Really High Nitrates and Phosphates - Shall I care?

[bangbang]

I always had high nutrients in my system since day 1 (got live rock from my LFS who apparently runs high nutrient system so rocks are probably leaching nutrients).. recently I started dosing phyto and I believe that might be the reason that the numbers went through the roof.. Here are the important metrics:

1. Nitrates: Hanna shows 75ppm whereas APEX shows Out of Range (which would imply Nitrates is over 100ppm?)
2. Phosphates: Hanna shows 2.23ppm
3. Alk: Ranges from 8.5 - 9.0
4. Ca: 420
5. Mg: 1350

My reef tank is LPS dominant tank and corals look happy to me thus far



Now I am a bit confused to whether fix something that (maybe?) ain't broken or bring the numbers down to (at least) respectable levels as per the reefing community (after reading https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/randy’s-thoughts-on-nutrient-target-ranges.1087/ by @Randy Holmes-Farley feels like 5-50ppm for Nitrates and 0.06-0.3ppm for Phosphates might be that respectable range). I don't see a lot of algae except on the glass which I need to clean every 2 days now (before it was like every 4-5 days).

For people who have brought down the nutrients level from this high ridiculous number, what worked for you? I am looking for some over the shelf product recommendations like NOPOX or Elimi-NP or anything else that might work for you, as I need proper dosing instructions which LC or Carbon dosing may not help me with. FWIW, I have tried LC before and run Rowaphos already, but numbers dont seem to come down.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'd go with either the if it aint broken mantra, or lower them very slowly and watch for possible benefit.

As I recall, Richard Ross started at very high levels, slowly brought it down, and did not notice any great benefit in his tank.

@Thales

 

[bangbang]

I'd go with either the if it aint broken mantra, or lower them very slowly and watch for possible benefit.

As I recall, Richard Ross started at very high levels, slowly brought it down, and did not notice any great benefit in his tank.

@Thales

thanks Randy.. yeah I read the entire post.. Richard does have one of the most stunning tanks of all times.. Not sure if @Thales did see Phosphates as high as 2.23ppm and over 100 ppm Nitrates (I think you mentioned he did see that high Nitrates).. A fellow experienced reefer mentioned high levels of Nitrates can turn lethal, not sure what those levels are though.

 

[Baldyreef]

I'd go with either the if it aint broken mantra, or lower them very slowly and watch for possible benefit.

As I recall, Richard Ross started at very high levels, slowly brought it down, and did not notice any great benefit in his tank.

@Thales

I definitely agree with you @Randy Holmes-Farley as long as the coral and fish are happy and doing good than why rock the boat, absolutely beautiful reef tank by the way @bangbang I love it!

 

[EnterName]

In general I would not fix what is not broken ("never touch a running system" and so forth), but slowly bringing those levels down over months won't hurt and if some day something is wrong with the system you will have an easier time getting parameters into "normal" ranges.

I could imagine new corals would also have an easier time getting used to the parameters if phosphate is lower, as from what I have observed and read, sudden changes in phosphate can stress corals.

Maybe it worked out great for you and that's awesome, and you don't need to fix anything right away. But your system will hopefully run for many years to come and getting those parameters back to "normal" levels (whatever normal might be) will certainly be helpful if some day an issue occurs or you want to add a new coral that is very sensitive to nutrient changes.

 

[bangbang]

I definitely agree with you @Randy Holmes-Farley as long as the coral and fish are happy and doing good than why rock the boat, absolutely beautiful reef tank by the way @bangbang I love it!

Thank you, appreciate it!

In general I would not fix what is not broken ("never touch a running system" and so forth), but slowly bringing those levels down over months won't hurt and if some day something is wrong with the system you will have an easier time getting parameters into "normal" ranges.

I could imagine new corals would also have an easier time getting used to the parameters if phosphate is lower, as from what I have observed and read, sudden changes in phosphate can stress corals.

Maybe it worked out great for you and that's awesome, and you don't need to fix anything right away. But your system will hopefully run for many years to come and getting those parameters back to "normal" levels (whatever normal might be) will certainly be helpful if some day an issue occurs or you want to add a new coral that is very sensitive to nutrient changes.

yeah, this is the reason I am confused.. yes, bringing down to 'normal' levels seems like a logical thing to do, but what if it breaks the current state of things in lieu of an envisioned future state? But I am honestly tilting towards trying things slowly to keep the numbers within acceptable/respectable range.. need to know from folks who went through this journey, what worked for them the best.

 

[EnterName]

I definitely agree with you @Randy Holmes-Farley as long as the coral and fish are happy and doing good than why rock the boat, absolutely beautiful reef tank by the way @bangbang I love it!

Thank you, appreciate it!

In general I would not fix what is not broken ("never touch a running system" and so forth), but slowly bringing those levels down over months won't hurt and if some day something is wrong with the system you will have an easier time getting parameters into "normal" ranges.

I could imagine new corals would also have an easier time getting used to the parameters if phosphate is lower, as from what I have observed and read, sudden changes in phosphate can stress corals.

Maybe it worked out great for you and that's awesome, and you don't need to fix anything right away. But your system will hopefully run for many years to come and getting those parameters back to "normal" levels (whatever normal might be) will certainly be helpful if some day an issue occurs or you want to add a new coral that is very sensitive to nutrient changes.

yeah, this is the reason I am confused.. yes, bringing down to 'normal' levels seems like a logical thing to do, but what if it breaks the current state of things in lieu of an envisioned future state? But I am honestly tilting towards trying things slowly to keep the numbers within acceptable/respectable range.. need to know from folks who went through this journey, what worked for them the best.

Adding nutrients back is very easy so if you tackle the issue very slowly I don't think you will run into issues. I mean even having phosphate would still be very high so if you manage that within a year it's already progess and you will see if there is a negative reaction.