I have been struggling to get my Nitrates above 0.00 for months. Even with tripling feeding to 100 small pellets and about 1.5 cubes of frozen a day in my 65, it hasn't budged. I previously used a Red sea test kei, but now use the Hanna HR nitrate and ULR phosphate and same results.
65 gallon mixed reef set up 4 years ago using half dry rock and half 10+ year old mature live rock from a previous tank.
Parameters
Salinity 35.8 ppt
pH 8.45 - 8.6
NO3 0.00 ppm
PO4 11ppb phosphorous, 0.03ppm phosphate
KH 9.10
Ca 466
Mg 1509 (accidental overdose. Working in bringing down)
No visible algae
Refugium with cheato previously running 18 hour photo period. Reduced today to 8 hour.
Skimmer set between wet and dry skim
I do not own a microscope and could use some recommendations. A super cheap one is preferred, but since I have a 9 month old who may someday use it, if there is a substantial difference if I got one for say $200, I might be willing to spend a bit more.
I also could use some advice on a good UV unit that will work for my 65 gallon tank if it ends up being dinos. I do have a 9W green killing machine that is like 12 years old at this point, but I really doubt that would be of any use here.
65 gallon mixed reef set up 4 years ago using half dry rock and half 10+ year old mature live rock from a previous tank.
Parameters
Salinity 35.8 ppt
pH 8.45 - 8.6
NO3 0.00 ppm
PO4 11ppb phosphorous, 0.03ppm phosphate
KH 9.10
Ca 466
Mg 1509 (accidental overdose. Working in bringing down)
No visible algae
Refugium with cheato previously running 18 hour photo period. Reduced today to 8 hour.
Skimmer set between wet and dry skim
I do not own a microscope and could use some recommendations. A super cheap one is preferred, but since I have a 9 month old who may someday use it, if there is a substantial difference if I got one for say $200, I might be willing to spend a bit more.
I also could use some advice on a good UV unit that will work for my 65 gallon tank if it ends up being dinos. I do have a 9W green killing machine that is like 12 years old at this point, but I really doubt that would be of any use here.
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