3.0 Experienced Newbie !!!

[ReeferTang44]

Yes but there's other ways alot more inexpensive but we need to know the phosphate to be safe

My ulr phosphate said 0.9

 

[vetteguy53081]

Dosing
Ahh ok that’s another thought I didn’t think about the dosing other stuff in the tank good thinking If I do switch can I just do it next time I need to dose it won’t cause any problems if I switch right? And should I move that hammer up on the rock
Even though as far as I can see my other hammer and frogspawn a doing good down there

And for the blasto should it be ok
Along with the zoas should I keep it there I feel like it’s getting worse

Fusion is a good system but ESV two part is a great pair. nitrate at 25 is not high as many run higher and will be based on coral needs for nitrate. I run 26 and youve seen my tank as well as others tanks. Dose according to needs - not because you feel compelled to. Regular water changes restore many items you dose for and replenish traces.
A series of water changes will reduce no3 and po4 if there is a need to reduce.

 

[ReeferTang44]

Fusion is a good system but ESV two part is a great pair. nitrate at 25 is not high as many run higher and will be based on coral needs for nitrate. I run 26 and youve seen my tank as well as others tanks. Dose according to needs - not because you feel compelled to. Regular water changes restore many items you dose for and replenish traces.
A series of water changes will reduce no3 and po4 if there is a need to reduce.

What trace do you recommend

 

[vetteguy53081]

If I could get a algae scrubber would you recommend it

I run a scrubber and it does a great job with nitrate levels. As for moving up zoa, you can. I keep mine at mid tank and again, my nitrates at 26

 

[vetteguy53081]

What trace do you recommend

I use seachem but brightwell also good. I also change 2 gals water daily and traces are restored in the process.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Fusion is a good system but ESV two part is a great pair. nitrate at 25 is not high as many run higher and will be based on coral needs for nitrate. I run 26 and youve seen my tank as well as others tanks. Dose according to needs - not because you feel compelled to. Regular water changes restore many items you dose for and replenish traces.
A series of water changes will reduce no3 and po4 if there is a need to reduce.

The Op does not have a water station at home and needs to buy water from the lfs... It's easy to tell somebody to do lots of water changes when you're spending an arm and a leg on premixed SW. You really need to read more of his posts to get an understanding of his situation

 

[vetteguy53081]

The Op does not have a water station at home and needs to buy water from the lfs... It's easy to tell somebody to do lots of water changes when you're spending an arm and a leg on premixed SW. You really need to read more of his posts to get an understanding of his situation

I did not tell him to do daily water changes but described what I do as I realize this and suggested some traces to use.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My ulr phosphate said 0.9

This is acceptable even up to .11

 

[100gallonreefer]

I run a scrubber and it does a great job with nitrate levels. As for moving up zoa, you can. I keep mine at mid tank and again, my nitrates at 26

Nice garden!

 

[Salty_Northerner]

I did not tell him to do daily water changes but described what I do as I realize this and suggested some traces to use.

No no you misunderstood me, probably I wasn't clear. For his water volume it wouldn't be feasible to be spending a pile of money on premixed saltwater. For him to get more Trace elements into the system he would need to do quite a bit of water changes.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

@vetteguy53081 what is your PAR level where your Zoa Garden is? And that's got some growth happening for sure.

 

[vetteguy53081]

@vetteguy53081 what is your PAR level where your Zoa Garden is? And that's got some growth happening for sure.

177
There's more:

 

[Salty_Northerner]

177
There's more:

Beautiful, they're quite old I'm assuming.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Beautiful, they're quite old I'm assuming.

About 9 months and should add some were smaller colonies when acquired

 

[Salty_Northerner]

About 9 months

Now now maybe some of them but not all of them.

I won't doubt you but there's some slow growers in the bunch. I can say they are Infact going very well and your tank is very very mature for sure.

Now be honest, your largest single colony, how many polyps were on it when you started? I can't call you on it, but to have growth like that from a 3-4 polyps is very few and far between.

 

[Pod_01]

Also what adjustments should I make to my lights tonight if any

Eventually looking for

For lights I like to run 10 hours of full illumination. Add ramp up/down to it. From the graph you are running 8 hours and that might be bit low. Also I prefer 14k-16k light spectrum not sure on the exact mix but I suspect you can increase the white. For night viewing I use blue at like 3% and that works well with all the lights off in the house. But I do turn off all the lights from midnight to 6am just to make sure fish and corals get actual rest (not sure if that makes any difference).

Just a suggestion but AFR from Tropic Marin is nice all in one solution. I used it and it made it lot easier to comprehend all the other factors etc… It covers Alk, Calcium and trace elements.

If you are using Hanna for Phosphate checking try to bump it up to 0.15 vs. values below 0.1. I had better results at those values with Hanna. I suspect the checker just doesn’t like my water and constantly overestimates the actual value. I don’t use much filtration only skimmer so there are things floating in my water and I think it throws Hanna off.

I find Zoas to be very picky. One minute all good next they are melted away.
I had these melt to just 4 heads:

Stability seems critical.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

For lights I like to run 10 hours of full illumination. Add ramp up/down to it. From the graph you are running 8 hours and that might be bit low. Also I prefer 14k-16k light spectrum not sure on the exact mix but I suspect you can increase the white. For night viewing I use blue at like 3% and that works well with all the lights off in the house. But I do turn off all the lights from midnight to 6am just to make sure fish and corals get actual rest (not sure if that makes any difference).

Just a suggestion but AFR from Tropic Marin is nice all in one solution. I used it and it made it lot easier to comprehend all the other factors etc… It covers Alk, Calcium and trace elements.

If you are using Hanna for Phosphate checking try to bump it up to 0.15 vs. values below 0.1. I had better results at those values with Hanna. I suspect the checker just doesn’t like my water and constantly overestimates the actual value. I don’t use much filtration only skimmer so there are things floating in my water and I think it throws Hanna off.

I find Zoas to be very picky. One minute all good next they are melted away.
I had these melt to just 4 heads:

Stability seems critical.

You forgot magnesium is also in AFR

Beautiful colony!

 

[ReeferTang44]

For lights I like to run 10 hours of full illumination. Add ramp up/down to it. From the graph you are running 8 hours and that might be bit low. Also I prefer 14k-16k light spectrum not sure on the exact mix but I suspect you can increase the white. For night viewing I use blue at like 3% and that works well with all the lights off in the house. But I do turn off all the lights from midnight to 6am just to make sure fish and corals get actual rest (not sure if that makes any difference).

Just a suggestion but AFR from Tropic Marin is nice all in one solution. I used it and it made it lot easier to comprehend all the other factors etc… It covers Alk, Calcium and trace elements.

If you are using Hanna for Phosphate checking try to bump it up to 0.15 vs. values below 0.1. I had better results at those values with Hanna. I suspect the checker just doesn’t like my water and constantly overestimates the actual value. I don’t use much filtration only skimmer so there are things floating in my water and I think it throws Hanna off.

I find Zoas to be very picky. One minute all good next they are melted away.
I had these melt to just 4 heads:

Stability seems critical.

what should I raise mag to

 

[Pod_01]

You forgot magnesium is also in AFR

Beautiful colony!

Theoretically there is Magnesium in AFR but not much. Here is the official DYI AFR recipe from TM and you can see there is almost none per 1litre.

Unless TM substantially changed the formulation you will not get significant boost in Mg from AFR.

But it is there.

 

[Pod_01]

what should I raise mag to

I run mine 1200-1450. Right now I am at 1335. So I would not change it.