acro changed from green to purple.

[russ-iv]

ok after some research and a couple other fish stores testing my water. it has been concluded my tank is "too" clean.

>.25 ppm trate
0 phos
1.025 sg
alk 10
calcium 470 according to red sea pro
ph 8.1

its been suggested i stock more fish
drop gfo or reduce it considerably
or drop alk to NSW

out of all the options i want to drop alk first. however, i may kill that birdsnest. will a drop from 10-7 dkh over the course of 8-10 days kill it?

 

[wannabeeareefkeeper]

Russ-IV;1038857 wrote: yeah. thats why id just roll with a frag.

my tank is only a month old (from cycle) so i need to learn the nuances of my decisions. so far skimmerless has paid off but it isnt as stout as an established tank imho.

although the nitrogen bubbles in my substrate continue. idk why i keep getting them. i have a 1 inch bed but that is another discussion.

SPS are hard to maintain. You mentioned in the above comment that your tank is only 1 month out from cycle. Could this be part of the problem? I'll let the veteran reefkeepers chime in now. I'm fairly new to SPS reefkeeping and I've decided that I will hold for now on keeping any SPS. I tried without a skimmer and some other necessities and it failed for me. I may try again, but I don't see it in the very near future.

Wannabee

 

[russ-iv]

WannabeeaReefKeeper;1039527 wrote: SPS are hard to maintain. You mentioned in the above comment that your tank is only 1 month out from cycle. Could this be part of the problem? I'll let the veteran reefkeepers chime in now. I'm fairly new to SPS reefkeeping and I've decided that I will hold for now on keeping any SPS. I tried without a skimmer and some other necessities and it failed for me. I may try again, but I don't see it in the very near future.

Wannabee

could very well be. ill also note that it is a gloss-over to people new to the hobby. ive seen sps work fine in a 1 month system. albeit different than this setup. ive just never had so little nitrate before. my last tank i was fighting nitrates and had the same fish. every tank is different though.

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when i see this kind of growth, it tells me im on the right path. however i didnt attain it this soon because i was a bit less finicky about water changes and parameters.

the sps would look a bit different if it was a new tank imho. i dont see rtn or stn yet but it is a good case study. i think for now, ill just monitor my parameters and share this experience

i do not advocate skimmerless tanks btw

 

[crew]

From what i've seen in the past, SPS love heavy bioloads along with low phosphates and nitrates. In theory, it makes sense to me - lots of food in the water column, but none of the "contaminates". I'll be interested to see how this acro changes in the coming weeks

 

[russ-iv]

Crew;1039660 wrote: From what i've seen in the past, SPS love heavy bioloads along with low phosphates and nitrates. In theory, it makes sense to me - lots of food in the water column, but none of the "contaminates". I'll be interested to see how this acro changes in the coming weeks

one of the lfs's told me to dose "fuel" but watch for nitrates. id rather not dose since i still dont feel i have a synergy of the nuances with this setup.

ergo: need to understand this tank's behaviors before i start throwing things off

 

[crew]

I've been thinking about dosing Fuel for a while now - SeaChem hasn't failed me yet.

I've read nothing but good things about Color and PE after using it. With that being said, I know that you certainly don't need it. Currently, I spot feed reef roids about once a week, but that's different than an additive like fuel. Maybe I should give it a go?

 

[russ-iv]

Crew;1039669 wrote: I've been thinking about dosing Fuel for a while now - SeaChem hasn't failed me yet.

I've read nothing but good things about Color and PE after using it. With that being said, I know that you certainly don't need it. Currently, I spot feed reef roids about once a week, but that's different than an additive like fuel. Maybe I should give it a go?

he mentioned that what amino acids arent used end up as nitrate. iirc your matrix dropped you below 20 ppm right?
if you feel your system can handle more, id do small doses like the lfs said and watch what happens

my tank could jump 20ppm nitrate since it is still new and could have detritus deposits that need to be filled. ill know if i reached "nitrogen cycle nirvana" after the 6 month mark

i also drop 1 cube of cyclops in before a WC weekly

 

[russ-iv]

weekly update

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started feeding, turned off gfo, alk dropped to 8.5, .25 nitrate

 

[snowmansnow]

phosphates can do that kinda thing

 

[snowmansnow]

forgive me if that has been posted already..

 

[russ-iv]

SnowManSnow;1040503 wrote: phosphates can do that kinda thing

can do what?
still undetectable by my kit is why i ask

 

[snowmansnow]

My corals would turn weird colors when phosphates +


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