New 73 gallon tank setup

[DKoKoMan]

Wish I could give you some of my .025ppm phosphates lol

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Frogger

The ratio is actually 33 to 1 because phosphate is 31% phosphorus by weight and nitrate is 21% nitrogen by weight.

I started with no nitrates and had unhealthy corals I dropped the phosphates to 0 and have very unhealthy corals.

For now I want to get the phosphates to .03ppm and stabilize it for a while. My nitrates for now seem to want to stay at 1.5ppm

I tested my phosphates this morning and they are back down to 0 so I added another 1ml of the solution and re test it tonight.

Yeah you're right about that, but it still doesn't matter.

Read through this discussion. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2109768

[Frogger]

Originally Posted by Myka

Yeah you're right about that, but it still doesn't matter.

Read through this discussion. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2109768

Thanks for the input. I had already read that thread. I don't believe the magic answer is the Redfield ratio, however it may be a good place to start. Seeing as I am currently manually adding both nitrate and phosphate or else I will bottom out I have to shoot for some value and not blindly add both solutions. I really just want to create some stability so my corals can recover.

I tested again tonight and my phosphates are still 0 so I added another 1ml of the phosphate solution (want to take it slow). What I did notice which I am happy about is the nitrates have began to drop a bit and the alkalinity and the calcium have started to drop again as well. It has been a week since my tank has used any calcium and alkalinity so this may be good. Although it is just likely the coralline algae has kicked back in.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Frogger

Thanks for the input. I had already read that thread. I don't believe the magic answer is the Redfield ratio, however it may be a good place to start. Seeing as I am currently manually adding both nitrate and phosphate or else I will bottom out I have to shoot for some value and not blindly add both solutions. I really just want to create some stability so my corals can recover.

Yeah, me too. I'm not seeing any difference in the corals yet. I dosed NO3 up to 5 ppm, and PO4 I add 0.02 ppm every evening which the Hanna ULR Checker is able to confirm. The following morning PO4 is still 0.02 ppm, but by evening the green cyano has sucked it all out of the tank, and I'm back at 0 ppb. I'm hoping the cyano cycles out, and the corals start using it instead. I'm not sure it's the magic concoction for my tank yet, but it's too early to tell for sure.

[Frogger]

Tank update:
For several days I have managed to maintain acceptable levels of phosphate and nitrates, although once my phosphate started coming up my nitrates started heading down. So I am adding daily doses of both phosphates and nitrates.

Too early to tell full damage to corals. Some of the harder hit corals are starting to extend their polyps so I am hopeful that the worse is behind me. "Fingers crossed, touch wood".

There is definitely a direct relationship between nitrates and phosphates. Each one controls the other when running low levels in a nutrient low reef tank.

From my experience when nitrate is the limiting nutrient (0 nitrate), poor colours and slow growth rate.
When phosphate is the limiting nutrient and has truly bottomed out bad things happen, much worse then low nitrates.

It is funny how some acros were not really impacted and others were devastated. Once I have a full grasp on the impacts I will provide a list of the corals and how they were affected in my tank under my adverse conditions.

Even though I suffered some serious setbacks I consider this experiment a success. Remember in the first post I said this was an experiment and I have kept all the data. I have learned far more than if I was just blindly lucky and had succeeded because I wouldn't have known why I succeeded.

[Bblinks]

Originally Posted by Frogger

Tank update:
For several days I have managed to maintain acceptable levels of phosphate and nitrates, although once my phosphate started coming up my nitrates started heading down. So I am adding daily doses of both phosphates and nitrates.

Too early to tell full damage to corals. Some of the harder hit corals are starting to extend their polyps so I am hopeful that the worse is behind me. "Fingers crossed, touch wood".

There is definitely a direct relationship between nitrates and phosphates. Each one controls the other when running low levels in a nutrient low reef tank.

From my experience when nitrate is the limiting nutrient (0 nitrate), poor colours and slow growth rate.
When phosphate is the limiting nutrient and has truly bottomed out bad things happen, much worse then low nitrates.

It is funny how some acros were not really impacted and others were devastated. Once I have a full grasp on the impacts I will provide a list of the corals and how they were affected in my tank under my adverse conditions.

Even though I suffered some serious setbacks I consider this experiment a success. Remember in the first post I said this was an experiment and I have kept all the data. I have learned far more than if I was just blindly lucky and had succeeded because I wouldn't have known why I succeeded.

I believe it's all due to the origin of the coral. I know Aussie SPS are from some of the lowest nutrient water, they need massive flow, intense lighting and ulns to be happy but others are from a more "dirtier" water like Bali might be a whole different ball game. We as reef keepers throw together corals from all over the world with different water parameters and expect every single one to be flourishing but that's just not possible. If 3 out of your 20 corals aren't happy and the rest are doing great, I think it might be time for you to re-house those 3...I am glad to hear everything is on a rebound. I will be expecting picture update soon!

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Frogger

From my experience when nitrate is the limiting nutrient (0 nitrate), poor colours and slow growth rate.
When phosphate is the limiting nutrient and has truly bottomed out bad things happen, much worse then low nitrates.

I have had the same experiences.