New 73 gallon tank setup

[Tigweldpro]

If by raise your nitrates your mean add KNO3, it should be very easy to find in BC. Pretty sure its a controlled substance, importing may be difficult/risky

[tang daddy]

Originally Posted by Tigweldpro

If by raise your nitrates your mean add KNO3, it should be very easy to find in BC. Pretty sure its a controlled substance, importing may be difficult/risky

Not really since it's already at point Roberts just got to go drive it over. A friend was using the planted stuff to raise nitrates but had negative results it was seachem so I decided not to go that route.

[Frogger]

I purchased my KNO3 from Patrick at Canadian aquatics he lives in Richmond. Charges $5 a pound. He requires your drivers license and a reason for use. Has to record everyone that buys it.

It is a controlled substance in Canada and you might have problems at the border

[Frogger]

I have attached a picture of the tank as of March 30. If this works I will attach some pictures of some corals before I began adding nitrates to the tank.
Attachment 15805

[Frogger]

Seems to have worked.
The first coral is a Red Planet. Currently the polyps are light pink with almost no green in the body. When it was in my other tank it was dark red with a strong green colour. I have it situated lower in the tank
Attachment 15806
The second coral is a Pearl Berry. Very little blue in the color just seems faded out. There is a Blue Matrix in the back ground it is mostly brown with only a hint of blue. I have them situated mid tank.
Attachment 15808
The third coral is a Needle in the Haystack. Very pale coloration, lower in the tank.
Attachment 15807

[Frogger]

I tested my tank today after adding 10ml's of the KNO3 mixture I prepared twice a day for the past 3 days.

SG:1.026
NO3-still 0 not even a tint of pink
PO4-.01ppm
Temp- 80f
Ca-410ppm
Alk dkh-9.7
Mag-1410ppm
K-400ppm
I have been monitoring the tank closely for any signs of stress, algae growth or changes and have seen nothing. I was wondering about the test kit for nitrate so I tested it against a known value (.6ppm) for KNO3 mixed in RO water and the test kit was bang on.

Looks like I have to increase the KNO3 levels as my tank is using it up as fast as I can add it. (good thing). I will double my dosage rate and report back in a few days.

Seeing as I am adding a lot of KNO3 I have been looking for a purer source as I am concerned about what else is in my KNO3. I have found a chemical company in Vancouver area that sells reagent grade 500 grams of for $27. As 500 gram of the stuff would likely be enough to last me several years even at a much higher dose.

My goal is to create an equilibrium within my tank nitrate to phosphate of around 16 to 1. The amount of K in the solution will not even slightly affect the total K in the tank as we are talking about 400ppm as per the nitrate levels of less then 1ppm.

[Tigweldpro]

I remember buying 25kg bags of KNO3 for $50 back in my model rocket making days(hydroponics grade)

All these idiots trying to blow up the world have made this stuff hard to find

[tang daddy]

Originally Posted by Frogger

Seems to have worked.
The first coral is a Red Planet. Currently the polyps are light pink with almost no green in the body. When it was in my other tank it was dark red with a strong green colour. I have it situated lower in the tank
Attachment 15806
The second coral is a Pearl Berry. Very little blue in the color just seems faded out. There is a Blue Matrix in the back ground it is mostly brown with only a hint of blue. I have them situated mid tank.
Attachment 15808
The third coral is a Needle in the Haystack. Very pale coloration, lower in the tank.
Attachment 15807

How long have your sps been in the tank, they look pretty pale... hopefully with kno3 you will see some better colouration in the coming month. Usually sps will look bleached then get brown then colour up. Good luck!

[Frogger]

The pictures are not great. They are not as pale as they appear in the photos. The corals have been in my tank for about 1 to 3 months. I have about different 20 sps. I have shown the pictures of the palest ones. All the corals are growing well, they just are paler then I have seen elsewhere.

Even with adding nitrates I still can't get a reading. I will continue to do so. I am also feeding the corals and adding amino acids every day.

Reef tank long time experts like Julian Sprung, Sanjay Joshi, Jason Fox, Elegance Corals, Brad Syphus and other top sps coral collectors are keeping their nitrates at level above 5ppm and some of them up to 50ppm.