you might want to look into another head. hitting the two streams together makes a nice random flow. keeps particles in suspension and lets that junk get to the sump skimmer or filters.
What would you do differently?
- Thread starter ndz98
- Start date
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
ndz98
Valuable Member
Yea I've thought about it. But do you think that's a big contributor to my problem?
it def wouldn't hurt. its about balance. light, flow, temp, food, water quality, and stability.
I am seeing two things here.
1) Water quality with a big fish in the tank and a couple of clowns you need to watch your water quality. When zoa's start cupping like that it means the water qa is not to their liking.
2) Too much light. Corals are not coming out because they are receiving light at too high a par and have to retract. The issues with LED is balancing the par across the tank. Or placing corals where they are getting the correct light for them to thrive.
What I have done in this situation is:
Get my filtration running great. Get a skimmer that I could rely on working properly 24/7 Having a good algae scrubber that works 24/7.
Make sure I am doing water changes once a week with a good quality salt.
Lighting would get a t5 fixture on the tank. This tank is getting a uneven par across the tank. Hard to control.
Get a ATO your salinity is jumping around with out one.
1) Water quality with a big fish in the tank and a couple of clowns you need to watch your water quality. When zoa's start cupping like that it means the water qa is not to their liking.
2) Too much light. Corals are not coming out because they are receiving light at too high a par and have to retract. The issues with LED is balancing the par across the tank. Or placing corals where they are getting the correct light for them to thrive.
What I have done in this situation is:
Get my filtration running great. Get a skimmer that I could rely on working properly 24/7 Having a good algae scrubber that works 24/7.
Make sure I am doing water changes once a week with a good quality salt.
Lighting would get a t5 fixture on the tank. This tank is getting a uneven par across the tank. Hard to control.
Get a ATO your salinity is jumping around with out one.
wise words Ed
You may have already done this, but check your phosphates. I like feeding my corals also but most of your coral foods add alot of phosphates. I stopped using them all together and just started spot feeding some mysis and minced up fish food.
OP
OP
ndz98
Valuable Member
On the water quality, I am good with keeping up with water changes and I make sure my skimmer is always doing it's job. When I test the water quality everything seems to always check out. Why after these many months wouldni start having water quality issues now if that's the case?
Same with the light. Why would I start having issues all of a sudden? I agree coverage could be better, but I have the coral positioned in areas that receive good coverage so that shouldn't be a problem. I know I said most of my other corals don't grow much in previous posts, but the one thing I never really had issues with were my zoas and gsp. How could the zoas just start curling up like that out of no where? Same with the gsp, why would it be more retracted looking that usual if I havent changed anything?
And when I mean change anything I mean previous to these problems. Obviously I've made changes now in order to try and pin point these problems but with no luck.
Sm51498
Active Member
There are a limited number of things this could be. People make reef keeping out to be way more complicated than it needs to be to sell stuff you don't really need.
Improper Light, bad water, too little or more commonly too much nutrients, parasites or contamination. These are pretty much your options of what could be wrong. Don't make assumptions about these things either. Methodically eliminate every source of error.
Improper Light, bad water, too little or more commonly too much nutrients, parasites or contamination. These are pretty much your options of what could be wrong. Don't make assumptions about these things either. Methodically eliminate every source of error.
also use these as suggestions to help pinpoint the issue. Its all food for thought and may spur something you may have overlooked not though of or didn't notice.
also it may have been a gradual down turn. if something like bad water happend it may take some time for it to become visually apparent.
also it may have been a gradual down turn. if something like bad water happend it may take some time for it to become visually apparent.
OP
OP
ndz98
Valuable Member
Honestly that seems like a very plausible problem is the water source quality. That's the only thing I can't measure as of right now and also have no control over unless I get my own ro unit. But then again, there reef tanks at the lfs seem to be doing quite alright. Maybe they have grown a resistance to the water quality, maybe it's not the water at all. But until I get it tested, can't really blame it on that.
OP
OP
ndz98
Valuable Member
Also would it be a bad idea to have the lights stay off for a day or two and see what happens to the algae or should I just let it be? And what about vodka dosing? Thoughts on that?
An aquarium is a constantly moving target. The corals and fish in the tank are growing and therefore their requirements change. The demands that your tank had last month is different than this month. I am always working towards a stable,Lighting, Chemistry and Temperature. A reef tank is a living thing. The requirements of corals changing and if they are not met. You are always trying to keep ahead of the corals and fish to keep the reef tank It is best to work on one thing at a time so that you understand fully what was causing the one problem before moving to the next one.
Problems in a reef are like domino's one issue falling out of balance can and will cause other problems down the road.
Sm51498
Active Member
Turning off your lights for a few days could help but keep running your fuge light. That way you are encouraging the algae growth you want and discouraging the kind you don't.
I wouldn't add carbon dosing. It's another variable and as it's purpose is nitrate reduction, fairly unnecessary for you.
Paul B advocates doing absolutely nothing. Stop water changes, turn off your lights for a bit, stop feeding for a few days. Let the problem burn itself out. This approach has worked in the past for me and is less likely to do damage to your animals than to start tossing complex solutions at it. Patience is required though.
