recent 2 month GFO reactor in session...........not without receding tho....

[secretreefer]

yeah but the weird thing is that all except the 2 SPS mentioned are coloring up very well and growing very well. and i think i have......12+ other SPS consisting of frags basing, mini colonies, colonies. 1 wellso, my 4 lobos are doing awesome, and i haven't lost any acans since the first initial adding of the reactor. ?????? weirdness..

 

[secretreefer]

So comes to my next thread. ANYONE KEEPING SPS, LPS, CHALICES (LPS), ZOAS, TOGETHER IN 1 TANK SUCCESSFULLY??? without any issues?

 

[Dowtish]

sounds to me like you shocked your system by dropping the po4 to fast....it will bleach and recede chalices and make for some very unhappy sps...

If this kind of thing is what happens when your corals are acclimated to your parameters, and then suddenly they drop. What about having really low phosphates to begin with and adding a coral, and it mysteriously dies??

 

[caudill187]

I've run GFO for years with no problems and seemingly lots of benefit. I did recently increase the size of my reactor and lost several acan colonies. Hmmm...............

 

[caudill187]

BRS doesn't have a clue with GFO and recommends at least twice as much media as any other vendor. That means you should start out with 1/4 their suggested amount then slowly work up to 1/2 their amount over a couple month period. I don't know wht=y the seem to think you need so much othe rthan they make $$ on selling it and would love to hear their response. Full dosage is 10 grams per 10 gallons or about 1 level tablespoon full from every other knowledgable vendor and they say twice that which is DOCUMENTED to cause bleaching.

I love their calcium and alkalinity supplements but they need to be challenged on their GFO recommendations.

I always thought this was because BRS uses a larger grain size GFO when compared to Rowaphos for instance. Maybe I should rethink this?

 

[secretreefer]

Hey G, i need to rethink alot of things. i'm actually planning a downgrade. in the works on getting a 120P ADA rimless. stressing over 200G of water is taking too much time away from my family. This time i can take my time and plan right. (the 180g was a rush job put up in 2 weeks which i found numerous issues later).

 

[robert]

ANYONE KEEPING SPS, LPS, CHALICES (LPS), ZOAS, TOGETHER IN 1 TANK SUCCESSFULLY??? without any issues?

Yes - pretty much everything is thriving. SPS/LPS - stuffs taking over... I have intermittent bleaching in two monti frags near the lights - but other more established montis - no problem.

I have also seen problems when I add too much new gfo all at once - I have learned to track my alk very carefully after adding GFO or carbon to make sure I don't get an alk spike (downward). That's why I took my gfo reactors off line. With a reactor you tend to change it all at once and thats what causes problems. I took my BRS, put DI resin in it and added it to the output of my RODI unit - my phos-ban reactor is disconnected.

A better way to run carbon/gso - or what works for me - is to add small amounts directly into the filter sock only when you think you really need it. I put a scoop or so in a tea strainer - rinse and dump straight into the filter sock. I judge by how much algae dusts up the glass in a few days - how much coral warfare is going on etc.

Smaller amounts of fresh gfo/carbon - only when needed - ...

 

[secretreefer]

hmmmm. Robert, good point especially with the alk spike downward sentence. that's what happened when i added my gfo. it went from 10-11 down to 8-9. but i didn't think it would affect my chalices and clam. more my sps if anything.

 

[robert]

I run sulphur for nitrate control - so maybe this only describes my tank - but I really have to work to get my alk much above 7. It seems though, that my tank has a natural floor around 5.5-6 if I do nothing it seems that it won't sink below that.

I used to try and keep my alk up - but to do so took 2-4 scoops of baking soda a day, and if I let up it would drop in a day. GFO/carbon would knock the crap out of my levels. The irregular alk levels seemed to take a toll - stuff that was doing great would stn for no apparent reason. Over time I've sort of given up trying to keep alk levels high - instead I just add enough baking soda to maybe get 7 - its much easier to keep it there, takes maybe a teaspoon a day and while the gfo/carbon still swing the levels - they don't swing em so far. Maybe alk stability is more important than range?

 

[secretreefer]

hmmm... idk. that's a question for master's of sps. right now i'm still learning about keeping them. i've never had real issues with LPS before i added my GFO tho....

 

[Troylee]

If this kind of thing is what happens when your corals are acclimated to your parameters, and then suddenly they drop. What about having really low phosphates to begin with and adding a coral, and it mysteriously dies??

depends on the coral I guess.. I have had Sps for years and just by moving a colony in a tank that's been up running for a long time lose them.... Flow, nutrients, stable alk are the 3 most important parts of keeping sps then comes lighting and the rest...

 

[Troylee]

hmmm... idk. that's a question for master's of sps. right now i'm still learning about keeping them. i've never had real issues with LPS before i added my GFO tho....

did you test your po4 before and after adding Gfo?? I honestly feel you dropped it to fast... Lps will hate life and sps... Sps doesn't like it to begin with but it will adapt to it then in 24 hours you dropped it by let's say .05 it goes into shock... At the same time your alk will fluctuate and make it even worse... I saw you say something about rawaphos if you switch to that take it slow!!!! That's powerful stuff man and can put a hurting on a tank...

 

[secretreefer]

i think that's exactly what happened brutha. Po4 dropped too fast and affected my alk downwards. yeah, i got me some rowaphos on the shelf and was thinking of trying it out. so i'm thinking start with 1/5 recommended and work my way up? also you think the carbon being tumbled too fast might have affected everything too?

 

[Troylee]

Never had problems with carbon man I have tried it fast, slow, little amounts and a full reactor... I guess it could if your water clarity jumped over night from having yellow water and now clear... It would cause some corals to bleach and such... I dose vodka so my water stays clear year round..

 

[secretreefer]

yeah i got me pretty clear water too. hmmm..... can't wait to downgrade. LOL!!

 

[Troylee]

I said the same thing lol... Then it became more of a chore... I'm used to 200 to 500 gallon systems now I have a 70 gal and one slip up you will pay greatly.... I have a lot of respect for people keeping nano and pico tanks...: it's a real pain in the dairy air..::

 

[secretreefer]

hmm....i really want the rimless look. . the wife won't let me shell out 4G's for a rimless 150G ADA lol.

 

[Dowtish]

depends on the coral I guess.. I have had Sps for years and just by moving a colony in a tank that's been up running for a long time lose them.... Flow, nutrients, stable alk are the 3 most important parts of keeping sps then comes lighting and the rest...

It's when I hear these kind of things, that I begin to wonder how any coral ever makes it, going into different systems. I just had a nice green bubble coral die on me. It looks great for a day and then slowly started closing up. I had it in the right flow and lighting, and even moved once to try to to help it, but it just wasn't happy. My phosphates are usually around 0.04 on a hanna checker....