Barebottom issue

[Trukingny]

I have a barebottom tank its been up and running since june i have 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates i have a few corals and you can see signs of corals closing and lightening up.. i used dry rock i also have chaeto in my sump with an ai fuge light (on for 10 hrs at 60%) its looks healthy and very green. I have a skimmer but now turned it off... im lost on what to do and need some help obviously i need to bring them 2 parameters up a little.. i have a trident so i know my alk, ca and mg are fine 8.5,440,1450... SORRY for all the info at once..

 

[jaxredsoxfan]

Might be too few nutrients. Are you adding anything to the tank supplement wise to provide food?

 

[Justfebreezeit]

As long as you are reading true zero with a good test kit.

You can reduce the lighting time of your fuge, add more fish, or feed more. Some also like to dose Nitrate and phosphate directly.

My barebottom has been up since February with dry rock as well. Same issue 0 and 0. I just added another fish and feeding a little more and keeping an eye on it closely. Let me know which way you end up going and let me know how it works out.

 

[Trukingny]

Just feeding the fish i have 2 clowns and 2 wrasse i feed once a day i go between flakes, mysis shrimp,marine cuisine and every other day mix in calanus

 

[Trukingny]

For phosphates im using the hanna checker phosphor ulr one and nitrate the api test kit

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Roger that. Your tank is still pretty fresh as well so don't get to impatient. It will take a while to get it balanced out.

 

[StevePhx]

Biggest piece of advice. Slow down.

Doing a barebottom with dry rock is going to be a very long process to get fully established. (Not talking nitrogen cycle, talking about balance between bacteria, algae, nutrients etc.)

If you aren’t see coralline algae growing I wouldn’t be adding SPS to the tank. You can watch some of Mike Paletta’s videos about his Elos tank that he started with dry rock.

It’s a lack of sponges and IMO bacteria that the corals are feeding on.

 

[melanotaenia]

You may want to look into dosing some amino acids to help your corals out; I agree with others, they appear to be suffering from lack of nutrients in the water.

 

[Trukingny]

Biggest piece of advice. Slow down.

Doing a barebottom with dry rock is going to be a very long process to get fully established. (Not talking nitrogen cycle, talking about balance between bacteria, algae, nutrients etc.)

If you aren’t see coralline algae growing I wouldn’t be adding SPS to the tank. You can watch some of Mike Paletta’s videos about his Elos tank that he started with dry rock.

It’s a lack of sponges and IMO bacteria that the corals are feeding on.

I searched youtube it looks like hes using live rock in that tank

 

[melanotaenia]

It is interesting this trend that seems to be using dry rock and no sand, and a lot of problems seem to come along with it; BRS just posted a video where he firmly states all the problems they had with the no sand approach to their reef and would never do it again. Even when established, BB tanks are so much more prone to problems and fluctuations, from what I have seen and read.

 

[Trukingny]

It is interesting this trend that seems to be using dry rock and no sand, and a lot of problems seem to come along with it; BRS just posted a video where he firmly states all the problems they had with the no sand approach to their reef and would never do it again. Even when established, BB tanks are so much more prone to problems and fluctuations, from what I have seen and read.

It is harder thats for sure but look at World Wide Corals barebottom tank its beautiful

 

[Silent]

Actually BRS said the first year with bb is hard but after that it is easier than sand. Said it in many videos.

 

[melanotaenia]

Actually BRS said the first year with bb is hard but after that it is easier than sand. Said it in many videos.

check out their most recent one where they tour the fifty tanks in the office; halfway through Ryan goes on a little tirade about the pains in trying to keep the BB tank going.

 

[Silent]

Saw it. He talked about the pains of removing the sand even though he was removing it slow.

 

[happyhourhero]

BB is easier than sand imo.

 

[Piranhapat]

The first year and maybe longer. Depending on your fish load and feeding. BB take longer to mature and balance out. Feeding amino won't help until you have some Po4 and No3. I wouldn't add SPS until you have some nutrients, If you want to add Brightwell has Neo Nitro and Neo Phos. They will help with Ultra low nutrients system. Go slow and do half they say in beginning

 

[gosaints]

Turn the fuge light off until you get some nutrients. The cheto will be fine without light for a while.

 

[fuelman]

i have a 240 dt 400 gallon system that started with dry rock bare bottom, 112 gallon refugium. when my nitrate got to 5. & phos .06 i turned the skimmer on it's a reef octopus 250 int, in 4 days it sucked my levels to 0 i shut the skimmer off took 3 weeks to get back to nitrate 4. & phos .04 i turned the skimmer back on the next day levels were nitrate 2. phos .02 shut the skimmer off again & have just been using the fuge. im sure as my fish & coral grow & the amount i feed both increases i will need to turn the skimmer back on but i have increased the photo period on the fuge to 14 hours a day & levels are holding at nitrate 4. phos .04, maybe i will end up with the skimmer on & photo period on fuge reduced but for now my tank cant support the skimmer running at all & the fuge is doing the job.

 

[reef_daddy]

I’m also struggling to keep my nutrients up, more specifically nitrates. I’m about a year in with my bare bottom my phosphates are 0.06 - 0.09 ppm. I’m running Phosguard which seems to keep the phosphates in check.

Anyway, everyone’s advice is that my tank is “too clean” so as of last week I decided I’m going to do 10% water changes every other week, instead of weekly. I’m also broadcast feeding a combination of reef roids and reef chili on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. (Feeding half the recommended dosage of each, combined together)

Hopefully it starts to bring up the Nitrates but if not, I’m going to have to start dosing.

 

[James Tucker]

Mine was too clean too. Bleached some SPS.

I tried adding just food, phosphates rose, but not nitrates.

I added my big fish back, and the corals are starting to do a little better now, some color starting to come back a bit, but slow. I'm going to add a few more fish over the next few months to raise up my nitrates slowly now that I've stopped the bleeding.

Next tank, I'm going to get at least 50% of the fish in for a few months before I even attempt adding an SPS.