Adding NeoPhos to bring down nitrates

[Zirco]

My tank's been up for about 2 months now. After cycling my nitrates were at about 100 ppm. I've done a couple of water changes and they are now down to around 25 but I'd like to bring them down even further.

My phosphates have been 0 since I set up the tank. I've measured that with both the Red Sea test kit and the Hanna checker. Not surprisingly I don't have a lot of algae in the tank. I do have a bit of Chaeto in the sump that has grown from golf ball size to baseball size.

I've only got two baby clowns in the tank so my feeding is minimal.

I'm wondering if the lack of phosphate is keeping the Chaeto from growing and absorbing the nitrates. I'm tempted to add phosphate (NeoPhos) directly to test this theory but I'm worried about getting a lot more algae in the DT. Any thoughts about the wisdom or foolishness of this strategy?

 

[Jone]

Do you have any noticiable algae in the DT?
Usually people dose NO3 to bring PO4 down,,I myself dose both in the past because I NEVER had a reading on a PO4 test yet,,but I have noticable algae in my DTs as a result of dosing PO4..so there has to be some PO4,,I keep dose my NO3 to 4ppm and keeps falling weekly.I do not dose PO4 no more..(NEOPHOS product)
Possibly Iron defficiantcey.. for a thought

 

[nmotz]

As long as you have a good skimmer, I'd recommend vinegar dosing instead: http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium

Adding phosphate isn't going to help your chaeto grow anymore I don't think. You might look into increasing the photoperiod in the sump or improving the quality of your sump light.

Remember to clean out your filter socks regularly as that can leach nitrates into the water. You might also try adding a marinpure block (not the spheres) because they are rumored to have de-nitrification capacity. Good luck!

 

[Zirco]

Do you have any noticiable algae in the DT?
Usually people dose NO3 to bring PO4 down...

The algae in the tank is noticeable but pretty minimal. Seems like dosing NO3 to reduce PO4 is the same principle I'm considering.

As long as you have a good skimmer, I'd recommend vinegar dosing instead: http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium

Adding phosphate isn't going to help your chaeto grow anymore I don't think. You might look into increasing the photoperiod in the sump or improving the quality of your sump light.

Remember to clean out your filter socks regularly as that can leach nitrates into the water. You might also try adding a marinpure block (not the spheres) because they are rumored to have de-nitrification capacity. Good luck!

I'll consider the vinegar. I already have a MarinePure block and I think it may already be helping with de-nitrification so perhaps all it needs is a slight boost from some added carbon. I have a decent skimmer but being new to all this I'm still learning how to tune it.

Running my refugium light 24/7 and using a grow light bulb. And replacing my socks every 3 days.

 

[CStrickland]

It can take a couple of months for the denitrifying bacteria to settle into a groove.
25 ppm nitrate isn't going to hurt anything, I'd give the tank another month or two to find its own balance before you start dosing and chasing numbers. The first 6 months are unstable, and you will see algae. It's part of the system stabilizing itself. IMO there's more risk than reward in interfering with that process.

PS hey Boston! the Boston reefers society is totes worth joining. They aren't active on here, but their own little forum is a good resource and they have regular meetings.

 

[Zirco]

It can take a couple of months for the denitrifying bacteria to settle into a groove.
25 ppm nitrate isn't going to hurt anything, I'd give the tank another month or two to find its own balance before you start dosing and chasing numbers. The first 6 months are unstable, and you will see algae. It's part of the system stabilizing itself. IMO there's more risk than reward in interfering with that process.

Good advice, no doubt. Then I saw Richard Ross's video What's Up with Phosphate and it made me think that my corals aren't going to be happy with 0 phosphates. So I gave in to my tinkering side and yesterday added enough NeoPhos to raise the phosphates to 0.02. By today phosphates were back down to 0.

PS hey Boston! the Boston reefers society is totes worth joining. They aren't active on here, but their own little forum is a good resource and they have regular meetings.

Joined two months ago and I've been to the most recent two meetings. Won't be able to make the next one unfortunately but, yeah, enjoying it a lot.

 

[Zirco]

Well, I dosed NeoPhos 4 times and still my phosphates are at 0. Given how imprecise the nitrate tests are, it's tough to tell if my nitrates have gone down.

But there's definitely a lot more algae in my tank now including this nasty stuff:

https://goo.gl/photos/mzaFTsDEacsMqVmh8

 

[Jone]

quit dosing neophos,,been there done that..the tank is 2 monthes old and stil has ALOT of maturing to do..
If your concerned about nitrates,,do more water changes,,smaller but more frequent..

 

[CStrickland]

But there's definitely a lot more algae in my tank now including this nasty stuff:
https://goo.gl/photos/mzaFTsDEacsMqVmh8

That's just cyano. It's part of the balance of your tank to have some in there, but it's common to see an ugly bloom of it when things get out of balance. Getting creative with carbon dosing often causes it to go nuts, but sometimes it just happens for no reason too. Cyano is pretty opportunistic.

not to :deadhorse1: but the best thing to do is probably knock off the magic potions and let your tank mature. Try to pull as much of it out as you can grab or suck up with a hose during water changes. If that doesn't work there's a good thread in the setting up sticky about how to go about blacking out your tank for a few days. Skimming wet can help too.

 

[Zirco]

Yup, I stopped with the dosing. The cyano has stabilized and it's not too bad so I'll just leave it be for now. Added a bunch of snails as I really had a pretty minimal clean-up crew.

FWIW, nitrates tested at around 10 ppm today. I did do a 20% water change but that can't account for the entire drop. Could have been the NeoPhos. Or it could be the extra cheato I added to the fuge. Or perhaps the MarinePure block might finally be hosting some denitrifiers.

Phosphates still 0 though.

 

[Zirco]

Went on vacation for two weeks and when I came back the stringy cyano was gone. Also my nitrates are down to 5 ppm. The new Chaeto I added to the fuge went from about 3 inches in diameter to about 8 inches!

I did dose a bit of iron before I went on vacation, as my previous Chaeto never really grew and had turned quite yellow. Whether that helped or not is hard to say but it's great to finally see the Chaeto growing and to see my nitrates going down.