Phosphate/Nitrate in 5 Gal

[lady Neptune]

I've talked to a few people and no one says this is not real abnormal for such a small tank but I wanted to see what all you Nano experts have to say for this newbie...Feel free to voice, what I'm doing wrong/right, changes, where to put stuff, etc. Sorry this is long...

I got a Reef test kit and have been keeping track for the last month. The first 2 months I didn't test real often. I had live rock and sand & that was it.

Alk - 180-300
PH - 7.8-8.4
Nitrite - 0
KH - 179-214.8 (mostly 179 or 196.9)
Calcium - 460-500 (mostly 480 & 500)
Phos - .25-2 (this has been .25-1 three weeks)
Nitrate - 5-40 (mostly 10-20)
Daily water change of 1/2 gal = 10%
Have added 1/2 dose of Nano Reef A/B solution a couple times - not sure if I really need it.
Flame Scallop in about 4 weeks. Fish about 2 weeks in tank - added new corals etc. - feeding Phyto-Feast about 2-3 drops per day. Thought I might be overfeeding. I feed fish little bits at a time and stop when they stop going after the food.
Couple snails & red leg hermits for cleaning.

I've put in a Phos pad to try to reduce & a Nitrate pad to try to reduce it. I've tested my water before adding salt/water cond. and it's at 0.

Question?? Why wouldn't the Phos/Nitrate remover pads remove the phos/nit? I've tested water that is aerating that's just in a plain small fish tank with remover pad and carbon filter.

Question?? Pumps/filters... I've got a 5-10 gal hang on the back filter with... carbon filter, bio-filter and small piece of Nitrate & Phos remover pad in it, in that order. I also have a small underwater filter that I originally had capped and was only using it for movement but I put the filter portion on it a few days ago and put 1/2 & 1/2 phos/nitr removing pads. (you can see this in the pic on the side of the tank). My thinking was that it would help reduce, which it may have slightly. I've also put a rock in front of it because it seemed to be a little too much movement.

Last Question... My mushroom has started looking funky a couple days ago. One is sucked up but still green, the other is larger but lost some color but seems to be getting it back. The sucked up one was my clown goby's fav spot.

 

[Natsirt]

Have you checked the new water your adding into the tank?

 

[x3thelast]

what kind of nitrate/phos pads are you using? im thinking that you're over feeding with the phyto and fish food. fish should be fed a small pinch every two or so days. so every time you feed and theres food un eaten your adding more nitrate/phos to your tank (that youre trying to remove anyways). also i dont think you need to dose if you're doing daily water changes.

also what kind of water or salt water mix are you using? i hope youre not using tap water, cuz that can be the cause of your high levels.

try spot feeding your corals and scallop with a mix of misis and something like coral frenzy. (that has worked best for me) also feed sparingly! maybe like 2x or 3x a week.


if you want really clear water look into seachem's seagel and phosban.

 

[lady Neptune]

I didn't realize i had a duplicate thread going.
I use bottled water, distilled or purified by at last RO. I can't find RO DI. I test all brands before i use it. I've tried a couple different seeing if it masks a difference. I am guilty of using tap water at the beginning. I tested it as well and it's at 0.
I use instant ocean regular.
I'm not sure of the remover brand names. I got them from the sw store.
I feed frozen food for the fish.

 

[Mr Cob]

no advice here, just wanted to comment on how cool your tank looks, nice job!

 

[lady Neptune]

Oops, hit post and wasn't done
I did see the levels go up after i got the fish and first couple days. I figured i was over feeding so i cut back in amount. I literally take a straw and put in a very tiny amount. The levels dropped after i cut down but still are hanging in there.
I've heard people say that instant ocean having low calcium, mine is on the high side and always had been.

 

[lady Neptune]

no advice here, just wanted to comment on how cool your tank looks, nice job!

Thank you!