Research on Alk- Par-Nutrients equation

[Saintnovakai]

Throughout the time I've been feeding I've seen quite a few awesome tanks with "Aweful Specs" if we go by the whole low nutrient hypothesis. This leads me to believe that there isn't a true number for success but an equilibrium that must be struck with Alk, Par, and Nutrients (No3/PO4).

I would like for us to compile or weigh in on what levels people run for their success. On one side you have persons close to 0 and others who seem like they don't even care. Both with epic growth.

Please log a FTS and those 3 params so young reefers like myself can find the balance you seasoned guys have found.

I for one know that if anything shifts too much I get a bit of cyano or algae. So your input would be appreciated. Oh, for Par, if it's available, AWL, Mid Tank and Sand Bed. My tank is shallow at only 15 inches of water so it'd be interesting to see the data.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Throughout the time I've been feeding I've seen quite a few awesome tanks with "Aweful Specs" if we go by the whole low nutrient hypothesis. This leads me to believe that there isn't a true number for success but an equilibrium that must be struck with Alk, Par, and Nutrients (No3/PO4).

I would like for us to compile or weigh in on what levels people run for their success. On one side you have persons close to 0 and others who seem like they don't even care. Both with epic growth.

Please log a FTS and those 3 params so young reefers like myself can find the balance you seasoned guys have found.

I for one know that if anything shifts too much I get a bit of cyano or algae. So your input would be appreciated. Oh, for Par, if it's available, AWL, Mid Tank and Sand Bed. My tank is shallow at only 15 inches of water so it'd be interesting to see the data.

First thing I'd say is that different tanks get by with different parameters because they use different kinds of filtration, different water change schedules, different fish bio-loads and different kinds of corals. So IMHO, there is no 'right' set of numbers, but a lot of different 'right' ranges of numbers.

In my 40g cube of zoas & RFA's my alk was ranging from 6.0 dKH at the end of a week to 10.0 dKH after I dosed. That was right at the ragged edge of causing issues so I have started manually dosing some alk every day or two and keeping it in the 8 to 9 dKH range.

The water in my tank from the surface to sand is about 16". At the sand the PAR is 150, mid tank it's 250 and just under the surface it's 400. That's my midday numbers and I run that for 4 hours. But I do a 5 hour sunrise that starts all blue and gets close to midday peak for an hour or two before the actual peak. And I do a 7 hour sunset where the first couple of hours are close to peak. Then the white channel goes to zero in just a couple of more hours and the blues stay high until just an hour before dark. The last hour the blue gets cut by 65%.

I have a 30g refugium that grows macro algae at a fairly good rate. I harvest a gallon or more of it every month or 6 weeks. I let it go until I see a little algae in the DT and then I harvest in the fuge which makes room for lots of new growth and the algae in the DT goes away. I almost never test for nitrate or phosphate, so I just did and I'm very close to zero on both.

BTW, I'm not big on water changes. So my 80g system sees about a 20g change every 2 or 3 months. But I have a light fish bio-load (just 4 fish) and a healthy size CUC .

FTS from a month ago:

 

[LesPoissons]

I think there are a lot more variables that factor in to your equation than you can account for. Eveyone's tank is different and what works for some people will completely fail for others. Fish, corals, food, lights, filtration, water source, inverts, refugiums, etc all play a role. You are right and there certainly is a balance, but I dont think anyone can give you exact numbers that will work perfectly for you. Some people keep their alk at 10, others under 8. some people do low salinity and temp in the low 70s, other people do 80s and 1.028. some people do calcium at 500, others at 350. Some people run low nutrient tanks with 0 nitrates or phos, other people run phos at 1 and nitrates at 20 or more. All of these tanks can be successful. There are guidelines most of us follow based on ocean water parameters for the creatures we keep. Start there and then adjust to what works for you based on your tank. I keep my alk around 8.5 (Some of my corals gets mad around 9.) I ran low nutrient tank for 3 years at 0 phos and 0 nitrates. I got sick of doing so much maintenance and got rid of some equipment, stopped chasing numbers and decreased water changes. Now it runs at .05 phos and 2 nitrates and everyone seems just as happy. Dont have more or less algae, dont have more or less growth or color etc as far as I can tell. Lights- I dont know my par. my tank is 220g and 31 inches deep, with a 2 inch sand bed. the duncan coral on the sandbed is happy and grows tons of heads, the acroporas at the top of the rock about 12 inches below water line are happy too. Corals are more adaptable to lighting than people think, some of the sps less so. But all my lps are pretty much happy in the sand or at the top of the rock or mid level, at the edge of the light or directly center.

 

[Saintnovakai]

I agree completely. I'm not looking for someone to copy. I'm looking at the balances persons have found. The params listed are known values. Maybe the only ones we might every truly know a number for. What I believe though is that a coral doesn't know if we run a scrubber or chaeto. What it knows is water light and flow. Flow is too relative to list. Thanks for the input so far.