0.25ppm Phosphate, 0 Nitrate, Algae

[sw6120]

Hello all,

I recently set up a 20 gallon long tank with 2 clownfish, a firefish, a royal gramma and a skunk cleaner shrimp. Before the 20, i had two clowns and the shrimp in a 10. I had pre cycle wet live rock in that tank and was constantly seeing nitrates.

When i switched to the 20, i transferred all the of substrate and live rick, also adding new dead live rock i got from someone on FB marketplace.

Since then, there has been an increase in brown algae on the glass, hair algae and also green algae on the substrate. After testing, i found there was 0 nitrates and 0.25ppm phosphates. My guess is that the dead live rock is releasing phosphates but im not quite sure why my nitrates are 0. I have a pretty heavy bioload and feed pretty well. I do about 25% WC every week as i dont have a skimmer.

Do you guys think that i should focus on raising nitrates or lowering phosphates. I could run something like phosguard but am worried about bottoming out both. Should i also dose nitrates?

Thanks!

 

[Spare time]

What test kits?


For supplementing nitrate, I like using amino acids (if you have corals).


I would focus more on getting a larger clean up crew over

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello all,

I recently set up a 20 gallon long tank with 2 clownfish, a firefish, a royal gramma and a skunk cleaner shrimp. Before the 20, i had two clowns and the shrimp in a 10. I had pre cycle wet live rock in that tank and was constantly seeing nitrates.

When i switched to the 20, i transferred all the of substrate and live rick, also adding new dead live rock i got from someone on FB marketplace.

Since then, there has been an increase in brown algae on the glass, hair algae and also green algae on the substrate. After testing, i found there was 0 nitrates and 0.25ppm phosphates. My guess is that the dead live rock is releasing phosphates but im not quite sure why my nitrates are 0. I have a pretty heavy bioload and feed pretty well. I do about 25% WC every week as i dont have a skimmer.

Do you guys think that i should focus on raising nitrates or lowering phosphates. I could run something like phosguard but am worried about bottoming out both. Should i also dose nitrates?

Thanks!

You likely have diatoms and can evolve from new sand, rocks, water and expired/expiring DI cartridges. Typically, diatoms consume dissolved organic compounds, phosphate and nitrates. If any tap water was used for top-off, it may have introduced silicates and started a bloom. The best way to prevent this is to use filtered water through an RODI unit.
To prevent them, practice good aquarium maintenance by doing regular water changes, keep the sandbed clean, don’t overfeed your fish, and assure your skimmer is running at an optimum and rinse out filter socks if used on a regular basis.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If nitrate is actually 0, then I'd either feed more or dose some form of N, of which many are acceptable.