Agreed, some phosphates is good. But i have to run gfo to keep them below .1ppm.

And normally I'd leave it alone, but i'm trying to get nitrate off the floor. As i raise nitrate by feeding fish and corals phosphate is rising way faster.

My ideal range would be 1-2ppm nitrate and .05ish phosphate. I know I can't control that, but i'd like to get it close and balanced.

Yup skimmer is fixed and pulling some thick stinky crap out again.

I couldn't get a read on nitrates last night. Am I the only one that has a hard time with the shades of pink on Salifert NO3?

So, this morning NO3 was .2ppm? Maybe?
And PO4 was .135ppm

GFO is just a small trickle so PO4 doesn't run away on me.

So, NO3 needs to go up and PO4 needs to go down. But that's why I'm here.

Added ~6mL solution last night.
Added ~12mL solution this morning.

I'll test again this afternoon and probably dose again.

For those of you just tuning in, ~12mL of NaNO3 solution should be a dose of ~1ppm NO3 for my volume of water in my reef.

I got some extra nitrates I can sell ya!!
LOL

I'm interested to see how this works out for you in the next 4-8 weeks. I think there will be significant improvement. Now, in my tank I need to add BOTH nitrate and phosphate. I can't even get a whiff in my tank.

Any pics of your tank before now and later when you have fixed it?

So we can get an idea of how your tank is now vs before and if adding nitrates will make a difference, this could be useful to other members suffering the same syndrome.

I'll have to get the wife to whip out the camera. But ya, it's a good idea.


NO3 is 1 ppm now (I think)
PO4 is .02ppm now???

I took the first measurement (.135ppm) this morning before the lights were on. Has the algae, macro, and corals used that much phosphate? Or is this a testing issue? (Using Hanna)

Sounds like testing issue. Do you use the same vial of water throughout the test? Do you make sure the vial is inserted into the checker in the same direction each time?

No, I use one vial for C1 and a seperate vial for C2. I always point the 10mL label forward.

I found some better tips from Hanna Instruments here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1961215

The instructions say to shake for 2 minutes, but on the forum post it sounds like it's not required.


I'll try that tomorrow with the same cuvette. I did the test again and got 5ppb (6ppb and hour before that)

Yeah use the same vial so the entire test.