Yes or you can purchase live rock and added to your tank
Your tank has been establish a long time so bacteria should be established however what did u start with? Live rock or dry rock? If with dry rock and u never introduce bacteria to your tank will act like a mature fowlr.
Wow that's a hard core Alk monitor u build there.I agree stable Alk is key for SPS. My PAST hectic/ACCIDENTAL Alk swings damaged the SPS each time, and recovery was slow if at all.
Yet the Bacteria must have helped getting my Nitrates down to First Time Record levels (and staying there with more Fish Feeding) = Nutrients for Corals (Fish Poo).
It was easy to bring down Phosphates with regular GFO.
Nitrates reduction isn't an easy fix, and denitrification by Bacteria establish in Live Rock/Marine Pure did it. (slowly too!!)
I also think another small factor, was for years I used Tropic Marin Pro. It is a good sythetic salt with Lower Alk but I gave up a couple months ago (since spending more wasn't giving me results).
I switched to Red Sea Blue Bucket. It's not sythetic like TMP. Made from Evaporated Sea Water that has stuff in there from the Sea (I think). The switch to Red Sea may have contributed to the Cyano Outbreak as well.
But back to ALK Stability.
One key thing I added to my System is this. Exactly two months ago when things started to improve and kept improving.
It's a DIY Alk Monitor (3 Tank). Made from a broken Printer. Raspberry Pi and Ardiuno and plenty of spare parts.
All the bit's and pieces help, but the Alk Monitor prevented my Alk Mis-management.
Now I'm building a complimentary DIY Smart Doser to work with the Alk Monitor. That will take things to the Next Level.
What ever it was. I'm happy and pray things continue the way they are.
I seek no more improvements from the Grow and SPS colors.
I used all the live rock from my 120 gal. Pic below. Nov 2015
So this is not present picture what's wrong with the tank now. Chemiclean get rid of cyano but has nothing to do with your phosphate and nitrate. You can raise nutrients naturally by feed more frozen and flake also u can turn down protein skimmer just let it make bubble but not skim.I used all the live rock from my 120 gal. Pic below. Nov 2015
Pic of present tank years ago Dec 2017
Lost it due to alk burn
Thank you. I think I will keep dosing the bacteria. My last tank was filled with aiptasia from one of the live rocks
Yes the bacteria is more proficient at reducing nitrate than phosphate. Thats why who’s dosing vodka, vinegar and sugar have notice zero nitrate but still high phosphate. The real live rock from the ocean has multi strain of bacteria therefore it provide more balance reduction of nutrients.
Thanks. The Robotic Automation and Reporting is on the Hard Core Complex side.
How much do u feed your fish?0
So why has my tank stopped producing nitrates to where I have dose?
Oh your tank is producing nitrates. It’s just being consumed and “locked up” by bacteria, algae and coral. This is where increased feeding comes into play. More mouths to feed = more food is needed for the tank.
So why has my tank stopped producing nitrates to where I have dose?
You don't have to cut back on skimming, too many benefits from utilizing a skimmer, just feed more throughout the day. I feed on average every two hours or more.
Honestly, an auto feeder is the way to go. The concept for feeding fish once a day should be left to predatory species. I think most people feed based on how much it will affect algae growth and not on the benefits of the animals(fish) they're keeping, I never understood this practice myself. Most fish that we keep in our tanks feed throughout the day, grazing, opportunity and actively hunting for food, then we put them in a glass box and give them a tiny morsel of food once a day, kinda seems cruel to me. Sorry, I'm not trying to make anyone feel guilty, just feed high quality food throughout the day and make your fish and coral happy.
How long has the tank been up?@ycnibrc welp i tried again and already failing, bought some easy sps like red monti cap an orange setosa and a montipora spongodes ( which i heard is hard to kill ) and after just 5 fays they are already bleaching. This is a picture of the monti cap and orange setosa after just 2 days being in the tank. I checked today and the monti cap is almost co.pletely gone. I know its not due to starvation since my nitrates are at 10ppm and phosphates at 0.10. I also know it cant be the PAR since the red cap is sitting at 200 PAR and thw orange setosa at 180 PAR. Ive been dosing zeobak for the past week.
