Euphyilla help

Do u know your no3? I know the first couple years I had my tank setup my lps didn’t thrive. They survived & looked ok. They grew but very slowly. Sps was the same way. Zoas would just stay the same or slowly wither away over the coarse of 6 months or so.

When I set that tank up is when all u would read was to keep no3 & po4 as low & close to 0 as possible. Every time I tested no3 or po4 they where 0, so I thought I was doing the right thing. I would use gfo even though I didn’t have a problem with po4, which proved to be a mistake. I religiously did water changes & skimmer heavy. All during that time I fed the corals, my lps would eat just about anything & they love mysis. I think it may have helped but they still weren’t thriving.

I finally figured I would raise my nutrients so I started dosing no3. Over the coarse of a month or so I dosed & sure enough everything looked better. I didn’t want to continue dosing long term so I added a few more fish. Hammers, frogspawn & torches that I had for years looked better then ever.

I ended up getting Dino in that tank so I stopped water changes. After about 2 months of no water changes growth of my coral started to explode. At that point my no3 had risen to 5ppm & all my lps, zoas & sps looked the best they ever had & where growing dramatically faster then before.

I’m not advocating for not doing water changes, that is just what it took me to get my no3 up to 5 ppm. My no3 stayed at 1 ppm for a long time before I got Dino & everything looked great then & growth was also pretty good. Once it got to 5 ppm my lps exploded & my sps seem to be about the same as when it was 1 ppm. I don’t necessarily shoot for specific numbers but I do make sure that I don’t 0 out on my test kits & keep some nutrients in the tank. It took me a long time to figure out that was my problem because all I read was to keep nutrients as low as possible. All tanks are different though. Some may thrive at 1 ppm no3 & some it may be a little higher.
 
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Do u know your no3? I know the first couple years I had my tank setup my lps didn't thrive. They survived & looked ok. They grew but very slowly. Sps was the same way. Zoas would just stay the same or slowly wither away over the coarse of 6 months or so.

When I set that tank up is when all u would read was to keep no3 & po4 as low & close to 0 as possible. Every time I tested no3 or po4 they where 0, so I thought I was doing the right thing. I would use gfo even though I didn't have a problem with po4, which proved to be a mistake. I religiously did water changes & skimmer heavy. All during that time I fed the corals, my lps would eat just about anything & they love mysis. I think it may have helped but they still weren't thriving.

I finally figured I would raise my nutrients so I started dosing no3. Over the coarse of a month or so I dosed & sure enough everything looked better. I didn't want to continue dosing long term so I added a few more fish. Hammers, frogspawn & torches that I had for years looked better then ever.

I ended up getting Dino in that tank so I stopped water changes. After about 2 months of no water changes growth of my coral started to explode. At that point my no3 had risen to 5ppm & all my lps, zoas & sps looked the best they ever had & where growing dramatically faster then before.

I'm not advocating for not doing water changes, that is just what it took me to get my no3 up to 5 ppm. My no3 stayed at 1 ppm for a long time before I got Dino & everything looked great then & growth was also pretty good. Once it got to 5 ppm my lps exploded & my sps seem to be about the same as when it was 1 ppm. I don't necessarily shoot for specific numbers but I do make sure that I don't 0 out on my test kits & keep some nutrients in the tank. It took me a long time to figure out that was my problem because all I read was to keep nutrients as low as possible. All tanks are different though. Some may thrive at 1 ppm no3 & some it may be a little higher.



For some reason this resonates with me big time!!!! I do all I can to keep levels low and it was programmed in me from when I had my tank 15 years ago. I only have 4 small fish and have not even used two sleeves of food. I'm kinda obsessive about it. Several people have said nutrients need to increase and now that is that plan!!! Thank you all and this has kind of been a Ah Ha moment for me. Thank you!!


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For some reason this resonates with me big time!!!! I do all I can to keep levels low and it was programmed in me from when I had my tank 15 years ago. I only have 4 small fish and have not even used two sleeves of food. I'm kinda obsessive about it. Several people have said nutrients need to increase and now that is that plan!!! Thank you all and this has kind of been a Ah Ha moment for me. Thank you!!


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Also wondered why my tank looked great for a day after maintenance and it is probably because I stir up things that benefits the corals. I assumed it was due to new salt and trace elements. Totally rethinking that.


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Do u know your no3? I know the first couple years I had my tank setup my lps didn't thrive. They survived & looked ok. They grew but very slowly. Sps was the same way. Zoas would just stay the same or slowly wither away over the coarse of 6 months or so.

When I set that tank up is when all u would read was to keep no3 & po4 as low & close to 0 as possible. Every time I tested no3 or po4 they where 0, so I thought I was doing the right thing. I would use gfo even though I didn't have a problem with po4, which proved to be a mistake. I religiously did water changes & skimmer heavy. All during that time I fed the corals, my lps would eat just about anything & they love mysis. I think it may have helped but they still weren't thriving.

I finally figured I would raise my nutrients so I started dosing no3. Over the coarse of a month or so I dosed & sure enough everything looked better. I didn't want to continue dosing long term so I added a few more fish. Hammers, frogspawn & torches that I had for years looked better then ever.

I ended up getting Dino in that tank so I stopped water changes. After about 2 months of no water changes growth of my coral started to explode. At that point my no3 had risen to 5ppm & all my lps, zoas & sps looked the best they ever had & where growing dramatically faster then before.

I'm not advocating for not doing water changes, that is just what it took me to get my no3 up to 5 ppm. My no3 stayed at 1 ppm for a long time before I got Dino & everything looked great then & growth was also pretty good. Once it got to 5 ppm my lps exploded & my sps seem to be about the same as when it was 1 ppm. I don't necessarily shoot for specific numbers but I do make sure that I don't 0 out on my test kits & keep some nutrients in the tank. It took me a long time to figure out that was my problem because all I read was to keep nutrients as low as possible. All tanks are different though. Some may thrive at 1 ppm no3 & some it may be a little higher.







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Do u know your no3? I know the first couple years I had my tank setup my lps didn't thrive. They survived & looked ok. They grew but very slowly. Sps was the same way. Zoas would just stay the same or slowly wither away over the coarse of 6 months or so.

When I set that tank up is when all u would read was to keep no3 & po4 as low & close to 0 as possible. Every time I tested no3 or po4 they where 0, so I thought I was doing the right thing. I would use gfo even though I didn't have a problem with po4, which proved to be a mistake. I religiously did water changes & skimmer heavy. All during that time I fed the corals, my lps would eat just about anything & they love mysis. I think it may have helped but they still weren't thriving.

I finally figured I would raise my nutrients so I started dosing no3. Over the coarse of a month or so I dosed & sure enough everything looked better. I didn't want to continue dosing long term so I added a few more fish. Hammers, frogspawn & torches that I had for years looked better then ever.

I ended up getting Dino in that tank so I stopped water changes. After about 2 months of no water changes growth of my coral started to explode. At that point my no3 had risen to 5ppm & all my lps, zoas & sps looked the best they ever had & where growing dramatically faster then before.

I'm not advocating for not doing water changes, that is just what it took me to get my no3 up to 5 ppm. My no3 stayed at 1 ppm for a long time before I got Dino & everything looked great then & growth was also pretty good. Once it got to 5 ppm my lps exploded & my sps seem to be about the same as when it was 1 ppm. I don't necessarily shoot for specific numbers but I do make sure that I don't 0 out on my test kits & keep some nutrients in the tank. It took me a long time to figure out that was my problem because all I read was to keep nutrients as low as possible. All tanks are different though. Some may thrive at 1 ppm no3 & some it may be a little higher.



Sorry I forgot to answer your question. I always test 0 on no3. I don't even test on it anymore. That is with a cheap test kit so today I ordered a new po4 test kit based on mcgyver's recommendation and will do same for no3.


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Yea, I used to strain my frozen food before putting it into the tank. I would feed very little at a time to make sure it all got eaten. I would do a 20% water change weekly & I used gfo in a reactor when I didn’t have any po4. I also only had 2 small fish in my 40 breeder. It took me 2 years to figure it out but doing all of that with only 2 small fish was my problem. I believe it is also what caused me to get Dino in the tank.

I now have 5 fish & feed heavily without straining the food & actually add more food then they can eat on purpose. Slowed down on water changes & now I can keep some nutrients in the tank. My no3 has never got above 5ppm.

If u choose to try & raise them I would start slow. I would stop using gfo. It can really do more harm then good if u just use it to use it & don’t have a problem with po4. Then u will have to decide how u want to go about raising them. I would start by feeding more & see if that does any good. If they have a couple fish u want then add a couple fish. If u find u still can’t get anything to register on a test kit, u can try dosing no3.

As far as test kits, I like both salifert & Red Sea pro for no3. Red Sea is more presise, so u can tell the difference between say 1 ppm & 2 ppm. Salifert is easier to use but not as precise. I don’t think needing the exact number is very important. On salifert I just shoot for a little color & I’m ok, as long as it’s not clear. I use Hanna phosphorus checker for po4.
 
Yea, I used to strain my frozen food before putting it into the tank. I would feed very little at a time to make sure it all got eaten. I would do a 20% water change weekly & I used gfo in a reactor when I didn't have any po4. I also only had 2 small fish in my 40 breeder. It took me 2 years to figure it out but doing all of that with only 2 small fish was my problem. I believe it is also what caused me to get Dino in the tank.

I now have 5 fish & feed heavily without straining the food & actually add more food then they can eat on purpose. Slowed down on water changes & now I can keep some nutrients in the tank. My no3 has never got above 5ppm.

If u choose to try & raise them I would start slow. I would stop using gfo. It can really do more harm then good if u just use it to use it & don't have a problem with po4. Then u will have to decide how u want to go about raising them. I would start by feeding more & see if that does any good. If they have a couple fish u want then add a couple fish. If u find u still can't get anything to register on a test kit, u can try dosing no3.

As far as test kits, I like both salifert & Red Sea pro for no3. Red Sea is more presise, so u can tell the difference between say 1 ppm & 2 ppm. Salifert is easier to use but not as precise. I don't think needing the exact number is very important. On salifert I just shoot for a little color & I'm ok, as long as it's not clear. I use Hanna phosphorus checker for po4.



I was straining my frozen food also. I think I have a plan. No GFO, feed heavy and add a fish or two. Still debating filter socks as I do change every 3 days and don't want to change to many things at once.


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I was straining my frozen food also. I think I have a plan. No GFO, feed heavy and add a fish or two. Still debating filter socks as I do change every 3 days and don't want to change to many things at once.


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I say start heavy feeding and add fish. Then slowly take GFO offline.


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I say start heavy feeding and add fish. Then slowly take GFO offline.


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Last time I changed carbon I left out GFO but that was only a week ago. I think I will run socks for now and re evaluate in a month to avoid to many changes. Thanks


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Yeah I'll just add to this. I had an SPS tank with low nutrients and my LPS were always fairly closed up. Still healthy though, as they were growing and splitting, but just not opening up the tissue all that much, even in low flow areas of the tank.

Due to a Dino problem I really raised up the Nitrates and Phosphates, and my LPS never looked better. I wouldn't say it was great for the SPS, though who knows how much of that was due to Dinos, but the LPS did and still look great in the high nutrient environment. I'll all add that LPS are pretty much impervious to Dinos :). I don't know what exactly the sweet spot is, but I'm sure for both LPS and SPS it is higher than nitrates of 0, and the sweet spot for LPS is probably higher than for SPS so they'll always be a compromise.

I'm not necessarily saying you should do it, but if you want to raise Nitrates and only Nitrates, you can dose it on its own and then see how your tank reacts (and you can buy it very cheaply as well... search for "stump remover"... though there are more expensive alternatives as well). If you just start feeding more you'll also be adding more phosphates and other things, which may be what you want or maybe not.
 
Yeah I'll just add to this. I had an SPS tank with low nutrients and my LPS were always fairly closed up. Still healthy though, as they were growing and splitting, but just not opening up the tissue all that much, even in low flow areas of the tank.

Due to a Dino problem I really raised up the Nitrates and Phosphates, and my LPS never looked better. I wouldn't say it was great for the SPS, though who knows how much of that was due to Dinos, but the LPS did and still look great in the high nutrient environment. I'll all add that LPS are pretty much impervious to Dinos :). I don't know what exactly the sweet spot is, but I'm sure for both LPS and SPS it is higher than nitrates of 0, and the sweet spot for LPS is probably higher than for SPS so they'll always be a compromise.

I'm not necessarily saying you should do it, but if you want to raise Nitrates and only Nitrates, you can dose it on its own and then see how your tank reacts (and you can buy it very cheaply as well... search for "stump remover"... though there are more expensive alternatives as well). If you just start feeding more you'll also be adding more phosphates and other things, which may be what you want or maybe not.



Thank you. I will start researching dosing no3 as this sounds like a possible option. Just want to take slow and purposeful.


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