Are we being peddled BS?

[Bear22]

Are you blasting this tank with light?

Simple axiom: nutrients are the fuel; lighting is the gas pedal (for unwanted algae, etc.).

 

[Mchava]

As many have said before "it takes time". Stop dosing stuff just because it say it does "x". Ive been reefing for almost 26yrs and i've seen fads come in and out, but what has always worked is "Stability and time". What people seem to forget is that every tank is completely different which will require different approach. Start with the basics, forget about using product to try and fix a problem. You could be adding to it, instead helping. Start at getting stability down with water changes. Does it need to be every week, depends on your own tank and feeding cycle. Also dont get to hung up on chacing numbers as some can change throught the day with feeding and when you do your testing. Instead test at the same time when possible and avoid testing after feeding or dosing if you dose (Ca,Alk). To help with keeping algea at bay add some snails, personaly ive had great results with margarita snail and turbo. I can tell you that every single great looking tank has some kind algae growing in them but are mostly missed since the corals have hidden well as they grow out.

 

[maxs]

Hello everyone. My reef tank is currently 7 months old and I still feel like I haven’t gotten any stability yet. Last month my nitrates were at 11ppm and currently they are sitting at 1.1ppm. Phosphate fluctuates just as much. I’ve had nothing but problems with brown hair algae, Dino’s, cyano, you name it. Believe it or not my husbandry is clock work. A weekly 10% water change and a glass cleaning is all I do. Also changing out my filter floss when necessary. Am I lacking a basic understanding of reef chemistry here? This stuff is beyond frustrating. Am I being peddled complete BS with the weekly water changes. Who knows? If anyone can chime in here I’d love their opinion. My coral seems decently happy however my nutrients can’t seem to balance out. I’ve had better luck balancing a seesaw! Dropping a picture of my tank for reference. Thank you for reading

Everyone does it differently. With you being 7 months in, the hardest part is over...(the initial set up and new additions).. You can do water changes so many different ways, the stability just happens naturally once you choose YOUR schedule of events and understand that small fluctuations are generally considered within a safe range for "stability". Assess the coral and fish you have in the tank now to understand whether things are doing well or not and use that as one of the many tools in the toolbox. It looks great by the way!

Thank you so much!

 

[maxs]

Are you blasting this tank with light?

Simple axiom: nutrients are the fuel; lighting is the gas pedal (for unwanted algae, etc.).

Just one AI prime 16hd with the blues turned all the way up and about 45% white lights. The par in the highest region of rock work is about 150. I wouldn’t consider it blasted?

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

Just one AI prime 16hd with the blues turned all the way up and about 45% white lights. The par in the highest region of rock work is about 150. I wouldn’t consider it blasted?

One thing to remember with lighting and flow is that each type of coral (SPS, LPS, zoas, softies, etc) require different lighting intensities and flow intensities.

A 'mixed' reef with a ton of different types of corals with different needs is truly the hardest thing to achieve in a thriving saltwater aquarium. 150 par will grow the majority of LPS and softies, but SPS - aka sticks/acros/montis - will not grow so well. 500+ PAR at the top of the rockwork will grow some amazing acropora, but will ROAST and kill the majority of other coral.

PAR availability is also exponential from a physics standpoint as in the deeper you go, the amount of available light is exponentially less. Flow is kind of in the same category and is often either completely overkill (GUILTY!) or vastly under (GUILTY also lol).

Trial and error! Keep asking questions! You got this!

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

One other note. This is one of my regrets in my tank.

Be very careful about coral placement and future growth. Some corals will grow like wildfire and smother others that don't grow as fast. Montis and some types of zoas fit this bill. They won't always be the $5 booger you bought at a WWC Saturday sale lol.

 

[maxs]

Just one AI prime 16hd with the blues turned all the way up and about 45% white lights. The par in the highest region of rock work is about 150. I wouldn’t consider it blasted?

One thing to remember with lighting and flow is that each type of coral (SPS, LPS, zoas, softies, etc) require different lighting intensities and flow intensities.

A 'mixed' reef with a ton of different types of corals with different needs is truly the hardest thing to achieve in a thriving saltwater aquarium. 150 par will grow the majority of LPS and softies, but SPS - aka sticks/acros/montis - will not grow so well. 500+ PAR at the top of the rockwork will grow some amazing acropora, but will ROAST and kill the majority of other coral.

PAR availability is also exponential from a physics standpoint as in the deeper you go, the amount of available light is exponentially less. Flow is kind of in the same category and is often either completely overkill (GUILTY!) or vastly under (GUILTY also lol).

Trial and error! Keep asking questions! You got this!

Some branching hammers will be about as far complex this system will get! I totally agree it’s super hard to have a mixed reef and have everything happy at the same time. SPS will definitely be a future venture but not with this current setup. Thank you again!

 

[jmcdona6]

I think what you have been peddled is the idea that nuisance algae isnt part of the hobby. The first 1-2 years it is common. My current tank is going on 18 months, flourishing, and I still get bouts of algae and dinos. I know people with 5-10 year old tanks that have bouts with algae (though less often and severe).

It gets better as you approach 1-2 years but its not something that just goes away because you do all the right things. Stability and husbandry mitigates but does not eliminate problems.

 

[ScottF]

I added some hermit crabs, trochus snails and a Mexican turbo snail. That Mexican turbo snail is a beast, really helped with the algae problem

Trochus snails are my algae assassins of choice. Along with tangs and rabbitfish, but your tank look kinda small for tangs and rabbitfish. Trochus snails are the way to go. Maybe an urchin if you don't mind it eating your coraline algae.

Control algae with herbivores. Not by trying to starve it of nutrients.

 

[Science/G]

Yes you are . If you have your nitrates at 1.1 or at least under 20 and you dose with chemicals to restore Alk/MG/CA and trace there is zero need to do water changes. Its echoed chambered to do water changes as thats all people know how to parrot . Just like the ones that say I dip all my corals or I QT all my fish.

I do those things too but with my eyes. if the fish looks sickly id hate to say it but im not putting that in my tank. If the coral has things on it pull it off. Dips dont kill eggs. Then the gloves ***** from SWA.

I don't know about this? There are still a place and a time for a water change. Water becomes stained, trace elements become depleted, and they provide an opportunity to clean out some detritus and dust off the rocks. Now with that being said, am I doing weekly water changes? No. But I am using All for Reef, and supplementing trace elements that show up lacking in ICP tests that I have done every 3 months or so.

 

[Science/G]

Don't let yourself be lured into marketing hype and gimmicks. I've been reefing since 2009 and have tried all kinds of stuff. I am much less interesting in the fad "systems" or "programs" that tell you that if you give them money you will have a successful reef. You will get there sooner or later. Don't give up!

Jake Adams called me out one time for saying that dumping a bottle of bacteria into his tank does not mean that the tank is ready for coral; he was arguing that the tank was 100% ready to thrive as a reef. To be fair, this was very early on in the bottled bacteria craze, and we didn't know as much then as we do now, but I still stand by what I said then - just because you dump a bunch of random bacteria into a tank doesn't mean that it is stable and ready for coral. Time, good live sand/rock from the ocean, patience, luck, and more time is what is needed.

Now I can't speak for what are in these bottled bacterial cultures, but I do know we have a complete understanding nowadays from genetics sampling of what the exact bacterial claves are in a healthy, mature reef aquarium. We know the population density and the diversity. Brstv did an eight part series on the subject.

 

[Arkayology]

Now I can't speak for what are in these bottled bacterial cultures, but I do know we have a complete understanding nowadays from genetics sampling of what the exact bacterial claves are in a healthy, mature reef aquarium. We know the population density and the diversity. Brstv did an eight part series on the subject.

Yup, but the bacteria in the bottles are not some magic potion that will give you an instant mature reef. That was my point. I use some of the bac in bottle products, including Nitribio and Prodibio, monthly in my reefs, but I wouldn't say that it made my tank stable. Only time and proper LR and LS did that. The bottle stuff is more of a band-aid maybe? I think a lot more good can come from buying some sand from TBS @LiverockRocks

 

[Science/G]

Yup, but the bacteria in the bottles are not some magic potion that will give you an instant mature reef. That was my point. I use some of the bac in bottle products, including Nitribio and Prodibio, monthly in my reefs, but I wouldn't say that it made my tank stable. Only time and proper LR and LS did that. The bottle stuff is more of a band-aid maybe? I think a lot more good can come from buying some sand from TBS @LiverockRocks

I've been a bare bottom reefer since the 90's . I had to wait it out.

 

[ScottF]

I don't know about this? There are still a place and a time for a water change. Water becomes stained, trace elements become depleted, and they provide an opportunity to clean out some detritus and dust off the rocks. Now with that being said, am I doing weekly water changes? No. But I am using All for Reef, and supplementing trace elements that show up lacking in ICP tests that I have done every 3 months or so.

I agree with this 100%. Water changes are highly recommended unless you are doing regular ICP testing and trace element dosing. Even then, water changes are recommended.

It's not just about keeping nutrients down. It's also about maintaining ionic balance.

 

[ScottF]

Yup, but the bacteria in the bottles are not some magic potion that will give you an instant mature reef. That was my point. I use some of the bac in bottle products, including Nitribio and Prodibio, monthly in my reefs, but I wouldn't say that it made my tank stable. Only time and proper LR and LS did that. The bottle stuff is more of a band-aid maybe? I think a lot more good can come from buying some sand from TBS @LiverockRocks

Yeah. You really just need to let benthic progression run its course. All of the microscopic wars need to be waged until a balance is eventually reached.

I also used TBS ultra-live sand in the smaller (newer) of my two tanks. They will ship the small bucket via UPS if you don't want to do the whole go to the airport to get your sand thing.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Snails and other clean-up crew can help but patience and elbow grease are the secret. Get a denture brush with stiff bristles and scrub algae off the rocks as much as possible. Vacuum the sand when doing water changes. Get a turkey baster and blast the rocks with it daily. Change filter floss after the water clears when scrubbing or blasting the rocks.

 

[tbrown]

I'm a little late to the party but water changes are beneficial if it's all you do. As others have mentioned, dosing what's necessary and having a good nutrient export (corals, macro algae, nuisance algae, skimmers, etc) will basically make it unnecessary to do frequent water changes. If we're all looking for stability, adding the minerals and all back into the water column as they're being used is more stability than weekly water changes.

Are water changes necessary? No. Can they be necessary at times? Absolutely. Can you run a successful reef tank without water changes? Yep! Should you run a reef tank without water changes? Depends on you and your tank and nothing else. How I run my tank works great for me but it won't work for other people. How they run their tank doesn't work for my tank. Believe me, I've tried.

And yes, I realize there's more to it than this but as others have mentioned, your tank and your fish tell you how it's working.

 

[GoReefin]

Do you run a TDS meter on your rodi unit? What type or water are you using well water? City water?

How many lbs of live rock do you have in the tank?
Judging from the picture I'd add about double the amount of liverock.

How often and how much are you feeding your fish?

What type of fish and how many fish do you have in your tank?

 

[maxs]

Do you run a TDS meter on your rodi unit? What type or water are you using well water? City water?

How many lbs of live rock do you have in the tank?
Judging from the picture I'd add about double the amount of liverock.

How often and how much are you feeding your fish?

What type of fish and how many fish do you have in your tank?

I always make sure the RODI I produce is zero tds with a meter before putting it in my auto top off or mixing salt with it. I just recently changed my feedings. I used to feed frozen everyday if not every other day. Now I’ll go a day without feeding and sprinkle in just enough pellets for the fish to eat within about 30sec. I only feed frozen once or twice a week now. Besides the inverts I only have two ocellaris clowns and a yellow watchman goby. I think I could definitely benefit from more live rock/sand.

 

[Blucllrmn]

As a returning hobbyist, after 20+ yrs everything i thought I knew had to be reexamined. I got a IM Nuvo 20. Live sand, live rock Dr Tims from BRS.Set it up and within few days added some cinnimon clowns.Then a gobie ,urchind an snails to help with the mad, crazy algea and I had high nitrates. . I did all the usually stuff-turn lighting down. water changes etc. Nothering worked. i finally bought an RODI unit .I had been using distilled water.Withing a very short perion BOOM !! no more algea and nitrates did drop but where still on the higher sideof whatever normal is. All my live stock thrived after that RODI.Incliding corals.I haven't really had any issued since.