I own Reef2Reef and I am coming clean....

gfox · Dec 14, 2015

Thanks for sharing your problems with your tank.Maybe go back to the basics you was doing years ago with old tanks.Always wondered why R2REEF has not seen your latest tank.

Mike in CT · Dec 14, 2015

I know your not catholic Rev, but one always feels better after a honest confession! [emoji6]
I guarantee by finding out how to turn your tank around, will help many fellow reefers in the same predicament! (Myself included [emoji16])

Brian Kim · Dec 14, 2015

in before all the experts and squad members chime in......I know what happened to you! It takes time and effort to keep up a successful business concept and you fell a victim of it.
Your tank seems fine to me but it may lack somewhat compared to what you used to have or what you are used to.
That's all right, you have proven to most of us how dedicated you are with this hobby even without having an amazing tank to show for.

steve&mari · Dec 14, 2015

Love the rockwork very beautiful setup. Now to get them frags happy and growing. Someone's ask but parameters,lighting schedule,is it a particular area of tank that does better then others showing it may be flow isn't to their liking. You know the drill boss let us have it so we can help you feel better about your reef and boost your pride again.

Crazy Reefs · Dec 14, 2015

Pete polyp said:
Rev I am in the same boat. I have always had simple reefs with no sump, no skimmer and really nothing but flow, light and heat. So I decided to go all out and get that sump, skimmer, reactors, controller etc. And guess what? Biggest pain I have ever had to deal with! It just won't get right no matter how much I work with it. Without the sump and all the gadgets I can literally abuse a tank and it will THRIVE. Overfeeding and forgetting to do a water change for 3 months, no problem. But with this more complex system (which is supposed to make it easier) nothing will go right. I'm under the assumption to use the K.I.S.S. method from now on.

I have always beleived in the K.I.S.S. system. No skimmer, no sump,Hang on filter and a power head or two. I get to fancy and it crashes every time. My Buddy Happy G

oby.

IronVulture · Dec 14, 2015

revhtree said:
Ok here it is a few weeks ago but I have since lost frags. It's frags because I can't keep stuff alive long. iPhone photo.

This doesn't look bad if you don't have more rock in the sump or something like the marine pure blocks I would definitely do something to increase the surface area for beneficial bacteria. I don't think you have enough load there to justify dosing so I would stop adding all additives and give your tank time to level out with plain old fashioned water changes small and frequent. I also would stop running gfo full time and only use it sparingly when needed maybe even cut the amount of carbon you use to the minimal amount needed to clear the water.

revhtree · Dec 14, 2015

Brian Kim said:
in before all the experts and squad members chime in......I know what happened to you! It takes time and effort to keep up a successful business concept and you fell a victim of it.
Your tank seems fine to me but it may lack somewhat compared to what you used to have or what you are used to.
That's all right, you have proven to most of us how dedicated you are with this hobby even without having an amazing tank to show for.

Thank you very much.

aquaterra · Dec 14, 2015

Maybe we all need a little dirt in our tank. Just a whiff of No3 and PO4 that spikes up and goes away. Is over-purifying a bad thing?

Brian Kim · Dec 14, 2015

revhtree said:
Thank you very much.

revhtree · Dec 14, 2015

LPS slowly die or have polyp bail out. Now my palys are just peaking out and not wanting to open at the moment. No way I'm trying SPS until I get the simple corals figured out. I am seriously dumbfounded.

Rich Kapoor · Dec 14, 2015

maybe the water is too clean?

my tank is 3 months old...and im first time aquarium hobbyist...and my tank is doing good... with sps, lps and softies...

Brian Kim · Dec 14, 2015

revhtree said:
LPS slowly die or have polyp bail out. Now my palys are just peaking out and not wanting to open at the moment. No way I'm trying SPS until I get the simple corals figured out. I am seriously dumbfounded.

I think we are having similar problems....low nutrients in our systems due to overdoing on the filtration side...my gotofix sort of speak was to overfeed my tank for awhile to raise my nitrate, now that was for SPS....
As far as lps and softies goes, I would say lighting plays a huge role. I've just recently lost all of my acans when I switched to kessil

erk · Dec 14, 2015

If you are having these kind of issues, but you are keeping nutrient(NO3, PO4, Alk, Ca, Mg, etc) levels stable, then something else is going on. You are running a fluorescent fixture, which is know to grow corals well. So that should rule out lights. If both of those check out, then look at the not so common things. Try removing the more complex stuff one at a time and see if things improve. Also, something to consider, sometimes the best and newest isn't so great because manufacturing hasn't figured out all of the hiccups. I prefer going with tried and true components than the best and newest because the bugs are all figured out. Not all is lost. Just gotta put on that thinking cap and breakdown all the possible modes of failure. From most obvious to the least obvious. I recommend writing out a plan as that should make it easier to figure out what you have ruled out.

Pete polyp · Dec 14, 2015

revhtree said:
I hear ya! I have always ran a skimmer and firmly believe in it for people who don't perform regular water changes and feed a lot.

This is the first skimmer I have ever had. It's a beast for what it is but it's been a complete waste of $200...

drstratton · Dec 14, 2015

I love your tank, the rock is fantastic. I'm sure you will get it figured out with all of the knowledgeable people that we have on this forum. By the way, thanks for all you do for those of us that enjoy this site!!!

revhtree · Dec 14, 2015

Rich Kapoor said:
maybe the water is too clean?

my tank is 3 months old...and im first time aquarium hobbyist...and my tank is doing good... with sps, lps and softies...

Rub it in why don't you!

I'm kidding and congrats!

jsker · Dec 14, 2015

revhtree said:
I usually change out about 25-30g in a 120g.

I change 5 gal in a 72 a week, this tank is 10 months old and I have had my ups and downs. One of my down was I had a PO4 issue(added dry rock without soaking it) and was trying to get it down for the reason my corals were browning and dying. Started running a small amount of Rawa and carbon, and trying to rush it. That was not working fast enough so I started changing 10 gallons every other day. the corals were starting to look great again, my PO4 started to drop but striped the tank of everything else and stressed the fish. lets say I lost a few fish. At this point I went back to my 5 gallon Sunday water change for the past three week and things are back to normal.
things I have changed in the past three week, added a small reactor to run Rawa, started dosing reef colors last week to get my trace elements back in line. My corals at this point are looking really good and the color is coming back like they should also my PO4 are setting about .08 were they were .16 or higher. I am thinking to much water in your changes. but heck that work for me