Neptune Aquatics

I need nitrates.

Bruce Spiegelman

Bruce Spiegelman

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It's driving me crazy. My SPS tank is running with zero nitrates and zero phosphates and I can't get it up! It's an all wrasse tank so I feed it 3-4 times a day. I run the skimmer only at night and I'm leery of running it less simply because of the other benefits of turning over the water.

The tank has roughly a four gallon refugium that I'm guessing is working overtime -- although it's not growing Chaeto particularly fast. I haven't had to harvest any yet although it's almost full now. The Chaeto is healthy and a nice green. I feed the pods and the Chaeto once a week with Phyto and rotifers.

SPS is growing well and healthy -- best PE extension I've ever gotten. Colors look great on most colors although the Walt Disney isn't getting much in the way of pinks and blues and the Bubblegum Digi doesn't have yellow tips.

Thoughts?
 
Easy, just don't change water, clean the tank, or even look at it :)
Sounds like you got a perfect tank syndrome.
 
I have the same issue. Does anyone Know about dosing stump remover?
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I don’t know. I really suspect you are just going to get more anaerobic bacteria in your marine pure thingy. I have been target feeding my corals reefroids every night and it’s really boosted growth. Probably also adds to nitrates :)
 
I had a marinepure plate, but after removing it, I had no difference in NO3/PO4. I suspect it does help with NO3, but not even a blip with my tank.

I use food grade Sodium Nitrate and Trisodium Phosphate to dose.
 
Bruce Spiegelman said:
It's driving me crazy. My SPS tank is running with zero nitrates and zero phosphates and I can't get it up! It's an all wrasse tank so I feed it 3-4 times a day. I run the skimmer only at night and I'm leery of running it less simply because of the other benefits of turning over the water.

The tank has roughly a four gallon refugium that I'm guessing is working overtime -- although it's not growing Chaeto particularly fast. I haven't had to harvest any yet although it's almost full now. The Chaeto is healthy and a nice green. I feed the pods and the Chaeto once a week with Phyto and rotifers.

SPS is growing well and healthy -- best PE extension I've ever gotten. Colors look great on most colors although the Walt Disney isn't getting much in the way of pinks and blues and the Bubblegum Digi doesn't have yellow tips.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Yes, a big thought - DON'T MESS WITH IT.
Things are growing great, why chase numbers and fix what is not broken.
 
Sounds to me like you have it dialed in perfectly, just like the ocean. All the nutrients you put in are being consumed and your corals are doing great.


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rygh said:
Yes, a big thought - DON'T MESS WITH IT.
Things are growing great, why chase numbers and fix what is not broken.
Click to expand...

Ok... that's a voice of reason. The only reason I obsess about it is because I can't get yellow tips on my Bubble Gum Digitata which is a personal favorite. :) I'll leave it alone. Thx.
 
Bruce Spiegelman said:
Ok... that's a voice of reason. The only reason I obsess about it is because I can't get yellow tips on my Bubble Gum Digitata which is a personal favorite. :) I'll leave it alone. Thx.
Click to expand...
Yes, you’re fine. Keep doing what you’re doing.

If you must do something, I’d recommend doing nothing; meaning, don’t do any more water changes (like was previously mentioned). Keep an eye on things but if your chaeto and skimmer can keep up the nutrient export then you can skip WCs altogether. You will want to start dosing trace elements though, but that’s way easier than doing WCs.
 
Bruce Spiegelman said:
Ok... that's a voice of reason. The only reason I obsess about it is because I can't get yellow tips on my Bubble Gum Digitata which is a personal favorite. :) I'll leave it alone. Thx.
Click to expand...

Have you tried moving your digi around the tank a bit. More light, less light, more flow, less flow, etc, etc? I have had some corals do NOTHING in my tank. Then I move it, to put something in that will look nice, and BOOM!! It grows like crazy and colors up. It’s tough, because real estate is like gold, but it could be why it’s not 100% happy.


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While I typically agree if nothing is wrong you shouldn't change anything, I can tell you that my personal experience with an ULNS (I registered zero NO3 & PO4 at some point as well) that things grew great for a few months in the beginning then over time all my acros started to get very pale and then look like they stopped growing. I also had to be careful not to get my alk too high because of low nutrients otherwise I'd start seeing burnt tips and even STN. Your experience may differ, but I can tell you that I'm not a fan of registering zero N03 and PO4 on tests anymore.
 
RandyC said:
While I typically agree if nothing is wrong you shouldn't change anything, I can tell you that my personal experience with an ULNS (I registered zero NO3 & PO4 at some point as well) that things grew great for a few months in the beginning then over time all my acros started to get very pale and then look like they stopped growing. I also had to be careful not to get my alk too high because of low nutrients otherwise I'd start seeing burnt tips and even STN. Your experience may differ, but I can tell you that I'm not a fan of registering zero N03 and PO4 on tests anymore.
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Not trying to jinx it, but I was zero NO3/PO4 and developed dinoflagellates. SPS were doing great, but now dead =(
 
Don’t fix what is not broken. If you want to keep your feed amounts n still have nitrates so, drop your fuge light times or drop your main lights a little.


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