- Joined
- May 21, 2017
- Messages
- 71
- Reaction score
- 38
Ok, I’ve only been reefing for a little over a year, so please don’t kill me for this inquiry. I have a 180 gallon tank with a 75 gallon sump. It has been setup and running since last February. I cannot get my nitrates in check. I have done several large water changes. I have cheato that will grow a little then seem to die off. I don’t have any nuisance algae in my display tank although I have a few tangs and a foxface that could be keeping it at bay. I have a biopellet realtor with a little over a liter of pellets in it with a slow tumble, running for 6 months, and drains directly into my protein skimmer. I’ve tried nopox and prime. I have 200 gallon equivalent of purigen. My nitrates have been so high they maxed out on an api test at 160ppm. The lowest I’ve been able to get it is 50ppm by doing 50 gallon water changes 2 times a week. My phosphate has never been over 0.25 ppm. I recently came across the Redfield ratio which states photosynthetic biomass in the ocean uptakes 106:16:1 ratio of carbon: nitrogen: phosphate. I’ve tried feeding every other day. I feed less than a cube a day normally. With my phosphate always low, and the Redfield ratio interpreted as needing phosphate for the proper uptake of nitrogen(in this case the nitrate). Would adding phosphate used for a planted tank be a good resolution? I know this isn’t a new concept, but haven’t had any recommendations to do this. I think I know the original source was a fish that got lost in my rock structure about 2 months after setup. I fixed that problem right away by re-scaping my tank. And haven’t lost a fish since. Thanks in advance for any help!