Phosphate dosing stays same, nitrate increases over time

[Bitcoin Reefer]

This isn't a big deal, I'm more just curious:

In 6 months, my nitrate requirements have slowly increased to the point of needing double what I did 6 months ago. Phosphate just stays the same, never changing. All of my dosing amounts/requirements have gone up; Calcium, Alkalinity, Nitrate, Silica > have all needed more as coral grow. Phosphate dosing requirement just staying the same exactly. Kind of odd.

I am increasing feeding of course over time as my fish grow/add more fish, but I would think that would be relatively similar effect on nitrate and phosphate. I guess maybe my food is increasing phosphate more than it's increasing nitrate? Resulting in not needing to dose more phosphate? I feed frozen, pellets, and nori.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Can you provide more info, such as measured levels in the water and what amounts of N and P you are dosing?

 

[Bitcoin Reefer]

Can you provide more info, such as measured levels in the water and what amounts of N and P you are dosing?

Sure.

360 gallon tank mixed reef. I dose b ionic 2 part calc/alk, nitrate, phosphate, silica, and recently some All For Reef once a week.

I do DIY <30.9mg/1L RODI Calcium Nitrate> and <2g/1L RODI Trisodium Phosphate> (I think from your recommendations sir Randy

6 months ago I was dosing 19ml/day Nitrate & 42ml/day Phosphate. Now I'm at 40ml Nitrate, 36ml Phosphate. So nitrate dosing requirement going up, phosphate dosing requirement going down.

6 months ago my nitrate was around 15ppm, with phosphate around .15
Now my nitrate is around 8ppm, with phosphate around .23 (yes a little high)

Any other info you would like brotha?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What are the nitrate and phosphate values?

Nitrate and phosphate do not need to track similarly in a reef tank, so I would not be concerned if there is more or less need for one than the other, and those relative needs may change with time.

 

[Bitcoin Reefer]

What are the nitrate and phosphate values?

Nitrate and phosphate do not need to track similarly in a reef tank, so I would not be concerned if there is more or less need for one than the other, and those relative needs may change with time.

I had mentioned above, did you want them in another form or? It's about .23ppm phosphate and 8ppm nitrate currently. Ya I'm not concerned, and the tank is doing better than ever

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I had mentioned above, did you want them in another form or? It's about .23ppm phosphate and 8ppm nitrate currently. Ya I'm not concerned, and the tank is doing better than ever

Sorry, I only saw the 6 months ago part of the sentence and missed that it also had current values.

Those values seem OK to me, and I would not worry much about them. if phosphate keeps rising it may be worth taking out a bit more with something like GFO.

 

[Bitcoin Reefer]

Sorry, I only saw the 6 months ago part of the sentence and missed that it also had current values.

Those values seem OK to me, and I would not worry much about them. if phosphate keeps rising it may be worth taking out a bit more with something like GFO.

I’m dosing phosphate, so I just need to lower the amount I’m dosing to drop it. I let it creep up a little recently, but I normally keep between .10 and .20. I try not to let it get too low because bottoming out is what triggered my Dino infestation that I’ve been dealing with for over a year lol.

If I don’t dose phosphate it’ll drop like a rock lol. If I skip dosing phosphate, it drops by around .01-.02 per day lol. Kind of crazy how much my corals are absorbing phosphate and nitrate.

I think the simple explanation is that I’ve got too high coral to fish ratio. Need more fish. Here are some photos of the tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

OK, I'd certainly reduce the phosphate dosing. It should not be too hard to slowly reduce the dosing until it stabilizes at around 0.1 ppm, and if it stays there a while you may be able to back off on the dosing further.

 

[Mikeltee]

Sure.

360 gallon tank mixed reef. I dose b ionic 2 part calc/alk, nitrate, phosphate, silica, and recently some All For Reef once a week.

I do DIY <30.9mg/1L RODI Calcium Nitrate> and <2g/1L RODI Trisodium Phosphate> (I think from your recommendations sir Randy

6 months ago I was dosing 19ml/day Nitrate & 42ml/day Phosphate. Now I'm at 40ml Nitrate, 36ml Phosphate. So nitrate dosing requirement going up, phosphate dosing requirement going down.

6 months ago my nitrate was around 15ppm, with phosphate around .15
Now my nitrate is around 8ppm, with phosphate around .23 (yes a little high)

Any other info you would like brotha?

The tank looks great! Why you dosing Silicates? Dinos preventive? Im holding 1ppm... I do all the same but no Nitrate or Phos. I thought I was the only fool dosing AFR and ESV B-ionic together. Lol
I also hit it with the ESV Mg twice a week.