Lets Discuss the Nutrient Balance

[vio]

Steve u see my (150 gal.) b4, now is 220 gal. + 90 Gal. sump, I tell u you need to go bigger, reason # 1, "Greedy" not only me, you or most of the members, we keep add more Corals almost every week, months, in natural reef, water change is in seconds, minutes, I got 70 frags + many colony's, I just screw up my BioPellets, I use to have one old (in the tank) I removed to early, I start again , I go dif. now, I will run two (1/2 a way one) then anything go wrong (pump, strainer etc.) I still have the "back up" to avoid the PO4 go crazy, my goal is to got Rick "eyes" to monitor the tank dif. way , NOT to trust the Hanna egg, but will take me some time lol. I think I am in right direction.

 

[SteveZ15]

It Definately Looks Like You Hit The mark. Tanks Looks Awesome.

 

[reefer4eva]

Tagging along (if it stays on topic)GFO to me was doing more harm than good (almost bleaching the colors or pastel look to them)not that I'm saying the GFO was to blame but that was the only thing I changed differently with my tank.and the special blend without a doubt is doing the job in my tank.i use to vodka dose only to maintain NO4 till I achieved the NO4 levels low enough to where I wanted them.

 

[vio]

Tagging along (if it stays on topic)GFO to me was doing more harm than good (almost bleaching the colors or pastel look to them)not that I'm saying the GFO was to blame but that was the only thing I changed differently with my tank.and the special blend without a doubt is doing the job in my tank.i use to vodka dose only to maintain NO4 till I achieved the NO4 levels low enough to where I wanted them.[/


Good point, i run Biopeletts, i give up on GFO, i use less then i need , so NOT 0.00 PO4 . I try Ozone dose just to see some #, 0.002 -0.008 , let's see.

 

[SteveZ15]

I saw much improvement after removing gfo. The nitrates been around 5 and phos .04 .. Everything looks alive again a few monti I thought were dead tiny little dots are now the size of a Snapple cap. Stuff was almost pure white has color. The caps I got from rich same color and grew some. A few tiny spots of algae here and there but ill live with it. I under estimated the tanks filtration. Only skimmer and feed 2x a day ,5 gal change every week and been keeping these numbers. Ill e real happy if I can keep the tank this way for a few months,It would look like a real tank again, The only problem I cant grow cheato don't know why. I wanna put a mangrove or two in there to keep phos from sneaking up.

 

[reefer4eva]

Tagging along (if it stays on topic)GFO to me was doing more harm than good (almost bleaching the colors or pastel look to them)not that I'm saying the GFO was to blame but that was the only thing I changed differently with my tank.and the special blend without a doubt is doing the job in my tank.i use to vodka dose only to maintain NO4 till I achieved the NO4 levels low enough to where I wanted them.[/



it's been months without gfo...no sign of algae I clean the glass maybe once or twice a week (not that it really needs it)only thing I changed was the lighting for the fuge..I went with a 54 watt par38 that been growing chaeto like crazy!Steve I had the same problem as you growing macros till I put this bulb in (only white and blue on the par38 )best $30 I ever spent


Good point, i run Biopeletts, i give up on GFO, i use less then i need , so NOT 0.00 PO4 . I try Ozone dose just to see some #, 0.002 -0.008 , let's see.

 

[SteveZ15]

If I Knew If I CoulD Sustain It I Would Like To Add A Display.FugE With All Kinds Of Algae Pipe Fish And All The Cool Wierd stuff

 

[Mattl22]

I'm gonna add a bunch of Lr rubble to my tank as well as a cheto ball to my 60 gal fuge
I just added to my 220 I'm hoping the Lr will help the bacteria balance and macro to use up no3 and po4
Hoping to eliminate the need for carbon dosing or atleast only need to add sm mout of vinegar

 

[SteveZ15]

I HavenT Used Chemi Pure Since.The Redo Of The Tank. If I Use It Will.It Lower Nitrate I Dont Want That.

 

[iliriano]

tagging alone need some insight on po4, have a problem with then but not no3.

 

[vio]

I'm gonna add a bunch of Lr rubble to my tank as well as a cheto ball to my 60 gal fuge
I just added to my 220 I'm hoping the Lr will help the bacteria balance and macro to use up no3 and po4
Hoping to eliminate the need for carbon dosing or atleast only need to add sm mout of vinegar

Not sure, if just add more LR will balance the Bacteria, you still to compensate, Protein Skimmer remove some ( dead and alive) water change will remove some, bacteria die, some corals may use etc. so you still need some Carbon to dose, Biopeletts, Vodka, Vinegar, Sugar etc. also not sure if add rubble is good (you may trap more Detritus), i will add just more LR if u got room.

 

[mbg75]

I'm gonna add a bunch of Lr rubble to my tank as well as a cheto ball to my 60 gal fuge
I just added to my 220 I'm hoping the Lr will help the bacteria balance and macro to use up no3 and po4
Hoping to eliminate the need for carbon dosing or atleast only need to add sm mout of vinegar

Put the rubble in a mesh bag so you can shake out the detritus

 

[stazitto25]

Great thread Jackson. I have been struggling with the nutrient balance as I have undetectable nitrates and phosphates, which is what I thought I should have until recently.

My question in trying to cautiously raise my nitrates in my new reef tank is what would be the ideal nitrate level? My nitrates test at .2ppm or undetectable and I am unsure what to raise it to. I have read so many threads online in which people go back and forth between .2ppm as being "ideal" or 2ppm being the ideal range. Judging by how nice your tank looks I would appreciate your input!

 

[jackson6745]

Great thread Jackson. I have been struggling with the nutrient balance as I have undetectable nitrates and phosphates, which is what I thought I should have until recently.

My question in trying to cautiously raise my nitrates in my new reef tank is what would be the ideal nitrate level? My nitrates test at .2ppm or undetectable and I am unsure what to raise it to. I have read so many threads online in which people go back and forth between .2ppm as being "ideal" or 2ppm being the ideal range. Judging by how nice your tank looks I would appreciate your input!

Thanks, glad this thread could be of help. I'm not really sure what the ideal nitrate level is. I recently had my skimmer pump fail so I went unskimmed for a week while waiting for a replacement pump. My nitrates are now somewhere between 25-50ppm. Some of my colors are freakin amazing right now. In the past I would had had a heart attack with readings this high. I do notice that one of my mills has brown polyps now masking the color. Growth tips on a few corals seemed to taper off a little. I am in the process of lowering nitrate back down to 10ppm-20ppm level. That seems to be the best place in my system I think. This also depends on how bright your lighting is and what your po4 level is. My po4 is .-04 right now.

 

[stazitto25]

I think my game plan is going to be to slowly raise my nitrates until I start seeing some better color and growth. Some acros are growing moderately well with growth tips and great color. Others are pale and still. It's funny you mentioned lights. I moved some of my paler SPS off to the sides of the tank away from my ATI T5 and within a month they colored back up. I am thinking the lights are too bright for the amount of nutrients available in the tank.

 

[jackson6745]

lights are too bright for the amount of nutrients available in the tank.

This is part of the balance. The more zooxanthellae that a corals has, the more light it will tolerate or need to grow and maintain or gain color. You got the right idea.

 

[stazitto25]

Sweet, thanks for the pep talk!

 

[Dk638]

Finally raised my nitrates to 7.5 and po4 is now .04. Seeing some growth now from my montis. I had a starburst cap that had totally bleached out and now is getting it's red color back. No growth from the acros yet but color had improved. I also removed my filter socks, I suspected they were leaving residue from the washing machine and contaminating my tank, May or may not have been true but wanted to eliminate any chance(thanks duke). Also changed my lights to kessils but don't think that's the reason my corals are turning around although i do like the lights.(please no led bashing lol). I'll post some pics later when lights are on.

 

[SteveZ15]

IN my tank it seems like when nitrate goes below 5 color starts to fade. I been shutting my skimmer for 6 hr a day this seems to help but its hard to keep 5-10 without making phos raise.

 

[vio]

IN my tank it seems like when nitrate goes below 5 color starts to fade. I been shutting my skimmer for 6 hr a day this seems to help but its hard to keep 5-10 without making phos raise.

Did u try to grow some Macro Algae ? (Chaeto) if u need i give (free) Vio.