Tank Chemistry / Lighting Questions

[Jobu183]

Hey All- Looking for some assistance as I get more into the reefing hobby. I've had my Biocube 32 now for about 6 months, and everything is going decently well. Still some concepts I can't get my head around so am looking here for some assistance. Let me know if there's anything I missed and I'm happy to provide more info.

Equipment- Stock biocube 32. Only upgrade were to chamber 2, I purchased both the inTank solutions (media basket and fuge). Media basket I have filter floss into ChemiPure Blue, and then BioBalls. Fuge I just started with Chaeto and some live rock.

Parameters:
Salinity- 1.025
Temp- 78 F
PH- 8.1
Ammonia- 0
Nitrites- 0
Nitrates - 0 (?)
kH- 8
Calcium- 380-400
Magnesium- 1200

~20 lbs of Live Rock

Living Stuff:
3-4 Hermit Crabs,
2 Snails
Tiger Conch
Cleaner Shrimp
2 Clownfish
Royal Gamma
Banggai Cardinalfish
Ruby Red Dragonet

Zoas
Green Star Polyps

Lighting- I run a ramp up on the biocube lights from 10:30-11 a.m., full lights on from 11-730, ramp down 730-8, blue lights 8-11.

Questions:
- Struggling on the lighting topic: I have some GHA and diatoms that I think are due to having too much light on in the tank, but how do I balance wanting to grow my corals, with not wanting algae? Do corals run more on blue light than white light? So I should reduce the amount of white light, but increase blue light?

-Nitrates: I feel like my tank should almost be at capacity for a bioload, but I continually see almost no nitrates. Worried that the chaeto isn't going to have nitrates to grow, but also not sure what else could be absorbing it. I feel like I feed my fish pretty heavily, but it never really increases. Would GHA remove nitrates from the water? Diatoms? Although I've recently removed it (which is why it isn't pictured) thinking that could be a reason for low nitrates?

- kH: is needing to dose 3-5g of Seachem Reef Builder almost daily to maintain kH level normal? It seems pretty high to me, but wanted to gut check.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Propane]

You could indeed turn down the white light for nuisance algae. Nuisance algae does consume nutrients which is one reason why you might be reading low.

 

[Jobu183]

Awesome- thank you, that's what I thought too. Hoping that removing the GHA and reducing lighting a bit will help to bring up the nitrate levels.

 

[Dburr1014]

Blue lights can grow algae also.

Red, White, or Blue: Which color is right for you? Algae Growth under Different Colors of Light | Vasquez | Journal of Introductory Biology Investigations

undergradsciencejournals.okstate.edu

Manually pic out the hair. Perhaps a few more snails will help.

Do you have a phosphate test kit?
Cheato can and will pull nitrates. Also phosphates is needed to do that.

I'm not sure on the reef builder product but zoas shouldn't be up taking that much. IMO.

 

[Jobu183]

Do you have a phosphate test kit?
Cheato can and will pull nitrates. Also phosphates is needed to do that.

I do have a phosphate test kit, continues to report 0 ppm

 

[Dburr1014]

I do have a phosphate test kit, continues to report 0 ppm

IMO, try to get a reading on po4 before no3. Feed food higher in phosphate like reef roids or pellets/flakes.

Staying at 0/0 is an invite for dinos.
Also, pull some of that cheato, it will take up less if half of it is in the garbage.