Getting frustrated... 4 Months in

[Jon Fishman]

I have been at it 11 months. SPS and all is doing great. Water changes every few weeks, and keeping my salinity/temp stable gets it done.

My tank is loaded with corals (albeit many small and some bigger colonies). I have yet to test.

I will echo what has already been said..... stop chasing numbers

 

[Katrina71]

I got nothin'. They've already told you. KISS. Keep it simple. Don't chase numbers. Wait out the uglies, they have a purpose.

 

[Hemmdog]

+1 feed mysis over brine shrimp. 425xl is big, I would do 2 hakari cubes a day.

 

[Greg P]

Prepare yourself for a few/6 months of uglies and scrubbing the rocks/keeping the sand clean.
Eventually you'll get to a point where you'll be surprised how clean it stays.
This is when you'll be able to add more fish/corals and UP your game. Then of course you'll do it again until this next cycle completes itself

 

[BeejReef]

You're doing great. Getting perfect advise too
It doesn't stay this difficult. Just a few more months and you'll be through the worst of it.
Test frequently, tinker and adjust minimally. Keep good records. Adjustments you make today may not show results until a week before Christmas.

 

[Bpb]

No more ph buffer. Between that and kalkwasser you’re double dosing alkalinity relative to calcium. That is where the imbalance is coming from.

You don’t even need kalkwasser at this point either. Just stock up on quality salt and ensure your rodi filter is working well. Your tank is young and you WILL have green hair algae. Period. Experienced tank keepers can pull off a brand new tank with no algae but a new hobbyist will almost always be guaranteed to get algae in the first year. It’s normal and natural. Pick up a couple pincushion urchins (those in particular not just any urchins). They will do more work on hair algae than any snail or crab will. Just do 10-20% water changes a week and feed the fish sparingly. Let the microfauna in the tank mature naturally and don’t be in a hurry. 4 months is not a long time. I have rocks curing for my next tank that have been curing that long.

I’d say the only thing you’re doing wrong is having unrealistic expectations. If it were my new tank, I wouldn’t be dosing anything at all. I’d just be feeding the fish (no reef roids or stuff like that, those foods have a very specific purpose) and changing the water. It will clean up as it ages.

 

[Tamberav]

My new tank has been up just over a month and SPS and corals are growing...

You know what I did?

Nothing.



Didn't dose or test...for first few weeks...just let it do whatever.....alk was down to 5.0....so what? Corals look happy and growing.

pH? Who knows...who cares...it will change constantly from day to night and it is supposed to. I dont care what it reads and I wouldn't bother testing for it except my Apex came with a probe.

I just now brought my doser online yesterday but just hardly dosing anything...bringing alk up as a snail's pace.

Just do water changes and let it ride. No kalk....

Don't chase...don't be OCD....the sooner you relax...the happier your tank and you will be.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hey @Lithoman

It’s been a week. Checking in. How thing coming along? You got advice from some of the top peeps around.

 

[Lithoman]

It’s been a week. Checking in. How thing coming along? You got advice from some of the top peeps around.
[/QUOTE]

Well, I have been listening and want to thank everyone for the much needed wakeup call. I stopped the Kalk and the vibrant. I have not been testing everyday.. Tank looks good not great but good.. great I hope, will come with age and knowledge. So i'm relaxing and enjoying.....Well almost, I bought the Neptune DOS it interfaces with the Apex.. I have not started dosing but will measure ALK and Cal for a few weeks and see what is needed if any then start slow..
I also stopped the buffer.. just weekly 10-15% water changes.. The PH did drop to 7.95 to 8.5 down from when i was using buffer..
R2R...is a wealth of knowledge and i feel blessed to have a place to go for help..
Thank you all and I will be updating along the way.. Hopefully I will be able to help someone as you all have helped me.

Cheers!!
Litho

.

 

[Greg P]

Glad to hear you are more comfortable now with taking it slower.
Having your pH around 7.95 isn't the end of the world; mine is 8.0 early morning and around 8.25 before the lights go out 10 hours later.
It used to get as low as 7.8 when my tank was new.

Keep testing your Alk and Ca and keep records as suggested by @BeejReef
I've been keeping a log since I started reefing back in 2011. Nothing like being able to look back on your records to see what did what to what

Don't be afraid to 'tinker' with your test results, just don't adjust if the #s are close enough.
As mentioned earlier, don't chase the #s
If you want 8.0 and 415 and you test 7.5 and 400, or 8.5 and 430, just leave it alone until your next test.
Once you get past daily testing, weekly testing will tell you what your tank is doing and you can progress with WCs and/or Dosing.

 

[vetteguy53081]

We can only expect certain swings in readings on a 4 month tank. Everyone who saw my 360g I had said it was gorgeous. My ph was always at 7.7-7.86 and CA varied. What was my secret? STABILITY was my secret. I left everything alone.
Nothing goes fast in saltwater and chasing numbers does more harm than good. As your tank continues to mature, so does your readings. Take the time to enjoy your tank rather than chase numbers . You will find your tank being less stress and more enjoyment which is why we got into the hobby in the first place.

 

[SCHAULJ]

Lithoman thanks for stopping by my build thread - we do have a pretty similar story! Im watching this thread and following along. Best of luck!