Considering going fowlr

BlueDevil · Jun 20, 2016

Steve Dillon said:
10" off the water surface. But I am just going to ride it at 60/20 till I can unload live stock and then call it a lesson learned.. I feel that everyone gets upset cause I have the desire to keep sps..

Steve - no one is getting upset at you for having the desire to keep SPS. I have no idea why you feel that way. If anything, people have tried to help out every single time you have asked for it. None of us are going to have the magic answer to cure the issues you are having. All we can do is ask questions and give suggestions based on what you tell us. It would be different if we could observe what you do and how you do it daily, but obviously that's out of the question.

I think what you really really need to do is just let things be for a while. Maybe drop the lights down gradually over the next month or so. If your corals survive that's awesome! But you have to be prepared to lose some or all if the issue is not related to the light.

Once you have dropped your lights back down, you can treat this like a soft reset. Again, the caveat being that this issue is only light related. Based on everything else you have told us (perfect parameters, no stray voltage, magnets, obvious bugs or parasites etc...) I have no idea what it could be other than possibly lights. And get that triton test done and post your results here.

I am going to be frank with you on this now (and don't take it the wrong way): once you have completed dropping the light intensity, just leave the tank alone. Do not mess with it at all. Other than weekly glass cleaning/water changes/maintenance, and dosing just let everything be. Give it a couple of months and see how things go. Just looking at some of the posts, and past information, you seem quick to change things up when something doesn't work fast enough. If there is one thing that hard corals need, it is stability. Take that away and no matter what you do, you will not be able to keep them alive. Also, when you ask what others do in their tanks, don't see it is as something you must do to yours as well. What works for someone else might not for you. There's way too many factors in this hobby - size of tanks, brands of equipment, supplements, tank chemistry etc...

Again, we are trying to help but can only do so much before we run out of ideas too.

Steve Dillon · Jun 20, 2016

I have been told time after time that there is no need to dose at this point of the tanks life.. well if dosing whatever ml's over the coarse of the day keeps it stable than isn't that what I am looking for? I know the lights are not a great brand and want to change. I had the dosing pump dosing to the amount ml's that in need to keep alk and calcium at the correct levels. told no need to be dosing, and that the amounts should be equal.. so not only did I turn off the dosing pump I am overwhelmed with so much info.. I am done with it all!! I quit

BlueDevil · Jun 20, 2016

Steve Dillon said:
I have been told time after time that there is no need to dose at this point of the tanks life.. well if dosing whatever ml's over the coarse of the day keeps it stable than isn't that what I am looking for? I know the lights are not a great brand and want to change. I had the dosing pump dosing to the amount ml's that in need to keep alk and calcium at the correct levels. told no need to be dosing, and that the amounts should be equal.. so not only did I turn off the dosing pump I am overwhelmed with so much info.. I am done with it all!! I quit

IMHO dosing has nothing to do with how young or old the tank is. It is dependent on what you have in your tank. If its just softies, you probably won't have to dose much at all, and certainly not calcium. However, the more you get into SPS, it is only natural that your tank will consume both alk and ca as your corals need them to grow. If your levels go down, its obvious that they need to be replenished.

Steve - you have to realize that folks are going to have differing opinions on everything. It is part of the hobby. Don't take everything you read as gospel. Do research - browse forums, read up on articles ... understand the reasoning behind everything before you introduce it to your tank just because someone suggested it or said it works in theirs.

The part about dosing two parts in equal proportions will only hold true if your SW parameters exactly match the tank parameters. If they do not, you're going to end up getting out of whack. You do not necessarily have to dose the same amount. As long as you figure out what your tank consumes, and replace it daily via a doser, you end up at the same point as those that dose it in equal quantities. This way, you don't always have to make sure your SW and tank water are at the same levels.

Anyways, you seem like you're really frustrated so it might be best you go FOWLR. Maybe when that is set up, you can use the time to do some research into coral keeping and see if you spot any differences between what you do, and what other successful reefers have done.

All the best to you!

NeuroticAquatics · Jun 20, 2016

I just read through all of this and it really sounds like he wants to go FOWLR. I see no problem with that if that will make the hobby more enjoyable. I have four tanks...three FOWLR and one reef. I enjoy them all and have tried to keep them as simple as possible. I've found that it works for me, but it might not for others.

Steve Dillon · Jun 20, 2016

I want a reef but it doesn't seem possilbe.. I have the dosing pump for the reason of simplicity set it and let it keep the levels stable.. I just bought an apex to have it to confirm the temp and ph are stable.. I'm really not trying to make anything difficult.. I've kept small reefs before with all the easy stuff.. I guess I'm just ignorant to the new saltwater world.. sorry for wasting everyone's time..

Reefrookie220 · Jun 20, 2016

What was your process when setting up your dosing pumps

Steve Dillon · Jun 20, 2016

This last time on calcium I got it to 450 by manual dose.. then I wait 7 days retested. Found that it used 20 ppm or dropped to 430. Then I divided 20 by 7. Think that was 2.86. So I got on brs calculator and put in the info it gave me 28ml.. so I set the dosing pump to 28ml. I also set the pump to divide that up to 24 cycles.. Alk I started at 10 ml once a day.. tested daily and adjusted by 5 till I got it steady at 9.

Steve Dillon · Jun 20, 2016

Alk was also broke up 24 cycles..

Steve Dillon · Jun 20, 2016

I know this is a mute point but I'm a t5 guy.. this adjusting this and that is new to me.. seems I am the wreck on a wreck.. I wouldn't know what I was doing If I had a par meter.. I'm not the guru I want to be.. I'm not everyones cup of tea either. I answer the questions asked and don't read in to giving more info.. doesn't mean I'm not a bad person or a dumb reefer.. I want to learn but I'm a try this vs a reason why person.. which I guess is my down fault.. I'll be back but I really think a break is my best resource right now..

FEED ME ZOAS · Jun 20, 2016

Steve Dillon said:
I know this is a mute point but I'm a t5 guy.. this adjusting this and that is new to me.. seems I am the wreck on a wreck.. I wouldn't know what I was doing If I had a par meter.. I'm not the guru I want to be.. I'm not everyones cup of tea either. I answer the questions asked and don't read in to giving more info.. doesn't mean I'm not a bad person or a dumb reefer.. I want to learn but I'm a try this vs a reason why person.. which I guess is my down fault.. I'll be back but I really think a break is my best resource right now..

I currently have the club par meter and think I maybe know how to use it. I can bring it Saturday if you'd like, and I'm sure someone more experienced than myself could weigh in. I've only been in the saltwater game for about 9 months now, and I was only in the freshwater game for about a month and a half before that. I really just dove in head first, and it's definitely been a learning experience for me, and it continues to be every day. For what it's worth, i've had some corals die, had some fish go out through an ich outbreak, dealt with flukes, and a few other things too. I've considered giving up for sure. In fact I almost did about a month ago when my potters angel had flukes and I thought I was going to lose it. I don't have the insight that some of th other members do, as I'm also quit new to this, but I figured I'd share my experience. If you want to go fowlr, then go for it and maybe try reefing again in the future. I wish I had more sound advice or experiences to share, but if you need any help breaking anything down or moving anything, I'd be more than happy to help out! Good luck man!

Steve Dillon · Jun 20, 2016

gomusic14 said:
I currently have the club par meter and think I maybe know how to use it. I can bring it Saturday if you'd like, and I'm sure someone more experienced than myself could weigh in. I've only been in the saltwater game for about 9 months now, and I was only in the freshwater game for about a month and a half before that. I really just dove in head first, and it's definitely been a learning experience for me, and it continues to be every day. For what it's worth, i've had some corals die, had some fish go out through an ich outbreak, dealt with flukes, and a few other things too. I've considered giving up for sure. In fact I almost did about a month ago when my potters angel had flukes and I thought I was going to lose it. I don't have the insight that some of th other members do, as I'm also quit new to this, but I figured I'd share my experience. If you want to go fowlr, then go for it and maybe try reefing again in the future. I wish I had more sound advice or experiences to share, but if you need any help breaking anything down or moving anything, I'd be more than happy to help out! Good luck man!

Thanks

Reefrookie220 · Jun 20, 2016

Only you know your limits Steve, if it's Fowlr or nothing then put some mean butt predators in that thing and let the feeding frenzy begin!

Also if your a t5 guy, then go that route.... Some of the nicest sps tanks on this forum are t5, don't join the LED band wagon if you don't like them over t5s.

At this point it's not what works for the tank, it's what works for Steve. If your little biocube Reef is rocking then rock it! Let the big behemoth work is self out.

Steve Dillon · Jun 20, 2016

Reefrookie220 said:
Only you know your limits Steve, if it's Fowlr or nothing then put some mean *** predators in that thing and let the feeding frenzy begin!

Also if your a t5 guy, then go that route.... Some of the nicest sps tanks on this forum are t5, don't join the LED band wagon if you don't like them over t5s.

At this point it's not what works for the tank, it's what works for Steve. If your little biocube Reef is rocking then rock it! Let the big behemoth work is self out.

It's not worth it .. biocube is great.. have the notorious hard to keep carpet nem in it..