I am at a loss. Nutrients out of whack

[nick654377]

Guys I am at a loss with my tank.

Tank has been up and running since November. It is a 65 Gallon non sump tank with a hob skimmer and hob filter. Very minimal lighting (reef breeders Photon V2 at 12 inches above the water 25% max intensity for 3.5 hours with a 3 hour moon light at night at 5% max.) We recently had a huge turf algae bloom and its a pain. Taking to another member he suggested adding PNS Pro Bio every week for 4 weeks untill the bottle is gone. I did do that and it didnt help much.

Long story short I have been battling higher po4 values around 0.1-0.13 and Nitrates around 20-30. Well I started dosing morning and night with no3-po4x. 8 ml in morning and 5-6 at night to bring phosphates down. I finally got them down. Testing from today reads the following and this is where I am at a loss.

ph7.8 (dropped 0.2 from lower lighting)
Ammonia 0.25 (always read 0.0)
Nitrite 0.25 (always read 0.0)
Nitrate 40 ( usually a little lower)
Alk 9.6 (its usually around 9.2)
Phosphate 0.6 (Finally got past where I was) I am happy here)
Mag 1260 ( I know this is a tad low but I am out of supplement until my delivery)
Salinity 1.025
Temp 78*


For the clean up crew I have the following:
2 emerald crabs
1 blood shimp
10 nassarius sails
8 large mexican turbo
2 hermits (these are dying off and i am glad)
1 Tuxedo urcin (1" and he is doing work on the turf algae but very slowly)

Fish in the tank are as follows:
1 lawnmower blenny (is not touching the turf algae)
1 yellow tang (not touching the turf algae)
2 clowns
1 clown goby
1 carribian pistol shrimp
1 long nose hawk fish

I feed a very small amount once a day since we got rid of our puffer. I feed Rods mix about a little smaller than a dime size. I know I am past due for a water change but I am still at a loss why my ammonia and nitrite jumped up. we mostly have torches, frog spawn, hammers, goni, plate corals, zoa, and Xenia.

Please help me bring these nutrients down. I do not know where to start and I do not want to take all the rock out to re do the scape.

 

[blaxsun]

You can safely ignore the nitrite. What are you running for filtration? And yes, regular water changes will help.

 

[Lavey29]

Your numbers aren't bad at all. Nitrates slightly elevated. Water changes and less feeding will help that. You can also run a bag of chemipure blue. As far as algae, you have a new tank going through various algae ugly phases. If you don't have corals you don't need lights which will help minimize algae to. PNS probio is a great bacteria supplement for the tank.

 

[nick654377]

You can safely ignore the nitrite. What are you running for filtration? And yes, regular water changes will help.

I am using a Tidal 75 for a filter running seachem matrix, chemipure blue, and filter pads. Protein skimmer is a reef octo 100 classic hob. I know its a little under but I do have it set for a surface skim empying the cup every other day.

 

[nick654377]

Your numbers aren't bad at all. Nitrates slightly elevated. Water changes and less feeding will help that. You can also run a bag of chemipure blue. As far as algae, you have a new tank going through various algae ugly phases. If you don't have corals you don't need lights which will help minimize algae to. PNS probio is a great bacteria supplement for the tank.

I do have corals. about $3,000 worth of them. Torches, Hammers, Frog spawn, plate corals ect. I just dont want the algae taking over my corals. I did not really notice a difference with PNS Pro Bio. I was expecting more from that. As far as feeding I feed minimal now.

 

[blaxsun]

I am using a Tidal 75 for a filter running seachem matrix, chemipure blue, and filter pads. Protein skimmer is a reef octo 100 classic hob. I know its a little under but I do have it set for a surface skim empying the cup every other day.

More frequent water changes (10% every 2 weeks minimum) and more frequent filter pad changes should help.

 

[nick654377]

More frequent water changes (10% every 2 weeks minimum) and more frequent filter pad changes should help.

I was changing water 20% every 4-5 days and backed off while using the PNS. I am making water as I type this in hopes its up to temp tonight.

 

[blaxsun]

I used filter floss in my AIO tanks and was changing it every 2-3 days to keep my nutrients down. Ditto for filter socks.

 

[Lavey29]

I do have corals. about $3,000 worth of them. Torches, Hammers, Frog spawn, plate corals ect. I just dont want the algae taking over my corals. I did not really notice a difference with PNS Pro Bio. I was expecting more from that. As far as feeding I feed minimal now.

Well then you need to keep your lights going. When my algae was bad, I added a couple urchins and turbos to my cleaner crew and they eliminated it in 3 weeks completely. Your tank is new and it takes time to develop biodiversity and microfauna that's why the probio is so useful.

 

[Wolf89]

Any nitrate at all will falsely read very high nitrates. You nitrate may not be 40, but a good but lower

 

[nick654377]

I do have some prime from my 150 fresh water. Should I add some of that in the tank until I can complete the water change?

 

[minus9]

How much actual bio media do you have? Any live rock? Dry rock? To me it sounds like you have very minimal biological filtration going on? If there’s no place for the bacteria to populate (PNS) then it’s likely not going to do much as it’s being skimmed out or remove by chemical media. Do you have sand or is it BB?

 

[nick654377]

How much actual bio media do you have? Any live rock? Dry rock? To me it sounds like you have very minimal biological filtration going on? If there’s no place for the bacteria to populate (PNS) then it’s likely not going to do much as it’s being skimmed out or remove by chemical media. Do you have sand or is it BB?

There is a lot of Bio media in the tank. When we set it up we used 3 bags of live carbisea substrate, and did half the rock as live rock from a LFS. we have about a total of 20lbs live rock from set up in the tank and 20lbs dry rock. The substate is about 1.5-2 inches deep (60lbs total).

When adding the PNS Pro Bio the first addition of it I turned the skimmer off for 12 hours then the other 3 additions I left it off for about 3-4 hours so it could get mixed in the water well with two nero 3 running at 60%

 

[Lavey29]

There is a lot of Bio media in the tank. When we set it up we used 3 bags of live carbisea substrate, and did half the rock as live rock from a LFS. we have about a total of 20lbs live rock from set up in the tank and 20lbs dry rock. The substate is about 1.5-2 inches deep (60lbs total).

When adding the PNS Pro Bio the first addition of it I turned the skimmer off for 12 hours then the other 3 additions I left it off for about 3-4 hours so it could get mixed in the water well with two nero 3 running at 60%

You need more then 4 doses for PNS to establish a bacteria population in your tank.

 

[mcgullen]

Hi. Your tank nutrients are within range. You are also doing more than enough to prevent future nutrient spikes by dosing/using chemipure etc.

The issue is turf algae already represents a significant share of your tank biomass. So consider the following:

1. Get a good UV sterilizer and run it 24/7 for as long as it takes to get rid of the algae. UV very effectively stops algae.

2. Mechanically remove as much turf algae as possible.

3. Clean filter floss and filter socks with 3% peroxide when doing water change.

4. If situation is not under control in one week, add a product containing fluconazole or busan 77.

I have not encountered a turf algae issue that these steps cannot solve.

 

[Garf]

If your under lighting algae, they can release ammonia, hence nitrite and false nitrate readings.

 

[nick654377]

You need more then 4 doses for PNS to establish a bacteria population in your tank.

1 16oz bottle treats 400 us gallons. I used 1/4 bottle (100 gallon dose) each week for 4 weeks on a 65 gallon tank.

 

[nick654377]

Hi. Your tank nutritions are within range. You are also doing more than enough to prevent future nutritional spikes by dosing/using chemipure etc.

The issue is turf algae already represents a significant share of your tank biomass. So consider the following:

1. Get a good UV sterilizer and run it 24/7 for as long as it takes to get rid of the algae. UV very effectively stops algae.

2. Mechanically remove as much turf algae as possible.

3. Clean filter floss and filter socks with 3% peroxide when doing water change.

4. If situation is not under control in one week, add a product containing fluconazole or busan 77.

I have not encountered a turf algae issue that these steps cannot solve.

a uv serilizer on a sumpless tank? I thought they were only ran for sump tanks with return pumps.

 

[Lavey29]

1 16oz bottle treats 400 us gallons. I used 1/4 bottle (100 gallon dose) each week for 4 weeks on a 65 gallon tank.

I have the same size tank and dose it twice a week for past 3 months with significant improvement in the tank.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Turf algae can be a pain as most fish will not touch it. I have only found one friend to help with turf algae. Tuxedo urchin. So, yours will get it done, just too slowly it sounds. you need to help it with manual removal and getting nutrients down.
What water are you using?
Are your coral doing fine currently?