Interesting Thing that I noticed...

[RocketBunny]

Hello, and I just can't understand the problem here... I'll explain what it is.

My sister uses a small 3.6 gallon, nano tank (Imagitarium) with a built in sump for her small reef. And she truly has a great reef! Everything in it is SO happy and multiplying VERY quickly. It is beautiful... infact, very beautiful.

But when it comes to the specs and water params, I am confuzzled... Her lighting is average LED, she uses Coralife Marine leds and it is sufficient. All she uses in her sump is a small carbon and ceramic filter, a filter sponge, and some chaeto I grew. And she has hair algae... I am here, with my 20 gallon, struggling and skimming like crazy to get rid of all the detritus in the water, and no algae (clean)... meanwhile, my sister doesn't even care... ;Rage

Here is what puzzles me...;Sour...Well, you see? I am constantly checking my parameters for stability and so the water is clean... and it is. Everything from temperature to ammonia to KH is in perfect range.
I measured mine today, here they are.
temp-80
salinity-1.027
ph-8.1
alkalinity-10 dkh
calcium-440
magnesium-1260
am/nit/nat-0,0,0
HOWEVER, even though my params are good, everything, isn't as great as in hers. Its alive and all, but it isn't "happy". Corals tend to close up constantly, things like copepods are non-existant in my aquarium, and everything looks out of whack (no, no, my aquarium is very clean... just the creatures look like something is wrong). I have adequate flow, lighting, feeding...

Now lets return to my sisters nano parameters.
temp-73
salinity-1.030 ;Vomit
ph-8.0
alkalinity-9 dkh
calcium-460
magnesium-1240
am/nit/nat-4.0 ppm, 0.25 ppm, 10 ppm. ;Dead
Even though everything is is elevated and different... her aquarium is teeming with life, and stuff is growing LIKE GARDEN WEEDS. The corals she has sprout a new head every two weeks... Her rock is also covered with coraline algae, copepods, and other things that I can't grow (coraline algae, copepods, and etc)... So most of the time, I give her my corals or anything that is feeling bad to keep (because I don't want it to die) and it recovers in a matter of hours... So technically, my tank is bare...

Now here is my question... How? How-come her chemistry is so off, and mine is perfect; but her aquarium is happy and mine is slowly drowning (no pun intended);Drowning. Another thing, the flow and lighting in both of our aquariums is same... and we feed the same food at the same time of day...

please explain
or I'll quit ;Sorry
(Just kidding)

Those are some pics of her tank... beautiful... right?
Thankyou!

 

[RocketBunny]

I am not being a, dull beggar, just wanting to find out what could be causing the difference.

In the first post, I didn't add that the corals that we keep are all of the same types. The white ones are sps and we have lps (mushrooms, green star polyp). We also have sponges (which I have given away to her)... My tank right now has only pulsing xenia, and a green haitian anemone.

Her fish are a green mandarin and a maroon clown.
I also have a maroon clown, Coral beauty, and a small school of three chromis.

Thats it for info.
Any help is appreciated!

 

[aquaman67]

Sometimes it’s best just to let stuff be.

 

[RocketBunny]

[DELETED]

 

[Katrina71]

Maybe you should try giving your Coral more nitrates. I'm betting your sister's is about 10. I think yours might be too clean. Just a thought.

 

[Katrina71]

Post a pic of yours! There may be some things the folks on here can point out to give ya some help.

 

[tdileo]

What test kit are you using? I would drop your alk to about 8 and then raise nitrates to anywhere between 2 and 8. You also never stated how old the tanks were unless I missed it. A lot of the time, one of the biggest things is tank maturity. A brand new tank with perfect parameters won’t do as well as a tank established for a full year with things that are a little bit off.
Another possibility is that your coral beauty is nipping at your corals and causing them stress and as a result they don’t do as well.
Like others said, let’s see some pictures of your tank so we can get an idea of how it looks!

 

[RocketBunny]

Post a pic of yours! There may be some things the folks on here can point out to give ya some help.

No please no pics . It is so bare... all of my corals are in her tank now, so they don't die...

 

[RocketBunny]

What test kit are you using? I would drop your alk to about 8 and then raise nitrates to anywhere between 2 and 8. You also never stated how old the tanks were unless I missed it. A lot of the time, one of the biggest things is tank maturity. A brand new tank with perfect parameters won’t do as well as a tank established for a full year with things that are a little bit off.
Another possibility is that your coral beauty is nipping at your corals and causing them stress and as a result they don’t do as well.
Like others said, let’s see some pictures of your tank so we can get an idea of how it looks!

My coral beauty doesn't ever touch (or touched) any of the corals... Also, my tank is 1 year old, and her is 1 month.
I use API test kits (for saltwater)
Alright, I'll try to post a good pic.

 

[RocketBunny]

ALSO... I had a 40 gallon (breeder) with a 10 gallon sump 2 years ago, but since we were moving inter-state... I had to sell the whole thing. I also kept it VERY clean and ULNS (system), and everyone was happy... I started this small one because of a small budget.

And I am also doing the same thing here, but... only my anemone and xenia are happy... strange ??

 

[Katrina71]

Never ever be ashamed of your tank! We all go through it. We all start out new and most of us go through many cycles of tank uglies. You are a perfectly normal reefer.

 

[RocketBunny]

 

[RocketBunny]

Never ever be ashamed of your tank! We all go through it. We all start out new and most of us go through many cycles of tank uglies. You are a perfectly normal reefer.

thanks

 

[Katrina71]

I see a beautiful tank!

 

[RocketBunny]

I see a beautiful tank!

Thanks a lot Can you show yours, please?
It doesn't look too bad, the camera enhanced the colors, if you were right next to me, the tank is bare... because I don't know why stuff keeps dying, I give to my sister (she's always happy whenever I do that ). All I was really able to keep are anemones, and the feather duster. I got the xenia 3 months ago... so she's pretty new.

My tank is a jigsaw puzzle

 

[RocketBunny]

Maybe the tank has a maturing stage going on? you know, like puberty...
I'll give it time.
Thankyou for your insight on my problem

 

[cracker]

Tank looks pretty good to me !

 

[Pntbll687]

Just test salinity for the time being, and add top of water as needed. Stop worrying about every little change in parameters that most likely fall within the margin of error on the test kit. If magnesium goes from 1250 to 1260 do you really need to know?

Take a deep breath and let the system relax and be for a while. Maybe even skip a water change and see how things go.

I used to test every 3 days religiously for the first year or so. It literally made me crazy. I would have water for water changes on hand all the time, and do a change if nitrates went up. Because I thought something had to be wrong then.

I now test salinity, once every week or so. I try to remember to top my tanks off every day, but sometimes it goes three days or so, and salinity will rise, but not enough to do anything. Water changes are done when I can. BUT.... I enjoy my tanks soooo much more now. I actually watch them just to watch them, not to find anything "wrong".

 

[Katrina71]

My lights are off, but I will tomorrow. My Xenia took a long time to grow. Yours looks healthy.

 

[RocketBunny]

Just test salinity for the time being, and add top of water as needed. Stop worrying about every little change in parameters that most likely fall within the margin of error on the test kit. If magnesium goes from 1250 to 1260 do you really need to know?

Take a deep breath and let the system relax and be for a while. Maybe even skip a water change and see how things go.

I used to test every 3 days religiously for the first year or so. It literally made me crazy. I would have water for water changes on hand all the time, and do a change if nitrates went up. Because I thought something had to be wrong then.

I now test salinity, once every week or so. I try to remember to top my tanks off every day, but sometimes it goes three days or so, and salinity will rise, but not enough to do anything. Water changes are done when I can. BUT.... I enjoy my tanks soooo much more now. I actually watch them just to watch them, not to find anything "wrong".

Thanks... I don't test every single day... only 3 times a week, and whenever I see stuff wrong (like corals all limp).
There is one of my messages about a 40 gallon I had while back... read it... maybe it will shed some light? i had a ulns on it.