Too high nutrients

[CoralWealth]

I recalibrated my refractometer and my salinity is around 1.029 so way too high.

I have not tested phosphates or nitrates in forever. Just tested both and I got 27 with my ulr hanna which is around 0.1 which I would think is too high too.

Nitrate is where I am really surprised as it tested at 64 on the Red Sea test which is the highest it goes so for all I know it is higher.

I think this is all from the updates snails and urchins getting rid of the algae that was uptaking these. Now I just have the cheato in the sump, skimmer and gfo.

What do you guys recommend doing? I am most worried about lowering my p04 and nitrates because I can slowly lower the salinity pretty easily with just switching some tank water with ro/di till I get to 35ppt/1.026

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Do all the corals look ok?

 

[aquavista99]

Whatever changes you do, make sure they are gradual changes only. For instance, 2 degree increments per day should not stress the corals, like going from 1.029 to 1.027 over 24 hours etc.

 

[CoralWealth]

Do all the corals look ok?

Yes they do, I mean I could have better colors and growth but they have good PE, etc

Whatever changes you do, make sure they are gradual changes only. For instance, 2 degree increments per day should not stress the corals, like going from 1.029 to 1.027 over 24 hours etc.

Yup I definitely was going to do this and thanks for the reminder!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I wouldn't worry to much then.
Just adjust the salinity and maybe do a water change or two.

Fwiw my ato dumped two gallons in the 30 gal. Nothing died

 

[CoralWealth]

I wouldn't worry to much then.
Just adjust the salinity and maybe do a water change or two.

Fwiw my ato dumped two gallons in the 30 gal. Nothing died

Not exactly worried but just want to get it lowered as I am sure it will help out with the colors of my corals.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Not exactly worried but just want to get it lowered as I am sure it will help out with the colors of my corals.

Yup. A mint of more frequent water changes will do that. You don't want true zeros for nutints. But the wc will lower them and put trace minerals back in.
A
Lot of folks start getting pale corals and have to dose stump remover to add nutrients back in to get them to color up

 

[Sherman]

You can do wc if you have the time and energy.
Or you can run gfo and chaeto.
U can also dose iron to reduce PO4 and vinegar to reduce NO3

 

[Pife]

You can do wc if you have the time and energy.
Or you can run gfo and chaeto.
U can also dose iron to reduce PO4 and vinegar to reduce NO3

I'm not so sure about dosing iron to lower phosphates.

Cody don't knee jerk react here. Most of us have had high nutrients before. I have had some of my best color with nitrates around yours.

I'd cut feedings in half and discontinue any other type of vitamins or coral foods for now. I'm a believer in dilution is the solution to pollution. Water changes are good. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[Greatreefer]

Im running into this same type of problem where my montipora digitata and capricornis are loosing their colors. Am i wrong in the assumption that the reason for the color change is due to a high level of both no3 and p04?

 

[Sherman]

I'm not so sure about dosing iron to lower phosphates.

Cody don't knee jerk react here. Most of us have had high nutrients before. I have had some of my best color with nitrates around yours.

I'd cut feedings in half and discontinue any other type of vitamins or coral foods for now. I'm a believer in dilution is the solution to pollution. Water changes are good. Good luck and keep us updated.

Most people run gfo to reduce PO4. GFO is iron oxide .
So dosing iron supplement is like running GFO.
Only in different form

 

[Pife]

Most people run gfo to reduce PO4. GFO is iron oxide .
So dosing iron supplement is like running GFO.
Only in different form

Do you have any links to support this? I've never heard of dosing iron to lower phosphates.

 

[recess62]

Do you have any links to support this? I've never heard of dosing iron to lower phosphates.

Same

 

[CoralWealth]

Thanks everyone.

I definitely am not going to do any major changes. I have been doing weekly 30g water changes which is around 15% of the system which I think is a good amount and would help lower the p04 and nitrates. I think I am feeding too many flakes and I am going to stop doing this for a week or so and see what happens with the levels while leaving everything else the same.

I am surprised my nitrate is that high with how much my cheato grows and how big it is, it takes up a whole 15g section in my sump. I am going to test again tomorrow before I do a water change and then test the next day after the water change.

I am really not worried about the p04 as I dont think its that high. The salinity I am not worried about either because after I get my new filters for the RO/DI tonight I will switch some tank water with RO/DI to make my system to 1.027 and then in a couple days reduce it to 1.026. The nitrates is what I am confused about but we will see what happens in the next couple days.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Most people run gfo to reduce PO4. GFO is iron oxide .
So dosing iron supplement is like running GFO.
Only in different form

They are definitely not the same thing and dosing iron won't have any affects on phosphates. I haven't noticed any affects of iron dosing at all unless you using algae in your tank.

For what it's worth I would only fix the salinity right now and do it slowly. Make sure to calibrate with solution and not RO water, before every test.
Phosphates that high won't cause issues nor will nitrates. Sudden phosphate or nitrate spikes or drops are what cause issues. Lots of people have successful reefs with thoes numbers. Stability is the key not so much the numbers.

 

[jda]

Fe++ will not bind phosphates like Iron Oxide does. Iron can encourage Macro Algae growth which can lower them on the backend.

.1P is as high as I ever want to go. I have had the best color and growth with N under 10 and usually under 2. However, what you have is not a death sentence. Too high of either are poison to inverts and too little is starving, but nobody gets to zero nitrates unless they aggressively dose organic carbon (some people do). Eventually the dinos will suffer and color will go, then calcification will stop. The coral can stay in limbo this whole time and not die, but they are not flourishing or growing either. Sometimes color can darken, get richer as nutrients rise a bit which some folks like the color of. I have a friend who lets his N rise to 20 when his tanks are about two years old to slow down the growth - the color will get richer on some and worse on others, but this is what he wants so that he has more time before he breaks the coral apart.

Break that chaeto up if you do not already - a half of a ball will sometimes grow more than a full section. Without maintenance, it will stop growing. If you are not changing water, then it also might need a bit of iron to keep it flourishing - nevermind, just saw that you are doing water changes.

 

[Pife]

Fe++ will not bind phosphates like Iron Oxide does. Iron can encourage Macro Algae growth which can lower them on the backend.

.1P is as high as I ever want to go. I have had the best color and growth with N under 10 and usually under 2. However, what you have is not a death sentence. Too high of either are poison to inverts and too little is starving, but nobody gets to zero nitrates unless they aggressively dose organic carbon (some people do). Eventually the dinos will suffer and color will go, then calcification will stop. The coral can stay in limbo this whole time and not die, but they are not flourishing or growing either. Sometimes color can darken, get richer as nutrients rise a bit which some folks like the color of. I have a friend who lets his N rise to 20 when his tanks are about two years old to slow down the growth - the color will get richer on some and worse on others, but this is what he wants so that he has more time before he breaks the coral apart.

Break that chaeto up if you do not already - a half of a ball will sometimes grow more than a full section. Without maintenance, it will stop growing. If you are not changing water, then it also might need a bit of iron to keep it flourishing - nevermind, just saw that you are doing water changes.

Thanks for articulating it man. I was not going to go into it just wanted him to try to prove his point.

 

[Sherman]

Go read DSR by Glenn Fong.
I have being dosing iron suppplement for a year. And my PO4 is in the range of 0.02 to 0.08.
I don't understand why iron supplement cannot do the job.

 

[Pife]

Go read DSR by Glenn Fong.
I have being dosing iron suppplement for a year. And my PO4 is in the range of 0.02 to 0.08.
I don't understand why iron supplement cannot do the job.

Iron is not iron oxide. To different things.

 

[jda]

Go read DSR by Glenn Fong.
I have being dosing iron suppplement for a year. And my PO4 is in the range of 0.02 to 0.08.
I don't understand why iron supplement cannot do the job.

Go ask Dr. Holmes-Farley in the chemistry section. He can explain the bonding better than we can. The end result is that it is not even close to the same thing or the same effect.