Hey guys, I've been ghosting this Reef Chemistry for some time, and reading a ton of @Randy Holmes-Farley's articles (thank you for those!!!) Think it's time for me to finally introduce myself into here.
Having pale coral issues, very very limited growth in SPS (mainly encrusting of a few), as well as RTN/STN of most newly introduced frags. My fatality rate has dramatically decreased since correcting some items 1 by 1 (tested original frag water vs mine, and had 2-3 ALK difference, could have caused a shock & made them go.) Was using Reef Crystals, and now switching to Instant Oceans. My tank is fairly new (details below), and I don't think it was keeping up w/ the high levels of RC. Alk was always in the high 9's. Now I have ~50% RC & 50% IO in the tank (done slowly over multiple water changes), and alk is steady in the 8.6 zone. Before alk was never getting used up and flatlined at ~9.6. Will test again soon to see if alk gets used up or remains @ 8.6
Newest item I'm digging into is Phosphate. Finally picked up a salifert Phosphate test to rather than my API, and shockingly it came out as 0. I use RO/DI, but tested my tap water to see if the kit may be defective as I assumed my tap had some (of course there's the possibility it didn't), and that also came out 0.
So I have a Hanna low-end phosphate tester on the way, as well as some Potassuim Phosphate from Nilocg (http://nilocg.com/potassium-phosphate-kh2po4-1lb/) just in case I need to start dosing.
• What would be a safe amount to dose per day if needed?
Using this calculator, http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/calculator.htm - I was thinking of mixing .15cc/ml (red sea white spoon) worth of Pot. Phos. into 75ml rodi for 50-gallons of tank volume.
Then dosing 1ml a day of this solution should raise the tank by .01 ppm each day
Would this be a safe amount to add? I would like to bring my tank to .003 ppm phosphate, and I'm aware some of the solution I'm dosing might get used up by the tank / coral / algae / (and possibly absorbed by the rock?)
I used to rinse my frozen food, but for the past few weeks have not - in an attempt to increase nutrients
I've tried the #1 advice on raising nutrients which was to feed heavier (nitrates were a flat 0 as well, dosed potassium nitrate to increase them) - this didn't work for me. Most likely because my bioload is pretty low (4x smallll fish - see below). All that happened is they got some pretty BIG bellies haha... like about to explode big! Definitely reduced feeding to make them healthy again so they don't look like McDonald's regulars. Don't think those guys can produce enough waste for the system at this given moment. Plans to add more, but after they go through quarantine.
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Additional details / questions I have for those who are bored & feel like reading more
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Was previously doing 10% weekly WC - thinking of reducing the frequency to monthly. Any input?
Tank is standalone - no sump / no fuge
Tank Size - 55G, 40lb rock, 60lb sand (rough water volume 45-50G)
Temp - 77F
PH (API / Digital Meter) - 8.1
Ammonia (API) - 0
Nitrite (API) - 0
Nitrate (API/Salifert) - 2.5
Calcium (API) - 420
Alk (API/Salifert) - 8.6
Mag (Salifert) - 1380
Salinity (Refractometer) - 1.026
Phosphate (API/Salifert [hanna test this weekend]) - 0
LiveStock: 2x small clowns, 1x blue tang, 1x desjardini sailfin (yes... I know... tangs. I plan to upgrade systems way before this outgrow this tank). Plan to add an addition 1-3 small fish (cardinals/dwarf angel) / few snails - turbos/nassarius
Coral Stock - Roughly 20x different types of Zoas, 7x euphyllias/lps, a mushroom rock, and about 20+ different types of sps/acros. All coral (- mushroom rock) are frags. Most range from 1"-2.5"
Started w/ 40lb dry rock (reef saver), and 60lb live caribsea Hawaiian black sand
Feeding habit - ~ .25frozen cube mysis, .25frozen cube brine, .25 cube frozen herbivore food, and ~8-10 1mm pellets.
Few areas of reddish algae on the sand in dead spot areas. Will test it w/ hydrogen peroxide next time I see it, as I got most of it off during the last water change. Don't think it's Cyano, but possible spirulina. Also forms on the back glass.
I end up cleaning the front glass every ~4 days.
Recently, a TONNNN of sponges/tunicates appeared. Mainly in low light / med-low flow areas. I'm talking a ton, definitely uncountable. Not sure what caused their bloom. I rinse my HOB filters carbon socks w/ pressured tap water every week , since waste build-up on the back of the socks begins to clog it & causes water to flow from the 'overflow' area. Only thing I can think may be some items from the tap left in the sock are a food source for them? They only appeared about 1 month or 2 ago, and I started this rinsing habit about 2-3 months ago.
Guess I must be cleaning them wrong, but I find this the best way to clean all the waste since the pressure from the sink hose will actually get it off. Shaking them in RODI won't do the same trick
I don't dose CA/Alk/Mg - since there hasn't been much growth - meaning there wasn't much use of the resources. I do test weekly and everything doesn't really flunctuate, at all. Must be the weekly 10% WC replenishing them if they were even used at all.
I do dose 2ml KZ Phols Xtra daily, as well as feed 5ml oyster feast every night
TDS from my RO Buddie RO/DI unit comes out to 0-2 depending on how new my DI resin is (I know, that 2ppm could be ANYTHING. Not optimal)
Equipment list:
• 4ft long 55g topfin tank
• 2x euphotica Leds on a ramping cycle
• 1x 36" coral plus ati T5 bulb
• generic ebay in-tank skimmer (which does a pretty dang good job I may add!)
• 2x HOB filters, rated at ~800 gph combined - change out carbon filters monthly
• 2x current usa eflux wavemakers on different timed wave intervals
• tunzee ato
• Fan & 200W heater hooked up to an inkbird temp controller, which amazingly keeps the temp between 76.5-77.5, even when the house was as cold as 65degrees, and as hot as 98!
custom built canopy for hanging/hiding all this ugly equipment
• grounding probe
• Ebay 9W submersible UV - used to eradicate a cloudy bacteria bloom that didn't go away on it's own after 3-4weeks. worked like a charm
Dip coral in bayer as my main dip. When trying to diagnose my RTN/STN issue for new frags, I tried adding Lugols Iodide to the last rinse - helped, but didn't cure. I then switched to Revive for an attempt, worked on some, killed others way faster. I also tried to not dip a frag, which still RTN'd in 2x days. This is what lead me to think the ALK in my tank being 2-3 dkh higher than the original frag water may have been too much a shock. Obviously there's 1000 other possibilities, but simply trying to narrow down and correct what I can. Also, I realized most frags I get come from ULNS tanks. Mine - not being as optimal as theirs - might also be a big shock to them. Lastly, tried methods acclimating frags, also tried just straight into the dip.
That's all I can pretty much think of at this 4am moment, and seriously thanks if you made it this far through my lengthy post. I used to turkey baster my rocks very often - but I'm not positve my coral like the strong blast every few days. Also noticed that this caused my filters to get clogged much much faster. Now that I only do it once every week or 2, I'm getting much more coraline spots forming on this dry rock of mine.
Thanks again guys, really appreciate any input you have on the thread title, or anything else you see I may be mistaken at! (rinsing filter cartridges, turkey basting rocks, feeding too little, adding something I shouldn't, adding something I should, having 2ppm TDS when it REALLLLLY needs to be 0, finding a way to lower ALK even more than 8.6dkh, doing too frequent water changes, etc etc etc)
Looking forward to it! You guys have taught me so much as is! I swear, when people told me that this is a time consuming hobby, no one told me that time was spent researching hahaha. Can't wait to hear your guys experience / expertise!
Best
-Matt
Having pale coral issues, very very limited growth in SPS (mainly encrusting of a few), as well as RTN/STN of most newly introduced frags. My fatality rate has dramatically decreased since correcting some items 1 by 1 (tested original frag water vs mine, and had 2-3 ALK difference, could have caused a shock & made them go.) Was using Reef Crystals, and now switching to Instant Oceans. My tank is fairly new (details below), and I don't think it was keeping up w/ the high levels of RC. Alk was always in the high 9's. Now I have ~50% RC & 50% IO in the tank (done slowly over multiple water changes), and alk is steady in the 8.6 zone. Before alk was never getting used up and flatlined at ~9.6. Will test again soon to see if alk gets used up or remains @ 8.6
Newest item I'm digging into is Phosphate. Finally picked up a salifert Phosphate test to rather than my API, and shockingly it came out as 0. I use RO/DI, but tested my tap water to see if the kit may be defective as I assumed my tap had some (of course there's the possibility it didn't), and that also came out 0.
So I have a Hanna low-end phosphate tester on the way, as well as some Potassuim Phosphate from Nilocg (http://nilocg.com/potassium-phosphate-kh2po4-1lb/) just in case I need to start dosing.
• What would be a safe amount to dose per day if needed?
Using this calculator, http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/calculator.htm - I was thinking of mixing .15cc/ml (red sea white spoon) worth of Pot. Phos. into 75ml rodi for 50-gallons of tank volume.
Then dosing 1ml a day of this solution should raise the tank by .01 ppm each day
Would this be a safe amount to add? I would like to bring my tank to .003 ppm phosphate, and I'm aware some of the solution I'm dosing might get used up by the tank / coral / algae / (and possibly absorbed by the rock?)
I used to rinse my frozen food, but for the past few weeks have not - in an attempt to increase nutrients
I've tried the #1 advice on raising nutrients which was to feed heavier (nitrates were a flat 0 as well, dosed potassium nitrate to increase them) - this didn't work for me. Most likely because my bioload is pretty low (4x smallll fish - see below). All that happened is they got some pretty BIG bellies haha... like about to explode big! Definitely reduced feeding to make them healthy again so they don't look like McDonald's regulars. Don't think those guys can produce enough waste for the system at this given moment. Plans to add more, but after they go through quarantine.
---------
Additional details / questions I have for those who are bored & feel like reading more
---------
Was previously doing 10% weekly WC - thinking of reducing the frequency to monthly. Any input?
Tank is standalone - no sump / no fuge
Tank Size - 55G, 40lb rock, 60lb sand (rough water volume 45-50G)
Temp - 77F
PH (API / Digital Meter) - 8.1
Ammonia (API) - 0
Nitrite (API) - 0
Nitrate (API/Salifert) - 2.5
Calcium (API) - 420
Alk (API/Salifert) - 8.6
Mag (Salifert) - 1380
Salinity (Refractometer) - 1.026
Phosphate (API/Salifert [hanna test this weekend]) - 0
LiveStock: 2x small clowns, 1x blue tang, 1x desjardini sailfin (yes... I know... tangs. I plan to upgrade systems way before this outgrow this tank). Plan to add an addition 1-3 small fish (cardinals/dwarf angel) / few snails - turbos/nassarius
Coral Stock - Roughly 20x different types of Zoas, 7x euphyllias/lps, a mushroom rock, and about 20+ different types of sps/acros. All coral (- mushroom rock) are frags. Most range from 1"-2.5"
Started w/ 40lb dry rock (reef saver), and 60lb live caribsea Hawaiian black sand
Feeding habit - ~ .25frozen cube mysis, .25frozen cube brine, .25 cube frozen herbivore food, and ~8-10 1mm pellets.
Few areas of reddish algae on the sand in dead spot areas. Will test it w/ hydrogen peroxide next time I see it, as I got most of it off during the last water change. Don't think it's Cyano, but possible spirulina. Also forms on the back glass.
I end up cleaning the front glass every ~4 days.
Recently, a TONNNN of sponges/tunicates appeared. Mainly in low light / med-low flow areas. I'm talking a ton, definitely uncountable. Not sure what caused their bloom. I rinse my HOB filters carbon socks w/ pressured tap water every week , since waste build-up on the back of the socks begins to clog it & causes water to flow from the 'overflow' area. Only thing I can think may be some items from the tap left in the sock are a food source for them? They only appeared about 1 month or 2 ago, and I started this rinsing habit about 2-3 months ago.
Guess I must be cleaning them wrong, but I find this the best way to clean all the waste since the pressure from the sink hose will actually get it off. Shaking them in RODI won't do the same trick
I don't dose CA/Alk/Mg - since there hasn't been much growth - meaning there wasn't much use of the resources. I do test weekly and everything doesn't really flunctuate, at all. Must be the weekly 10% WC replenishing them if they were even used at all.
I do dose 2ml KZ Phols Xtra daily, as well as feed 5ml oyster feast every night
TDS from my RO Buddie RO/DI unit comes out to 0-2 depending on how new my DI resin is (I know, that 2ppm could be ANYTHING. Not optimal)
Equipment list:
• 4ft long 55g topfin tank
• 2x euphotica Leds on a ramping cycle
• 1x 36" coral plus ati T5 bulb
• generic ebay in-tank skimmer (which does a pretty dang good job I may add!)
• 2x HOB filters, rated at ~800 gph combined - change out carbon filters monthly
• 2x current usa eflux wavemakers on different timed wave intervals
• tunzee ato
• Fan & 200W heater hooked up to an inkbird temp controller, which amazingly keeps the temp between 76.5-77.5, even when the house was as cold as 65degrees, and as hot as 98!
custom built canopy for hanging/hiding all this ugly equipment
• grounding probe
• Ebay 9W submersible UV - used to eradicate a cloudy bacteria bloom that didn't go away on it's own after 3-4weeks. worked like a charm
Dip coral in bayer as my main dip. When trying to diagnose my RTN/STN issue for new frags, I tried adding Lugols Iodide to the last rinse - helped, but didn't cure. I then switched to Revive for an attempt, worked on some, killed others way faster. I also tried to not dip a frag, which still RTN'd in 2x days. This is what lead me to think the ALK in my tank being 2-3 dkh higher than the original frag water may have been too much a shock. Obviously there's 1000 other possibilities, but simply trying to narrow down and correct what I can. Also, I realized most frags I get come from ULNS tanks. Mine - not being as optimal as theirs - might also be a big shock to them. Lastly, tried methods acclimating frags, also tried just straight into the dip.
That's all I can pretty much think of at this 4am moment, and seriously thanks if you made it this far through my lengthy post. I used to turkey baster my rocks very often - but I'm not positve my coral like the strong blast every few days. Also noticed that this caused my filters to get clogged much much faster. Now that I only do it once every week or 2, I'm getting much more coraline spots forming on this dry rock of mine.
Thanks again guys, really appreciate any input you have on the thread title, or anything else you see I may be mistaken at! (rinsing filter cartridges, turkey basting rocks, feeding too little, adding something I shouldn't, adding something I should, having 2ppm TDS when it REALLLLLY needs to be 0, finding a way to lower ALK even more than 8.6dkh, doing too frequent water changes, etc etc etc)
Looking forward to it! You guys have taught me so much as is! I swear, when people told me that this is a time consuming hobby, no one told me that time was spent researching hahaha. Can't wait to hear your guys experience / expertise!
Best
-Matt
