Should I lower my phosphates or not?

[aus1230]

Apologize for this long post!! I've recently posted about my issues with Dinos and I've narrowed it down to either stable parameters or adding copepods and phosphates. Well I've managed to get my nitrates and phosphates to start trending upwards by feeding consistently. Unfortunately, I believe that I might have done it too much (overfeeding). Should I just keep feeding back to my amount or should I add phosphate e (which I don't really want to do). I already started running my protein skimmer to see if I can at least stop it from trending upwards still. I don't want to start chasing numbers because I would assume based off of these numbers they're at least trending upwards (which I would assume would be up). The tank is mixed reef with some LPS

Here's my numbers:

2/9:
Nitrate:L 14.6
Phosphate:14.6

2/10:
Nitrate:15.8
Phosphate: .15

2/11:
Nitrate:10.1
Phosphate: .24

Weekly 10% water change was done

2/14:
Nitrate:15.0
Phosphate: .26

Today 2/16:
Nitrate: 18.8
Phosphate: .32

 

[slingfox]

Your nitrates and phosphates seem within a reasonable range. At this point you should feed an amount that is consumed by your fish with minimal waste. Leave your protein skimmer on. Finish the battle with Dino’s and then see where parameters settle after a few weeks / months of stability.

 

[aus1230]

Your nitrates and phosphates seem within a reasonable range. At this point you should feed an amount that is consumed by your fish with minimal waste. Leave your protein skimmer on. Finish the battle with Dino’s and then see where parameters settle after a few weeks / months of stability.

The battle of Dinos has been won!! Which is why I know that I don't want to lower the Nitrates and Phosphates too quickly.

At this point I'm assuming it had to do with me not feeding consistently due to being gone away from home for 24 hours for work which caused me to not feed my fish sometimes up to 48 hours. So if I'm being honest I'm still trying to figure out what that amount of food was. I believe that I made a hasty decision and started feeding too much to get my nutrients trending upwards.

 

[exnisstech]

How do the corals look?

 

[aus1230]

How do the corals look?

I'll snap some pictures because I believe they just look "okay" but I'm still learning what LPS should look like since I only have a few young pieces in my tank. My tank is only 10 months old as well.

 

[slingfox]

The battle of Dinos has been won!! Which is why I know that I don't want to lower the Nitrates and Phosphates too quickly.

At this point I'm assuming it had to do with me not feeding consistently due to being gone away from home for 24 hours for work which caused me to not feed my fish sometimes up to 48 hours. So if I'm being honest I'm still trying to figure out what that amount of food was. I believe that I made a hasty decision and started feeding too much to get my nutrients trending upwards.

Auto feeders are a great way to keep the fish fed on a consistent basis. You could rely on an auto feeder for most of the feeding and then supplement with whatever you are able to do manually.

It is possible your nutrients are going since you don’t have Dino’s over growing the tank and sucking up a bunch of nutrients!

 

[aus1230]

How do the corals look?

 

[aus1230]

How do the corals look?

 

[aus1230]

Auto feeders are a great way to keep the fish fed on a consistent basis. You could rely on an auto feeder for most of the feeding and then supplement with whatever you are able to do manually.

It is possible your nutrients are going since you don’t have Dino’s over growing the tank and sucking up a bunch of nutrients!

Wow I can't believe I didn't think of it that way!

 

[aus1230]

Auto feeders are a great way to keep the fish fed on a consistent basis. You could rely on an auto feeder for most of the feeding and then supplement with whatever you are able to do manually.

It is possible your nutrients are going since you don’t have Dino’s over growing the tank and sucking up a bunch of nutrients!

I finally got my wife to actually remember to feed them lol

 

[exnisstech]

They look good to me but after 10 years in the hobby I still can't keep euphylia so I'm probably not a good judge LOL. Tank is only 10 months old and looks good and since you've already dealt dinos I would Lean towards keeping an eye on levels and see where they settle in at. It's much easier to have them a little high with no intervention vs trying to maintain a certain number as long as coral are happy. Often what many consider too high are actually fine. I have a tank that runs PO4 0.5 but has been as high as 0.9+

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

your level just crept above the upper and of my target range (0.3 ppm), and is still ok, but increasing export a little is a fine plan.

 

[aus1230]

your level just crept above the upper and of my target range (0.3 ppm), and is still ok, but increasing export a little is a fine plan.

Yup, just turned on my protein skimmer and I’m pulling out some good stuff and my new gonis are finally coming out! Feels good when things start to workout!

 

[aus1230]

your level just crept above the upper and of my target range (0.3 ppm), and is still ok, but increasing export a little is a fine plan.

Hey Randy, tagging you again for some friendly advice. Nitrates were always pretty stable before and my phosphates what would go up and down and I never had any stability but unfortunately it seems as if my phosphates and nitrates have decided to start trending up together and I just want to make sure these levels are reasonable. I have already cut back feeding and would rather not put anything in my tank if I can avoid it. My torch looks great but my hammer looks a little questionable but I'm unable to tell if it's just me being hyper focused on my corals at this point but here are my last three tests for both nitrates and phosphates. Thanks.

Nitrate:
2/19: 17.9
2/21: 20.7
2/25:25.5

Phosphate:
2/19: 0.32
2/21: 0.39
2/25: 0.35

As of now I'm currently putting 40mls of phytoplankton in the tank for my copepods and a quarter of frozen mysis in a night. I did however find out today that I might have been over dosing oyster feast in the tank for the last couple of weeks it appears that I might have been putting in around 4 teaspoons if not more when the directions say that it should only be 1 to 2 teaspoons for 100 gallons when I have a 40 gallon tank. Sorry for the word vomit.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

There's no emergency to do something, and some great tanks have far higher N and P than yours.

If you are cutting back on oyster feast, I'd just keep watching for a while and see what happens.

This article shows tanks with all different levels of N and P and are doing well.

Randy’s Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges

Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges by Randy Holmes-Farley Almost nothing in the world of reef aquarium chemistry causes as much discussion as selecting and maintaining ranges for nitrate and phosphate. Some aquarists want low targets, some want...

www.reef2reef.com

from it;

4. What targets seem reasonable? Of course, that depends on all the other factors at play, such as types of corals, availability of ammonia, particulate foods, etc. However, for a mature mixed reef, this would be how I personally would run it:

• Let nitrate float between 5 ppm and 50 ppm. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above 50 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by organic carbon dosing, turf or macroalgae, etc.
• Below 5 ppm, I’d begin to dose ammonia or feed more. The target level might drop lower if dosing ammonia, just like the heavy in/heavy out scenario where nitrate may not be as needed.
• Let phosphate float between about 0.06 ppm and 0.3 ppm. This range is higher than I’ve recommended in the past. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above about 0.3 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by turf or macroalgae, or a binder such as GFO or lanthanum (has its own risks to tangs). If a binder: GO SLOW. Turf and macroalgae will typically be slow enough.
• Below 0.06 ppm, I’d begin to dose sodium phosphate or feed more to get the level up.

 

[aus1230]

There's no emergency to do something, and some great tanks have far higher N and P than yours.

If you are cutting back on oyster feast, I'd just keep watching for a while and see what happens.

This article shows tanks with all different levels of N and P and are doing well.

Randy’s Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges

Thoughts on Nutrient Target Ranges by Randy Holmes-Farley Almost nothing in the world of reef aquarium chemistry causes as much discussion as selecting and maintaining ranges for nitrate and phosphate. Some aquarists want low targets, some want...

www.reef2reef.com

from it;

4. What targets seem reasonable? Of course, that depends on all the other factors at play, such as types of corals, availability of ammonia, particulate foods, etc. However, for a mature mixed reef, this would be how I personally would run it:

• Let nitrate float between 5 ppm and 50 ppm. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above 50 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by organic carbon dosing, turf or macroalgae, etc.
• Below 5 ppm, I’d begin to dose ammonia or feed more. The target level might drop lower if dosing ammonia, just like the heavy in/heavy out scenario where nitrate may not be as needed.
• Let phosphate float between about 0.06 ppm and 0.3 ppm. This range is higher than I’ve recommended in the past. I’d use gentle export in this range, such as growing macroalgae.
• Above about 0.3 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by turf or macroalgae, or a binder such as GFO or lanthanum (has its own risks to tangs). If a binder: GO SLOW. Turf and macroalgae will typically be slow enough.
• Below 0.06 ppm, I’d begin to dose sodium phosphate or feed more to get the level up.

Hey, thanks for the great write up. I will review your article you sent and will message back. Only thing I'm confused by currently is you said that if I need to reduce the phosphates to feed more?

 

[landlubber]

Hey, thanks for the great write up. I will review your article you sent and will message back. Only thing I'm confused by currently is you said that if I need to reduce the phosphates to feed more?

The first 3 points are nitrate management and the last 3 points are phosphate management. If you're talking about Randy's last post, read it again carefully, as nowhere in the advice he gave does it say to feed more if levels are high. Its the exact opposite.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

RIght. It says this:

• Above about 0.3 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by turf or macroalgae, or a binder such as GFO or lanthanum (has its own risks to tangs). If a binder: GO SLOW. Turf and macroalgae will typically be slow enough.
• Below 0.06 ppm, I’d begin to dose sodium phosphate or feed more to get the level up.

 

[aus1230]

RIght. It says this:

• Above about 0.3 ppm, I’d begin to focus more on reducing it, by turf or macroalgae, or a binder such as GFO or lanthanum (has its own risks to tangs). If a binder: GO SLOW. Turf and macroalgae will typically be slow enough.
• Below 0.06 ppm, I’d begin to dose sodium phosphate or feed more to get the level up.

“ • Below 0.06 ppm, I’d begin to dose sodium phosphate or feed more to get the level up.”

Sorry Randy I misread this part. My apologies.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

No problem.

Happy Reefing. :)