Sharkey18

Yeah, I don't mind a spot. But I have LOTS of spots.

I am looking for suggestions to increase the flow in 250g bare bottom tank. The tank is 5.5 ft x 3 ft x 26". I have gone through many configurations which have always failed to keep most of the detritus suspended. I need to make improvements. I currently have 2 Maxspect gyre XF280's on the back wall. One bottom left, one bottom right. They do a good job of keeping most of the detritus off of the bottom, except that they push everything to the front where is mostly just sits there. I also have a small gyre, an Mp40 and Tunze that I kind of move around to assist, but I would love to add some thing to help get a significant portion of the remaining detritus into the water column for removal. Suggestions? IMG_1051.HEICIMG_1051.HEICIMG_2922.HEICIMG_3535.

Yeah, I do large water changes about once a month (100g) and I just find it easier to make adjustments in the tank. Why do it all twice? I guess the answer is I’m lazy. I also have a large water volume so I dont think the discrepancies make that big of a difference. Especially if I correct them within an hour or two. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've used reef crystals and regular IO and I never get what is advertised. Salinity and Alk are almost always low. I have made it a habit to mix up the saltwater, do my water change, measure and adjust salinity, alk and calcium. Once I know my tank water is where I want it I dose as usual and do it all again with the next water change.

It totally looks ready to frag.

I do this all the time also. I have a float switch so I don't have a flood but I do waste a LOT of water and media when I forget.

They had a slick price tag also, but they were worth it!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Finally cleaned up my "frag sump" with some fantastic new frag racks from Marcos at ERC! Thanks for an awesome product! I went from this to this.

Hey realypk, The amount of food you are adding could feed my 250g for 2 days. You need to cut WAY back. Most of the food you are adding is not going to the fish or corals but simply decaying in your tank. You also seem to be under the impression that you can use a product according the directions and there will be no ill effects. For example your explanation of why and how you are using gfo. Just because you are using the right product in the right way in the recommended amounts does not mean your tank needs it and does not mean that it is not harmful. Whenever I run GFO I have trouble with my stoney corals. That's not true for everyone but it is true for MY tank. When other members are saying that your tank is not completely cycled one of the things they mean is that just because the bacteria are converting Ammonia into Nitrite and Nitrate does not mean that you have 1) enough bacteria 2) the right strains of bacteria or 3) the right balance of bacteria. The only way to get that it to adjust what you are doing, stop throwing products at your real and not so real problems and sit back and let your tank mature. Take some time to read through reports of how the products o the market can both solve AND cause problems. Carbon can give you crystal clear water but can also cause HLLE. GFO can reduce phosphate but it can also kill sps. Nothing is as straight forward as the label on the product says. You are dealing with a living, dynamic ecosystem. It does not not read product labels. Simply your system, figure out where the metal is coming from and take some of the extraneous things you are using off line. Then take 6 months to stabilize your tank before trying more stoney coral. Good luck

So, what do you about colonies that grow big enough that they shade their own bases? I will work on repositioning / adding more flow. Thanks! I look for aefw because I am terrified of getting it!

Any idea what is causing this STN? I have two colonies that have been losing flesh from the bottom very slowly and now a third colony is losing much more quickly. These are from the third colony. I suspect AEFW but cant see any. Any ideas?

Taiscici, Where do you have your PC rainbow placed? I have a decent sized colony but it's never looked healthy.

Interesting. I had the same experience. I got a par meter for xmas and my reading are a lot lower than I thought also. I was also running the WWC on my rations. I got about 100 on the bottom, 150 in the middle, and a few inches below the top 350. I am also wondering if I should increase.

I have had my reef link for about a year and I have to say that it spends 99% of its time NOT connected to my wifi. Every time I want to adjust my radions it's an hour long process of connecting with a wire, trying to get the wifi re-established and then maybe it works. When I called customer support I was told to keep it connected with an ethernet cord. Why on earth would I spend $100 for a wireless device that has to be kept wired? Anyone have any suggestions? For the record, all of the other devices in my home have no problem staying connected ( Phones, computers, thermostat, etc.) The issue is not weak wifi.

I have used NoPox to control Nitrates, but as stated above, be careful not to over dose. I start with half the recommended dose and still ended up with cyano. If you have Bryopsis you should use fluconazole to treat. Probably going to solve your issue much faster than NoPox. Then slowly use the Nopox to control Nitrate and Phosphate. Do you have any good algae control fish?

Awesome. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Love the photos. You've brought back some corals I would have thought were not salvageable so thats really interesting. Any possibility you'd share you home made food recipe? Do you feed the same thing to your healthy corals? Laura

Very cool. You are definitely going to need to share some of the details about what you are doing. Welcome!

Yeah: right now my overflows are two, 2.5 inch PVC elbows. Since I have a bare bottom tank I have a lot of flow that keeps most of the detritus suspended, but as it is now the detritus particles have to find their way into about 5 inches of space before they settle or get caught in the rock work. I would love a coast to coast that pulled more liberally along the top. I'm reviewing your posts Isaac!

Thanks Jon.... It's so funny because I am both relieved and disappointed! I am going to start planning the new tank though. I hate my over flows and am plagued with micro bubbles from my returns.

Wow, really awesome tank. Thanks for sharing.

I think it started from cleaning the glass and then of course each time I clean the glass I make it worse. It's a euro-braced tank. Its Leishman's old deep dimension 250 so it's been around a while but nor sure exactly how old it is. Thanks for the feedback.

The silicon on the INSIDE of my aquarium has been peeling off. As it separates I've just been trimming it off and removing it. My question is how indicative is this of an imminent failure and /or leaking? There is no evidence of leaks at his time.