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Nitrate/phosphate
- Thread starter Courtstig
- Start date
You have another thread on this subject. My advice would try to put these threads together so everyone can try to help your situation and get you moving forward. You should list your equipment, sump and anything else you are using. How many fish, how much your feeding. How about some pictures of tank and equipment. Maintenance schedule. Hopefully I got all of it. To bring phosphates and nitrates up not knowing your system I would suggest remove filter socks shut off skimmer. Feed more. Add more fish!
Not sure how to put these threads together. As far as equipment it’s a waterbox 100.3 I have a syncra 6 return, coral box 500 skimmer , I am running a mesh and felt sick in the sump. I have a single reef breeders wave maker in the center of the tank and I have 2 hydra 32 lights. I also have a 25 watt uv. I have snails and hermits a Foxface,Sailfin,lemon peel angel,blenny,diamond goby,3 chromis,2 cardinal’s. I have a variety of soft and lps corals.the tank . The tank was started in august 2021 with about 25 lbs of dry rock and 25 lbs of live rock. I feed a variety of foods dry and frozen 3 to 4 times a day. My ph is 8 , alk is 9.3, calcium 450,mag 1400,nitrate 0 , phosphate is 0, ammonia 0 ,nitrite 0, my skimmer doesn’t pull much at all unless I set it very wet. I use rodi water for top off with 0 tds I get a brown film on the glass on a daily basis since the beginning and now I am starting to get some algae in the sand. I have been changing 5 gallons of water weekly. Ok I think that’s everything
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My main issue is I bought a frogspawn in December and it appeared to be doing well and then all of a sudden about a week ago it started to not open up hardly at all . And plus I am reading everywhere I am supposed to have some nitrate and phosphate so I am just trying to have the most successful tank I can.
If you want to increase phosphates and nitrates, remove your socks, shut off skimmer. No water changes unless you need to export. Feed your corals, feed your fish. Add fish. This should help bring phosphate/nitrate up. Are you using any chemical filtration? Chemi pure? GFO?
How are your other corals? How long has the tank been up? One coral failing to thrive doesn't constitute a problem, especially given how many things could go wrong. If the rest of your tank looks good, I would act EXTREMELY slowly. If things look good you stand a much greater chance of messing things up than fixing a problem that may or not be an issue.
What kinds of corals do you keep/want to keep?
It could be that the digitata and favia died due to low nitrates, but there are many factors that could have been issues in a new tank.
One suggestion I have is that you post a build thread to document the ins and outs of your system so that people can give feedback and try to help with full knowledge of your system. If we had a thread that documented the decline of the corals, there might be a clear issue that we could pick out.
The reason I'm not jumping right on the "it's the nitrates" train is that for many years (and now) many reefers strived to have ultra low nitrates and phosphates. I tend to like my nitrates at around 4-8 ppm these days, but it's not always there. Sometimes zeroed out nutrients in conjunction with other problems can end up with dinoflagellate outbreaks, but it's not a cut and dry issue.
The first thing I'd suggest if you are concerned about low nitrates is getting a test kit that's a little better at quantifying nitrates in the 0-5 ppm range. My vote is to get the Hanna nitrate checker.
This one:
www.saltwateraquarium.com
You can cut back on the hours that the skimmer is running, or add something like Brightwell aquatics neo nitro to up nitrates.
The Hanna phosphate checker is also fantastic. So much more reliable than trying to match a color to a card.
One suggestion I have is that you post a build thread to document the ins and outs of your system so that people can give feedback and try to help with full knowledge of your system. If we had a thread that documented the decline of the corals, there might be a clear issue that we could pick out.
The reason I'm not jumping right on the "it's the nitrates" train is that for many years (and now) many reefers strived to have ultra low nitrates and phosphates. I tend to like my nitrates at around 4-8 ppm these days, but it's not always there. Sometimes zeroed out nutrients in conjunction with other problems can end up with dinoflagellate outbreaks, but it's not a cut and dry issue.
The first thing I'd suggest if you are concerned about low nitrates is getting a test kit that's a little better at quantifying nitrates in the 0-5 ppm range. My vote is to get the Hanna nitrate checker.
This one:
HI782 Marine Nitrate High Range Checker - Hanna Instruments
Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.
www.saltwateraquarium.com
You can cut back on the hours that the skimmer is running, or add something like Brightwell aquatics neo nitro to up nitrates.
The Hanna phosphate checker is also fantastic. So much more reliable than trying to match a color to a card.
Good luck! Let us know how it goes! Document your tank with photos and change one thing at a time if you can, so that you will have a better idea if you're going in the right direction!
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FS - Dry Goods
Hanna Phosphate Checker AND Nitrate Checker - Brookline $120
