Hi am new to this site and I need a little help. I have a 40 gallon breeder mixed reef tank with the 20 gallon refuge. I've had this tank up and running for a year and two months now and I'm having problems with my SPS corals turning pale or brown. When I first set this tank up I was using Chinese LEDs. I wasn't getting the results I wanted so I switched out to a four bulb ATI fixture. I've been running this fixture for four months now. All my parameters are undetectable everything is at zero and it's been That way for a year now. I did have a spike in everything when I cycled my tank once the cycle was over and I had no traces of anything nitrates nitrites ammonia phosphates. I use the Red Sea a test kits for everything. I does calcium and alkalinity. calcium is at 440 alkalinity is at 9 temperature is at 78° And my salinity is at 1.025. So I removed my GFO reactor started dosing AcroPower and feeding more thinking the nutrients were too low in the tank. I was doing a 10 gallon water change every week and have stopped and now I'm doing one every three weeks. So my question is what can I do to get the color back on my SPS corals.
SPSalkalinity is at corals are pale
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reefbeard
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What are your NO3 and Po4 readings right now? Alk is a little high for an ulns; I would run it no higher than 8dKH. Temp is a little cool as well imo; for proper metabolic function of sps I would keep temps between 80-82. Also, keep in mind to make small adjustments to tank parameters and equipment. Too much at one time may be detrimental to your livestock.
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Reefing4eva
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I had the same problem in the past and it was mostly due to low nutrients and poor lighting (photo period too long)what I did to get my nutrients up to par was remove my filter socks for 3 weeks at a time and turned off my protein skimmer at night..my reason for both is as follows. ..the filter socks was catching everything that was being past thru it such as food for the corals and all the bad stuff that it was suppose to do..the skimmer was picking up all the good and bad nutrients that the corals needed..this is my own opinion but it has worked for me
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smh254
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NO3 are at O and PO4 are O. I've never had readings higher than this besides when I cycled the tank 14 months ago. I'm using a Red Sea test kit. I've use these test kits and API test kit. I was doing a 10 gallon water change every week using reef crystals. I never had any algae problem. Do you think the tank could be to clean?
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smh254
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Yes that's what I was thinking that's why I stopped running GFO and doing water changes every week. I was thinking about putting my skimmer on a timer and only running it at night but I might just turn it off completely for a while and remove the filter suck. thanks for the reply guys
reefbeard
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Yes, in my experience tanks can be too clean! My corals do much better with a little dirty water maintaned between 2-4ppm No3 & around .03 PO4. I also do not change more than 5% of water volume per week which helps with parameter stability.NO3 are at O and PO4 are O. I've never had readings higher than this besides when I cycled the tank 14 months ago. I'm using a Red Sea test kit. I've use these test kits and API test kit. I was doing a 10 gallon water change every week using reef crystals. I never had any algae problem. Do you think the tank could be to clean?
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smh254
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So I've got my alkalinity down to 8.4 still working on it my temperature is at 80°. I took out my filter sock stopped running my GFO reactor added 2 damsels to the tank. I got a Hanna phosphate checker A week ago and phosphates are still at 0.00 and nitrate are still at 0. So I'm going to give it a couple more weeks and then if nothing changes I will put my skimmer on some kind of a timer. Will let you guys know how it goes.
alk should be below 8 if you truly have a no3 and po4 deficit.
keep no3 between 2-5 (you can dose)
po4 can remain (0) because it is the last link in the chain for photosythesis. just keep gfo off.
80 can be detrimental and cause similar paling if it was a swing up in a short time.
keep no3 between 2-5 (you can dose)
po4 can remain (0) because it is the last link in the chain for photosythesis. just keep gfo off.
80 can be detrimental and cause similar paling if it was a swing up in a short time.
twilliard
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As Russ said...
Dose no3 and you will see a huge change.
I run .014 po4 and 2ppm no3 and yes I have to dose no3 to stay there.
I have read soo many threads stating that there is never such a thing as too clean.
Well it would be like someone drinking RODI water and nothing else.. you will lack nutrients
Give those coral what they need to live and grow
Dose no3 and you will see a huge change.
I run .014 po4 and 2ppm no3 and yes I have to dose no3 to stay there.
I have read soo many threads stating that there is never such a thing as too clean.
Well it would be like someone drinking RODI water and nothing else.. you will lack nutrients
Give those coral what they need to live and grow
seachem flourish nitrogen is basically potassium nitrate and some other fun stuff. but that is what it is essentially.
you can also dose sodium nitrate where you are on your own.
i dose 5-10ml of no3 daily. and i do not have a skimmer. my gfo has been offline so long it is a solid iron brick.
i suggest you read up on redfield ratio. while it isnt gospel and shouldnt be followed to a tea. photosynthesis cannot occur without trace po4 and some no3. generally a 16:1 no3/ po4 ratio is a good guideline.
you can also dose sodium nitrate where you are on your own.
i dose 5-10ml of no3 daily. and i do not have a skimmer. my gfo has been offline so long it is a solid iron brick.
i suggest you read up on redfield ratio. while it isnt gospel and shouldnt be followed to a tea. photosynthesis cannot occur without trace po4 and some no3. generally a 16:1 no3/ po4 ratio is a good guideline.
hybridazn
Acro killer.....
Keep dosing acro power and get those p.o.4 and no3 up a bit. And give it time! Sps wont color back up over night. It takes months, in some cases closer to a year to get the great colors they have.
acro power gave me cyano. i stopped dosing it and corals still colored up fine. i also run carbon nonstop and changed out weekly
if my nitrate falls to 1 ppm or lower for any extended period of time, paling occurs quite quickly.
my po4 is similar to twilliards at .02 ppm
twilliard
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Hit the nail on the head Russ!
So many people say feed feed feed... well most people have insufficient exporting of nutrients then the coral browns up
So many people say feed feed feed... well most people have insufficient exporting of nutrients then the coral browns up
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smh254
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Should I shut off my skimmer and maybe remove the chato from the refugium and see what happens. before I start dosing no3? Or should I leave the refugium how it is with live rock sand chato and pods
oh i fed. and fed. and fed. and cyano battling for a month was not a fun time.
100 ml of acro power a week
2 cubes of mysis a day
300 ml of my coral soup mixed up with cyclops, nutricell micro, oyster feast, and minced mysis a week.
all for 2 ppm nitrate and a ton of cyano.
that overfeed stuff did not help me at all
keep chaeto but realize itll grow. especially if there is a ton of iron in the system. you are kind of going against the norm with us accidental ulns
also. turning off your skimmer will not raise nitrates. (go ahead and try it)
