Some guidance needed.

[spielco]

Through out the new stage of the aquarium what are some of the best practices while your having some algae blooms and changes in your water?

New to the hobby so help guide me if I’m going at this all wrong.

I currently have a biocube 32 with some zoas and mushrooms paly and a toadstool. 1 clown 9 snails

I’ve been staying with weekly 5g water changes. Clearing the glass and rocks of any of the growth.

My test have been coming back with good numbers that I’m able to tell on the colors. And corals and fish seem to be mostly happy. Corals are opening and closing through the day..

Is there any other best practices to help get to a solid state of water chemistry and out of blooms aside from issues that happen?

Appreciate any help thrown my way. Thank ya

 

[am3gross]

Best advice I can give ya.

1. Be patient, Rome was not built in a day. Take your time with it and you will be successful and have more money because you wont be throwing it away.

2. Use quality test kits and refractometers. API test kits are good when you are cycling, but after the cycle, step it up. I personally use salifert and hanna.

3. Make it as easy as you can. If your tank becomes a chore, you wont want to mess with it anymore.

4. Make sure you are having fun, if your not having fun and enjoying it, it wont last long.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I agree with the above... mostly.

Be patient. It can't be said strong enough!

Be wary of fancy chemistries and additives for your tank. I hardy use any and I even use Dow Flake for Ca and soda ash from a pool supply for alk.

API test kits are fine for a startup, and can be fine for years. If you get into a big sps type reef with more delicate critters, going to Salifert kits is probably a good idea. I use Salifert now, but I used API for many years.

A hydrometer is fine, no need to buy a refractometer. I have both and I use the hydrometer all the time. For the past 15 years I've tested my hydrometer against the refractometer every 6 to 12 months. EVERY time the hydrometer reads 0.005 lower than the refractometer. Adding 0,005 to my hydrometer readings just isn't that hard. Buy a hydrometer and have it tested against a refractometer (a friend's or at the LFS where you buy the hydrometer). Then put a label on it and you'll always remember how much to add or subtract.

Keeping simple is good advice. But there are people who love to go crazy on all the new equipment and latest fads. I have a homemade 40g cube that is an AIO (All In One) tank with nothing but corals (mostly sps and lps) and some CUC (Clean Up Crew)... no fish. I dose some Ca and alk every morning and I test parameters and clean filter socks every Monday. Otherwise I get to sit back and watch my corals grow!

Have fun and good luck.

 

[Uncle99]

Through out the new stage of the aquarium what are some of the best practices while your having some algae blooms and changes in your water?

New to the hobby so help guide me if I’m going at this all wrong.

I currently have a biocube 32 with some zoas and mushrooms paly and a toadstool. 1 clown 9 snails

I’ve been staying with weekly 5g water changes. Clearing the glass and rocks of any of the growth.

My test have been coming back with good numbers that I’m able to tell on the colors. And corals and fish seem to be mostly happy. Corals are opening and closing through the day..

Is there any other best practices to help get to a solid state of water chemistry and out of blooms aside from issues that happen?

Appreciate any help thrown my way. Thank ya

Good job, you’re testing!
Many don’t.
Look for trends in water chemistry and address those rather than react to smaller variations.
A worksheet really helps to “read” waters over time.

Have fun!

 

[kevgib67]

I think currently the 5 gallon water changes are your best bet for keeping your water quality stable, keep it up. Make sure you are monitoring your nitrate and phosphate so the don’t bottom out due to your low bioload. You can do this by increasing feeding, turning off your skimmer if you have one and or dumping your skimmate back in the tank. I ran a reef tank for 16 years basically doing weekly water changes. I currently have a Biocube 32g and do a 4g weekly water change but have a higher bioload.

 

[Reefering1]

Patience, patience, patience- has patience been mentioned? Solid responses given already. I'll add, don't poison your tank, chemicals are rarely the solution. And go slow. Perseverance will prevail!!

 

[spielco]

I think currently the 5 gallon water changes are your best bet for keeping your water quality stable, keep it up. Make sure you are monitoring your nitrate and phosphate so the don’t bottom out due to your low bioload. You can do this by increasing feeding, turning off your skimmer if you have one and or dumping your skimmate back in the tank. I ran a reef tank for 16 years basically doing weekly water changes. I currently have a Biocube 32g and do a 4g weekly water change but have a higher bioload.

So onto that point. Last night felt like my corals were acting a little off so I checked the water and my nitrates were high at 10-20 so I did a small water change only. What do you mean by bottom out of nitrates?

 

[kevgib67]

So onto that point. Last night felt like my corals were acting a little off so I checked the water and my nitrates were high at 10-20 so I did a small water change only. What do you mean by bottom out of nitrates?

I meant if you’re doing a lot of export of nutrients with little import, low bio load with out knowing nitrates and phosphates could hit zero before you realize it, opening the door for bigger problems such as dinos. Personally 10-20 nitrates are just fine.

 

[Red_Beard]

So onto that point. Last night felt like my corals were acting a little off so I checked the water and my nitrates were high at 10-20 so I did a small water change only. What do you mean by bottom out of nitrates?

Like above says, if you hit 0 that is not good, and can lead to a host of problems with undesirable things like dinoflagelates and coral starvation, been there, not fun. There are tons of people here with beautiful thriving tanks and healthy corals running all over the spectrum for p04 and n03 values,like 0-100ppm n03 and 0-1ppm p04. first shoot for consistency somewere between 5-40 ppm n03 and .02-.2 p04. Those are pretty safe ranges. then tweak up or down slowly and watch to see what your tank likes the best. Meaning happy colorful coral and where it generally would be without too much intervention and no crazy algae blooms. Most of the algea issues will balance out within a year or so. I have had the most success with algea by letting it grow to where i can pull it off in chunks, then when i do pull it, do so aggressively in sections. The snails and urchins love the sections where you harvest it, so once you do a section put a couple snails on it (turbos, astreas, or trochus, or even a tuxido urchin) and they will mow the rest down. Next day hit that spot with a toothbrush and agressively remove whatever they miss. Give it a few days and hit a new spot. rinse repeat and you will have a beautiful spotless tank soon enough. The other things to watch out for is overfeeding issues or export issues. A 5 gal waterchange weekly should be plenty to keep up with a small bioload, but if you keep watching numbers go up, you may need to implement some other measures in addition or change more gallons. I employ a few different options for export and know a bunch of others do also, so dont fret if one thing doesnt turn out to be a magic bullet. Macro algae, algae reactors, skimmers, water changes, carbon dosing, gfo etc can be used in tandem however best fits your particular needs.

 

[Yang’s Blue Paradise]

If you run into algae problems I would recommend adding some Clean up crews!! I would go slow and add more if you need to. Also, go in with a toothbrush if it is accessible. Is all about being diligent if you keep up with the 5-gallon water change you will have long-term success.

During your weekly water change, I would also add some beneficial bacteria like Micobacter 7 or Doc Tim's Eco balance. I had a lot of success keeping my nutrients down with those bacteria, alongside keeping a healthy ecosystem. I wouldn't be too hung up on numbers as long as you keep up some sort of range it will be fine.

I took a peek at your reef tank it just looks like you have some diatoms on the sands which is normal it might go away in a few weeks but you can help clean it up with a tiger conch they will keep your sand bed clean!