My Beliefs: Nutrients, 17 Years, and How I Approach Nitrate and Phosphate in My Own Tanks

Ryan's answer is in Nitrate and Phosphate trends where finding a balance between perpetually rising levels and falling levels is the key. But what about Nitrate and Phosphate levels that don't have a test kit to measure them and you can't see where they stand? Coral foods, amino acids, DIY fish foods with a variety of proteins, these are the Organic Nitrate and Phosphate you can't test for, but are still a vital component to the entire NO3/PO4 relationship.

It only takes a dozen Nitrate tests and Phosphate tests to monitor your tank parameter trends for inorganic Nitrogen and Phosphorus, but deciding on a path for addressing organic nitrate and phosphate can be a turning point for your reef tank.