What's irritating my Zoas?

goatcorals · Mar 18, 2017

I've had a Dino war, and my zoas looked exactly like yours. Lps/nems weren't really affected. Siphoned out what I could, Raised ph using Kalkwasser, did 3 days of darkness (wrapped tank in paper, fresh carbon, GFO, and peroxide dosing. All of them at the same time. Risky, but that Dino scourge is tough to beat. There is a Randy Homes Farley article somewhere on using Kalk to increase ph I think.

I have used Dinox (Fauna Marin) and it does seem to work too... I have heard some concerns with inverts, but I had snails and crabs that did ok.

Doob · Mar 18, 2017

5 gallon water change this morning. Nitrates down to 10, alk is up to 7.95

wattson · Mar 18, 2017

Raise alk to 8.5-9..With your no4 at 10 as long as you dont have sps

Jonathan Presseau · Mar 18, 2017

wattson said:
Raise alk to 8.5-9..With your no4 at 10 as long as you dont have sps

Agreed. Between 5-10 ppm. Not sure if you have detectable PO4, but try to get that around .1-.2 ppm with your levels of NO3. Should result in no cyano, but will give your zoas something to absorb and they will be thankful. Don't let your PO4 get out of hand or you will notice some bleaching.

Doob · Mar 18, 2017

Jonathan Presseau said:
Agreed. Between 5-10 ppm. Not sure if you have detectable PO4, but try to get that around .1-.2 ppm with your levels of NO3. Should result in no cyano, but will give your zoas something to absorb and they will be thankful. Don't let your PO4 get out of hand or you will notice some bleaching.

Po4 undetectable

Doob · Mar 22, 2017

Jonathan Presseau said:
Agreed. Between 5-10 ppm. Not sure if you have detectable PO4, but try to get that around .1-.2 ppm with your levels of NO3. Should result in no cyano, but will give your zoas something to absorb and they will be thankful. Don't let your PO4 get out of hand or you will notice some bleaching.

I can't seem to maintain a higher ALK. I've been dosing ~10ml per day, 5 and 5. Highest I've gotten it is 8.5, but it drops back down quickly.

Calcium is down to 390. If it was just tank demand wouldn't they fall more evenly?

wattson · Mar 22, 2017

nope....dose Mag to 1380 and Cal to 420 and then dose your Alk to your likings.. If Mag is too low your Alk will never be right..Make sure your Mag is done right first

Doob · Mar 22, 2017

wattson said:
nope....dose Mag to 1380 and Cal to 420 and then dose your Alk to your likings.. If Mag is too low your Alk will never be right..Make sure your Mag is done right first

My test read 1500. I'll check it again.

Generally speaking, shouldn't calcium and ALK be maintained by dosing equally parts of both?

Doob · Mar 22, 2017

wattson said:
nope....dose Mag to 1380 and Cal to 420 and then dose your Alk to your likings.. If Mag is too low your Alk will never be right..Make sure your Mag is done right first

Also, if this is tank demand how come it drops to ~7.5 and stays put. Is there an ALK floor that limits it?

wattson · Mar 22, 2017

I dont,,,I keep all zoas and palys,,so,,not much uptake of cal in my system..I dose kalk in my ATO..got tired of testing and dosing them separate and didnt want a doser ..Kalk works for me so far..once you dial in using kalk,,I test Alk once a week at most and Cal once a month...I test Mag every 2 weeks to make sure Alk has a chance to stay consistant..
why is your Mag SSSOOOOO high,,too high for my taste.

Doob · Mar 22, 2017

wattson said:
I dont,,,I keep all zoas and palys,,so,,not much uptake of cal in my system..I dose kalk in my ATO..got tired of testing and dosing them separate and didnt want a doser ..Kalk works for me so far..once you dial in using kalk,,I test once a week at most...
why is your Mag SSSOOOOO high,,too high for my taste.

Idk. I'm not sure the rest is accurate really. I've never dosed MAG, and it's never been consistent.