After months of starving my corals I've simplified my AF additives to the point where I'm now only using ABEV, components 1,2,3, carbon, and siporax. I also exchanged my skimmer for one that has no pin wheel and is hardly rated for my tank volume. My NO3 and PO4 have been 0 by salifert, red sea, and hanna test kits. I started dosing food KNO3 to get some nitrate in the water. Within a few days my corals started growing again, my alkalinity, Mg, and Ca consumption increased and my colors got MUCH better. The flip side is I started developing a bryopsis algae which is just annoying. I've been acquiring a heavier CUC to take care of it but I'm not sure they can handle it. My question is would reintroducing bacteria /carbon dosing be a recipe for disaster at this point? The algae is annoying but I'm afraid of a giant cyano or other algae/bacteria bloom. I struggle to keep my NO3 at ~2. PO4 0 regardless of my efforts. I imagine some PO4 is in the system, but the algae is using it before it can be measured. I'm having some difficulty finding the right balance for my tank.
Dosing KNO3 with AF
- Thread starter cflow
- Start date
I think your going keep fighting yourself leaving the same amount in there tho.
Take some out & put in in a holding system like qt tank or bucket with flow & feed it to keep the bac alive till you balance where you want to be.
Adding the KNO3 is going to keep pushing your po4 back towards zero till you remove some bacteria mass or add some fish
Take some out & put in in a holding system like qt tank or bucket with flow & feed it to keep the bac alive till you balance where you want to be.
Adding the KNO3 is going to keep pushing your po4 back towards zero till you remove some bacteria mass or add some fish
I stopped dosing KNO3, removed just a few siporax rings, and added 3 very small chromis. My tank also had an algae growing on the frags racks that decided to scrub off so it couldn't use up any of the free PO4 in the tank. I tested again yesterday, NO3 5, PO4 0.06. This is a little higher than I'm comfortable with, but my PE was noticeably increased. No detrimental effects yet. Alkalinity remained within my normal range without changing dosage.
plyle02
Active member
Hi cflow,
Not sure about your CUC, but regardless of approach, it is still necessary to have ample predators of algae, as well as animals that break down waste. The most effective means of ANY algae I have seen is Mexican Red Leg Hermits. They will decimate algae. Once the rock becomes clean, more surface area for bacteria homing will become available. I am a firm believer in having a solid bristleworm population as well, I have so many that nothing goes uneaten in the tank. My rock is pristine, as the red legs constantly pick. Cucumbers are also great at keeping sand pristine. No need to use KNO3, if you have the right CUC in place, you will be able to feed more to your fish, as well as targeted coral foods without need of supplementation. At the end of the day, you have nitrates, they are just being consumed by algae. So adding KNO3 is fueling this. Get on top of the algae, and then you will have available NO3. Cheers
Not sure about your CUC, but regardless of approach, it is still necessary to have ample predators of algae, as well as animals that break down waste. The most effective means of ANY algae I have seen is Mexican Red Leg Hermits. They will decimate algae. Once the rock becomes clean, more surface area for bacteria homing will become available. I am a firm believer in having a solid bristleworm population as well, I have so many that nothing goes uneaten in the tank. My rock is pristine, as the red legs constantly pick. Cucumbers are also great at keeping sand pristine. No need to use KNO3, if you have the right CUC in place, you will be able to feed more to your fish, as well as targeted coral foods without need of supplementation. At the end of the day, you have nitrates, they are just being consumed by algae. So adding KNO3 is fueling this. Get on top of the algae, and then you will have available NO3. Cheers
