Top 20 Nitrate & Phosphate Mistakes You're Making Right Now In Your Reef Tank.

Having a hard time with Nitrates and Phosphates in your saltwater aquarium? Chances are you're probably making a few of these mistakes! Change the trajectory of your reef tank and add peace of mind by fixing those mistakes before they turn into fails.

This isn't our first rodeo when it comes to Reefing Mistakes. Look at all the ways we failed, below!

BRStv Community links!

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00:00 - Top 20 Mistakes - Nitrate & Phosphate
00:11 - Mistake #1: All Life Uses Nitrogen & Phosphorus.
00:54 - Mistake #2: No Longer About Algae Control.
01:50 - Mistake #3: You Can Dose it.
02:48 - Mistake #4: Assuming All Food Is The Same.
03:52 - Mistake #5: Assuming If The Fish Eats It, It’s Gone.
04:41 - Mistake #6: Removing One Without The Other.
06:39 - Mistake #7: Aiming For Zero-Zero
07:50 - Mistake #8: Not Understanding What 0.03 Means.
08:54 - Mistake #9: Not Testing Once A Month.
09:58 - Mistake #10: Chasing Numbers Rather Than Trends.
10:54 - Mistake #11: Overlooking Corals As Part Of Filtration.
11:47 - Mistake #12: Not Tuning Your Refugium.
12:43 - Mistake #13: Not Tuning Your Filter Socks.
13:22 - Mistake #14: Not Tuning Your Skimmer.
14:27 - Mistake #15: Not Tuning Your Carbon Dosing.
15:21 - Mistake #16: Considering Water Changes As An Export.
16:44 - Mistake #17: Closer To Zero, The More Important Prey Is.
17:47 - Mistake #18: Phosphate Will Slow Down Coral Growth.
18:50 - Mistake #19: Calcium Reactors Add Phosphate To Your Tank.
19:37 - Mistake #20: Not Knowing That This Conversation Is Evolving.

[VictoriaLeeCreates]

I'm so grateful you guys post these videos. Thank you 😊

[gordonbulloch]

Brilliant, finally have this topic explained easily than any social media forum 👍🏻👍🏻

[garydsouza]

great video, 100%, so glad you slowed down your speech for us people in the UK...

[bryanjames]

You know, the more I research keeping a reef tank, the more conflicting information I'm finding. Weather it's utilizing what I've learned from YouTube reefers, or try the Triton method I've heard good things about.

But now I see that I'm just gonna have to go for it, and see how it goes for me through trial and error. But I think that's part of the allure of keeping a beautiful saltwater tank. It's going to be a challenge, and the more effort put in, the more rewarding it'll be.

Thanks for all the wonderful information guys. Much appreciated. Hopefully I can show you the fruits of my labor down the road.

[VictoriaLeeCreates]

I'm literally saving these to a playlist. 💛💛💛💛💛

[scatpack]

Best aquarium info out there. You guys are helping a lot of people in this hobby.👍

[mirandagerson]

Thanks so much to you both, these videos are SO helpful!

[AJ-bins]

Learned though years of failure that ULNS and targeting double 0s only works with HEAVY nutrient input. Dosing up to .05/5 has really turned my tank around. Plenty of local mentors with heavy SPS/Acro tanks swear by .05-.12 PO4 and 15ish NO3

[quintonfields]

I've been doing aquariums for a long time the way I see it it's just like life you going to make mistakes and don't know it you just gotta live with it and try to make it better Through Time. Nothing's never going to be perfect. And I learned the more you try to make something perfect the more mistakes you going to make.

[elmee]

You guys always make me feel that i can be a prestige reefer lol! Best reef channel out there 🐠

[jasepoag]

I haven't been testing my nitrate and phosphate for over a year because the numbers never moved. Recently I started getting cyano issues and shabby looking SPS. The numbers got up to ~75 no3 and .35 po4. Not sure what changed, but I started dosing NoPox and GFO to get the numbers down, then set up a chaeto fuge to keep them down. Nitrate is being stubborn, but the corals already look much happier at .1 po4.

[iglapsu]

Thanks guys! Really helpful information!

[PokePackFire]

what the heck youtube! why am i not seeing this video listed! i have subscribed and alarm bell.

[acrechi]

Phosphate and nitrates are in our salt mixes. So even doing massive water changes isn’t going to solve issues with high levels. I’ve tested tropic Marin pro at .1 phosphate.

[jordjong]

once a month dayum i test once a week trying to get my phos and nitrate into check weekly water change than test the next day to see where we are at. Just trying to keep a heartbeat and to make sure the downward trend on my phos and nitrates are working.

[agile-heliuk]

Ok. Been running marine tanks 30+years. And thought id dealt with all Nitrate/Phosphate problems could see.
However. I have set up a small 400ltr tank. Bit of branching rock. 2 tangs. Tunze Skimmer. Deltec reactor running bio pellets. Dosing NoPox and Stability ( also added Colony). Have even started running Phosguard.. ( had run Rowaphos). But nothing is doing anything to reduce Nitrate or Phosphate.
Ive put in bit more life rock. Next will look to add an algea tank/ refugium.
Filter socks get changed every few days. Skimmer pulls lots out every day..
Feeding is fairly limited as only 2 tangs. Algea has started to take off..
So totally at a loss as to what is going on in this tank.. no idea where all the nitrate and Phosphate is coming from???? Or why none of the filter media is removing / bringing the levels down.
I stopped adding Calcium Magnesium and KH as thouse levels are high.
Totaly puzzed

[kaylacarpenter]

I’m just happy to finally have my po4 down to 1.0 lol. Slowly getting it to come down.

[alfredtoyo]

Mistake #1, thinking saltwater reef tanks were easy

[rudra]

Me during school: "pfft screw this periodic table crap"
Me after reefing: "yo I know my alk, phosphates and nitrates like a mofo"

[TheDesertraptor]

I had a nitrate spike recently.
I had a thought that after feeding my fish macro from the refugium might have been the cause. Others said no.
But I believe what I did was feed my fish enriched nitrate?