What macro algae should I use?
- Thread starter gajeep94yj
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Why pull the phosguard? (Newbie here don't shoot) I was told there was no ill effect of having it in there
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10/6/14
Nitrate 10
Salinity 1.025
Ammonia 0
Phosphate .25
Ph 8.2
10/13
Nitrate 5
Salinity 1.023
Ph 7.98
Kh? 6
11.10
1.023 salt
8.0 ph
Kh 4
No3 <5
11.19
8.05 ph
Kh 6.5
No3 10
12/4
Ph 8
Kh 7
No2 0
Salt 1.024
Ammonia0
1/14
Ph 8.0
Kh 7
No2
No3 0
Salt 1.021
Ammonia 0
1-21
Ph 8.4 8.0
Kh 9. 6
No3 10
Salt 1.024 1.023
Ammonia 0.50 0.50
2/2
Ph 8.15
Salt 1.023
Kh 6
No3 50
2/20
Kh 9
Salt 1.021
Ph 8.0
No3 100
Ammonia
18 gallon water change
Salt 1.023 (1.024 source)
Water dropped from 74 to 68, 64 source
Ph 8.0
Kh 7
Ammonia 0.50
No3 80
Ph7.88
No3 5
Kh 5
Salt 1.023
3/10
Ph 8.1
Salt 1.024
Kh 8
No3 50-80
4-24
Kh 7
Ph 8.3
No3 so I ;sera 50
5/3
Salt 1.206
Phosphates 0
Calcium 400
No3 20
7/21
Kh 8
Ammonia .025
No3 25-50
Ph8.2
8/19
Kh 9
Salt 1.027
No2 0
Ammonia 0
No3 10
Phosphate 0
Ph-7.8
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Nitrate 10
Salinity 1.025
Ammonia 0
Phosphate .25
Ph 8.2
10/13
Nitrate 5
Salinity 1.023
Ph 7.98
Kh? 6
11.10
1.023 salt
8.0 ph
Kh 4
No3 <5
11.19
8.05 ph
Kh 6.5
No3 10
12/4
Ph 8
Kh 7
No2 0
Salt 1.024
Ammonia0
1/14
Ph 8.0
Kh 7
No2
No3 0
Salt 1.021
Ammonia 0
1-21
Ph 8.4 8.0
Kh 9. 6
No3 10
Salt 1.024 1.023
Ammonia 0.50 0.50
2/2
Ph 8.15
Salt 1.023
Kh 6
No3 50
2/20
Kh 9
Salt 1.021
Ph 8.0
No3 100
Ammonia
18 gallon water change
Salt 1.023 (1.024 source)
Water dropped from 74 to 68, 64 source
Ph 8.0
Kh 7
Ammonia 0.50
No3 80
Ph7.88
No3 5
Kh 5
Salt 1.023
3/10
Ph 8.1
Salt 1.024
Kh 8
No3 50-80
4-24
Kh 7
Ph 8.3
No3 so I ;sera 50
5/3
Salt 1.206
Phosphates 0
Calcium 400
No3 20
7/21
Kh 8
Ammonia .025
No3 25-50
Ph8.2
8/19
Kh 9
Salt 1.027
No2 0
Ammonia 0
No3 10
Phosphate 0
Ph-7.8
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I was thinking much the same, Russ... that and the salinity swings are a bit more cause for concern.
GaJeep94YJ - I swear... fewer questions this round. You're a trooper, I'll give you that.
I'd look at an automatic top-off to get the salinity to stay more or less constant. That or take a sticker/painter's tape and mark what the levels in your display and sump are when your salinity is at 1.025 or so to make it easier to know when to add fresh water.
Something's amiss - that's not crazy stocking levels given the total volume of the system and your water change regimen aggressive enough to keep it low, assuming you don't have rocks that are composed almost completely of old fish food, toss in a brick of Rod's food per day or have some seriously funky water coming out of your RODI rig.
So (in no particular order) to try and fix this:
1. Get your mixed water change water tested. Elevated nitrate levels are coming from somewhere.
2. Cut your feeding in half, or target feed your corals instead of broadcast feeding & allow the fish/clean up crew to mop up the excess. Elevated nitrate levels are coming from somewhere.
3. As Russ suggested, pull your phosguard/gfo. Your macroalgae (or skimmer if you have one) can't really do its thing without at least a trace quantity being present to foster growth to be turned into export.
Bonus in that none of the above changes should shock your system. Keep monitoring to watch the trending though.
GaJeep94YJ - I swear... fewer questions this round. You're a trooper, I'll give you that.
I'd look at an automatic top-off to get the salinity to stay more or less constant. That or take a sticker/painter's tape and mark what the levels in your display and sump are when your salinity is at 1.025 or so to make it easier to know when to add fresh water.
Something's amiss - that's not crazy stocking levels given the total volume of the system and your water change regimen aggressive enough to keep it low, assuming you don't have rocks that are composed almost completely of old fish food, toss in a brick of Rod's food per day or have some seriously funky water coming out of your RODI rig.
So (in no particular order) to try and fix this:
1. Get your mixed water change water tested. Elevated nitrate levels are coming from somewhere.
2. Cut your feeding in half, or target feed your corals instead of broadcast feeding & allow the fish/clean up crew to mop up the excess. Elevated nitrate levels are coming from somewhere.
3. As Russ suggested, pull your phosguard/gfo. Your macroalgae (or skimmer if you have one) can't really do its thing without at least a trace quantity being present to foster growth to be turned into export.
Bonus in that none of the above changes should shock your system. Keep monitoring to watch the trending though.
+1 on jeremy covering the bases.
i really want to know what got you such a drastic nitrate increase in 30 days though. these booboos might help identify us helping you.
use phosguard if po4 wildly swings like your no3 though. traceable phosphate is a necessary evil for photosynthesis. listening to older posts about everything being 0 is so 1990s. we need a balance.
i really want to know what got you such a drastic nitrate increase in 30 days though. these booboos might help identify us helping you.
use phosguard if po4 wildly swings like your no3 though. traceable phosphate is a necessary evil for photosynthesis. listening to older posts about everything being 0 is so 1990s. we need a balance.
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1 I'll test my mixed rodi water. I have test kits
2 I use the frozen reef frenzy food. About a dime size every day.
3 I do have a skimmer....probably should have mentioned that. It's an sca-180. Supposed to be good for 180 gallons. I'll pull the phosguard.
As far as what happened for those wild swings.... I have no idea. Didn't really make any changes during that time. The guy at pure reef said that high nitrates was probably the cycle that I didn't really do when I set it up. I put the bengi cardinal in immediately. (Trying to get it set up for the kiddos' birthday)
I think my biggest boo boo was that I rushed to set the whole thing up based on a timeline and lack of knowledge rather than the proper way.
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2 I use the frozen reef frenzy food. About a dime size every day.
3 I do have a skimmer....probably should have mentioned that. It's an sca-180. Supposed to be good for 180 gallons. I'll pull the phosguard.
As far as what happened for those wild swings.... I have no idea. Didn't really make any changes during that time. The guy at pure reef said that high nitrates was probably the cycle that I didn't really do when I set it up. I put the bengi cardinal in immediately. (Trying to get it set up for the kiddos' birthday)
I think my biggest boo boo was that I rushed to set the whole thing up based on a timeline and lack of knowledge rather than the proper way.
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True, the only things that happen fast in this hobby are the bad ones. but a year of having life in the tank and not having it die should have resulted in a somewhat more mature system by now given even a slacker approach to maintenance. It doesn't sound like that's you.
Ditto, with that number of fish a dime-sized chunk of LRS isn't being too generous or stingy. I feed just a little less than that daily in my 9 gallon that's home to just a couple small fish & and army of hermit, porcelains & shrimp.
More thought required.
Ditto, with that number of fish a dime-sized chunk of LRS isn't being too generous or stingy. I feed just a little less than that daily in my 9 gallon that's home to just a couple small fish & and army of hermit, porcelains & shrimp.
More thought required.
Jeep it might help if you do a couple tests this week. every 48-72 hours to give us a weekly trend on what that tank does regulalry in terms of po4 and no3. we can then look at if your tank increases x nitrate over 7 days or x phosphate over 7 days. Your tank is rather large and shouldnt have big swings anymore.
i applaud the monthly bio of the tank, and it tells an interesting story. I just want to be 100% before I leave this thread and confident with the answer. For all i know, i could be giving bad advice and your po4 could increase 1ppm per day (unlikely but still)
ammonia after the 6 month mark may mean a die off of some sort
i applaud the monthly bio of the tank, and it tells an interesting story. I just want to be 100% before I leave this thread and confident with the answer. For all i know, i could be giving bad advice and your po4 could increase 1ppm per day (unlikely but still)
ammonia after the 6 month mark may mean a die off of some sort
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That I can do. I don't have a phosphate test but I can do nitrates.
One other question. When doing a water change I siphon the sand. I read a few places that this is a bad idea because it will spike nitrates? Especially if you have a deep sand bed.
Should I be siphoning the sand? And what is considered " deep" ?
I'll post some pics here shortly
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One other question. When doing a water change I siphon the sand. I read a few places that this is a bad idea because it will spike nitrates? Especially if you have a deep sand bed.
Should I be siphoning the sand? And what is considered " deep" ?
I'll post some pics here shortly
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Oops, got the last one in there twice
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anything over 4 inches is a dsb imo. yours looks in that range.
how did you test phosphates before?
pure reef was selling red sea pro kits for $20 i think. might want to see if they still offer it.
looks like you have a mild case of cyano. if you run activated carbon religiously i would pull it and let bacteria try to outcompete it.
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Phosphate is tested at pure reef. I need to get the test kit, but every time I tested it was 0 so just haven't
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I just measured, the deepest place is 2 3/4" and that is where the return pump has blown it on a pile.
I still don't like the dirtyness of it though. I have a sand sifting star fish and three of those snails that dig in the sand. Should I get more to stir it up more?
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I still don't like the dirtyness of it though. I have a sand sifting star fish and three of those snails that dig in the sand. Should I get more to stir it up more?
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id get a sand siphon and deep clean it then.
take the exit portion of the siphon vacuum and put a sock around it. then start deep cleaning the sand letting the sock in your sump complete the siphon. since your tank is a year old, it may be beneficial to discard any discolored sand and replace it with new. care should be taken when doing this as the longer you let the sand settle, the worse off a potential nitrate spike will be.
also dont change all the sand at once. i would separate sand out in to quadrants (doesnt have be perfect) and replace 1 quadrant a month.
your sand really should be moved and stirred every week or 2 afterward to prevent nutrients from coming back.
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I use a sand siphon. I let it suck all the way down to the bottom of the glass. I have to pinch the line to make sure I don't get any sand in there. The sock is a good idea.
I siphon/sift where ever I can get it to reach, there are some places I can't get it to reach though.
Should I get more of those sand snails?
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I siphon/sift where ever I can get it to reach, there are some places I can't get it to reach though.
Should I get more of those sand snails?
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id let it run its course. A deep sand bed is not a good idea to be disturbed. vacuumed etc. it houses some very good bacteria/ life and some very bad gases. Vacuuming does not remove the gases you are releasing. It is a good idea if you do vacuum to do in small areas in stages. Perhaps over a couple days.
This is different from shallow sand beds. As the accumulation of gases or toxins are much less.
Any recommendations to make major changes in any stage of reef keeping should be ignored. In my honest opinion.
Your glass discoloration is normal with sand that high. Algae is able to form there due to ambient light. My cure is to move sand away from the glass. Scrape. And then move the sand back to normal.
This is different from shallow sand beds. As the accumulation of gases or toxins are much less.
Any recommendations to make major changes in any stage of reef keeping should be ignored. In my honest opinion.
Your glass discoloration is normal with sand that high. Algae is able to form there due to ambient light. My cure is to move sand away from the glass. Scrape. And then move the sand back to normal.
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It's 2 3/4"at its deepest, I don't think that qualifies as a deep sand bed
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