Can’t get nitrates above 0.0ppm Hanna checker

[Lasse]

is that a pun?

I´m live in Gothenburg, Sweden and we love a good pun - and this one was rather good

My aquarium has run since 2016 and its build on ecological principles. I have gone through all stages of NO3 management and today I calculate that more of more than half of my daily nitrate increase comes from internal production from accumulated organic matter by organic N being mineralized to NH4 and then nitrified to NO3. The total daily increase is between 3 - 5 mg/L NO3. I have an inbuild denitrifikation step taking hand of this production.

The high range nitrate Checker has a variation of 2 ppm

Got a reading of .8 today! Yay!

With Dan´s remark - a good figure to reach could be 3 mg/L. If so - you know that it is at least 1 mg/L

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Steven Garland]

I have maxed out on fish I don’t want to push it further. It’s 25p AIO waterbox with 4 damsels and 2 clowns. I have a lot of soft corals.

One thing I have noticed is I have a lot of pineapple sponges in the filter area not over taking the filter but they are there and I don’t mind them but I think they are taking in nutrients also.

I highly dobt your sponges are absorbing all the nutients. I feel like your tank would have to be absolutely overran by them to do so.

 

[Dburr1014]

You had no3 and it dipped to zero(or close). Up your feeding a tad and stop chasing no3. If everything looks good, your fine.

 

[cnaegler]

Try dosing ammonia

 

[jaypladook]

Hello,

As the title says I can’t get my nitrates above 0.0ppm on the Hanna checker….

I had 4.5 just a week ago, I’m even dosing neonitro.

I’ve added more hermits even.

Only change is I’ve been dosing live phytoplankton daily. Is this causing my low nitrates even with dosing!!??

Same problem here mate. Pretty sure that if all of the corals seem happy. You can just stick with your normal feeding.

Mine currently 0 po4 & 0 no3 but keeping CA, MG, and KH in range. No sign of any negative response in the past few months.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Same problem here mate. Pretty sure that if all of the corals seem happy. You can just stick with your normal feeding.

Mine currently 0 po4 & 0 no3 but keeping CA, MG, and KH in range. No sign of any negative response in the past few months.

Leaving Nitrates and Phosphates at zero may allow opportunistic organisms such as Dino's gain a foothold in a tank.

It's cheap and easy to dose to maintain a suitable level of both (around 10ppm Nitrate and 0.1ppm Phosphate).

There are multiple DIY recipes on R2R that cost pennies to make to give peace of mind.

 

[alexanderthefishlover]

So update on this. After the drop I’m now dealing with a Dino infestation once again. I’m really frustrated because things were going well for months after finally getting Dino gone. Now it’s back with a vengeance worse than I’ve ever seen before coving my corals.

I am trying to siphon it and yet nitrates are at 2ppm I have changed water because I am siphoning out the crap and I’m so frustrated once again with this saltwater hobby, I have many freshwater tanks and have NEVER experienced this BS in my life in freshwater.

 

[gbroadbridge]

So update on this. After the drop I’m now dealing with a Dino infestation once again. I’m really frustrated because things were going well for months after finally getting Dino gone. Now it’s back with a vengeance worse than I’ve ever seen before coving my corals.

I am trying to siphon it and yet nitrates are at 2ppm I have changed water because I am siphoning out the crap and I’m so frustrated once again with this saltwater hobby, I have many freshwater tanks and have NEVER experienced this BS in my life in freshwater.

It can be tough at times for sure.

All I can say is that it will go away eventually if you stick at it.

 

[alexanderthefishlover]

It can be tough at times for sure.

All I can say is that it will go away eventually if you stick at it.

I got it gone for a few months and was soooo excited and now it’s back I feel hopeless

 

[alexanderthefishlover]

It can be tough at times for sure.

All I can say is that it will go away eventually if you stick at it.

Ok so oddly enough I did a 25% water change and that seems to have helped…

I was dosing neonitro and yet not getting readings I was getting 0.0 for a few days.

Yet, the hair algae began growing out of control, what I assumed was Dino was taking over as a slimy brown coating, yet today after a large water change my nitrates are still 2.0 ppm and the alage seems to be at bay.


The hair alage is pretty much gone already, and the brown slime is there but hardly spreading.

How odd. I stopped dosing amino acids and the phyto also because I’m sure that screwed things up since everything was going great before and I finally had coralline algae growing.

Back to the old ways.

Hopefully someone can’t explain why all the nitrate I dosed went undetected while dosing Live phyto yet was obviously still in the tank feeding algae etc.

 

[alexanderthefishlover]

Can cyano be brown in colour? Because, what I have is worse with the nitrates higher and phos present. I always hear people saying Dino goes away with nitrates and phos + uv all now with I have balanced once again?

Yet, this grown stuff starts on the sand, like dust at first eventually becoming mushy looking but no air bubbles just slimy. It’s brown it’s not red and it looks like cyano to me based on my experience with freshwater blue green algae.

I decided to does Fritz slime out that I had on hand to see if it helps.

Everyone says cyano is red in marine water…. Can it actually be brown also??

 

[gbroadbridge]

Can cyano be brown in colour? Because, what I have is worse with the nitrates higher and phos present. I always hear people saying Dino goes away with nitrates and phos + uv all now with I have balanced once again?

Yet, this grown stuff starts on the sand, like dust at first eventually becoming mushy looking but no air bubbles just slimy. It’s brown it’s not red and it looks like cyano to me based on my experience with freshwater blue green algae.

I decided to does Fritz slime out that I had on hand to see if it helps.

Everyone says cyano is red in marine water…. Can it actually be brown also??

Ummn, photo under white light.

 

[CHSUB]

Without injecting my personal opinion, I would suggest you purchase Julian Sprung Reef book volume 1 and follow the advice on reef keeping and maintenance. I would lend you mine if local. You are getting confusing and conflicting advice here that seems to be leading to frustration. After reading cover to cover you could use Reef to Reef forums to fill in any questions.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Without injecting my personal opinion, I would suggest you purchase Julian Sprung Reef book volume 1 and follow the advice on reef keeping and maintenance. I would lend you mine if local. You are getting confusing and conflicting advice here that seems to be leading to frustration. After reading cover to cover you could use Reef to Reef forums to fill in any questions.

That book was published 30 years ago and is way out of date.

 

[exnisstech]

That book was published 30 years ago and is way out of date.

The basic haven't changed that much and reading several of the OPs threads it sounds like the basics is what he is missing out on. JMO

 

[CHSUB]

That book was published 30 years ago and is way out of date.

The info in the book makes for successful reef aquariums. A large majority of the advice given here is conflicting and provided by inexperienced hobbyists, some being complete garbage.

 

[alexanderthefishlover]

Ummn, photo under white light.

As requested and it grows fast

 

[alexanderthefishlover]

Ummn, photo under white light.

I’m also running two UV machines in the 25p AIO one in the sumo area of the AIO and one in the tank and it’s not helping. The Fritz slime out isn’t doing jack right now usually in freshwater it stops it spreading immediately what’s there is there but more doesn’t grow. This keeps coming back.

I’m about to buy Dino X

 

[alexanderthefishlover]

and it grows up the glass