Help with ALK and Nitrates in 15g Nano

[scaramanga]

I have two questions that maybe the community can help with. This question and about my tank are also in this Thread.
https://www.socalireefs.com/index.php?threads/scaramanga-im-15-office-edition.115058/#post-1142554

1) Anyone have some ideas of how I can possibly get my Nitrates up? Is my Stock to low, are my Mangroves consuming all of it? I am going to cut back on feeding heavy since it seems to be just driving up my Phosphates.
- Stock
Pink Streak Wrasse, 2 x Peppermint shrimp, Emerald Crab, Handful of different snails, and hermit crabs

2) My ALK seems to be being consumed at a higher rate than 2ml of AFR a day can sustain Should I just keep bumping this up? Is there a better way? Like I was saying above since increasing to 2ml of AFR my coralline has exploded even more. I use reef crystals for salt which usually tests in the 10 to 11 DKH range. However, due to Nitrates being so low, water changes don't seem to be the best method to increase this.

 

[bakbay]

1. Nitrate: I use Brightwell NeoNitro to increase nitrate https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/neon...S2cFUDVjARIRnJScKU05uGqPRbbAsMh5Q10-BOMsKe9ux

2. Alk: just increase the dosage

 

[drexel]

It depends on the calcium level. Technically, if your calcium is within the normal range, it's better to just add some soda ash or bicarbonate to increase the alk or if calcium is low, then just increase the overall dose. As far as adding NO3, do you have a lot of coral? If so, then just add some ammonium bicarbonate. You can also switch what you're feeding your fish, more frozen like LRS (not mysis, as this is high in phosphate, etc). Btw, if you're feeding mysis, make sure to rinse it with RO until most of the particulates are gone. Most people skip this step and wonder why phosphate is so high, which is why I don't feed it that much and mainly feed LRS, TDO and flakes.
Back to NO3, don't buy premade stuff, it's too expensive and you can make your own for a fraction on the cost. If you want to dose NO3, pick up some sodium nitrate (Loudwolf) or another brand of food grade from Amazon and simply make your own. Use James' planted calculator to figure out the dose/solution strength.
Calculator
Just use potassium nitrate, which is pretty close to sodium nitrate in the calculator.
Make a small stock solution, say 200mL of RO with 20g of sodium nitrate. 1mL of this solution will increase NO3 by 1ppm.
If you want to use ammonium bicarbonate, (food grade from Amazon), 20g in 1L of RO. 2mL of this solution will increase NO3 by 0.2ppm in 25g of tank water. You only dose ammonium bicarb during the photo period during photosynthesis.

 

[mescobar]

this is good advice, what's LRS?

 

[bakbay]

I have this - Ammonium Chloride
https://a.co/d/gQh37d2

But given the OP’s small tank, it’s just easier to go Brightwell.

 

[Jimbo327]

Pretty easy to bump up nitrates, just add sodium nitrate or ammonia bicarb solution. That will bump up your nitrates easily. If you are in OC, I can mix a bottle of either solution for you.

I have a bunch of powder since I need to dose a 250gal, and it takes nothing to make one bottle. Like mixing 20g ammonia bicarb into 1L of water, that will probably last you more than 1 year on a 15gal.

As far as ALK, if you are using AFR, I heard you need to measure calcium as the primary guide because alkalinity is lagging a day. I don't use AFR, so I'll defer to other who do.

 

[drexel]

this is good advice, what's LRS?

Larry's Reef Frenzy frozen food. It's probably the best frozen food you can buy. There's no rinsing, just put a little tank water in a cup, a chunk of food and feed. They have several different types depending on your tank/fish, etc.

 

[drexel]

I have this - Ammonium Chloride
https://a.co/d/gQh37d2

But given the OP’s small tank, it’s just easier to go Brightwell.

This will work, but AC will consume alk, so in his case it would work against him, whereas ammonium bicarb doesn't consume alk.

 

[bakbay]

It’s a fun & challenging hobby! At one point, my nitrate was over 130ppm. I managed to get it down to almost zero with a bio denitrator. I was worried to bottom things out so removed it!

I’m now back to 25ppm so will need something to deal with it soon. This time, I’m going to use carbon dosing like my other tanks. I find it trivial to fine tune and less dangerous than dealing with hydrogen sulfide, potentially nuking the whole tank! Speaking of consuming alk, sulfur-denitrators consume alk as well. I can see why people might stopped using these reactors nowadays. They are very effective though.

 

[drexel]

It’s a fun & challenging hobby! At one point, my nitrate was over 130ppm. I managed to get it down to almost zero with a bio denitrator. I was worried to bottom things out so removed it!

I’m now back to 25ppm so will need something to deal with it soon. This time, I’m going to use carbon dosing like my other tanks. I find it trivial to fine tune and less dangerous than dealing with hydrogen sulfide, potentially nuking the whole tank! Speaking of consuming alk, sulfur-denitrators consume alk as well. I can see why people might stopped using these reactors nowadays. They are very effective though.

If you have room, add some Polyp Lab genesis block(s) to your system. I keep a couple in each system and plan to add more in my larger system. Besides the benefits of biological filtration, they can help in emergencies when you need to jump start a new tank.

 

[Jimbo327]

Carbon dosing will drop your nitrates easily. 25ppm is not bad.

In my tank, I'm carbon dosing...and my nitrates is almost undetectable now. I started adding a splash of ammonia into the tank.

 

[scaramanga]

@Jimbo327 I'm in Irvine M-F, but live in southern OC ,I would be down if you have some extra.

@drexel I do feed primary Frozen Mysis and would just fill a bit a tank water and feed over multiple days 1 cube. I will try that Larry's Frozen. Do you order it online or is there a local retailer that you suggest?

Coral stock is still quite low. Mostly large frags except for Zoa's which have taken over a large piece of rock work. It's a Mix of SPS/LPS and Softies atm.

 

[drexel]

@Jimbo327 I'm in Irvine M-F, but live in southern OC ,I would be down if you have some extra.

@drexel I do feed primary Frozen Mysis and would just fill a bit a tank water and feed over multiple days 1 cube. I will try that Larry's Frozen. Do you order it online or is there a local retailer that you suggest?

Coral stock is still quite low. Mostly large frags except for Zoa's which have taken over a large piece of rock work. It's a Mix of SPS/LPS and Softies atm.

They used to have a map of retailers that carry their food, but I think they stopped updating it. I would call a few LFS near you to see if they stock it. I SWA carries it now, so you can order online as an option. If you're gonna feed mysis, then just rinse in RO until it's clear, then put that in the frig until you feed. Do you feed pellets or flakes? Mixing up the food helps, as a variety is good for the fish and the tank. Did you mention your PO4 level? N and P have a relationship with each other and can help keep the other in line. So it's not so much the actual number, but the ratio between them both, (not the Redfield ratio, as that has nothing to do with coral). There is a molar ratio between them that keeps them balanced and the uptake from bacteria and corals keeps them in check. The molar ratio should be as close to 50 as possible, again, it's not the actual number of each nutrient, but how they compare to each other. To figure this out, take nitrate and divide by phosphate, then multiply by 1.53. For example, if you have 8ppm of N and 0.25ppm of P, it would look like this: 8 ÷ 0.25 x 1.53 = 48.96
To give you a better idea how the natural reef works, on average natural reefs run around 1ppm of N and around 0.03ppm of P, their molar ratio is 51. Closed systems like our tanks run a little differently, but keeping this molar ratio relationship in mind helps to keep a balanced tank. This ratio is a guide and not a must, as targeting hard numbers is unrealistic in our tanks.

 

[scaramanga]

I do a dry pellet like 1 feeding every other week. I also do 1 mini pinch of reef roids target fed(very small amount) once a week.

My water parameters have been a steady (below) for the last 6 months.

Salinity 1.025
Alk 6.5- 7.1 ( working slowly to get this to 9)
Nitrate 0
Phos .03


Don't get me wrong, growth has been good. I just want to get ahead of the low alk and nitrates because before I started AFR it got down to 5.1 dkh and I noticed the coralline and corals had stop growing.

Wish I had a better Pic but the white lights(to take the pic) and camera do no do it justice lol. Need to get one of those orange lens so I can take a picture with my normal light settings.

 

[Discotu]

Add a few more fish, feed and youll be good. Separately you need more corals! If you want to make the drive up to 91355 ill hook you up with a bunch of freebies. Looks like youre on your way to a cool reef tank!

 

[drexel]

I completely agree, you need more livestock in order for things to balance out. At this stage, you can simply do weekly water changes with a good salt and not worry about dosing AFR. Once you get more fish and corals in there, then you can proceed with dosing it. Your nutrients are virtually zero, so I would add some fish, inverts, etc to increase the bio-load.

 

[Jimbo327]

@Jimbo327 I'm in Irvine M-F, but live in southern OC ,I would be down if you have some extra.

@drexel I do feed primary Frozen Mysis and would just fill a bit a tank water and feed over multiple days 1 cube. I will try that Larry's Frozen. Do you order it online or is there a local retailer that you suggest?

Coral stock is still quite low. Mostly large frags except for Zoa's which have taken over a large piece of rock work. It's a Mix of SPS/LPS and Softies atm.

I work in Irvine M-F as well. I can whip you up a batch of Ammonia Bicarbonate solution.

I can't seem to find my sodium nitrate powder, maybe I only have the potassium nitrate powder....so I don't feel comfortable using it because it will raise your potassium as well, which is not ideal.

Just go slow with the ammonia dosing, and test your nitrates. I think there is a DIY ammonia dosing chart at R2R.

 

[Jimbo327]

Found my batch of sodium nitrate powder. I made you a bottle. Concentration: 1 ml of solution will increase 1 ppm nitrate in 15 gal tank. (I dissolved 35g of sodium nitrate into 450ml of water)

For the ammonia bicarb solution, I dissolved 10g into 450ml of water. So follow the chart in R2R "DIY Ammonia dosing chart" for the amount to dose.

Hit me up on private message and we can arrange pick up. Make sure you are testing nitrates during dosing, start slow and adjust based on test results.

 

[drexel]

You'll also want to raise PO4 to at least 0.05 or higher. I think 0.08 - 0.1 is a much safer range.

 

[scaramanga]

You'll also want to raise PO4 to at least 0.05 or higher. I think 0.08 - 0.1 is a much safer range.

Based on the formula you suggested above with PO4 at .1 you would want Nitrates sitting around 3-4ppm. Doesn't high Phosphate range usually encourage algae growth