Barebottom issue

BOWHUNTER4250 · Oct 7, 2019

Following along with this one , i set up a 300 DD with a 220 basement sump , bare bottom , marine board and dry rock , my situation is i started with Siporax media , i ended up taking most of it out as i cant get reading to even register for No3 or Po4 ?? i have 4 larger fish and about 10 smaller fish , i feed a sheet of Nori a day and at least the equivalent to approx. 6 cubes of frozen every other day and still no readings , i ended up taking most of the siporax out , but i had a Alk swing a month or so back and lost a bunch of SPS i think my corals were pretty stressed already from the low nutrients .... i have some as i have GHA , and some cyano , the SPS i do have left are doing good with coming back . I run a fuge and a skimmer but i run it on the dry side as i only drain whats in the cup once a week or so to keep oxegeyn going and as much nutrients as possible in the water , i don't want to start dosing No3 or Po4 as that can get really out of wack quick !

SliceGolfer · Oct 7, 2019

Take chaeto offline until it’s really needed. Add fish, feed more. Dose nitrate. Dose Fuel or an amino. I‘ve employed a mix of these steps over the last 10 months with my new bare bottom reef. Take one thing at a time and measure how your tank responds. I’ve had solid results sticking to this plan.

ReefGeezer · Oct 7, 2019

Did I read correctly that you only have 4 small fish in the tank? if so, you may find that nutrients won't be an issue once you are fully stocked and the tank matures. You system is set up to handle a pretty heavy bioload. You don't have that yet. I wouldn't add nutrients now. Just continue slowly stocking the tank and feeding everything well. You could skim less and/or reduce the photo period on your Cheato to allow nutrients to rise, but I'd do it a little at a time.

BOWHUNTER4250 · Oct 7, 2019

SliceGolfer said:
Take chaeto offline until it’s really needed. Add fish, feed more. Dose nitrate. Dose Fuel or an amino. I‘ve employed a mix of these steps over the last 10 months with my new bare bottom reef. Take one thing at a time and measure how your tank responds. I’ve had solid results sticking to this plan.

Did you have any Algae growing at all ? how are things now ? Dont want to start dosing No3 as that depletes Po4 as well , then you have to start dosing that

SliceGolfer · Oct 7, 2019

I added a Chaeto reactor after my initial cycle. N03 went from 50ppm to 5ppm in two weeks. Then N03 and P04 were 0 very quickly. I had 4 fish, fed heavier, and still dosed nitrate. Then I took cheato offline and started getting measurable N03. Now I regulate feedings between pellets, mysis, and LRS Frenzy to regulate P04. I still dose nitrates, only once a week. If I see any hair, ulva, or turf algae, I stop dosing nitrates.

Over the past 10 months, I have had ulva, turf, bubble, and hair algae. I have three gold ring cowries and 20 ish banded trochus snails. I started with 4 adult trochus, who spawned and then 24 more snails showed up. I have sizes from an m&m to a quarter. These guys do a great job of keeping the tank clean.

Here are recent pics from yesterday