Must be missing something obvious..

[Cory]

Nice tank! Is that a Chinese LED? When i switched mine out to a Kessil my corals grew very fast! (Algae too)

So the problem is your not seeing alkalinity change?

Your tank looks very clean, wish mine was like that lol. My tank is consuming 1dkh every two days. My corals are only frags too.

What are all your parameters?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have been thinking about the prodibio amino acid additives. Could possibly be over skimming as its a pretty small system for the curve 5 skimmer. I also run a fairly short photo period. Blues come on at 11am, whites at 1pm. Whites off at 5pm, blues off at 7pm. I checked Alk yesterday afternoon and it tested at 7... One full DKh lower than last week... Thinking its time to start dosing Alk. 8 was a little low to begin with, but I was not concerned as it held there constant for several months. Maybe it was dipping just low enough to make the corals a little unhappy, but not enough to see the result on my test kits, as they only go in 1Dkh increments. I'm thinking if I let it go two weeks without a water change I would see a measurable drop.

So I have two options here. I would prefer my Alk to be a little higher. I would feel comfortable in the 9 range. I have on hand my Alk part of two part, and kalkwasser. My PH runs around 7.8, so based on this I am thinking of going with kalkwasser in the topoff (2 tsp/gal) instead of dosing part two. The kalkwasser would give me the added benefit of raising ph.

Both are fine solutions to raise the alkalinity in this situation

FWIW, I use limewater (kalkwasser) for all my calcium and alkalinity needs.

 

[Triggerjay]

Nice tank! Is that a Chinese LED? When i switched mine out to a Kessil my corals grew very fast! (Algae too)

So the problem is your not seeing alkalinity change?

Your tank looks very clean, wish mine was like that lol. My tank is consuming 1dkh every two days. My corals are only frags too.

What are all your parameters?

Parameters are posted in a screenshot. Fixture is an ocean revive t-247. Those are old pics. I'll try to get some new ones soon.

 

[Triggerjay]

Here's a today pic of the tank. I'm not a photographer....



And a quick growth comparison:
5-13-15



Today (11-12-15):

 

[Triggerjay]

If you click any of the pics, it will take you to the respective album (by date).

 

[Diesel]

When you were doing smaller water changes did you see any difference in ALK numbers.
90% WC is a lot and I don't know anybody who does that than only you.
I believe we all like to know what's going on in your tank and if you ever find out share it with us as some of like to do the same what ever it is
On another note besides the 90% WC what ever you doing keep doing it as you tank looks great.

 

[Triggerjay]

When you were doing smaller water changes did you see any difference in ALK numbers.

Yes, but I was running kalkwasser at the time. Alk ranged from 9-10Dkh. I got a bag of IO that mixed at 14Dkh. I switched salts and cut off the kalkwasser. New brand salt mixes at 8Dkh.. But it was around the same time I noticed that I saw a great improvement on things with a large water change so I changed my routine to reflect the "good" changes I was seeing. My weekly water change consists of two 18g Rubbermaid totes on a 45g system. I was due to change the water two days ago, but have yet to do so while I wait to see if any of my #'s fall off. I'm hoping this will point me in the right direction as to what my tank is depleting. I am pretty certain I will start to see Alk fall. If so, I am hoping to supplement and cut the water changes in half, or smaller. I think Randy has my mind on the correct path.

 

[brandon429]

just to show diversity in approach

http://reefbuilders.com/2013/05/21/fix-fish-tank-reef-aquarium-problems-95-water/

 

[Triggerjay]

just to show diversity in approach

http://reefbuilders.com/2013/05/21/fix-fish-tank-reef-aquarium-problems-95-water/

Very interesting. Pretty much same routine I have been using on my tank. I always kill the lights during the change though for fear of bleaching them. Directly after my water changes I see lots of coral slime in the column. Don't know if this is good or bad. What I'm doing has been working well for me, but is a lot of work and I feel as though I am wasting a ton of salt. It's a practice I would like to get away from if I can see the same results with supplementation.

 

[brandon429]

my tank is tiny so 100% chages are easy, Ive done them weekly or better since 2006

the full wc isn't the risk, its the disturbance of a sinked up sandbed upon pouring back in that's the risk, and of course fish flopping on the rocks isn't kosher mine has no fish only lps and sps mixed. even though picos seem novel, they just model the same biology a 500g tank could do if it was just as practical. clearly its easier to spot dose on a large reef, but if mass cleaning export is needed, or just to reset params so drift is stopped, yep large changes have some basis in the hobby. corals that live in fringing reef zones are treated so much harsher!

I guess one risk with the full change would be any accidental contaminants or prep issues with the water, no safety buffer when changing that % so be on par imo...

 

[Cory]

If that phosphate reading is what i think it is .5ppm po4 is enough to severely reduce coral growth. You must keep po4 as low as possible.

And your magnesium is very low too.