Well, I had some issues with My Large Bubble magus filter roller the last few months. In the last 2 months of taking my roller mat completely off line and not using any filter socks I lost an 18 head colony of purple hammers, a new colony of golden hammers, and my orange hammers started receding. Nutrients were at acceptable levels between .1 to .2 for phosphates and 20-30 for nitrates. My Acros are not receding but not growing as fast either. Prior to removing the roller mat, my phosphates would fluctuate between .2 and .3 and nitrates between 30 and 40 with no adverse effects on hammers or any other corals.
I wondered what I was doing wrong. No water changes due to volume - 340 gallons. I was controlling nitrates and phosphates by vodka dosing (50 ml per day), Algae turf scrubber, Pellet reactor, and matrix rock for denitrator as well, plus an oversized skimmer rated for 500 gallons.
Nutrients weren't great but my acros and hammers continuously grew despite higher nutrients than I'd like. I judged based on coral health and less on numbers. Testing weekly in case anything started to spike.
Well, Tuesday this week 8/16 I installed a new red sea reefmat 1200. I didn't realize how impactful not running mechanical filtration could be on corals. It doesn't seem to impact numbers, so, I don't know if the debris would impact lighting making it to the corals, or if the debris is something that could generate toxicity to the corals. However, all I can say is that in the first 24 hours of running the reefmat, I went through 20 feet of paper.
It estimates I'll go through an entire roll of paper in less than 5 days at this rate. I can't help but wonder if the debris running through my display is irritating coral health. Even my toadstool is showing signs of chunks of its flesh missing from the top. Which I hadn't noticed before.
Maybe the vodka dosing is generating too much bacteria... And the paper is removing the dead bacteria from the water column? I don't know what all it's removing, but the paper is solid brown in color. My skimmer is removing nearly a gallon black liquid every 7-10 days. I get close to a full 5 gallon bucket of black liquid a month.
I have around 17-18 fish. around 70% of which are large - 5-10 inches in size. I feed 2-3 ounces of frozen food per day, plus 1 sheet of nori per day, plus pellets and flakes 4 times a day (autofeeder). My Creole Anthias act like they're going to die if they don't get more food every 2 seconds.
I wondered what I was doing wrong. No water changes due to volume - 340 gallons. I was controlling nitrates and phosphates by vodka dosing (50 ml per day), Algae turf scrubber, Pellet reactor, and matrix rock for denitrator as well, plus an oversized skimmer rated for 500 gallons.
Nutrients weren't great but my acros and hammers continuously grew despite higher nutrients than I'd like. I judged based on coral health and less on numbers. Testing weekly in case anything started to spike.
Well, Tuesday this week 8/16 I installed a new red sea reefmat 1200. I didn't realize how impactful not running mechanical filtration could be on corals. It doesn't seem to impact numbers, so, I don't know if the debris would impact lighting making it to the corals, or if the debris is something that could generate toxicity to the corals. However, all I can say is that in the first 24 hours of running the reefmat, I went through 20 feet of paper.
It estimates I'll go through an entire roll of paper in less than 5 days at this rate. I can't help but wonder if the debris running through my display is irritating coral health. Even my toadstool is showing signs of chunks of its flesh missing from the top. Which I hadn't noticed before.
Maybe the vodka dosing is generating too much bacteria... And the paper is removing the dead bacteria from the water column? I don't know what all it's removing, but the paper is solid brown in color. My skimmer is removing nearly a gallon black liquid every 7-10 days. I get close to a full 5 gallon bucket of black liquid a month.
I have around 17-18 fish. around 70% of which are large - 5-10 inches in size. I feed 2-3 ounces of frozen food per day, plus 1 sheet of nori per day, plus pellets and flakes 4 times a day (autofeeder). My Creole Anthias act like they're going to die if they don't get more food every 2 seconds.