What best for straightening out my red zones?
- Thread starter EvoReef
- Start date
- Tagged users None
mfinn
likes zoanthids
Water changes. Less food in the tank and maybe some GFO.
mfinn
likes zoanthids
mfinn
likes zoanthids
Different reactors yes.
I hope so, I'm adding kalkwasser in my topoff water container and running a little gfo in a smaller reactor.
mfinn
likes zoanthids
Your ca and alk already looks good. I wouldn't add kalk at this point.
alk may be a tiny bit high, but nothing to be concerned about.
OP
OP
EvoReef
Active Member
I'm having a little algae bloom also. Could that be due to my high nitrates?
mfinn
likes zoanthids
Yes and phosphates.
OP
OP
EvoReef
Active Member
Noted
mfinn
likes zoanthids
OP
OP
EvoReef
Active Member
Yes. Was getting it from my LFS till about 3 days ago. I purchased my own RO/DI unit.
mcarroll
10K Club member
Stats
What size is this tank? How old? Fish compliment?
Your specific gravity is a bit too high, so the rest of your mineral levels (Ca, alk, Mg, etc) are lower than they appear.
Once The Nutrients Are In There
Remember that nitrates should be able to be handled by your live rock. When nitrates start to build up, that means you're over the tank's bio-limit or something else is pretty wrong. If your tank looks a lot like most peoples' tank, it's almost certainly the bio-limit and everything else is fine.
Water changes are one tool to use against nutrient accumulation, but you can only do so much and they cost money like anything else. I probably spend $50 a month on salt. The up-side is that there are many benefits to water changes aside from nutrient removal, especially in a stony coral reef.
Other tools (e.g. phosphate removers, carbon dosing, etc) are more like band-aids. I think they're OK for cleanup and to get you by until the problem can be remedied, but they're still just a band-aid for a problem, not a solution. And unlike water changes, usually they are single-benefit tools, doing nothing else for the tank...or worse, even having negative side effects like carbon dosing and GFO.
Less Fish Is The Most Complete Solution
Unless you can find another permanent solution like eliminating an over-feeding problem, having less fish may be the only real solution.
Having less fish naturally lowers the amount of food going into the system. It reduces the amount of need for tank space. And reduces the demand for maintenance such as water changes and chemical filter media.
The goal would be to better fit the livestock into the environment you are providing (i.e. tank size, maintenance routine, et al.)
Hope this helps!
-Matt
What size is this tank? How old? Fish compliment?
Your specific gravity is a bit too high, so the rest of your mineral levels (Ca, alk, Mg, etc) are lower than they appear.
Once The Nutrients Are In There
Remember that nitrates should be able to be handled by your live rock. When nitrates start to build up, that means you're over the tank's bio-limit or something else is pretty wrong. If your tank looks a lot like most peoples' tank, it's almost certainly the bio-limit and everything else is fine.
Water changes are one tool to use against nutrient accumulation, but you can only do so much and they cost money like anything else. I probably spend $50 a month on salt. The up-side is that there are many benefits to water changes aside from nutrient removal, especially in a stony coral reef.
Other tools (e.g. phosphate removers, carbon dosing, etc) are more like band-aids. I think they're OK for cleanup and to get you by until the problem can be remedied, but they're still just a band-aid for a problem, not a solution. And unlike water changes, usually they are single-benefit tools, doing nothing else for the tank...or worse, even having negative side effects like carbon dosing and GFO.
Less Fish Is The Most Complete Solution
Unless you can find another permanent solution like eliminating an over-feeding problem, having less fish may be the only real solution.
Having less fish naturally lowers the amount of food going into the system. It reduces the amount of need for tank space. And reduces the demand for maintenance such as water changes and chemical filter media.
The goal would be to better fit the livestock into the environment you are providing (i.e. tank size, maintenance routine, et al.)
Hope this helps!
-Matt
mfinn
likes zoanthids
Opps, missed that.
Yeah it is a little high.
What kind of corals do you have?
Not a problem with fish load
mcarroll
10K Club member
Doesn't look too bad on fish (though full), so I'd focus on finding flow issues, pare down feedings to the full extent possible, probe the sand and rocks for deposits of detritus, increase your water changes, et al.
If you find detritus in your sand at all, I would slowly remove the existing sand bed vs trying to clean it. When you are done (a few weeks), replacement is optional and inexpensive.
-Matt
Similar threads
New Posts
-
Build Thread New IM 150 EXT build. Diving into the deep end of the pool- Latest: BubblesandSqueak
-
