Trying to raise Nitrates
 

I know, it seems kinda weird to most of you, but I want to raise mine some

I'm trying to create a happier environment for my SPS and have read that PO4 and NO3 need to be balanced
Currently I have 0.03 PO4 and undetectable NO3

I've cut my lighting some, from 21 to 17 hours/day total bulb on-time
This has had a good effect, but not enough
I've doubled my fish food; 15 wrasses etc now get 3 large pinches of pellets for lunch and 2 x 1/2" cubes of frozen for dinner. Plus they get flakes and Nori throughout the week - between their feedings when I'm home and remember. This is a HUGE amount of food for the tank, yet I am not seeing any numbers rising

I'm currently considering some more fish. Not only to raise the bio-load, but 'cause we want some other critters

In the meantime, can any of you help me 'raise' my Nitrates so my levels are more balanced, thus making my SPS happier ?

Thanks all :smile:

Dose amino acids is prob the easiest and beneficial , what keeps your nitrates so low?

I've never heard that theory. I keep mine undetectable and PO4 as close to 0 as I can. No real problem with SPS.

But maybe put skimmer on a timer and run it half time. I also recently read a thread where a guy was adding a nitrate salt (NaNO3??) to his tank. Remove some rock?

+1

Amino Acids huh ... I add some to the frozen already, but guess it's not enough
If I knew why I could correct what keeps it so low :wink:

My skimmer doesn't really pull much per week - a 7" cup gives me less than 1" of wet NOG/week
I have removed rock already before X-mas and am down to less than 1lb/G - probably closer to .75lb/G

I wanted to touch on this separately, even though I've already stated it

I've read that a 'perfect balance' is about 0.03 PO4 and 5.0 NO3

Maybe this is a magical # that I'll never achieve, but it's supposed to be a happy level for SPS
Apparently is has something to do with the need for some PO4 and NO3 during uptake ... ?
No NO3 and there's no balance ... I don't know as I forget where I read it

Guess I'll have to find the article and post it ... time is the enemy

You can dose potassium nitrates as well but I have no experience with that.

That was the one I read about on RC the other night.

I know people dose either nitrates or phosphates to get that balance between n and p but I'm not sure if Sps has a sweet spot for nutrients I would think any two coral will react different. Now if you can't drop po4 because nitrates are two low

For me, I always want to see 0 for both, so I'm not sure I would add any back in. You're always going to have a bit of both in any system, but a reading of 0 on a test kit simply states that the system is absorbing it (corals, sandbed, etc)

Having undetectable levels of both, and the state of my SPS doesn't inspire me to add anything back in. If Greg isn't happy with his coral, I might be looking at other areas first.