Tank Health

[BigHappyKahuna]

Hello there, first time posting any advice would be greatly appreciated. I currently have a mixed reef. I have had this tank up and running for about 1 year. It's a 105 gallon with 30 gallon sump. I don't feel the tank is very healthy and here's why. My monti's lighten up every time I put them in this tank (have pulled 3 out and placed in quarantine tank and color returned). After color returned i put them back into display tank and they are lightening up slightly again. Also Coralline algae will not grow in my tank. Previous tanks I have had all have had a ton of coralline (I know it's a pain) Every other coral seems ok. Water changes 20% every 1.5 weeks. Salinity .025 ,ph 8.0, alk 14.7, ammonia 0, No2 0, No3 0, po4 0, calcium 490,
mg 1480, light ap700 11 hrs

Thank You for your Time!

 

[Highgrade]

Your Alk is a bit high. Try to get it down between 8-9ppm also your N03/N04 you shouldn't be a 0ppm. Try to bump the N03/N04 a bit. Also what is your light intensity on the Kessil?

 

[BigHappyKahuna]

How would I lower alk ? Feed more to get no3/no4 up? I feel like I may be doing to large of water changes? If I do to many water changes does it keep alk up? Light intensity is about 95%. I have kept the montys lower in the tank with the same result. Thanks for help!

 

[Highgrade]

How would I lower alk ? Feed more to get no3/no4 up? I feel like I may be doing to large of water changes? If I do to many water changes does it keep alk up? Light intensity is about 95%. I have kept the montys lower in the tank with the same result. Thanks for help!

Light intensity might be a bit high. Try lowering it to 75% or lower. As for Alk do you dose at all or just water changes? If just doing water changes you might want to go with just a 5-10gal water change every two weeks. How often do you test Alk/CA/MG and what type of test kit(s)?

 

[BigHappyKahuna]

I will lower light intensity. Do not dose. Just water changes. Test water about every 1.5 - 2 weeks. Alk-salifert, ca-salifert, mg-salifert, phos-nyos.

 

[Highgrade]

I will lower light intensity. Do not dose. Just water changes. Test water about every 1.5 - 2 weeks. Alk-salifert, ca-salifert, mg-salifert, phos-nyos.

Test roughly every 2-3 days for the next few weeks. You should be able to determine your daily consumption roughly (levels should drop slightly every other day). Then when your numbers are where you want them, try a small 5-10 gal water change. Continue to test again every 2-3 days for the next couple weeks. It's all about finding the sweet spot and keeping things stable. Keep in mind once you have it dialed in and corals are growing you'll want to keep testing along with up the water changes/start dosing.

 

[BigHappyKahuna]

Thanks for the tips

 

[azbigjohn]

Just because I have to ask, what salt are you using that is giving you consistently 14+ alk with just water changes? Your calcium and mag are a tad high, but not too bad, so you must have some wild powerful salt!

Are you growing any algae in your sump? If it is growing, you have some NO and Phos in the water, it is just being used, which is fine.

What are you using for flow?

If it is any consolation, I can't keep montis alive for the life of me, but everything else does well.

 

[BigHappyKahuna]

Rpm fritz salt. Dragons breath algae in sump. Mp40 power head.

 

[jimo12]

Just stupid question but I must ask have you checked your refactometro? Same thing happened to me but with opposite results my refactometro showed 1025 but actually it was 1019 and my alc was around 6, mag and cal i dose so no problem. Just a thought

 

[BigHappyKahuna]

This might be a stupid question. Can I calibrate refractometer with rodi water? I have never calibrated it (it's 3 weeks old) . Can this cause issues?

 

[BigHappyKahuna]

Oh wow just saw your last post! Lol

 

[jimo12]

Yes you can with rodi water give it 30 seconds and check

 

[evolved]

This might be a stupid question. Can I calibrate refractometer with rodi water? I have never calibrated it (it's 3 weeks old) . Can this cause issues?

It's best if you calibrate with a 35ppt calibration solution.
Even if you are calibrated at zero, it could be quite a ways off at 35ppt.