Param check and advice

[BristolEVO]

Hi all,

I have a Fluval EVO 13.5g that was started about two months ago. Here are my current params. Looking for tips or advice on the levels and how to bring them closer to optimal.

Currently stocked with 2 clowns and a diamond goby and some snails. Getting brown covering the rocks this week.

I dose 5ml AFR daily and Microbacter Clean 1x a week.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0.5
pH - 7.5
Alkalinity - 13.6 dKH
Calcium - 381 ppm
Magnesium - 1095 ppm
Phosphate - 0.36 ppm

Any thoughts or advice is much appreciated since this is my 1st marine tank and still learning.

 

[Dburr1014]

Hi all,

I have a Fluval EVO 13.5g that was started about two months ago. Here are my current params. Looking for tips or advice on the levels and how to bring them closer to optimal.

Currently stocked with 2 clowns and a diamond goby and some snails. Getting brown covering the rocks this week.

I dose 5ml AFR daily and Microbacter Clean 1x a week.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0.5
pH - 7.5
Alkalinity - 13.6 dKH
Calcium - 381 ppm
Magnesium - 1095 ppm
Phosphate - 0.36 ppm

Any thoughts or advice is much appreciated since this is my 1st marine tank and still learning.

What tests are you using?

Looking at them;
PH is low, 8 or higher
Alk is way high, stay less than 11dkh but also depends on nutrients.
Calcium could use a bump, over 400
Mag should be 1350ish
Po4 should be closer to 0.1

I don't think you need microbactor clean in such a new tank.

 

[TX_REEF]

Few observations from me..

• brown algae is perfectly normal on rocks for a tank your age, don't go crazy with chemicals trying to control it
• did you start with live or dry rock?
• What salt do you use?
• I don't think AFR dosing is necessary without any corals or other inverts requiring supplements
• what's your nitrate?
• ph you want 8-8.3 range
• calcium and mag seem low to me, but this doesn't matter much until you add corals

 

[lil sumpin]

Alk seems to be a bit high and cal kinda low, nothing a fairly large water change cant fix. I have a 14g nano cube and it's a bit stocked with coral and I dose only 2mL AFR a day. I think you might wanna reconsider your dosing

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Any thoughts or advice is much appreciated since this is my 1st marine tank and still learning.

You may find this article useful:

Optimal Parameters for a Coral Reef Aquarium: By Randy Holmes-Farley

[note: edited on 5/29/2022 to update the nitrate and phosphate sections with higher recommended levels.] One of the main roles of an aquarist with a coral reef aquarium is to ensure that the conditions are right for their tank inhabitants. There...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[BristolEVO]

What tests are you using?

Looking at them;
PH is low, 8 or higher
Alk is way high, stay less than 11dkh but also depends on nutrients.
Calcium could use a bump, over 400
Mag should be 1350ish
Po4 should be closer to 0.1

I don't think you need microbactor clean in such a new tank.

Thank you for the feedback! I'm using the Hanna multichecker and verifying anything "off" with a Red Sea kit.

The microbacter clean is just Brightwell's plan for new tanks to help avoid the uglies. It starts after the cycle has completed.

 

[BristolEVO]

Few observations from me..

• brown algae is perfectly normal on rocks for a tank your age, don't go crazy with chemicals trying to control it
• did you start with live or dry rock?
• What salt do you use?
• I don't think AFR dosing is necessary without any corals or other inverts requiring supplements
• what's your nitrate?
• ph you want 8-8.3 range
• calcium and mag seem low to me, but this doesn't matter much until you add corals

Thanks for the info! Some answers to your questions:

- I havent been doing much with the brown algae other than trying to puff some off with the baster. Tyring to be patient and letting things take its course.
- I started with purple dry rock. A mistake in hindsight but here I am.
- I use RedSea Pro
- I do have a few corals in there I didn't mention. A rasta zoa, a daisy polyp, an unidentified green w/ yellow spots fingery thing and a small also unidentified torch that was given to me as a freebie. All seem to be doing fine.
- Nitrates are currently 17.5
- What's the best way to raise pH?
- And the best ways to raise calcium and mag?

 

[BristolEVO]

Alk seems to be a bit high and cal kinda low, nothing a fairly large water change cant fix. I have a 14g nano cube and it's a bit stocked with coral and I dose only 2mL AFR a day. I think you might wanna reconsider your dosing

I will definitely look into this, thank you!

 

[TX_REEF]

Thanks for the info! Some answers to your questions:

- I havent been doing much with the brown algae other than trying to puff some off with the baster. Tyring to be patient and letting things take its course.
- I started with purple dry rock. A mistake in hindsight but here I am.
- I use RedSea Pro
- I do have a few corals in there I didn't mention. A rasta zoa, a daisy polyp, an unidentified green w/ yellow spots fingery thing and a small also unidentified torch that was given to me as a freebie. All seem to be doing fine.
- Nitrates are currently 17.5
- What's the best way to raise pH?
- And the best ways to raise calcium and mag?

cool. Nitrates are good there, you won't want it to exceed 20 though generally, just keep on those water changes. In a tank that size, stocked as it is, I'd suspect weekly water changes would handle most of your imblanaces.

It's not too late to add a bit of real live rock, I'd definitely recommend that.

As far as raising Ph goes, you can use premade additives or you can use home-made remedies, Randy's articles have more info than you could ever need on that: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-chemistry-archive.987116/ As far as premade remedies, you could use:

simple Ph buffer: https://amzn.to/3WrnyjI

Or Kalkwasser, which will also boost your slightly low calcium: https://amzn.to/4c2tmWA

In any case, remember to go slow and not change any parameters rapidly. "nothing good happens fast in reefing"

 

[BristolEVO]

cool. Nitrates are good there, you won't want it to exceed 20 though generally, just keep on those water changes. In a tank that size, stocked as it is, I'd suspect weekly water changes would handle most of your imblanaces.

It's not too late to add a bit of real live rock, I'd definitely recommend that.

As far as raising Ph goes, you can use premade additives or you can use home-made remedies, Randy's articles have more info than you could ever need on that: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-chemistry-archive.987116/ As far as premade remedies, you could use:

simple Ph buffer: https://amzn.to/3WrnyjI

Or Kalkwasser, which will also boost your slightly low calcium: https://amzn.to/4c2tmWA

In any case, remember to go slow and not change any parameters rapidly. "nothing good happens fast in reefing"

Thanks for the feedback!

I ordered some Kalkwasser from Amazon it should be here tomorrow. Should I dose this daily or add it to my ATO? I don't lose much water at all so that might not be enough. (I'm using the stock lid with an AI Blade in place of the Fluval light)

 

[TX_REEF]

Thanks for the feedback!

I ordered some Kalkwasser from Amazon it should be here tomorrow. Should I dose this daily or add it to my ATO? I don't lose much water at all so that might not be enough. (I'm using the stock lid with an AI Blade in place of the Fluval light)

I'd recommend dosing directly if you have the motivation to be consistent, ATO if you're likely to forget or get lazy. Dosing pump is ideal, but a rather large expense.

 

[bossman818]

Leave your tank alone. Don’t go chasing numbers especially since it’s a new tank. I know that itch of making it perfect takes over but the best thing you can do is let it be. Water changes weekly on a small tank will take care of almost everything. I made the mistake of dosing this and that to get it where I wanted it. Makes things worse. Weekly water changes and top off RO water when needed and you will be fine. Good luck! Post photo.

 

[BristolEVO]

I'd recommend dosing directly if you have the motivation to be consistent, ATO if you're likely to forget or get lazy. Dosing pump is ideal, but a rather large expense.

I don't mind being consistent, maybe missing a day once in a while. Yeah why are those pumps so expensive??

 

[BristolEVO]

Leave your tank alone. Don’t go chasing numbers especially since it’s a new tank. I know that itch of making it perfect takes over but the best thing you can do is let it be. Water changes weekly on a small tank will take care of almost everything. I made the mistake of dosing this and that to get it where I wanted it. Makes things worse. Weekly water changes and top off RO water when needed and you will be fine. Good luck! Post photo.

Thanks, I know this is good advice. I'll keep up on my water changes and I think dose small amounts to tweak. Not for anything that a water change should be fixing. I'll grab a current photo and post it later today!

 

[BristolEVO]

Update - I have been doing weekly water changes of 2g, which I figure is around 20%. The dinos cleared up and then got hit with a GHA outbreak while away for 4 days. Been scrubbing the long stuff with a toothbrush and added a few more CUC. Stopped the AFR and I have added Kalkwasser to my ATO reservoir at 1/2tsp per gallon to start with. Tested last night:

PO4 - 0.90 ppm
NO3 - 12.6 ppm
Mg2 - 1060 pom
dKH - 9.4
pH - 7.6

Should I up the Kalk? Restart the AFR? Corals and fish seem good. Thanks!!

 

[bossman818]

Part of the ugly phase. Get a snail. Will clear it up in a week or two. Keep the water changes going. I went through this with my new tank. It’s annoying but remember, as your tank ages it just gets better and better. Don’t add anything just feed fish/coral and water changes. The hardest part is patience. These tanks take time. A lot of time.

 

[jabberwock]

Stop dosing stuff. Try daily micro water changes. 16 oz out, 16 oz of new water in daily.

 

[BristolEVO]

Yesterday in the AM I spotted 2 dead snails in the tank. Slight bad smell so it must not have been too long. Water looked a bit hazy. This prompted me to test again and I saw:

Nitrate NO2 - 117 ppb
Ammonia NH3 - 0.14

Not zero but didn't seem excessive either. This morning both clowns were dead at the bottom. The diamond goby looks fine and corals look normal. What the heck is happening?? Prepping for another water change now.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Thank you for the feedback! I'm using the Hanna multichecker and verifying anything "off" with a Red Sea kit.

The microbacter clean is just Brightwell's plan for new tanks to help avoid the uglies. It starts after the cycle has completed.

Not sure of the plan your using but the most important thing IMO is keeping your lights OFF for a few months while you microbiome developes and seeds every possible surface.

 

[bossman818]

Small water changes daily for a few days. Do not dose tank with any chemicals. Large water changes I do not recommend. Small ones until things get back to normal. Did you add any chemicals?