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I was wondering -- a lot of people are dosing NO3 and PO4 2 or more times a week. I used to dose twice weekly. I recently bought a Hach NO3 kit, and found I had around 30-50ppm in my tanks! Now, I find if I dose to 15-20ppm NO3 at water change, I don't need to dose anymore during the week. I find no measureable drop in NO3 levels during the week. I do have well-stocked tanks and feed daily.
With PO4, I dose to around 2-2.5ppm at water change. This does seem to drop a little by week's end. However, I use Red Sea as my kit, and can't vouch for accuracy as with Hach.
Am I correct in the assumption the fish/waste/feedings/tank age are all playing a role in this maintenance of nitrate levels? For micros, as an example, I add 1.5ml of Flourish and 0.75ml of Flourish iron daily (except when I dose the macros) to a 29 gal. (Lighting is 75W; pressurized CO2 25-35ppm.) If I were to increase micros, would I see increase in NO3 and PO4 consumption? How much is too much micros if you have shrimp?
Comments, observations welcome. Thanks.
With PO4, I dose to around 2-2.5ppm at water change. This does seem to drop a little by week's end. However, I use Red Sea as my kit, and can't vouch for accuracy as with Hach.
Am I correct in the assumption the fish/waste/feedings/tank age are all playing a role in this maintenance of nitrate levels? For micros, as an example, I add 1.5ml of Flourish and 0.75ml of Flourish iron daily (except when I dose the macros) to a 29 gal. (Lighting is 75W; pressurized CO2 25-35ppm.) If I were to increase micros, would I see increase in NO3 and PO4 consumption? How much is too much micros if you have shrimp?
Comments, observations welcome. Thanks.