STN despite perfect parameters...

[AquaBiomics]

How long have the experimental tanks with dry rock been running?

Theyve been running since I think May. I havent analyzed the latest results from those tanks yet, but last time I looked they were still very different from (and inferior to) the live rock tanks.

We'll be limited by the fact that I've since used all these tanks for a variety of other experiments, I didnt want to tie up my tanks for a whole year asking how long it took (if ever) to produce a reasonable community. When the live rock got there in 2 weeks, and the dry rock still wasnt there after a full month, I concluded that the correct answer is "never start a tank with dry rock, always use live rock" and moved on to other experiments.

But I should have data for 3 and maybe 4-5 months. I'll take a look.

 

[Dave Cureton]

I noticed you said you’re not dosing anything. How often are you testing parameters? If your tank is only receiving supplements from water changes ever 2 weeks there could be some very large swings in parameters which can easily kill sps. Also how is your refugium performing? Is algae growing or not? I do agree with what others have said about starting with dry rock and have experienced it myself. Good news is it sounds like you are taking advice from others and moving in the right direction. Time is your friend with sps keeping. Good luck!

 

[bobby.w.hodges]

You might try live and or live mud. It had a huge impact on the diversity and composition of microbial communities in my home tanks.

Effects of live sand & mud on the microbial communities in my tanks (updated with new data)

@AquaBiomics Quick question, if you lived near a swimming ocean beach and your sand pail inadvertantly went home full from wet sand below tide line, would you expect similar results or does the keys have special bacteria properties??? To clarify, would non-reef-area but similar salinity and...

www.reef2reef.com

As to your question about the time scale for live rock - my experimental tanks started with live rock showed diversity comparable to mature reefs within 2-3 weeks.

My experimental tanks started with dry rock have still not produced normal communities.

Nothing beats live rock when it comes to bio diversity, the reward outweighs the risk of pests in my opinion. I started with live rock about 7 years ago and have always had some in my tank.

One other option for improving your own biodiversity would be to add media(ceramic, marine pure ) from another tank that had a diverse population of bacteria, the media will be less likely to host parasites. Swap media with a buddy and both tanks get the benefit.

 

[Bacon505]

Have you test metal content in your system? That looking like sign of high metal content lvl. It could also be a mixture of not enough nutrient with intense lighting. Your systems looks young and very clean. Please dont rely on coraline algae to base on your tank’s maturity/stability. I have a tank that is only a month old that is covered with coraline but doesnt mean its ready for sensitive corals(sps,acro). Also could you provide more photos of corals and your tank, would be more helps for other to determine the cause