zero phosphate (need advice)

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Sorry those are my current readings,not enough nutrition, started getting tip burn
 

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That should do it. Good luck! But don't chance the numbers. Most of us do it,but there are beautiful aquariums with wide variations.
 
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Not chasing numbers,i have to get enough nutrient in my tank for acros to grow,might take the rock out of my sump,obviously have too much bacteria area,tricky raising both at the same time as one lowers the other
 

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Here's something to add. Forever I ran a skimmer and doses bacteria to keep no3 very very low. Never worried about my p04 since I could hever get any color or readings so I thought it was 0. But I always got quite a bit of green algae on the walls and back glass. Said the heck with it and added a gfo and carbon reactor, took two weeks and my glass and back algae was gone. So regardless the test kits red 0 there something there regarding p04. Wasn't there a thread on the difference between in-organics and none organice p04?
 

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Forgot to ask, how old is your system, rocks look light as if they system is not that seasoned. Also they look like colonies that have been added not grown from frags correct? I could be way off here hard to see by photos since led's are tricky to see everything though it does look low on nutrients. Don't fear algae, thats what tangs are for ;-)
 

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I am running gfo and carbon but still have algae on front and back glass. No4 reading is zero.
Why
 
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The tank is 2 yrs old,just rescaped a little with marco prime cuts to get more spots for colonies(cured the rock untiln0 phos reading)i hosestly don't care about the numbers until im getting tip burn,rtn ect,i think that was more no3 being low than p04
 

brad65ford

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The tank is 2 yrs old,just rescaped a little with marco prime cuts to get more spots for colonies(cured the rock untiln0 phos reading)i hosestly don't care about the numbers until im getting tip burn,rtn ect,i think that was more no3 being low than p04

Which is fine, also new rock should/ could be adding p04 anyway. Are you getting rtn or burning?
 

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Here's something to add. Forever I ran a skimmer and doses bacteria to keep no3 very very low. Never worried about my p04 since I could hever get any color or readings so I thought it was 0. But I always got quite a bit of green algae on the walls and back glass. Said the heck with it and added a gfo and carbon reactor, took two weeks and my glass and back algae was gone. So regardless the test kits red 0 there something there regarding p04. Wasn't there a thread on the difference between in-organics and none organice p04?

yup, algae uses organic phos which not all phos test kits can account for. but I think in some kits (possibly red sea) one of the dropper bottles effectively oxydises the organic phos to leave just the phosphorous behind which is then picked up by the test results.

Its the reason why I have no micro algae in my tank since using a OF hydra filter, but I still get cyano though :(
 
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Just tip burn,one colony rtn,alk is stable at 7.8 i check every day
 
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This is what i get a kick out of too,feed more,im feeding way more than my fish can consume twice a day,my system is consuming way more than what is put in,cheaper to dose phos and nitrate then waste fish food.i may get all the rock out of my sump and see if that makes a difference, most people need biopellet and gfo,guess im lucky in a way,lol
 

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Anyone have adverse effects of 0 phos, likely not really 0 though, Just orders low range phosphorus hanna meter

Well first your system will thrive off of stability and what the ecosystem is used to as in care you provide.

The short answer is yes that folks do have negative effects on their corals from a sterile water environment with zero nitrate and phosphate. Essentially if nutrients are void in the water corals will starve. Mixed results depending on the species of coral but for the most part they all need some of these demonized nutrients to thrive.

I transferred a well balanced 90 gallon reef into a 210.
Used all new live sand, reused all live rock and corals transferred.
Full fallow period of my seven fish at that time.
Broadcast fed the tank three times a week to feed corals and keep bacterial populations up as well as other life forms.
I had to cut off my skimmer for a month after noticing my sps were starting to pale out bad.
Test results showed zero nitrate and phosphates.

Introduced fish and fed them 3 heavy feedings a day and broadcast fed corals 3 nights a week with a mixture of reef chilie and roids. Target fed mixture with cyclops and brine shrimp to any coral that actively fed on such foods once a week.
Still no levels of nutrients.
Over weight fish that dookie every time they see me in anticipation of food and running skimmer part time didn't work so I dosed a little potassium nitrate to solve this issue

Corals started looking better and I fed some formula two flakes a couple times a week.
The flake foods are usually better for helping a low phosphate number up in my experience due to their ingredients.

I have seen some stunning ultra low nutrient and zero nutrient tanks.
These tanks were also on a full program that adds the needed amino / fatty acids back to the water column among other things in liquid form.
I do believe that this makes a difference in long term success with ULN or zero nutrient systems, the product or complete system is beneficial

Me I like the more natural approach of balancing nutriet. Input and export via fish load for their poop and good filtration combined with the right amount of water changes
 
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Totally agree thx,i cant get enough thru feeding so i am dosing both p04 and n03,things look to be gaining color already
 

Luke Schnabel

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Ok, Ive never been able to color up my acros. They constantly stay brown. My NO3 has been near ZERO for ever and my PO4 is constantly jumping around from .00-.06... I feed frozen food 2-3 times daily. Im trying to get my NO3 up. I took out half of my Marine Pure balls in my sump and took out about half of my macro algae. My skimmer is now shut off. Im starting to dose potassium nitrate to raise my NO3... Will this effect my PO3? I was confused reading this that some additive will counteract the other. My aim is to shoot for 5ppm NO3 and keep PO4 at least readable and see if my acros will color up.
 

RedneckReefer68

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Ok, Ive never been able to color up my acros. They constantly stay brown. My NO3 has been near ZERO for ever and my PO4 is constantly jumping around from .00-.06... I feed frozen food 2-3 times daily. Im trying to get my NO3 up. I took out half of my Marine Pure balls in my sump and took out about half of my macro algae. My skimmer is now shut off. Im starting to dose potassium nitrate to raise my NO3... Will this effect my PO3? I was confused reading this that some additive will counteract the other. My aim is to shoot for 5ppm NO3 and keep PO4 at least readable and see if my acros will color up.

When nitrate begins to rise you might see a drop in p04
 

Luke Schnabel

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I use Potassium Nitrate to bring up my Nitrate. Phosphate I don't use anything but normal dry foods contain a ton of phosphate so you can feed that more often to raise PO4
 

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