Back in again. 75g sps build thread

DesertReefT4r · Jun 5, 2019

Pretty sure I am going to remove the cheato and light from my fuge, clean out all the algae and run the tank without the macro algae. The section of the sump will act as a place for pods to thrive and I can put chaeto back in if ever needed. Seem like removing an export methoded is needed and chaeto removes no3 and po4 as it grows.

DesertReefT4r · Jun 5, 2019

Got my order from BRS that I used my points from the giveaway on! Hanna ULR PO4 checker, Reef Roids and PH calibration fluids. PO4 with the Hanna is a perfect 0.03 PPM. I was expecting 0.00 to be honest so I am happy with that. So the Red Sea test of 0.04 is pretty spot on but still hard to read that low. Fed some Reef Roids to the whole tank and going to clean and calibrate probes in a little bit.
So is this just a low no3 problem starving my acros? Causing an imbalance, cyano, diatoms and possible dinos?

DesertReefT4r · Jun 5, 2019

Cleaned up the rock a bit to remove some of the algae funk. Tank looks so much better. Also moved a few corals around and rotated a rock. Have a better few of the corals on that rock and more space for a frag or 2. Last night I turned off the fuge light and dosed 15ml of Neo Nitro. Also fed some Reef Roids a few hours ago. Tested no3 and its a solid 0.75 ppm. So having the fuge light off, dosing some no3, feeding more and adding the 3 fish is all helping with no3. Not going to say it was just 1 thing that is increasing no3. I will see how things go and if I can keep the no3 in a detectable range or better yet slowly increase it. To help with the algae uglies that finally showed up at nearly the 1 year mark and the possible start of dinos I ordered some Live Rock Enhance. There have been some very positive results with cyano, algae and dinos when using this product and it only seems to do good thing. Willing to give it a try once thi hs habe settle a bit. Not wanting to do too many things at once. Here are some pics from tonight.

Gumma 1 · Jun 6, 2019

Definitely looking better. I think a few more fish and feeding more is a good strategy. Also I don't trust leaving the magnet in the tank.

DesertReefT4r · Jun 6, 2019

Been using the Mag Floats for years and never had an iasue. I can remove it though, no reason not to. But there is still several other mags in the tank.

DesertReefT4r · Jun 6, 2019

No3 at 1 ppm today. Looking like shutting the fuge light off is what I needed to do. Going to stop dosing no3 because its increasing and I did not dose today. Hope the uglies burn out soon, if not goimg to try Live Rock Enhance. Also hoping the corals respond well to increasing no3.

DesertReefT4r · Jun 8, 2019

Got my ICP test results. Everything is looking good, Iodine is just a hair low but that is common and I am not too worried about it being at .02ppm compared to .05ppm. Lookmoike my mag test kit reads pretty high, I was getting 1440 with my test. Po4 is right on the money with my Hanna test. Pretty happy with the results, but yeah backing up what I already was expecting. Nothing out of normal ranges and no contaminants to worry about.

DesertReefT4r · Jun 8, 2019

Lets see if this works. ICP test.

DesertReefT4r · Jun 8, 2019

Ok lets try to post the ICP test again.

DesertReefT4r · Jun 12, 2019

First dose of Live Rock Enhance today. Hearing really good reports about this product. Diatoms are going crazy in the tank right now. My tank did not have any new tank uglies but its having the 1 year uglies for sure. Oh 6-9-19 marks 1 year for the tank, that s new saltwater and rock was added.

DesertReefT4r · Jun 14, 2019

Well acros are still doing pretty bad, browned out and stn from the tips down, burnt tips. No3 has been at 1 ppm and po4 at .02-.04 ppm, cal alk and mag have been stable, temp has been stable as has SG. At this point I would consider this a tank crash but still no idea what is causing it. I am wondering if I should do a big water change to reset the water but my ICP test results show no need to change water. No way the low iodine by 0.03 ppm is causing all these issues nore is the 0 ppm iron. Help and thoughts PLEASE! I am at a losss here. I am not a reefing or sps noob, consider myself pretty experienced in reef keeping but this has me clueless.
Tomorrow will be the 3rd dos3 of Live Rock Enhance. The algae funk on the rock is going away. It would come back 1-2 days after brushing the rock but now the rock is for sure looking cleaner. The sand still looks like crap with diatoms and cyano. Also all my fish are starting to play nice finally. After adding the Tomini, Damsel and Sixline to the tank a few weeks ago my Scopus and Psuedochrome were very aggressive to the new fish. I was worried Someome was going to die between some ich, stress and physical damage. Things are working out now and everyone is learning to coexist.

najer · Jun 15, 2019

Sorry to hear the coral issues are worse, hope you get it sorted.

carrico · Jun 15, 2019

What is your value and what tests do you use for Alk?

DesertReefT4r · Jun 15, 2019

carrico said:
What is your value and what tests do you use for Alk?

Alk is 8.3-8.5. Using Hanna Checker for alk and po4, Red Sea Pro for no4, cal and mag. Just did an ICP test as well. Alk and cal are dosed daily with B Ionic 2 part.
Oh I also have Red Ses Pro for alk and po4 and a full API Reef Master kit but dont use them as my primary tests just as back ups or to double check against different kits to verify results if needed.

carrico · Jun 17, 2019

Desert, I read all your ICP results and the quality of your water is great. Recently, I had the following problem. I always keep my KH in 6.5. He compared the results between the Hanna test and the Red Sea test. As my hanna test ended, I was only with the red sea ... Over time my corals lost their color, I lost two acroporas, and every day more my KH lowered and I increased the dose ... In short, my KH was in 8 , I discovered why I had kh salifert and aquaforest tests and both scored the same 8 and not 6.5.
Maybe it's an alternative you test with other kh kits.

carrico · Jun 17, 2019

Now I will report my experience of my last reef. I lost about 50 colonies of acros. I was rewarded with an attack of dinoflagellates. I tried all the methods, chaetomorpha, dosage nitrate and phosphate, bacteria, everything you can imagine ... And every time I tried something new, more I unbalanced my aquarium. I lost everything ...
As apparently their water is perfect, perhaps these alterations made by the nitrate dosages, new rocks, chaetomorpha have unbalanced the system and the animals felt. The best thing to do and choose a certain path and be patient and not change for a long time to see if the system recovers.

DesertReefT4r · Jun 17, 2019

carrico said:
Desert, I read all your ICP results and the quality of your water is great. Recently, I had the following problem. I always keep my KH in 6.5. He compared the results between the Hanna test and the Red Sea test. As my hanna test ended, I was only with the red sea ... Over time my corals lost their color, I lost two acroporas, and every day more my KH lowered and I increased the dose ... In short, my KH was in 8 , I discovered why I had kh salifert and aquaforest tests and both scored the same 8 and not 6.5.
Maybe it's an alternative you test with other kh kits.

I get 8-9 dhk with each of my alk tests, Hanna, API and Reds Sea Pro. I will test today using all my tests to verify, missed my water testing yesturday so need to do it today.
The plan of attack is to leave things be and just keep the tank stable. The only thing different I am doing is dosing the tank with Live Rock Enhance and I only have 2 more doses and I am done using it.

Gumma 1 · Jun 17, 2019

DesertReefT4r said:
I get 8-9 dhk with each of my alk tests, Hanna, API and Reds Sea Pro. I will test today using all my tests to verify, missed my water testing yesturday so need to do it today.
The plan of attack is to leave things be and just keep the tank stable. The only thing different I am doing is dosing the tank with Live Rock Enhance and I only have 2 more doses and I am done using it.

Corals are looking pale, I think you need more food,fish poop.
How long are you running the halide and how far off the water

DesertReefT4r · Jun 17, 2019

Gumma 1 said:
Corals are looking pale, I think you need more food,fish poop.
How long are you running the halide and how far off the water

Most of the sps and all the acros are getting 200-230 PAR, I know a bit low. MH are 9.5 inches off the top of the water and ran for 6.5 hours. Once I get the diatoms under control I am going to increase the time the lights are on slowly. I thinking about lower them to 8 inches but really just want different lighting.