ta.te
New Member
Hey All,
I've got an 8 gallon AIO tank that has been running since August (started light stocking in October). Up until very recently, I've tested nitrates and phosphates at 0. Dry rock was used, plus I'd initially put some macroalgae in there so no big surprise there.
I've been dosing NeoNitro and NeoPhos since December and just recently got readings for nitrate at the end of February (was dosing light). I'm using the Hanna Checker on that. NeoPhos has been 0 up until Mar 29 where I got reading of 0.09. All readings prior to that were with Salifert, then that 3/29 reading was with a Hanna finally. Stopped dosing both products once I got readings.
I'm also a heavy feeder, which seems like a pretty typical noob move, but since I continued getting 0's for nitrate and phosphate, I kept going. Bit of fish food, bit of crab/shrimp food, occasional mysis shrimp, and... ReefRoids (2x week).
I checked params again April 1st and my phosphate jumped to 0.35ppm. I had been running a Chemipure Blue Nano bag (treats 5 gallons) for that sweet sweet crystal water. Threw in one additional bag that night to see if it would help with phosphates. That test was also run 4-5 hours after feeding very heavily- the whole gamut stated above. Next day, tested phosphates at 0.19ppm and then yesterday tested at 0.17ppm- again, all with the Hanna checker now. Nitrates have been jumping a bit as well between 2 and 10ppm since February 25.
I've also just added a crapton of pods, to attempt to control some cyano without any kind of blackouts/more additives. Along with the pods, I started dosing phyto as well. So, safe to say this tank has been FED.
So question 1: would you intervene to lower phosphates with the most current reading being 0.17ppm? I have Phosgard and Chemipure Elite (the kind with GFO) on hand. I'll do a 1-2 gallon water change on Monday as well. I'm not sure if I really want to add a phosphate remover/reducer because that just sounds like those levels will tank anyways and I'll be back on the same thing again- heavy feeding and/or dosing. And this seems like a pretty clear "You've overfed your tank" situation, so I'm not sure if I should just let this ride.
Question 2: how would you continue to feed going forward? I'll add a list of the inhabitants below, but I think the only thing that really "needs" (prefers?) food is the goniopora. Would you give the ReefRoids a rest for a bit? How about the phyto?
Inhabitants:
1x neon blue gobby
2x unspecified hermit crabs
5x nassarius snails
1x pom pom crab
3x sexy shrimp
1x hammer coral (new and pretty small)
3x zoa frags
1x goniopora (still pretty small, had for maybe 4 months)
1x gsp
1x kenya tree
1x rock flower anemone
1x tuxedo urchin
Parameters:
Salinity: 1.025
pH: 7.8
Temp: 78.8
Alkalinity: 8.5
Nitrate: 7.8
Phosphate 0.17
Thanks!
I've got an 8 gallon AIO tank that has been running since August (started light stocking in October). Up until very recently, I've tested nitrates and phosphates at 0. Dry rock was used, plus I'd initially put some macroalgae in there so no big surprise there.
I've been dosing NeoNitro and NeoPhos since December and just recently got readings for nitrate at the end of February (was dosing light). I'm using the Hanna Checker on that. NeoPhos has been 0 up until Mar 29 where I got reading of 0.09. All readings prior to that were with Salifert, then that 3/29 reading was with a Hanna finally. Stopped dosing both products once I got readings.
I'm also a heavy feeder, which seems like a pretty typical noob move, but since I continued getting 0's for nitrate and phosphate, I kept going. Bit of fish food, bit of crab/shrimp food, occasional mysis shrimp, and... ReefRoids (2x week).
I checked params again April 1st and my phosphate jumped to 0.35ppm. I had been running a Chemipure Blue Nano bag (treats 5 gallons) for that sweet sweet crystal water. Threw in one additional bag that night to see if it would help with phosphates. That test was also run 4-5 hours after feeding very heavily- the whole gamut stated above. Next day, tested phosphates at 0.19ppm and then yesterday tested at 0.17ppm- again, all with the Hanna checker now. Nitrates have been jumping a bit as well between 2 and 10ppm since February 25.
I've also just added a crapton of pods, to attempt to control some cyano without any kind of blackouts/more additives. Along with the pods, I started dosing phyto as well. So, safe to say this tank has been FED.
So question 1: would you intervene to lower phosphates with the most current reading being 0.17ppm? I have Phosgard and Chemipure Elite (the kind with GFO) on hand. I'll do a 1-2 gallon water change on Monday as well. I'm not sure if I really want to add a phosphate remover/reducer because that just sounds like those levels will tank anyways and I'll be back on the same thing again- heavy feeding and/or dosing. And this seems like a pretty clear "You've overfed your tank" situation, so I'm not sure if I should just let this ride.
Question 2: how would you continue to feed going forward? I'll add a list of the inhabitants below, but I think the only thing that really "needs" (prefers?) food is the goniopora. Would you give the ReefRoids a rest for a bit? How about the phyto?
Inhabitants:
1x neon blue gobby
2x unspecified hermit crabs
5x nassarius snails
1x pom pom crab
3x sexy shrimp
1x hammer coral (new and pretty small)
3x zoa frags
1x goniopora (still pretty small, had for maybe 4 months)
1x gsp
1x kenya tree
1x rock flower anemone
1x tuxedo urchin
Parameters:
Salinity: 1.025
pH: 7.8
Temp: 78.8
Alkalinity: 8.5
Nitrate: 7.8
Phosphate 0.17
Thanks!
