Help this noob
- Thread starter Reeffer noob
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You very likely do have a swing - it's just kept pretty small - unnoticeable within the degree of accuracy you would get from a hand-held refractometer, for example.
Even an ATO that utilizes only a single float switch will have a difference between when it is "open" and "closed". If the float switch were highly sensitive, it would add one drop of water every time one drop evaporated - but that's not the case with pretty much any float switch we're likely to see (and I apologize in advance if you happen to have some kind of ultra-accurate float switch in use). In most "hobby grade" float switches, it takes a certain amount of volume loss before the switch goes from open to close, and this volume (depending upon your exact setup) could result in enough of a swing to have an impact on things.
As an example; I have a gravity-fed ATO that leads to a horizontal float switch in my return chamber. My average "salinity" (conductivity, really) swing due to evaporation is .2ppt:
In any case; if you have an ATO, it's unlikely that they were affected by a salinity change.
Do you have a measure of your average Alk?
KH/Alk=7.5 Dkh..... 2.5 meq/LYou very likely do have a swing - it's just kept pretty small - unnoticeable within the degree of accuracy you would get from a hand-held refractometer, for example.
Even an ATO that utilizes only a single float switch will have a difference between when it is "open" and "closed". If the float switch were highly sensitive, it would add one drop of water every time one drop evaporated - but that's not the case with pretty much any float switch we're likely to see (and I apologize in advance if you happen to have some kind of ultra-accurate float switch in use). In most "hobby grade" float switches, it takes a certain amount of volume loss before the switch goes from open to close, and this volume (depending upon your exact setup) could result in enough of a swing to have an impact on things.
As an example; I have a gravity-fed ATO that leads to a horizontal float switch in my return chamber. My average "salinity" (conductivity, really) swing due to evaporation is .2ppt:
In any case; if you have an ATO, it's unlikely that they were affected by a salinity change.
Do you have a measure of your average Alk?
That's right at the lower limit of what a reef tank should be at. Increasing that a little (slowly and over time) may help your corals grow, perhaps...
An ICP (Triton) test may be a good idea; it could be that there's something in your water that you are unlikely to be able to identify. For example; I ran one on my tank and discovered a higher-than-desired level of iron. I fixed that (using Triton's Detox and switching to a lower-iron salt) and my corals have improved as a result (not to "amazing growth" level, but above "nearly dead", at least). The test isn't (relatively) cheap, but it'll give you far more (and accurate) information than you would get from anything you could do yourself. I consider it part of my yearly maintenance - and/or when something is happening I can't find an explanation for.
Only?.. yes it is 490
Robert Scott
Community Member
No mention about flow? I had a torch that was struggling...higher flow did the trick. Lower light also?
Duane Clark
Active Member
I was thinking Magnesium. my bad.
I would say the lack of nitrates could be the problem. Especially when pushing your corals with the light level you have set. Think of it as the more lighting you have the more nutrients you need, the less lighting you have the less nutrients you need.
The light levels you have could be completely fine in a tank with:
1. Higher nutrients (2-5ppm Nitrate) or
2. One that is being fed quite a bit and mature and biodiverse enough to export the nutrients while keeping good stuff for corals in the water.
Just my subjective opinion but I dealt with something similar with bleaching sps and lack of growth in my tank when it was fairly new.
The light levels you have could be completely fine in a tank with:
1. Higher nutrients (2-5ppm Nitrate) or
2. One that is being fed quite a bit and mature and biodiverse enough to export the nutrients while keeping good stuff for corals in the water.
Just my subjective opinion but I dealt with something similar with bleaching sps and lack of growth in my tank when it was fairly new.
