How to balance nitrate and phosphate

[arman]

Its about three months im dealing with balancing nitrate and phosphate in my reef tank and im steal dealing.
This started when i saw my corals loosing their color and i asked in R2R and they say me that the po4 is too low for a tank that has LPS.So i tried to rise my no3 and po4 but i added too much and the nitrate was 60 or higher and phosphate was about 2ppm. Even though these had high levels the corals were much btter but not the best they were before.So i siphoned the water and during 2 weeks the nitrates was 10ppm and phosphate about 0.1ppm.And my corals were very well.3 days ago i saw my chalice not growing as before and its bleaching.So i added a little phosphate and nitrates but tomorrow i saw all of my corals not doing well and tested parameters.The no3 was about 3 and phosphate about 0.1.So i added a little po4 and things got better.
Im really confused with this and i will be thankful if you help me solving my problems.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What exactly are you dosing?

 

[arman]

Im dosing NaNO3 powder and neophos.I have Na3PO4 too.

 

[Macdaddynick1]

Whoa, your corals are unhappy because of the swings, not because of your levels. You should just do a few water changes, and try to keep no3 between 2-10 and po4 between .02-.08 . Just as a general guideline. To do that. You should feed a little less if you see your levels rising... and if you see your levels are low you should feed more. It's pretty simple really. If your no3 is 0 but your po4 is .08+ you can dose very little no3 to balance the levels, dosing no3 actually reduces po4. If your no3 is very high but your po4 is low you can perform a w/c or dose a little of phosphates. (Not sure what people use for that)

 

[arman]

Whoa, your corals are unhappy because of the swings, not because of your levels. You should just do a few water changes, and try to keep no3 between 2-10 and po4 between .02-.08 . Just as a general guideline. To do that. You should feed a little less if you see your levels rising... and if you see your levels are low you should feed more. It's pretty simple really. If your no3 is 0 but your po4 is .08+ you can dose very little no3 to balance the levels, dosing no3 actually reduces po4. If your no3 is very high but your po4 is low you can perform a w/c or dose a little of phosphates. (Not sure what people use for that)

Ill try that thanks.I dont feed my corals and i rely on the light they consume from a 150watt metal h lamp.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What are the most recent nitrate and phosphate values?

 

[s2nhle]

interesting. following.

 

[DipSpit]

Along for the info!

 

[acer]

tagging along. I have zero nitrates and .025 PO4 myself. Have Hair algae issue so I think the PO4 is actually higher than that - the algae is taking out of my system at it grows- hence the tests shows a low PO4. My corals doing OK with growth, but color is off. This is a great topic thread and hope I learn something.

 

[tjnorthdakota]

tagging along. I have zero nitrates and .025 PO4 myself. Have Hair algae issue so I think the PO4 is actually higher than that - the algae is taking out of my system at it grows- hence the tests shows a low PO4. My corals doing OK with growth, but color is off. This is a great topic thread and hope I learn something.

Zero nitrates will cause your corals to lose color, I try to keep it between 2-10ppm, 0 will eventually starve your corals to death

 

[arman]

What are the most recent nitrate and phosphate values?

Let me test it right now and i just five you the result.I added po4 and no3 2 days ago.And the nitrate increased to 15 and po4 to one and my corals got happier

 

[arman]

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/...-phosphates-not-convinced-by-low-levels/page2 found this thread and i was surprised.And i think we have to think about it abit more

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/...-phosphates-not-convinced-by-low-levels/page2 found this thread and i was surprised.And i think we have to think about it abit more

That's not correct. having nutrients in a Redfield ratio isn't natural and does not prevent algae.

Redfield ratio is the uptake ratio, not the ratio present in the water.

 

[arman]

This is the test result

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I cannot see the scale on the nitrate result, but there is certainly plenty of phosphate present and I wouldn't dose any.

 

[arman]

I cannot see the scale on the nitrate result, but there is certainly plenty of phosphate present and I wouldn't dose any.

Yes i dosed phosphate to raise it but id was a little overdosed.Its about 0.5 and nitrate about 15.
I just wanted to know that do we just keep these nutrients at low levels to prevent algae?
Its about 2 weeks that i keep the nutrients at high levels and my corals are good and i havent algae problem because of having herbivores.
And even better colloration in corals

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes i dosed phosphate to raise it but id was a little overdosed.Its about 0.5 and nitrate about 15.
I just wanted to know that do we just keep these nutrients at low levels to prevent algae?
Its about 2 weeks that i keep the nutrients at high levels and my corals are good and i havent algae problem because of having herbivores.
And even better colloration in corals

Algae is a primary reason to keep nutrients low. Potential browning of corals at high levels that promote zoox growth can be another.

 

[arman]

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/...-phosphates-not-convinced-by-low-levels/page2 found this thread and i was surprised.And i think we have to think about it abit more

But his tank has a lot of colorful sps though very high nutrients.

 

[scoopsthedog]

I have my Pho stuck at .12-.16 and so far no issues with algae (running GFO and a Refugium). I feed coral food daily and my NO is around .02. So far so good but by no means does current success indicate future coral happiness. My POV on critical factors: 1- Chem stability. Change water vs dumping more stuff in. 2- feed. If you deal with low levels feed more vs dump stuff in. 3- modify slowly. If you corals seem to be unhappy don't drastically change everything. Test and go back to step one (change water) and then back to 2 (feed corals).

 

[arman]

What do you feed to yr corals?