Increased water changes … sand bed now dirtier!

[peterhos]

Hi All. I am trying to keep up with water changes and am thinking of cutting down on adding iron, iodine, manganese and vanadium.

Now doing 10-11% water changes per week, but the sand bed is looking browner with a little red cyano (?).

My half dozen SPS are starting to grow, but my zoas have mostly disappeared. Did I overdo the iodine?

Any helpful thoughts please.

 

[killer2001]

Sounds like very low nutrients (Nitrate/Phosphate), and possibly zero to low silicates. Ideal conditions for Dinos to take hold.

 

[peterhos]

Sounds like very low nutrients (Nitrate/Phosphate), and possibly zero to low silicates. Ideal conditions for Dinos to take hold.

Thank you. Oddly the Hanna checker shows 0.30 for phosphate, but to my eye the sample has no colour at all. You can see my confusion!!

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hi All. I am trying to keep up with water changes and am thinking of cutting down on adding iron, iodine, manganese and vanadium.

Now doing 10-11% water changes per week, but the sand bed is looking browner with a little red cyano (?).

My half dozen SPS are starting to grow, but my zoas have mostly disappeared. Did I overdo the iodine?

Any helpful thoughts please.

If you're doing regular 10% water changes I would not be dosing Iron or Iodine.
In my experience they cause excess algae growth.

BTW, the Hanna phosphate color cannot be determined by eye. If it says 0.3 it is 0.3

 

[Readywriter]

Hi All. I am trying to keep up with water changes and am thinking of cutting down on adding iron, iodine, manganese and vanadium.

Now doing 10-11% water changes per week, but the sand bed is looking browner with a little red cyano (?).

My half dozen SPS are starting to grow, but my zoas have mostly disappeared. Did I overdo the iodine?

Any helpful thoughts please.

Are you using tap water?

 

[peterhos]

Are you using tap water?

No. Just checked my WC water. Phosphate shows 0.05. Could water changes temporarily cause rise in phosphates due to die off, or maybe I should hoover the sand around the base of rocks?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Do you have enough flow in the tank, especially across the bottom?

 

[peterhos]

No. Just checked my WC water. Phosphate shows 0.05. Could water changes temporarily cause rise in phosphates due to die off, or maybe I should hoover the sand around the base of rocks?

Do you have enough flow in the tank, especially across the bottom?

Thank you. A good point. In my Red Sea reefer 250 I have one Red Sea Reef wave high up on one side. I may have to adjust this. Maybe I need to get some detritus up into the water column??

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hi All. I am trying to keep up with water changes and am thinking of cutting down on adding iron, iodine, manganese and vanadium.

Now doing 10-11% water changes per week, but the sand bed is looking browner with a little red cyano (?).

My half dozen SPS are starting to grow, but my zoas have mostly disappeared. Did I overdo the iodine?

Any helpful thoughts please.

I would not assume that water changes will accomplish the same thing as those additions. I assume you are not talking about something like 50% daily, so it will be hard for water changes to keep up with rapidly depleting ions such as iron.

That said, water changes may not really be where they would come from in your tank. Foods carry all of the trace elements needed, though it can be hard to quantify how much becomes available to organisms such as corals and macroalgae.

 

[peterhos]

I would not assume that water changes will accomplish the same thing as those additions. I assume you are not talking about something like 50% daily, so it will be hard for water changes to keep up with rapidly depleting ions such as iron.

That said, water changes may not really be where they would come from in your tank. Foods carry all of the trace elements needed, though it can be hard to quantify how much becomes available to organisms such as corals and macroalgae.

Thank you Randy and all

I had also changed the flow in the tank. This might be the answer. Will try to get more flow across the sand bed.

 

[Garf]

the Hanna phosphate color cannot be determined by eye. If it says 0.3 it is 0.3

It should be a little blue though

but to my eye the sample has no colour at all

As above.