I’ve got next to no algae in the tank so I’m not sure how reducing light would raise nitrates.. (not that I could anyway.. light isn’t adjustable)
Anyone know if stray voltage could have an effect on coral like this? I found my fuge light taking a little swim
That's not what he's saying. Okay, there's a whole bunch of reading that needs to be done on your end. I'm going to give you a basic rundown of what goes on in our tanks, and how one thing leads to another.
Firstly: He's telling you to lower your lights until you have more nutrients because your corals
may be getting burned from 'too much light' -- But why does that have anything to do with Nitrates? Too much light is too much light, right?
No. It's not.
Light is relative to Nutrients. Nutrients are relative to light. This means if your tank had nutrients, your same exact lighting may not be too much. Conversely, if you have exceptionally high nutrients, your lights may be too low.. It's all relative, and linked together.
Second: Alkalinity is part of the equation. Alkalinity can be high or low, sure, but it's combated by relative light, and nutrients. Tanks with higher Alk and lower nutrients are more likely to be burned by the Alk concentration, regardless of light -- Which does NOT mean light DOESN'T matter.. It's just another wrench in the equation.
Third (just to emphasize the complexity): Flow is ALSO part of this in general -- Not necessarily in your case right now, but in general it's part of the equation.
Taking care of a reef is like a pyramid. You need to start with the foundation, and the foundation needs to be balanced so that layers can be built upon one another. The triangle of Lights / Alkalinity / Nutrients must be in order for you to build up to the next tier of issues. Such as Flow, trace, feedings, then further, and so on.
Now what needs to be cared for AFTER the triangle of Lights/Alkalinity/Nutrients is all up to interpretation. But without those three things in check, you're going to have trouble with the entire pyramid that is your system.
When you read about people dosing trace elements, people talking about dosing amino acids (protein compounds), feeding, etc etc.. That type of stuff is very high up on the pyramid. And it's all good stuff to know, but frankly, there's a LOT of information you need to learn before that point.
Basic math analogy here -- Newer reefers jump in the deep end, and decide they
really, really need to learn Calculus. The problem is, they never learn how to add and subtract first. You can't take calculus until you understand the basic foundations.
So my advice here, some basic ideas, some basic number chasing.
Step 1: Read everything you can. Ask questions. Look for correlations. Watch for reactions to actions -- What do I mean?
Here's an example -- Count the number of threads in the SPS section that start like this "HALP I can't SPS", inside the thread it always goes like this, every single time. "okay, here's my parameters ---> 0 nitrates, 0 phosphates"
That's a trend you should notice. That's one of the many, many examples that you can see here dozens of times per day.
Step 2: These are basic numbers, make these happen slowly
no3: 2-5ppm
po4: 0.05ppm
dKH: 7.5-8
Step 3: Buy kn03 (I like NilocG), buy Phosphorous (I like Seachem Phos).
Step 4: Worry about the foundation. Not the tip of the pyramid.
