Need a little advice on an SPS problem

[minus9]

Your corals are starving. What fish and how often are you feeding them. Whenever someone mentions they feed a lot, they don't actually feed a lot.

 

[kdx7214]

Your corals are starving. What fish and how often are you feeding them. Whenever someone mentions they feed a lot, they don't actually feed a lot.

I've got a firefish goby, a lawnmower blenny, and a six line wrasse. I feed them 3x daily. I think the real problem is the amount of macro algae I have in the tank. There's a lot of halimeda along with some red bubble algae, and a few others.

 

[homer1475]

3 fish in 75 gallon? Need more bioload. 0 nutrients are 100% your problem. I have 15 in an 80G cube and I maintain 15 to 20ppm nitrates, and .1 to .2 phosphates.

Alk in the 7 is absolutely fine nothing wrong there. The oceans average alk level is in the 7's. Calcium should come up to around 400 though.

 

[minus9]

I've got a firefish goby, a lawnmower blenny, and a six line wrasse. I feed them 3x daily. I think the real problem is the amount of macro algae I have in the tank. There's a lot of halimeda along with some red bubble algae, and a few others.

Yeah, you essentially have zero bio load contributing to feeding the corals. Herbivores take care of algae, not nutrient reduction. Safely add more fish, feed them multiple times a day. Then I would dose N & P to help feed the corals.

 

[homer1475]

Yeah, you essentially have zero bio load contributing to feeding the corals. Herbivores take care of algae, not nutrient reduction. Safely add more fish, feed them multiple times a day. Then I would dose N & P to help feed the corals.

This ^^ 100%

You can't grow corals without having favorable conditions for algae. The balancing act is having enough herbivores to eat the algae as it grows.

Low nutrients only kill corals, and algae still grows as it is easier for it to use the available nutrients then your corals.

 

[minus9]

The very same conditions algae need to grow are the same conditions corals need. The reason reefs aren’t overtaken by algae is the endless supply of herbivores. I don’t think I can say this enough times, but you can’t and never will control algae through nutrient reduction. This mindset only leads to major problems. I’m not sure why people can’t get the concept that nature has evolved/perfected over millions of years. Corals have polyps for a reason, they need nitrogen in many forms (and phosphorus), deplete them of this and they die. For those giving hard numbers for nutrients and other parameters, just stop. We’re talking about unique closed systems, not a natural reef. We need to talk ranges, not mag at 1350, Ca 420, etc
Op, get more fish, feed them and enjoy colorful coral.

 

[bradreef]

Plenty of people have run sps tanks on low nutrients in the past many times. Yes it is better to run a little bit of nitrates and phosphates.





I would start with a steady dosing of 2 part. And i would keep the sps in good strong random flow. Lights are more than fine.

 

[minus9]

Plenty of people have run sps tanks on low nutrients in the past many times. Yes it is better to run a little bit of nitrates and phosphates.





I would start with a steady dosing of 2 part. And i would keep the sps in good strong random flow. Lights are more than fine.

But those tanks were not actually low nutrient, they were high input/high export. It’s true they had low residual nutrient levels, but that doesn’t show the whole picture. Plus, those tanks were on the verge of collapse if they went too far off course. It’s also about biomass, which gets overlooked as well.