- Joined
- Aug 7, 2017
- Messages
- 27
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Hi All
I've had my aquarium for about 3 years and I've always had issues with keeping corals to the point that I've held off buying them cause I don't want them to die in my tank.
I have relatively typical tank parameters; salinity at 1.025, Alk at 9dkh, 450 Ca, 1400 Mg. I run my doser to keep the alkalinity and calcium in check and I test magnesium every water change (20% every 2 weeks). At the same time, I replace my carbon, empty out my skimmer, and refill Alk/Ca bottles. Basically, what seems like a normal routine.
But my corals slowly fade away. I can't keep euphyllia , which I really like. I've lost hammers, torches and frogspawns over the years. The only pieces I have in my tank are a duncan and a couple of small patches of Zoas.
I've gotten ICP tests a couple times over the last 6 months, and the only thing that is really outta whack are the nutrients. I'm near zero on nitrate and phosphate cause I run NoPox. The reason for that is if I don't, the algae in my tank explodes! I mean even at zero, I still have a good number of small patches of algae that just won't go away.
So I think I'm starving my corals. I don't know how to balance giving them enough nutrients to thrive, but without causing the algae to grow uncontrollably. I'm looking for any sort of help or advice.
Thanks in advance...
Marco
I've had my aquarium for about 3 years and I've always had issues with keeping corals to the point that I've held off buying them cause I don't want them to die in my tank.
I have relatively typical tank parameters; salinity at 1.025, Alk at 9dkh, 450 Ca, 1400 Mg. I run my doser to keep the alkalinity and calcium in check and I test magnesium every water change (20% every 2 weeks). At the same time, I replace my carbon, empty out my skimmer, and refill Alk/Ca bottles. Basically, what seems like a normal routine.
But my corals slowly fade away. I can't keep euphyllia , which I really like. I've lost hammers, torches and frogspawns over the years. The only pieces I have in my tank are a duncan and a couple of small patches of Zoas.
I've gotten ICP tests a couple times over the last 6 months, and the only thing that is really outta whack are the nutrients. I'm near zero on nitrate and phosphate cause I run NoPox. The reason for that is if I don't, the algae in my tank explodes! I mean even at zero, I still have a good number of small patches of algae that just won't go away.
So I think I'm starving my corals. I don't know how to balance giving them enough nutrients to thrive, but without causing the algae to grow uncontrollably. I'm looking for any sort of help or advice.
Thanks in advance...
Marco