So I had to leave for two weeks, and before I left I spent an hour putting all my supplements into a series of syringes, and then putting 5 syringes of each supplement into 14 bags, telling my tank sitter to put everything in all 5 syringes in each bag into the water each day. I've been struggling with hair algae for several months, cutting it back, trying to get better mastery over nitrates and phosphates, and having it grow back. I thought before I left I was getting it under reliable control, though not yet victorious.
When I got back home, I find all the bags full (i.e. tank has not been supplemented for two weeks), lots of algae all over the tank (though oddly one area of rock has good coraline and macro algae, unlike before I left when it had light hair algae), and a number of corals dead. Skimmer was not running. Alkalinity is 5.6 dkh
I intend to add a good amount of my three part supplement (ATI essentials @ATI North America please tell me if this is advisable), raising alkalinity by 0.5 dkh for five days until it's back above 8.0. Friday afternoon I intend to remove a lot algae. Also, I intend to stop carbon dosing until I see nitrates increase substantially.
Any further suggestions, or pitfalls that people can identify? (Calling #reefsquad and the general r2r public). One thing is that the pH is stable despite the low alkalinity (maybe because the algae is absorbing all the CO2?), and I'm worried taking too much algae out at once, while the Alkalinity is low would cause pH fluctuations.
Tank: 29 gallons
Light: Kessil 360 and 160, go up to 100 for like 6 hours a day, and then ramp up and down for another 6. Formerly the 360 was at 50% color, now both are at 0% color (i.e. they are all blue).
Supplementing before, daily:
10ml vinegar
5ml acropower
2ml of the three ATI essentials supplements
Pre-trip measurements:
DKH roughly 8.0 (Hanna. I used this frequently and the measurements always basically matched my ICP tests)
Ca 470 (salifert)
Mg 1470 (Salifert)
pH: haven't measured in a long time
Nitrate: functionally 0 (Salifert)
Phosphates: 0.00 (ie not measureable on Hanna 713)
Current measurements:
Alk: 5.6
Ca: 370
Nitrate: 0
Phosphates: 0.00, 0.12, 0.16 (Hanna again. Discrepancy between three measurements, but I don't see them as "too high")
Livestock losses:
1 green slimer (totally bleached, was all green when I left)
1 tricolor valida (had STN right before I left; fragged a piece which was doing OK in the two days I had to observe it)
1 of two shortcake type acros (smothered by algae and presumed gone. This one had around 300 par and little direct flow)
2 different stylos (one of which was growing but bleached, another doing well)
Hanging on:
1 Pocillopora damicornis, placed right in the flow of a Jebao pump. It's been growning well right there for three months. When I returned it was smothered in algae; i removed it and it's bleached but the polyps are still mostly out.
1 Yoda acro (Acropora pichoni). This has not been doing well for several months, heavily bleached but growing decently (while the orignal owner had it solid green). I attribute this to not understanding its lighting, and I'm going to give it less now.
Doing OK:
1 other shortcake type acro (same as the one that died). This one was getting less light (guestimate 150-200par) and probably more direct random flow; but it has no algae growing on it and looks like it's grown. Color is darker than before, where I bleached it giving it too much light.
1 monti dig - had lots of problem with this frag STN; this is the surviving tip has grown.
1 "ash and trash" formerly purple acro I got several pieces of for free at a frag swap months ago. Most frags RTN'd in like 3 days after i took them home; one frag stayed on. It's now gone from purple to bright green under the Kessil Blue.
2 Millie frags have turned from brown to heavily flourescent green under the Kessil blue.
1 porites lobata, I got as a frag the week before I left (I would not have taken it before leaving if it weren't for the fact I've been looking for this species and finally found one)
a group of green explosion palys on a rock. They seem to be unchanged.
Doing well:
1 Porites branneri which came as a hichhiker on live rock. Seems to have further encrusted while I was out.
1 Favites pentagona war coral, whose head has grown maybe 30% and has further encrused the rock I placed it on. Coralites were wide open all night today.
No non-coral livestock deaths. These include:
Rainsford Goby
Firefish
Yellow Headed Jawfish
2 clownfish
Maxima clam. I was surprised by its condition; its shell has lots of algae but it otherwise looks well.
Ostensibly 13+ snails, of which I see 3-4 at any given time, but it's hard to count population.
When I got back home, I find all the bags full (i.e. tank has not been supplemented for two weeks), lots of algae all over the tank (though oddly one area of rock has good coraline and macro algae, unlike before I left when it had light hair algae), and a number of corals dead. Skimmer was not running. Alkalinity is 5.6 dkh
I intend to add a good amount of my three part supplement (ATI essentials @ATI North America please tell me if this is advisable), raising alkalinity by 0.5 dkh for five days until it's back above 8.0. Friday afternoon I intend to remove a lot algae. Also, I intend to stop carbon dosing until I see nitrates increase substantially.
Any further suggestions, or pitfalls that people can identify? (Calling #reefsquad and the general r2r public). One thing is that the pH is stable despite the low alkalinity (maybe because the algae is absorbing all the CO2?), and I'm worried taking too much algae out at once, while the Alkalinity is low would cause pH fluctuations.
Tank: 29 gallons
Light: Kessil 360 and 160, go up to 100 for like 6 hours a day, and then ramp up and down for another 6. Formerly the 360 was at 50% color, now both are at 0% color (i.e. they are all blue).
Supplementing before, daily:
10ml vinegar
5ml acropower
2ml of the three ATI essentials supplements
Pre-trip measurements:
DKH roughly 8.0 (Hanna. I used this frequently and the measurements always basically matched my ICP tests)
Ca 470 (salifert)
Mg 1470 (Salifert)
pH: haven't measured in a long time
Nitrate: functionally 0 (Salifert)
Phosphates: 0.00 (ie not measureable on Hanna 713)
Current measurements:
Alk: 5.6
Ca: 370
Nitrate: 0
Phosphates: 0.00, 0.12, 0.16 (Hanna again. Discrepancy between three measurements, but I don't see them as "too high")
Livestock losses:
1 green slimer (totally bleached, was all green when I left)
1 tricolor valida (had STN right before I left; fragged a piece which was doing OK in the two days I had to observe it)
1 of two shortcake type acros (smothered by algae and presumed gone. This one had around 300 par and little direct flow)
2 different stylos (one of which was growing but bleached, another doing well)
Hanging on:
1 Pocillopora damicornis, placed right in the flow of a Jebao pump. It's been growning well right there for three months. When I returned it was smothered in algae; i removed it and it's bleached but the polyps are still mostly out.
1 Yoda acro (Acropora pichoni). This has not been doing well for several months, heavily bleached but growing decently (while the orignal owner had it solid green). I attribute this to not understanding its lighting, and I'm going to give it less now.
Doing OK:
1 other shortcake type acro (same as the one that died). This one was getting less light (guestimate 150-200par) and probably more direct random flow; but it has no algae growing on it and looks like it's grown. Color is darker than before, where I bleached it giving it too much light.
1 monti dig - had lots of problem with this frag STN; this is the surviving tip has grown.
1 "ash and trash" formerly purple acro I got several pieces of for free at a frag swap months ago. Most frags RTN'd in like 3 days after i took them home; one frag stayed on. It's now gone from purple to bright green under the Kessil Blue.
2 Millie frags have turned from brown to heavily flourescent green under the Kessil blue.
1 porites lobata, I got as a frag the week before I left (I would not have taken it before leaving if it weren't for the fact I've been looking for this species and finally found one)
a group of green explosion palys on a rock. They seem to be unchanged.
Doing well:
1 Porites branneri which came as a hichhiker on live rock. Seems to have further encrusted while I was out.
1 Favites pentagona war coral, whose head has grown maybe 30% and has further encrused the rock I placed it on. Coralites were wide open all night today.
No non-coral livestock deaths. These include:
Rainsford Goby
Firefish
Yellow Headed Jawfish
2 clownfish
Maxima clam. I was surprised by its condition; its shell has lots of algae but it otherwise looks well.
Ostensibly 13+ snails, of which I see 3-4 at any given time, but it's hard to count population.
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For me, I'm going to try to use my bad luck as a good excuse to get a calc reactor! 
