank is 13.8mL. I only dosed 5mL last night. Should I up the dose tonight? Also from what I read when you dose Neonitro it lowers Phosphate so I've also been dosing Neophos so I don't bottom out my Phosphate. I have been able to raise my phosphate by using reef roids & reef energy ab+. Should I only dose Neonitro?