Tank Phosphate Unbalance issue

[Fish Fan]

Hmm. I’m not sure I understand.

0.1 ppm total ammonia is equal to 0.36 ppm nitrate.

I'm probably hacking this up, I know even less about planted tanks then I do reef tanks, which isn't a whole lot But I believe in the freshwater planted world they make some distinction between nitrogenous molecules, and specifically nitrogen (meaning just the nitrogen ion in the molecule).Again, I'm probably hacking this up lol!

Yes. Most kits like API, Red Sea, Hanna, Salifert, etc are using the Salicylate method. It’s measuring total ammonia.

Awesome, thank you!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Dosing Ammonia seems risky would dosing Nitrate not give a similar result with less risk ?

It’s not risky and while dosing nitrate works, organisms using it need to spend energy to convert it to ammonia for use.

 

[New_Reef]

UPDATE - Looks like i definitely have dinos in my tank I have started dosing nitrate and microbacter 7 and hoping to ride it out with some daily maintenance. Any other tips for battling dinos without a UV steriliser?

 

[Mike 1.025]

Hello,

Beginner who started a fluval evo reef tank around 5/6 months ago tank fully cycled with not many issues. Only stock is 2 Clownfish and a red legged hermit crab.

With a Duncan coral and Zoa frag that are both struggling and have barely opened since purchasing around 3 weeks ago.

I have been battling a diatom outbreak and getting it under control with maintenance. Regular water changes and manual removal.

My parameters seem okay except for phosphate which is very high at 5ppm and nitrate at zero on test kit.

I am running phosguard and filter floss alongside a poly filter. And have now added micro algae in a hang on box. However, after a two weeks of running phosguard still not touched the phosphate levels.

Salinity - 35ppt
Temperature - 26 (Degrees Celsius)
Alkalinity - 10.5 DkH
PH - 8.2
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Ammonia - <0.15
Calcium - 470

I am also dosing nitrifying bacteria.

Another thing to note is I did add four trochee snails but all died within 3 weeks.

My Duncan coral seems to open slightly when lights are off but not for long mainly shut no signs of bacterial disease.

Zoas were open at first now closed up and seem to be melting.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated just not sure what I’m doing working.

Many thanks

Hi, I have had similar problems to you. Also have evo. I had undetectable Nitrates and phosphates. I had cyano, dinos then loads of diatoms, smothering and stifling corals, lost 2. I did use phosguard after getting some ropey readings from my lfs early on. This seemed to upset my new tank. This is what worked for me. I started dosing Nitrates purposely to gradually bring them up, which my corals really appreciated. I had to dose some phosphates as at that point I had none. I got a 3 watt green killing machine which helped massively, used 4ml of microbactor 7 daily. Blew rocks off at least twice a day and scraped glass sometimes up to three times a day when possible. Going to war with dinosaurs and diatoms really paid off. 3watt uv machine came out after 5 days. Water crystal clear and now parameters are all where you’d expect. Coral sand fish thriving. For past 6-8 weeks used Red Sea salt mix, which I believe has stabilised the tank. New reefer to but much wiser.

 

[Fish Fan]

Going to war with dinosaurs

 

[Mike 1.025]

That’s exactly what it was like!

 

[Fish Fan]

That’s exactly what it was like!

Haha, that's rough man!!

 

[Mike 1.025]

Hello,

Beginner who started a fluval evo reef tank around 5/6 months ago tank fully cycled with not many issues. Only stock is 2 Clownfish and a red legged hermit crab.

With a Duncan coral and Zoa frag that are both struggling and have barely opened since purchasing around 3 weeks ago.

I have been battling a diatom outbreak and getting it under control with maintenance. Regular water changes and manual removal.

My parameters seem okay except for phosphate which is very high at 5ppm and nitrate at zero on test kit.

I am running phosguard and filter floss alongside a poly filter. And have now added micro algae in a hang on box. However, after a two weeks of running phosguard still not touched the phosphate levels.

Salinity - 35ppt
Temperature - 26 (Degrees Celsius)
Alkalinity - 10.5 DkH
PH - 8.2
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Ammonia - <0.15
Calcium - 470

I am also dosing nitrifying bacteria.

Another thing to note is I did add four trochee snails but all died within 3 weeks.

My Duncan coral seems to open slightly when lights are off but not for long mainly shut no signs of bacterial disease.

Zoas were open at first now closed up and seem to be melting.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated just not sure what I’m doing working.

Many thanks

Hi, I have had similar problems to you. Also have evo. I had undetectable Nitrates and phosphates. I had cyano, dinos then loads of diatoms, smothering and stifling corals, lost 2. I did use phosguard after getting some ropey readings from my lfs early on. This seemed to upset my new tank. This is what worked for me. I started dosing Nitrates purposely to gradually bring them up, which my corals really appreciated. I had to dose some phosphates as at that point I had none. I got a 3 watt green killing machine which helped massively, used 4ml of microbactor 7 daily. Blew rocks off at least twice a day and scraped glass sometimes up to three times a day when possible. Going to war with dinosaurs and diatoms really paid off. 3watt uv machine came out after 5 days. Water crystal clear and now parameters are all where you’d expect. Coral sand fish thriving. For past 6-8 weeks used Red Sea salt mix, which I believe has stabilised the tank. New reefer to but much wiser.

I was concerned about a uv too, but it worked and did not upset anything. Glad I have it in case I need it in the future. I also lightly blew sand bed with turkey baster twice a day too. I a, fortunate to work from home, so each time I had a cup of tea I would give a little attention.