XxTech MoneyxX October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 So it's been a couple months now that my hammer, and trumpet coral have been receding . I have moved them down to the sand and then moved them a quarter way down in the tank. Zoas are doing fine.. Nota whole lot of growth but they are all happy and fully out. I have a piece of Hollywood chalice in there doing great, has great color and it is growing. I also have a moving RBTA who is NEVER still lol. A pair of mean Clowns. And a leather coral who use to always be happy but not so much now..? Ok, now for what I dose everyday. All seachum products: Reef advantage 3 times a week (2 tsp) Reef builder I think twice a week, I have it written down. (1 1/2 tsp) Reef buffer like twice a week (1 1/2 tsp) Coral energy AB 2ml daily (Red Sea) 36 gallon tank+30 gallon sump. Coral life skimmer IT2060 LED lights maxed at 38% Water parameters: PH stays at 8.3 (buffered) ALK 12 (buffered) Ammonia 0 Nitrates 0 Phosphates 0 Calcium 420 Mag is up there no test but sides and back glass full of Coraline algae Thanks for your help guys! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rburgee October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 Alk in dkh? Seems high. Need to get a mg test kit too. What's your no2 level? Sg? Personally it sounds like you've got an issue with lps. Have any pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 Yeah, water is too clean. Also, I wouldn't buffer PH and I agree your Alk is at a the top end. There is no room for error at that number. How much SPS do you have? If not much, you probably don't need to buffer. Speaking of all those additives. What are they? What do they do? They have nice, catchy names though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 Agree on to much dosing if not alot of sps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ford October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 All of my lps have done way better at the bottom in the sand. Outside of maybe too much dosing maybe that will help as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 My trumpets atrophied to almost nothing and then I started feeding them now they are seeing tremendous growth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrbigdog October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 Am I the only one that thinks the MAX 38% on the IT2060 is low? Especially for the RBTA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 Am I the only one that thinks the MAX 38% on the IT2060 is low? Especially for the RBTA. Depends how high it's hung, but nope, you're not. FWIW, my trumpets did best in little to no light. JME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 Depends how high it's hung, but nope, you're not. FWIW, my trumpets did best in little to no light. JME. Funny, my trumpets are 12 inches under a 150 watt Mh and their growth is exploding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 1)make sure LPS and BTA are not getting too much flow mine hate he flow 2)I don't recommend dosing Alk unless it's run through a slow doser 3) it's getting colder Double check your temp is reading accurately 4) I don't think your tank is too clean and I don't think trumpets are getting too much light and 36% is higher than I run my whites. There are a million factors including water clarity, cleanliness of the fixture glass, how many ripples are reflecting light etc. if coralline is growing it's getting enough light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 Depends how high it's hung, but nope, you're not. FWIW, my trumpets did best in little to no light. JME. I'd like to be clear, because I don't think this is reading right to folks. I think that the light seems low powered/set. Just an observation. In my experience, my trumpets thrived in very low light. I started with one, and sold my whole colony not long ago. I don't know why the OP is dosing, no sense in adding things unless there is a solid reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howaboutme October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 1)make sure LPS and BTA are not getting too much flow mine hate he flow 2)I don't recommend dosing Alk unless it's run through a slow doser 3) it's getting colder Double check your temp is reading accurately 4) I don't think your tank is too clean and I don't think trumpets are getting too much light and 36% is higher than I run my whites. There are a million factors including water clarity, cleanliness of the fixture glass, how many ripples are reflecting light etc. if coralline is growing it's getting enough light. I said tank is too clean because the OP stated that both NO3 and PO4 are at Zero. Although not scientific on my end, in this hobby, I'd say 99.9% of hobbyist will say that having zero for both parameters equate to a "clean tank". I thought it was 100% but I was wrong. All of those corals the OP mentioned want a dirtier water..even SPS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bravanc October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 i would start turning up the lights intensity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcrazyjoker81 October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 Stop dosing all the extra's and dirty up that water a bit. Your not running a SPS reef. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XxTech MoneyxX October 22, 2014 Author Share October 22, 2014 Thanks everyone for replying. I will try to answer everyone in one shot... Here we go... I meant water hardness DKH. As far as testing for Mag, I probably should have a test for it.. Just never seen the need for it because I no longer have SPS in the tank.. Well one small brain coral that seems to be doing awesome! My salinity is at 1.026 I can post pics when I get home. The additives idea is from a friend that does this exact routine schedule with his tank except he does the same dosing but with liquid and powder! His 29 gallon biocube is grown corals like crazy! Buffer keeps the PH at 8.3, builder I believe keeps the DKH up, and the reef advantage is for calcium and mag levels. Let me throw this out there as well... This started well before I started dosing, I started the dosing because I thought it would help keep the levels where they are supposed to be. I have also had the trumpet coral for almost 2 years and I started with one and there is now 5 heads. It just hasn't puffed up like it use to.. Now on the lights, they are approximately 6 1/2 inches from the water. it's possible that I need to turn my lights up a bit, 10% at a time, but when I was acclimating the light when I first got it I could see that the LEDS were causing my LPS to fade "bleach", and they were in the sand. So I dialed down a little and never bothered to adjust anymore. As far as flow on the corals, they don't seem to blow to hard, but maybe I can do a video to show the corals as well as there movement. Finally, temp is about 79.8 in the morning and 80 when I get home, faithfully. Maybe I should stop dosing all together and see where that takes me.. I do one water change a month and that's 18 gallons.. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XxTech MoneyxX October 22, 2014 Author Share October 22, 2014 Stop dosing all the extra's and dirty up that water a bit. Your not running a SPS reef. Yeah I thank that's what I'm going to do.... Stop dosing, keep a check on my levels and dose as needed.. Defiantly not handling a reef tank lol but I think I have the idea of how to when I do Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k October 22, 2014 Share October 22, 2014 Sounds like the corals are starving with zero N and zero P. keep dosing supplements except alk or let it fall to 'normal' levels. Light doesn't sound like an issue either. Try feeding twice as much with a variety of foods for fish and corals. Remove phosban or GFO. Turn off skimmer if necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XxTech MoneyxX October 23, 2014 Author Share October 23, 2014 https://vimeo.com/109768260 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XxTech MoneyxX October 23, 2014 Author Share October 23, 2014 Sounds like the corals are starving with zero N and zero P. keep dosing supplements except alk or let it fall to 'normal' levels. Light doesn't sound like an issue either. Try feeding twice as much with a variety of foods for fish and corals. Remove phosban or GFO. Turn off skimmer if necessary. Okay. I think I'm going to go with letting them fall to normal levels. Correct me if I'm wrong: Salinity: 1.026 Calc: 420 PH 8.3 ALK:9 Nitrates: below 5ppm Phos:0 Just going to stop dosing all together.. Should I take the Cheato out, and cut the skimmer off for a certain amount of hours? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k October 23, 2014 Share October 23, 2014 You should let the levels fall to normal levels based upon water changes. You should do w/c 2x per month for best results. You could turn the skimmer off and let the chaeto grow as it will be a good nutrient exporter from whatever is left over after corals and other organisms feed. N and P are important for corals and plants to grow. The habit or misconception of having ultra clean water only work for some species and is not the norm. Dirtier water with up to 40ppm N03 and up to 0.5 ppm of P04 is fine for softies and some LPS. SPS of certain species will also do fine in this soup. You'll still need good lighting and good flow and regular w/c. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XxTech MoneyxX October 23, 2014 Author Share October 23, 2014 Okay. I will do a 10% w/c twice a month. I also think I will turn off the skimmer for 48 hours. Thank you very much everyone! I will update this post as new updates happen. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraffitiSpotCorals October 23, 2014 Share October 23, 2014 What test kits are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 October 23, 2014 Share October 23, 2014 I'll play devils advocate. If you are actively growing chaeto or have any pest algae your tank is not too clean. That means there is enough nitrate and phosphate left over to support good chaeto growth and more than enough for good coral growth. As long as you are feeding fish and they are crop dusting your corals you are good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XxTech MoneyxX October 24, 2014 Author Share October 24, 2014 What test kits are you using? API Test kit. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XxTech MoneyxX October 24, 2014 Author Share October 24, 2014 I'll play devils advocate. If you are actively growing chaeto or have any pest algae your tank is not too clean. That means there is enough nitrate and phosphate left over to support good chaeto growth and more than enough for good coral growth. As long as you are feeding fish and they are crop dusting your corals you are good to go. I will say this, prior to adding additives, and starting up Cheato my tank had started growing hair algae all on the back glass and all over my overflow. There is still some on the overflow but it's not growing anymore, it's dying off along with the turbo snails having a feast! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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