No more zero NO3/PO4

[Reefer911]

@VintageReefer are you using ICP tests to guide your Mn dosing? And are you dosing any other supplements?

 

[VintageReefer]

@VintageReefer are you using ICP tests to guide your Mn dosing? And are you dosing any other supplements?

I use all for reef
I’ve never had an icp. I use moonshiners manganese, they have a calculator to determine a suggested daily dosage.

I do have an icp kit I’ve yet to use. I don’t dose other supplements besides all for reef, manganese, and amino acids

I’ve changed roughly 15g of water in this 75g tank over the last 10 years. I don’t use a skimmer or any mechanical filtration

My understanding from research on manganese is that it is depleted very rapidly which is why it’s suggested to dose daily. I assume that from years of no manganese plus consumers of it (turf scrubber + Goni) that I was definitely at zero. I read of people dosing it and still testing zero until they increase amounts

I wanted to give a month or two at the suggested dose before sending in the icp to see if my amount is enough to maintain detectable levels

 

[CHSUB]

Also I have a goni that’s been retracted for months

Question? Where did you get your Goni? I have been noticing some online retailers sell what I believe is wild collected goni. stokesia. I even questioned WWC about the linage of the Goni a purchased from them and they quickly “put me in my place”…haha! If you purchased a wild piece or one chopped up into frags sold as captive raised it would, ime, slowly die over a year or so, regardless of your interventions.

 

[Reefer911]

Question? Where did you get your Goni? I have been noticing some online retailers sell what I believe is wild collected goni. stokesia. I even questioned WWC about the linage of the Goni a purchased from them and they quickly “put me in my place”…haha! If you purchased a wild piece or one chopped up into frags sold as captive raised it would, ime, slowly die over a year or so, regardless of your interventions.

I got mine locally. And I didn’t ask.

At one point I did have an Aussie aquacultured Goni that I bought from a place out of Austin. It did pretty well for a while but didn’t survive a tank transfer

 

[Reefer911]

@VintageReefer I am intrigued about running a system without any mechanical filtration. I would like to get to this point, and I know I’d have to increase biological filtration capabilities.
This would lessen the small headache of dealing with the occasional malfunction of the skimmer and having to frequently change my filter roller

Where can I find more info on this?

 

[Rigoberto]

I personally do not recommend reduced skimming due to the loss of aeration. If nutrients are low, there are better options such as feeding more or dosing N and P.

Or get a smaller/less efficient skimmer.

 

[VintageReefer]

@VintageReefer I am intrigued about running a system without any mechanical filtration. I would like to get to this point, and I know I’d have to increase biological filtration capabilities.
This would lessen the small headache of dealing with the occasional malfunction of the skimmer and having to frequently change my filter roller

Where can I find more info on this?

I’ve been keeping reefs this way for over 10 years. It’s something I figured out a long time ago, through trial, error, and advice from a forum many years ago

I also don’t do water changes. Sure, if I siphon out a little water for acclimating a fish, it needs to be replaced. Or if I have to run a med they sometimes need to have a skimmer run for a period of time. So there’s exceptions. But overall, I don’t do water changes or run a skimmer

My sump is filled with live rock that’s 10-15 years old. I have a lot of sponge on it. The display has a yellow sponge colony (6+ inches) and a 8” rope sponge.

I have this live rock in all three sump chambers packed wherever it can fit

My water filtration is handled by a Santa Monica Surf 2 algae scrubber. Scrubbers directly consume phosphate and nitrate from the water

I took the skimmer offline over a year ago. I also was battling low nutrients despite no water changes. Taking the skimmer offline really has no noticable difference. Skimmers do not “directly” reduce phosphates. They remove things before they convert to phosphates.

My system allows those things to convert to phosphates and then the scrubber absorbs the phosphates

I guess if I was to summarize everything I would say it’s a combination of a established system, lots of live rock, sponge, a cryptic zone, and a algae scrubber, and some chemipure elite. I’ve always run chemipure, not sure if it’s needed. Just an old school reefer and I’ve been using it for years and years and always incorporated it in all my tanks

My sump rock is probably nicer than most peoples display rock