Tank Overhaul?

[Patrick Cox]

Hi,
I am having some issues with my mostly SPS tank. I have been running this for almost 5 years. Recently I had an issue with my salinity getting too high and I lost a few corals. And now my nutrients seem to be getting high because I have more algae growth starting and I am also losing some corals. I do see quite a bit of detritus in the tank and especially under the rocks. I do vacuum out the tank when I do a water change but not under the rocks. I change about 8 gallons of water every other week. I run a skimmer and does 2 part. Not really much other maintenance or dosing. Tank is 100 Gallons, I had an 8 bulb ATI fixture. I changed the bulbs a couple months ago. I run them about 6 hours per day with a ramp before and after that. Sailnity is 35 ppt, Alk is 8.96. I used to run it more 7-8 and then it crept up and I have kept it there. To be honest I don't pay that much attention to parameters anymore other than if the tank looks off.

Any suggestions will be appreciated!...

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-gdsPHvv/0/3d1cf305/X2/i-gdsPHvv-X2.jpg

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https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-MnsNpNV/0/09ec4a0a/X2/i-MnsNpNV-X2.jpg

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https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-N4Gwpcj/0/daacc192/X2/i-N4Gwpcj-X2.jpg

 

[Oldreefer44]

IMO, the first thing to do when a potential issue appears is to test the water.

 

[Patrick Cox]

Test for what? Thanks

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Test for what? Thanks

I'd say Po4 and no3

 

[Patrick Cox]

Ok, I tested both. PO4 = 0.0, NO3 = 0

My reagents are a bit old so I guess I will order new ones. But my experience has been that testing these is not always accurate because my tank could be consuming the nutrients so fast that the levels read low even though my tank is getting a lot.

 

[Uncle99]

Of course N and P both zero if correct is a bad number, it would starve those corals.
You need to manage nitrate in the 2-10ppm range and phosphate in the 0.03-.1ppm range.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Ok, I tested both. PO4 = 0.0, NO3 = 0

My reagents are a bit old so I guess I will order new ones. But my experience has been that testing these is not always accurate because my tank could be consuming the nutrients so fast that the levels read low even though my tank is getting a lot.

True, but if your tank is consuming these nutrients so fast that the test can't find any in the water then I'd still say you need more nutrients

 

[Patrick Cox]

OK, thanks, that makes sense. Although I am getting more algae than I used to so my guess is that the reagents are bad. I will order some tomorrow.

My original question though and what I am wondering is - do I need to move my rocks around and really vacuum out any detritus in the tank? The tank is almost 5 years old so I have 5 years of that accumulation. I actually did this in the sump about 6 months ago because I had a lot of crusty stuff in the sump and my main pump died and then my skimmer pump died. So I cleaned out the sump at that time. Maybe some of that stuff I stirred up got into the display.

I am running two MP40s at about 50% at night and 80% during the day. They are opposite one another in the tank. Also tank is bare bottom.

Thanks.

 

[Patrick Cox]

OK, my new Nitrate test showed up yesterday. (PO4 is delayed due to weather.) Nitrate tests absolute zero. No color at all. So how do I have algae growth with zero nitrate?