gdemos
Active Member
i love hearing this...usually something like: "you only have PE at night, and not as much if any during the day...must be your water chemistry" or "it must be your flow" or "it must be your nutrient levels"
next thing the poor guy is tweaking every parameter and flow rates(likely doing more harm than good as he makes changes to the water).
next time you hear the water chemistry response to PE at night only topic... think logically: unless your parameters change positively at night, then magically go bad during the day, every night, every day in repeatable fashion...then your water chemistry is not the "issue". is your flow changing at night vs. day? is your nutrient level changing day vs. night? not likely.
likely scenario: predation (and that doesn't mean you have to see the fish nip...predation is a unique and likely unexplained response, do our corals sense predatory proximity? perhaps... is it possible that they got nipped once and now are shy when 'that fish' is near? perhaps. i can tell you this...specific to fish... they sense electro stim activity beyond eye-sight, it is a predatory and natural response. do coral inhabitants have this ability? perhaps
other possible scenario: lighting (too much, too little, wrong spectrum)
other possible scenario: natural night/day cycle of the coral
yes, some folks get great PE day and night, have predatory type fish (but may not be preadatory in their system), fortunate? perhaps.
i wouldn't get too worked up about it. experimenting with predatory suspect removal, flow, followed by lighting, are likely the least harmful and rational change...IF you choose to experiment. but i would not jump to alter nutrient level or chemistry so long as you have growth, color, and some pe some of the time.
next thing the poor guy is tweaking every parameter and flow rates(likely doing more harm than good as he makes changes to the water).
next time you hear the water chemistry response to PE at night only topic... think logically: unless your parameters change positively at night, then magically go bad during the day, every night, every day in repeatable fashion...then your water chemistry is not the "issue". is your flow changing at night vs. day? is your nutrient level changing day vs. night? not likely.
likely scenario: predation (and that doesn't mean you have to see the fish nip...predation is a unique and likely unexplained response, do our corals sense predatory proximity? perhaps... is it possible that they got nipped once and now are shy when 'that fish' is near? perhaps. i can tell you this...specific to fish... they sense electro stim activity beyond eye-sight, it is a predatory and natural response. do coral inhabitants have this ability? perhaps
other possible scenario: lighting (too much, too little, wrong spectrum)
other possible scenario: natural night/day cycle of the coral
yes, some folks get great PE day and night, have predatory type fish (but may not be preadatory in their system), fortunate? perhaps.
i wouldn't get too worked up about it. experimenting with predatory suspect removal, flow, followed by lighting, are likely the least harmful and rational change...IF you choose to experiment. but i would not jump to alter nutrient level or chemistry so long as you have growth, color, and some pe some of the time.
