Nitrates, too low for lps?

[staindsoul]

Ok, So i am having a nutrient issue with my system. let me explain whats up and what i want for a end result and see if yall have any suggestions.

my 60g w/20l sump has been running <2ppm no3 and undetectable phosphates for quite awhile 3 months+ . Stock: 1-ocellaris 1 starry blenny 1-firefish 1-yasha Extremely small stocking but I kinda like my small fish/big tank vibe. i run a skimmer which is working well, 2-3 days full cup of stinking skimate, cheato in fuge(slow growth), and I had been preforming weekly 10% wcs. I have stopped for a month now on wcs, and n03 has not come up.

my lps are starting to show signs of hurting from such low nutrients, my bicolor frogspawn actually looks bleached. the rest are not as vibrantly colored. zero mushroom or zoa growth, im talking none for months. my sps montis only, are beautifully colored and growing rapidly. This is why i feel very confident that i am not getting coral bleaching from swinging parameters or off parameters.

Parameters Currently:

Cal 450ppm
Mag 1350
Alk 9.0dkh
NO3 <2ppm
PO4 <.02ppm

red sea test kits

I love lps, and the montis i have were just to compliment and diversity for the tank. I know I can add more fish, but I am having a hard time picking another peaceful smaller fish. I know i can up my feedings, I used to only feed every other day mysis or pellets. I now feed daily but still only enough that the current stock eats it all in under 1 minute. I have always approached changes in my tank slowly being cautious against high nutrients. Never thought I would be too careful and hurt my coral stock.

Thoughts? Questions?

[DeepThought]

Do you feed them directly with a baster? Sometimes direct feedings can really help LPS and softies.

Here's something that is a small change and may help out... turn your skimmer off at night. Put it on a timer and only have it come on for 12 hours a day. It will put more food in the water column.

When I mean day, I mean day - turn your skimmer off at night so that when the LPS open up to feed at night they will have something to eat. Also, feed some phyto in the tank before lights out, and possibly turn off your return pump for a couple of minutes to give everything a little time to eat.

[tmz]

PO4 at .02 to.05ppm and No3 at O.2ppm are fine for lps ,ime. Surface water levels on reefs are PO4.005ppm and NO3 0.2ppm, btw. Are you dosing any organic carbon source btw? Salnity is?

Most of the phospahte eaten in foods by the fish will end up in the aquarium as they like most animals expel most of it as waste.

[staindsoul]

Yes on spot feeding with a baster once a week.

No on carbon dosing. And salinity is 1.026.

[Thunder3]

I have a closed favia and a green fungia that have a little bleaching. I have the Maxspect Razor 27 inches 160 watts. I only go to 70%blue40% white for 5 hours then another 5 hours of ramping up and down. NOw Im not sure it my lighting or my low nutrients. I run carbon in the sump with GFO in the reactor. I have a Aqua C Pro S SKimmer. I have CHaeto in the sump. I must have low nutrients also.

[goreef170]

I would up the fish feedings. You say you feed daily now. How many times do you feed?
Its ok to feed as much as they eat in one minute. But to me its not enough. I do the same thing but feed around 4 times a day as much as they eat in a minute.

I've seen a lot f beautiful tanks, and most just rely on fish poo for the corals.

I think the goal is to match your nutrient import to match nutrient output. If your system is keeping the water to clean, then increase the nutrient input... Hope this makes sense

[vette.tech]

What's your lighting ?

[tmz]

Originally Posted by Thunder3

I have a closed favia and a green fungia that have a little bleaching. I have the Maxspect Razor 27 inches 160 watts. I only go to 70%blue40% white for 5 hours then another 5 hours of ramping up and down. NOw Im not sure it my lighting or my low nutrients. I run carbon in the sump with GFO in the reactor. I have a Aqua C Pro S SKimmer. I have CHaeto in the sump. I must have low nutrients also.

Id the chaeto is doing well; you likely have more than enough nutrients for corals.

[Palting]

Originally Posted by staindsoul

I love lps, and the montis i have were just to compliment and diversity for the tank. I know I can add more fish, but I am having a hard time picking another peaceful smaller fish. I know i can up my feedings, I used to only feed every other day mysis or pellets. I now feed daily but still only enough that the current stock eats it all in under 1 minute. I have always approached changes in my tank slowly being cautious against high nutrients. Never thought I would be too careful and hurt my coral stock.

Thoughts? Questions?

Originally Posted by staindsoul

Yes on spot feeding with a baster once a week.

No on carbon dosing. And salinity is 1.026.

I had a similar issue on my mixed reef. SPS growing like crazy, LPS and softies only so-so. I narrowed the cause down to low nutrients. Now, they are all thriving from increased feeding.

I suggest slowly increasing your coral feeding. You can start either by increasing your weekly spot feed volume, or increase the frequency to twice a week.

Bear in mind that it takes a while for those corals to start coloring up and responding to your feeding. I made changes to my feeding regimen at 3 week or so intervals. Just to complete the picture, I target coral feed with all the pumps off for 30 minutes. Water gets pretty cloudy with each feeding. I also run mechanical filters (foam pads on trays) that I rinse once a week, so when I turn the pumps back on after the 30 minute feeding, all the excess coral food gets filtered out. The cloudy nutrient laden water is clear within 15 minutes. Keep an eye on your phosphates and nitrates, as well algae growth, to make sure you do not overshoot the "ideal" nutrient level.

[anyfunkyfish]

how old is your system?

[staindsoul]

Originally Posted by goreef170

I would up the fish feedings. You say you feed daily now. How many times do you feed?
Its ok to feed as much as they eat in one minute. But to me its not enough. I do the same thing but feed around 4 times a day as much as they eat in a minute.

I've seen a lot f beautiful tanks, and most just rely on fish poo for the corals.

I think the goal is to match your nutrient import to match nutrient output. If your system is keeping the water to clean, then increase the nutrient input... Hope this makes sense

Once daily. yeah, my nutrient export to import is tilted to the export side. Thanks for the tips

Originally Posted by vette.tech

What's your lighting ?

2-kessil a150s

Originally Posted by Palting

I had a similar issue on my mixed reef. SPS growing like crazy, LPS and softies only so-so. I narrowed the cause down to low nutrients. Now, they are all thriving from increased feeding.

I suggest slowly increasing your coral feeding. You can start either by increasing your weekly spot feed volume, or increase the frequency to twice a week.

Bear in mind that it takes a while for those corals to start coloring up and responding to your feeding. I made changes to my feeding regimen at 3 week or so intervals. Just to complete the picture, I target coral feed with all the pumps off for 30 minutes. Water gets pretty cloudy with each feeding. I also run mechanical filters (foam pads on trays) that I rinse once a week, so when I turn the pumps back on after the 30 minute feeding, all the excess coral food gets filtered out. The cloudy nutrient laden water is clear within 15 minutes. Keep an eye on your phosphates and nitrates, as well algae growth, to make sure you do not overshoot the "ideal" nutrient level.

Thanks for the tips

Originally Posted by anyfunkyfish

how old is your system?

~1 year old