Does anyone make house calls to gauge the health of a tank?

[billyocean]

Let me make a small clarification here.

I do between 10 - 20% water changes most weeks.

I make the batch of salt water once per month.

One of the reasons the phosphros is so low this week, it usually tests at about .10 - .25 ppm, is that I have been dosing phos correct to try to combat all the hair algae. This was a method, along with tuning the light schedule that i saw on youtube that was supposedly successful. Since my lawnmower blenny isnt taking care of it.

I will try and take some new pics for posting today.

Ahh..makes more sense! Raising phosphate quickly doesn't have the impacts of dropping p04 quickly..so be careful there. A toothbrush and or pipe cleaner with a siphon will help combat the algae as well. Did you start with dry rock or live rock? Reason I ask is to better understand or have an idea of saturation levels in the rock as in if it's leeching still or absorbing..or perhaps has reached saturation.

 

[BookFam]

I started with live rock, added some Dr Tims One & Only and waited 2 1/2 weeks before adding 2 clowns and a firefish initally

 

[BookFam]

Here are some of the latest pics I've taken.
I took a bunch just now for my monthly documentation.

I'm adding more of the problem shots versus the great coral looking pics.

 

[ichthyoid]

+1 on getting a reliable water test from an LFS.

Monthly water changes won’t work in this hobby for keeping parameters stable.

Alkalinity is constantly consumed and needs to be at the correct level and stable if you want a happy aquarium and thriving corals.

fwiw,
You can try to dose chemicals manually. Most of us have tried and found that sooner or later life gets in the way. It’s the main reason dosing pumps and the Apex are so popular.

 

[sharis100]

Suggest you switch to a Japanese glass protein skimmer with air rock. These work great for small tanks- like a Mame skimmer or BRS website glass skimmer. Also, if you are not going to use more accurate testing and based on what you said about algae and treatment, would suggest for a small tank like a bio cube- small consistent weekly water changes or an AWC setup. With algae growth your Nitrate Phosphate balance is probably off. And when you use those algae treatments, it can result in coral illness/die offs esp in smaller systems when coral is already suffering or stressed. Would suggest maybe using different set up in back. Do you have an intank media basket setup? Do have the trays for filter floss? The UV that fits that tank is super small so probably not doing much for you there.

 

[project1004]

Your tank doesn’t look so bad other than having a hair algae but that’s kinda expected for new tanks granted you stared with Live rocks. Your corals are still small frags so you don’t really need to supplement yet. Doing weekly water change as you are doing is enough. Also am under impression reef crystal has high alkali and I doubt your corals are consuming that much alkalinity.

Local reef stores all test your water for free but they don’t test for alkalinity. Usually for salinity, nitrate and phosphate is what they test for you if they do. Which is good.

In this hobby, it’s good to have pairs of everything for emergencies and spares. Extra everything. I suggest having two different test kits from different company to compare if you see it out of normal range etc.

I think reef crystal runs around 12dkH. I use Fritz and I test for both alkalinity and salinity of new water to match close to my tank when I do water change.


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[billyocean]

Also..high alk and low p04 and n03 are rough on sps. I think some manual removing with siphon will help a lot. You can drain the siphon tube through a piece of filter floss or filter sock type thing and let the water drain into a bucket/sump. Then reuse the water in the bucket if no sump, to put back in your tank to avoid new water change while getting rid of algae.

 

[Hardy Reefs]

As others have said, the parameters are not bad, but there is definitely some room for improvement in a few of those areas. Pictures with the lights on and off would probably help too. I would take advantage of a fish store near you and get them to test the water for a while at least once a week. Not only will it be more accurate, but it will help you build a connection with them and they will be more than willing to offer you support when you are struggling if they recognize your face. On the topic of suggestions, this may not be an option for you, but worked wonders for me when I had a nano a few years ago.. I Kept a container of salt water inside my stand, and each day before work I would take out a few cups of water and put in a few cups of fresh saltwater. This ultimately came out to be around 15-20% a week, but I cannot explain how much it helped in an environment that small. Everything happens fast in a nano! May be worth a try!