Nitrate and a simple system.

[da5speed]

What are you dosing, adding or not using anymore to keep your nitrates elevated?
Levels you you keep your nitrates at?


Back in the game after 4 years. My thoughts always were clean water with zero nitrates was the best. But after a recent outbreak of Cyano Bactria I began to research more into the cemestry of balance then I did in the past.

I have a 120 tank 100 lbs of rock with a 2 inch sand bed. My lighting is 2 ocean revive led fixtures. Not high end I know but hope they will do the job for me. Sump is a 30 gal with filter socks a asm2 skimmer. Some rubble in the refugium section and a mag 18 return pump fueling the tank and 2 reactors. 1 for carbon the second for gfo. I have 2 1100 gph circulating pumps in the display.
Tank is back up now for 6 months where I cycled the tank added a hippo tank 1 clown and 2 fire fish along with a clean up crew. Corals will be a mix spa and lps.
Goal is to better understand my tank, only purchase what is needed to substain a balance for good growth and colors. I'm trying my hardest not to rush the tank. I have added a few maybe 10 sps and lps that I feel are good and hardy and that I think will visually let me know how my tank is doing. I don't have the most expensive test kits but am currently testing weekly. My only rush on the system was that I didn't connect my ro/di right away, so since I started the tank I have not done one water change and the ato is using unfiltered tap water.

 

[mcgyvr]

Single digit nitrate levels are whats commonly suggested now for best tank health/nutrient levels..

I'm always concerned when I see people mention GFO reactors. Do you have a phosphate problem? GFO can cause more harm than good when not needed..
The need for GFO typically comes because of overfeeding (or rock thats temporarily leaching phosphate)..

 

[Uncle99]

I dose NoPox (cause vodka is more expensive) daily to manage my nitrates around 5ppm and phosphate .05

Carbon dosing has worked well for me.

Other than heater, lighting, LR, and skimmer, No reactors, no sump, no fuge, just simple.

I had all this stuff before, too much work, too much time, too much noise,

All I need now is perfect water, on-point to NSW parameters, stable and consistent,regular change, dump the cup.

 

[RobZilla04]

Increase the bio load and nitrates will increase.

 

[reefgeezer]

I have a "Simple" 90 gallon... 60-ish lbs. very porous rock, skimmer, and a overflow section that, by happy accident, acts as an algae turf scrubber of sorts. The system has a lot of fish in it and I feed pretty heavily.

Don't use GFO or GAC on a regular basis.

Don't use a filter sock on a regular basis.

Don't use a fuge.

30% water changes done in small increments sporadically over a month... or all at once if I get lazy. I even skip a month once in a while.

Dose 20 ml/day of vinegar.

Add potassium nitrate (Solution of Stump Killer in RODI water) to keep nitrates above 0 to 5 ppm.

This is the way the tank runs best. It may seem weird to add nitrate & vinegar, but this keeps the carbon dosing process from becoming nitrate limited so it can control phosphate better. The carbon dosing also keeps the water clearer. I target 2.5-5 ppm of Nitrate and .03 ppm of Phosphate, but I don't get bent out of shape if it is somewhat higher at times... unless algae starts to show up too much... then it on! I hate algae.

 

[bertoni]

I agree that potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate should be fine as a nitrate supplement. I probably would skip supplementation if the tank was doing well enough, though.

 

[da5speed]

I have a "Simple" 90 gallon... 60-ish lbs. very porous rock, skimmer, and a overflow section that, by happy accident, acts as an algae turf scrubber of sorts. The system has a lot of fish in it and I feed pretty heavily.

Don't use GFO or GAC on a regular basis.

Don't use a filter sock on a regular basis.

Don't use a fuge.

30% water changes done in small increments sporadically over a month... or all at once if I get lazy. I even skip a month once in a while.

Dose 20 ml/day of vinegar.

Add potassium nitrate (Solution of Stump Killer in RODI water) to keep nitrates above 0 to 5 ppm.

This is the way the tank runs best. It may seem weird to add nitrate & vinegar, but this keeps the carbon dosing process from becoming nitrate limited so it can control phosphate better. The carbon dosing also keeps the water clearer. I target 2.5-5 ppm of Nitrate and .03 ppm of Phosphate, but I don't get bent out of shape if it is somewhat higher at times... unless algae starts to show up too much... then it on! I hate algae.

Where do you purchase your potassium nitrate? Could you tell me more about how you dosed in the beginning and how offin you dose.

 

[reefgeezer]

Where do you purchase your potassium nitrate? Could you tell me more about how you dosed in the beginning and how offin you dose.

I use Spectricide Stump Remover. It is pure Potassium Nitrate. & cheap. Buy it in the lawn & garden section @ Lowes, Home Depot, etc.. I mix 2 tablespoons in 500 ml of RODI water. It takes around 10 ml of this solution to raise my nitrates from 0 to between 2.5 & 5 ppm. Add it a couple ml at a time, wait an hour, then test to see how the levels react. Once you get to know how much it takes, you can add more at one time. I dose about once every week or two. I feed a lot but sometimes more than others so it changes. I know it's time to add nitrate when I can go more than 2 or 3 days without wiping the algae off the glass. Store the remaining in a closed container so the water doesn't evaporate.