Protein skimming!!

[TRPlacek]

So the main reason for this thread is to find out if my skimmer is the culprit for faded sps colors.
About a year ago I did the big no no of changing too many things at once. I raised light intensity on radions and also upgraded my protein skimmer (curve 7). Before all this i was getting great color but was not getting the best growth. Over a month or so colors on most sps began to fade and now a year later I have gotten some better color but still some that are quite faded. I had blamed the lights for so long but couldn't figure out how it was my lights when I was only getting about 250 par at the top of the rock work. I had moved on from blaming the lights to nutrient export. I had found that my No3 and Po4 were undetectable and started to feed more and eventually took gfo and carbon offline. While It did get a little better color since doing so, it's still not great and my No3 Po4 are still undetectable. So now my main nutrient export is a refugium and curve 7 protein skimmer.

I have began to read about some only running their skimmers part time.
Is this something that has worked for anyone else here in the group?

90 gallon w/20 gallon sump
Alk- 7.8
Ca- 420
Mag- 1440
No3- undetectable using nyos and red sea
Po4- 0.00 using Hannah
Ph- 8.1-8.3
Temp 79-81

I will also add that there is no visible algae growing on rocks or substrate. But after I started heavy feeding I now have to clean my glass every other day. Chaeto is growing ok and caulerpa showed up out of nowhere in the refugium and has been growing fairly quick.

 

[mcarroll]

Based on the algae growth, I'd maintain the course....sounds like NO3 and PO4 are ramping up.

They won't show on a kit until there is excess beyond the established nutrient cycles in the tank – that level of excess isn't generally/always required. Go too far with changes now and you risk overshooting.

I would not change anything else until you feel things have balanced out the way you're doing it now. I guess you could keep the macro population extremely small so they aren't consuming all the ammonium, etc. You could even consider taking them offline....I like that they act as a bell weather, but the fuzz algae that grows on the front glass usually works well for that.

You could consider some coral feeding too – it should reduce or eliminate their dependency on dissolved nutrients – but that's usually imprecise and too easy to over-do....saving it for the "next phase" of changes would probably be better.

Another avenue you could select is to dose KNO3 for nitrates...and something for phosphates if extra fish feeding won't deliver on that front.

Don't do these all at once though!

BTW, what light reading do you get up at the waterline?

 

[TRPlacek]

I have tried several products to feed coral only to get a dyno or cyano outbreak. I have also used stump remover to bring up nitrates in the past but I want to go the more natural way "fish poo" and get away from having to dose so many things. Trying the K.I.S.S method so to speak.

I don't have the par meter at this time to get a reading at the water line.

 

[mcarroll]

All good....I'd probably hold off on those things myself anyway.

Get a lux meter – a free app is a perfectly good place to start, and there are tons of them. Uses the light sensor in the camera to generate a regular lux reading.

Post up your readings when you get it.....not all apps seem to be compatible with all cameras, so sometimes you get bogus numbers.

I would also recommend spending the money on a handheld lux meter.....better readings and safer to use around your tank. Plus they usually cost less than $15, delivered. Practically a no-brainer.

Nex timte you have a PAR meter on hand you can even use it to calibrate your lux meter. Then you'll have a conversion factor to convert any lux reading your want to an accurate PAR number.