Cincyreefer513
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Let me begin by saying chemistry is not my strong point. I have a basic grasp, however I've received some mixed info while researching and talking to people at the lfs so hopefully an expert can help me here.
I've had a Fluval Flex 32.5 running for nearly 3 months now. It was bought established and the previous owner had it running for a year prior. It included about 15lbs of live rock, 3 corals, and a ton of established filter media. The sand was changed out for new live sand and I added roughly 30lbs of uncured, dry rock.
Everything has been running great for the most part. I've consistently kept nitrates at 10, PH started at 8.4 for the first month, but dropped to 8 and has been solid since. No ammonia/nitrite at all. Alk has been pretty stable, but calcium and apparently magnesium are rather low. Phosphate is potentially another issue we'll cover below. All parameters have been tested for 2-3 months with the exception of magnesium and phosphate which I just got in yesterday.
My full parameters are below from last night:
Salt is Fritz RPM Blue box
Temp 78
Salinity 1.025 Refractometer
PH 8 API
Nitrate 10 API
Nitrites/Ammonia 0 API
Alk 8.6 Salifert (typically stays at 8.45, sometimes 8.3 or 8.6)
Ca 400 Salifert (typically between 410-380)
Magnesium 1125 Salifert (tested twice to make sure since it was my first time)
Phosphate 0.31 Hanna (not sure if accurate or not. First time using and some reagent was spilled on the floor. Since BRS is out of extra reagent, I only have 7 packs so I'm using sparingly)
Lighting is 8.5hrs a day. Heavy on the blues, light on the white.
Stock is 2 clowns and 1 Royal Gramma, 4 hermits, several snails, and several corals (softies and lps).
Feeding has been frozen mysis or brine. 1/4-1/3 block daily. 1/8 teaspoon of Reef Roids twice a week. I've heard RR can raise phosphate a lot although yesterday's test was done 1 day after a 20% water change and RR hasn't been fed yet.
For the most part my parameters look alright with the exception of magnesium, calcium (I'd prefer slightly higher), and potentially phosphate (if test is accurate. Also to note, algae has been very light)
So, what do I need to do to safely raise magnesium to the 14-1500 range and calcium to say at least 430 without messing up other parameters suck as Alk?
As for phosphate, if my tank really is 0.31, what is recommended to drop that? Or is it recommended to iron out the other stuff first?
Lastly, my corals seem healthy, but growth has slowed or stopped with several of them. A few, however, keep growing at a quick rate
I'll attach a couple photos for reference. The FTS was taken yesterday after adding several new corals. The other photo is from last week. Thanks!
I've had a Fluval Flex 32.5 running for nearly 3 months now. It was bought established and the previous owner had it running for a year prior. It included about 15lbs of live rock, 3 corals, and a ton of established filter media. The sand was changed out for new live sand and I added roughly 30lbs of uncured, dry rock.
Everything has been running great for the most part. I've consistently kept nitrates at 10, PH started at 8.4 for the first month, but dropped to 8 and has been solid since. No ammonia/nitrite at all. Alk has been pretty stable, but calcium and apparently magnesium are rather low. Phosphate is potentially another issue we'll cover below. All parameters have been tested for 2-3 months with the exception of magnesium and phosphate which I just got in yesterday.
My full parameters are below from last night:
Salt is Fritz RPM Blue box
Temp 78
Salinity 1.025 Refractometer
PH 8 API
Nitrate 10 API
Nitrites/Ammonia 0 API
Alk 8.6 Salifert (typically stays at 8.45, sometimes 8.3 or 8.6)
Ca 400 Salifert (typically between 410-380)
Magnesium 1125 Salifert (tested twice to make sure since it was my first time)
Phosphate 0.31 Hanna (not sure if accurate or not. First time using and some reagent was spilled on the floor. Since BRS is out of extra reagent, I only have 7 packs so I'm using sparingly)
Lighting is 8.5hrs a day. Heavy on the blues, light on the white.
Stock is 2 clowns and 1 Royal Gramma, 4 hermits, several snails, and several corals (softies and lps).
Feeding has been frozen mysis or brine. 1/4-1/3 block daily. 1/8 teaspoon of Reef Roids twice a week. I've heard RR can raise phosphate a lot although yesterday's test was done 1 day after a 20% water change and RR hasn't been fed yet.
For the most part my parameters look alright with the exception of magnesium, calcium (I'd prefer slightly higher), and potentially phosphate (if test is accurate. Also to note, algae has been very light)
So, what do I need to do to safely raise magnesium to the 14-1500 range and calcium to say at least 430 without messing up other parameters suck as Alk?
As for phosphate, if my tank really is 0.31, what is recommended to drop that? Or is it recommended to iron out the other stuff first?
Lastly, my corals seem healthy, but growth has slowed or stopped with several of them. A few, however, keep growing at a quick rate
I'll attach a couple photos for reference. The FTS was taken yesterday after adding several new corals. The other photo is from last week. Thanks!
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