Help Needed with High Phosphates and Nitrates in My AIO Landen 26g 60p Reef Tank!

[Salt_ee]

Hey fellow reefers!

I’m reaching out for some advice on managing high phosphates and nitrates in my Landen 26g 60p AIO reef tank. I’ve been struggling with these parameters for a while (newish to the hobby -18mo with no prior experience). I could really use your expertise!

**Tank Setup:**
- **Chamber Layout (Left to Right):**
- **Chamber 1 (Intake):**
- Egg crate media basket (self-manufactured) with three levels:
1. Filter Floss
2. Chemipure Elite
3. Bio Media Balls
- Also houses the heater set at 78°F.

- **Chamber 2 (Refugium):**
- Innovative Marine caddy with copepods motel on the bottom and Chaeto above.
- JBJ refugium light glowing through tinted glass - running at night only and seems to be growing chaeto already.

- **Chamber 3 (Return):**
- ATO connected to a 5-gallon container mixed with kalkwasser.
- Upgraded from the 185g to a 265 g/h return pump for better circulation.

**Lighting & Flow:**
- Nicrew 100W light set 9" above the water, on a 12-hour schedule.
- Two Jebao wave makers (SLW-10 & SOW-4) for optimal flow (still experimenting with placement).


**Feeding Routine:**
- Feed Rod's frozen mix every other day, dry mysis shrimp every three days, and live brine shrimp every other day (just started these but the fish are LOVING them).

**Fish & Cleanup Crew:**
- Mocha Clown, Cardinal, Cowfish, Yellow Watchman Goby, and a Cleaner Shrimp.
- CUC includes 10 Nasarius snails and 5 Trochus snails.

**Coral Situation:**
- I currently have 26 corals, but I’ve had a rough history with coral growth and losses. The tank has even been dubbed "Death Row" due to previous losses!

Despite doing 20-30% water changes weekly and having a healthy-looking tank, my phosphates and nitrates remain stubbornly high. I’ve tried skipping feedings, running a protein skimmer, and I’m only two weeks into using the refugium, but the phosphates just keep climbing slowly - was up to .5 phosphates and .3 nitrates. Hanna test kits for Alkalinity, Nitrates and Phosphates, Salifert for everything else.

**Any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong?** I’m eager to hear your suggestions or experiences. Thanks in advance for your help, I am extremely hooked into the hobby and admittedly have entirely too much free time on my hands at the moment so I am most likely being impatient and tinkering WAY too much. I’ll be posting more pictures of the newly added corals tomorrow!

***I am not dosing anything except Chaetogro. Would love to keep it that way if possible - aiming at getting to minimal water changes / natural filtration if possible (eventually).

Looking forward to your insights!

 

[revhtree]

Welcome to your new home for saltwater reef aquarium resources and fun! Welcome to the family!

 

[1112-425XL]

 

[phillyb614]

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey fellow reefers!

I’m reaching out for some advice on managing high phosphates and nitrates in my Landen 26g 60p AIO reef tank. I’ve been struggling with these parameters for a while (newish to the hobby -18mo with no prior experience). I could really use your expertise!

**Tank Setup:**
- **Chamber Layout (Left to Right):**
- **Chamber 1 (Intake):**
- Egg crate media basket (self-manufactured) with three levels:
1. Filter Floss
2. Chemipure Elite
3. Bio Media Balls
- Also houses the heater set at 78°F.

- **Chamber 2 (Refugium):**
- Innovative Marine caddy with copepods motel on the bottom and Chaeto above.
- JBJ refugium light glowing through tinted glass - running at night only and seems to be growing chaeto already.

- **Chamber 3 (Return):**
- ATO connected to a 5-gallon container mixed with kalkwasser.
- Upgraded from the 185g to a 265 g/h return pump for better circulation.

**Lighting & Flow:**
- Nicrew 100W light set 9" above the water, on a 12-hour schedule.
- Two Jebao wave makers (SLW-10 & SOW-4) for optimal flow (still experimenting with placement).


**Feeding Routine:**
- Feed Rod's frozen mix every other day, dry mysis shrimp every three days, and live brine shrimp every other day (just started these but the fish are LOVING them).

**Fish & Cleanup Crew:**
- Mocha Clown, Cardinal, Cowfish, Yellow Watchman Goby, and a Cleaner Shrimp.
- CUC includes 10 Nasarius snails and 5 Trochus snails.

**Coral Situation:**
- I currently have 26 corals, but I’ve had a rough history with coral growth and losses. The tank has even been dubbed "Death Row" due to previous losses!

Despite doing 20-30% water changes weekly and having a healthy-looking tank, my phosphates and nitrates remain stubbornly high. I’ve tried skipping feedings, running a protein skimmer, and I’m only two weeks into using the refugium, but the phosphates just keep climbing slowly - was up to .5 phosphates and .3 nitrates. Hanna test kits for Alkalinity, Nitrates and Phosphates, Salifert for everything else.

**Any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong?** I’m eager to hear your suggestions or experiences. Thanks in advance for your help, I am extremely hooked into the hobby and admittedly have entirely too much free time on my hands at the moment so I am most likely being impatient and tinkering WAY too much. I’ll be posting more pictures of the newly added corals tomorrow!

***I am not dosing anything except Chaetogro. Would love to keep it that way if possible - aiming at getting to minimal water changes / natural filtration if possible (eventually).

Looking forward to your insights!

safest and most effective ive used is ChemiPure Blue to slowly and safely reduce Phos levels while polishing water. If you want a faster approach- ChemiPure Elite. These are pouches placed in path of running water such as sump area and works Very well

 

[Ocean_Queenie]

Hello & Welcome to R2R!

 

[danreef55]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!​

We're thrilled to have you join our reefing community. Whether you're just starting out or have years of experience, there's always something new to learn and share here. Feel free to dive into the discussions, ask questions, and share your own reefing adventures. We're all here to help and grow together. Happy reefing

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here! Nitrates 19 and phosphate.29 and corals are happy, I would leave it be. Don’t chase numbers unless they are affecting your tank. My tank is running with nitrates 25 and phosphate .25 for almost 3 1/2 years.

 

[Tamberav]

The only thing I see wrong is trying to chase numbers when coral looks happy.

Not sure what you mean by cow fish but hopefully not the one that gets to 20 inches? That fish would obviously be a bioload problem as it grows (among other things).

Nice tank!

 

[Gman83]

Welcome!

 

[Salt_ee]

safest and most effective ive used is ChemiPure Blue to slowly and safely reduce Phos levels while polishing water. If you want a faster approach- ChemiPure Elite. These are pouches placed in path of running water such as sump area and works Very well

Thank you! I am actually running ChemiPure elite in my media basket on second level under my filter floss.

 

[00W]

Welcome Welcome to R2R!
Everything looks good to me sit back,relax and enjoy!

 

[Pntbll687]

I would take all the media out of the rear chambers, clean the chambers and siphon out everything you can. There's probably allot of detritus settling into those chambers that you can't see.

Why are you using bio media? It looks like you have plenty of rock and sand in the display, more than enough to maintain a bacteria population for the tank.

 

[exnisstech]

Those levels could be considered high or perfectly normal. I'm fine with those levels if the tank is doing well. There a recent thread below about successfull tanks running higher levels.

Show me your polluted tanks: High Po4 High No3

I hear and see on many threads that you can't have high nutrients to run a colorful and successful reef. I see every day on threads about "help my coral" or "Is this coral dead" there is information that keeps getting regurgitated about having to high of phosphates or nitrates. This thread is...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Salt_ee]

I would take all the media out of the rear chambers, clean the chambers and siphon out everything you can. There's probably allot of detritus settling into those chambers that you can't see.

Why are you using bio media? It looks like you have plenty of rock and sand in the display, more than enough to maintain a bacteria population for the tank.

I do this almost every water change actually. My chambers are squeaky clean..well kinda, there is some sand that gets in there as one of the intakes is down at the bottom. I guess I was told that the bio media shouldn’t be taken out ever as it provides beneficial bacteria once established. I could try taking it out and see what happens I suppose. I rinse the bag in RODI water once in a while as it starts looking super nasty.

 

[Salt_ee]

Those levels could be considered high or perfectly normal. I'm fine with those levels if the tank is doing well. There a recent thread below about successfull tanks running higher levels.

Show me your polluted tanks: High Po4 High No3

I hear and see on many threads that you can't have high nutrients to run a colorful and successful reef. I see every day on threads about "help my coral" or "Is this coral dead" there is information that keeps getting regurgitated about having to high of phosphates or nitrates. This thread is...

www.reef2reef.com

I am picking up what everyone is putting down, and for the most part if they are steady at .1 -.3 I’m ok with it. Only thing that concerns me or I guess I am looking for the magic balance that keeps them steady. Only way I have been able to achieve that is 30-40 and sometimes 50% weekly water changes. Burning through salt like nobody’s business which is fine I guess but would love to get a little less hands on and just enjoy it without all the constant stress of blowing the tank up

 

[vetteguy53081]

I am picking up what everyone is putting down, and for the most part if they are steady at .1 -.3 I’m ok with it. Only thing that concerns me or I guess I am looking for the magic balance that keeps them steady. Only way I have been able to achieve that is 30-40 and sometimes 50% weekly water changes. Burning through salt like nobody’s business which is fine I guess but would love to get a little less hands on and just enjoy it without all the constant stress of blowing the tank up

Dont worry about magic balances as we rarely achieve them. However your goal is to get into the .1 range and I dont see an issue with it. I run PO4 by choice around 0.08 - .1 and no issues. What works for one's tank may not work for another and will depend greatly on water used, feeding habits, tank size and type/number of corals in the tank.
Chasing numbers is a no-no however and focus on ranges in lieu of target numbers.

 

[Salt_ee]

The only thing I see wrong is trying to chase numbers when coral looks happy.

Not sure what you mean by cow fish but hopefully not the one that gets to 20 inches? That fish would obviously be a bioload problem as it grows (among other things).

Nice tank!

Yup the super scary cowfish that everyone stays away from as they always die, won’t eat, have a toxin that will nuke the whole tank. Yup, his name is Morgan and he is an absolute riot! So smart and cute, plays, I swear I could probably teach him tricks! He eats everything I give him but has never touched a coral! Swims like he’s on the Olympic team lol. I had this extremely powerful wave maker as I just figured more flow, less problems so he learned to swim in hurricane conditions haha He also got bullied real bad by my clown for a long while! Crazy thing is they are now friends and not only that, but I swear he also taught the other fish in the tank to stand up to the clown…to the point the clown doesn’t even try anymore, he/she has taken a 180. Anyway, super smart fish, and one of the main reasons I stuck with the hobby if I must be honest! Btw hasn’t grown at all in 6-7months since I got him but appears healthy as can be! I obviously will upgrade my tank very soon to something like a 150-180. For him and the fact that I might have bought wayyy too many corals for a 20g tank LOL Posting some pics in a few!

 

[exnisstech]

How high have you let them get? Often they'll increase then level off. I think one of the problems is most people have read that they should be low, like NO3 10 or less and PO4 0.05 or less so they take action to reduce them which is fine if that's your choice but it usually becomes a constant battle to keep them low. This is just from personal experience and not a recommendation because each tank is different. I let my tanks run and see where N and P end up settling at and as long as coral are looking good and I'm not battling nuisance algae I let them run at those levels. I have 3 tanks running and each has settled in at different levels. The one I have the most trouble with is the one that has barely detectable levels and it's full of nuisance algae. The tank below ran for years with NO3 20+ and PO4 0.3-0.45 Early in I was running gfo and I always had gha. I stopped and just let the tank run doing occasional water changes and dosing kalk. This is the tank after 8 years

Pure speculation on my part but I'm starting to think we see so many posts looking for help with nuisance alage, cyano etc are because folks are trying to control too much and not letting the tank settle into a natural balance. I think this is especially harmful with newer tanks that are never given a chance to obtain a balance naturally. I'm not a science guy and am still learning but I really love being able to keep things simple and just enjoy the tank instead of fretting over it.

EDIT : Sunnyx who has tank of the month posted in the thread I linked above and stated his PO4 is 0.9