Zero nitrates?

[mar.deezy]

What are some things that would cause a tank to have zero nitrates? My phosphates hover around .03 but my nitrates are at zero. I do have a lot of rocks and also rocks in my sump with marine pure blocks. Could that be the cause? I hold off on weekly water changes to see if it will go up but it stays at 0. Any ideas?

 

[dieselkeeper]

How old is your tank? I have the same problem. My tank is 7 years old. Lots of rock. 10 fish in a 220 gallon. My cause is probably lots of bacteria.

 

[shwareefer]

Live rock and marine pure blocks by nature become denitrators due to the endless inner galleries reaching an anaerobic state where denitrating bacteria can exist and flourish. Lava rock does this well also. My nitrates have been immeasurable for years and I've started dosing potassium nitrate. Corals are responding positively.

 

[mar.deezy]

Awesome thanku! Ill look into the potassium nitrate. Ive noticed my corals arent looking as happy or vibrant and theres been some algae issues

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think food grade sodium nitrate is a better choice.

Feeding more is another option.

 

[nereefpat]

The tanks that I have done maintenance on are a different story, but my personal tanks have always shown immeasurable amounts of nitrates.

I believe that it's the live rock, and perhaps the sand, converting the nitrates to nitrogen gas. All that happens when I dose nitrates is that the rock quickly converts it. I think dosing nitrates just grows more bacteria to convert more nitrogen .

 

[shwareefer]

I think food grade sodium nitrate is a better choice.

I've been thinking about that. I haven't found an affordable option in Canada although I just did a search and found some reagent grade which I may look into. The KNO3 was 12 bucks/lb at the hardware store but stump remover so possibly impure.

 

[mar.deezy]

@dieselkeeper my tank is comming up on a year old. But the blocks and some rocks came from a 2 year old tank i had and broken down.
Is this a good or bad problem to have? Lol

 

[Nathan Milender]

I have wondered this as well. I tend to find 0-5 nitrate on nyos and 0 to barely readable phos on hanna checker. Algae seems to grow just fine so there must be something there. It does seem odd to dose nitrate and phosphate as I would expect the algae to simply grow faster and the algae to get larger.

 

[mar.deezy]

But if everything soaks up these nutrients, do we know which organism soaks it up first or faster? Like if everything in the tank uses it does everything get an equal portion of the dosed nutrients?

 

[shwareefer]

There will always be variation in organism's ability to use nutrients, even amongst different algae. The point is that it needs to be available. If you have 0/0 because it's all tied up in algae, then manual removal of algae might be prudent before adding more input. However if it's all tied up in bacteria populations then short of removing rock, I would say dosing or increasing feeding or even adding more fish would be necessary. I have algae and I'm still seeing a benefit to the corals by dosing nitrate. I am not going for anyone's recommended level but instead just keeping it under 1ppm and the simple fact that it's measurably there has benefited the corals.

 

[Difrano]

But if everything soaks up these nutrients, do we know which organism soaks it up first or faster? Like if everything in the tank uses it does everything get an equal portion of the dosed nutrients?

As you said, almost everything compete for those nutrients, and basically it will be consumed based on who get them first, and I would assume that NO3 will be consumed first by the denitrifying bacteria in your blocks, because as the water flow in the outer layers of the block the aerobic bacteria produce the NO3 and then those molecules pass thru the anaerobic part of the block and consumed by the anaerobic bacteria.

So if there is not enough NO3 for your corals and algae they will not be happy or die and the other issue is the dreaded Dinos lurking on low nutrient systems

 

[mar.deezy]

Man this is deep lol. Just hit the joint and think about this stuff lol. Thanks for the input everyone

 

[User1]

I'm in somewhat of a similar issue. Low nitrates as reported by my Nyos kit at 3 ppm and phosphate around .07 according to Hanna. I'm having a bit of a cyno outbreak and believe this may be one of the issues as the tank is about 2 1/2 year old now.

After reading a few threads here and not recalling the cyno issues when my nitrates are in the 10 range I bought the Loudwolf Sodium Nitrate 4 ounce bottle to try and raise it. I haven't started to dose yet as my Nyos kit reagents went bingo (out) so waiting for that to get in before I test it.

If you are looking to dose the Loudwolf product is pretty cheap and simple from everything I've read in this sub forum.

 

[A sea K]

Having the same issue and looking for solutions myself. I havent tested in years for either nitrate or phosphate as life has been a bit problematic since 2018.
Getting back into things and added a few coral pieces about a month ago along with a 10% WC and the start of adding aminos. I should also mention my salt for the WC was from a brand new bucket.
I'm not sure what set things off however my beloved Goni took a turn for the worse and is still struggling so I'm searching for answers myself. Funny thing is two of the new corals are a Goni and Alveopora and they are both doing well.
Tested phosphate and nitrate yesterday with brand new reagents for both kits (red Sea nitrate pro and Hanna ultra low phosphourus) got 0 on the nitrate and .012 for phosphate. Other levels are Alk @ 7.3, calcium is 420 and mag is 1440.
My system is 4 years old, not a lot of LR but I do have a Marine Pure block in the sump so I'll more than likely remove it and see what impact it may have before I consider dosing any nitrate

 

[fnlyreefready]

What are some things that would cause a tank to have zero nitrates? My phosphates hover around .03 but my nitrates are at zero. I do have a lot of rocks and also rocks in my sump with marine pure blocks. Could that be the cause? I hold off on weekly water changes to see if it will go up but it stays at 0. Any ideas?

I moved an established tank of 5 years into a larger tank. And before the move it would never get over like .2-.4 nitrates I don’t do water changes I just top off

 

[Cabinetman]

Having the same issue and looking for solutions myself. I havent tested in years for either nitrate or phosphate as life has been a bit problematic since 2018.
Getting back into things and added a few coral pieces about a month ago along with a 10% WC and the start of adding aminos. I should also mention my salt for the WC was from a brand new bucket.
I'm not sure what set things off however my beloved Goni took a turn for the worse and is still struggling so I'm searching for answers myself. Funny thing is two of the new corals are a Goni and Alveopora and they are both doing well.
Tested phosphate and nitrate yesterday with brand new reagents for both kits (red Sea nitrate pro and Hanna ultra low phosphourus) got 0 on the nitrate and .012 for phosphate. Other levels are Alk @ 7.3, calcium is 420 and mag is 1440.
My system is 4 years old, not a lot of LR but I do have a Marine Pure block in the sump so I'll more than likely remove it and see what impact it may have before I consider dosing any nitrate

I wouldn’t add any more of the aminos

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm in somewhat of a similar issue. Low nitrates as reported by my Nyos kit at 3 ppm and phosphate around .07 according to Hanna. I'm having a bit of a cyno outbreak and believe this may be one of the issues as the tank is about 2 1/2 year old now.

After reading a few threads here and not recalling the cyno issues when my nitrates are in the 10 range I bought the Loudwolf Sodium Nitrate 4 ounce bottle to try and raise it. I haven't started to dose yet as my Nyos kit reagents went bingo (out) so waiting for that to get in before I test it.

If you are looking to dose the Loudwolf product is pretty cheap and simple from everything I've read in this sub forum.

Your current values are fine (3 ppm nitrate and 0.07 ppm phosphate) and I cannot see raising them will reduce cyano.

I'm not actually aware/convinced that raisng nutrients is ever a solution for cyano. Dinos, yes, not cyano.

 

[Conchman]

The really only time I was ever at “zero” I was fishless, by choice”. Now I am low trates, but have very low stocking for the tank size and do consistant w/c’s.

 

[User1]

Your current values are fine (3 ppm nitrate and 0.07 ppm phosphate) and I cannot see raising them will reduce cyano.

I'm not actually aware/convinced that raisng nutrients is ever a solution for cyano. Dinos, yes, not cyano.

Thanks for the information. I have product (loudwolf sodium nitrate) but me being lazy or busy (probably lazy) haven't made a solution yet to even try It looked like it was starting to go away anyway or lighten up / lessen but will just let it run its course.

Thanks again. Hope all is well.