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Looks like you have a pretty blue thumb to me... How long have you had that queen angelfish in the tank? How is it behaving?
I don't get the blue thumb reference and I have no queen angle.
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Looks like you have a pretty blue thumb to me... How long have you had that queen angelfish in the tank? How is it behaving?
I don't disagree with your observation, what I am wondering is do you have any kind of correlation you use? Like, if nutrients levels are X, Alk should be Y? I know it's not exact numbers, but a focused range?
Yea, working on lowering it some. Would 8 be alright?
I was just going to post this in a separate thread, but here . http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2017/2/aafeature . Not all corals are the same, some take moths to get encrusted and grow. Sometimes the corals won't grow in a certain spot. I can see in my system that the same exact acro grows at different rates in different areas, because in one spot there is more flow than in another spot. Another trick I've learned is if your acro encrusts a little bit doesn't grow upwards, I cut off the top from the base and reglue it elsewhere, this actually promotes the base to heal up on the top and start growing much faster. And the frag starts encrusting again. I started doing that after watching this guy do it. It actually works great.My system as it is has been running since Sept 2016, I have all the right equipment, combo lighting Kessil AP700s and T5s, Kalk dosing, maintain and test almost everyday. I have APEX Gold, big 10" skimmer (STO-5000) with Avast neck cleaner, 3 each Marine Pure blocks. 6 stage RODI with water saver, test for chlorine every week, always 000TDS. 55 gallon water changes every week. Just got rid of all Aiptasia, no pests as I eliminated AEFW and monti eating nudis before the tank move in Aug 16. Some bryopsis but I'll be curing that next week. Large and great looking BRS Pukani rock aged >1 year, use the best media (BRS ROX carbon and HC GFO when needed. Feed the best quality foods I can find (Hikari and NLS pellets, Nori, PE mysis, other frozen foods). I also feed occasionally BRS Reef chili or other SPS foods. Fish are fat and happy.
I have over 50 acro frags a few small colonies. Better than 90% survival rate for acros and SPS, all others 100%. Dip everything with Bayer.
I feel confident I can keep any SPS alive right now but my problem is growth, not color. I solved my pale colors with potassium nitrate (~10ppm). PO4 is .05 via Hanna ULR Phosphorus checker. ALK 10, Cal 465, Mag 1450, salinity 35 ppt. My system consumes Kalk and Mag only right now, ~4 gallons saturated Kalk everyday. Just reduced that to allow ALK to drop some.
I just feel like my corals are not growing like they should be. I have really great growth on Montis and a few acros but others seem stunted. I don't add a bunch of stuff, keep it simple with water changes and food. I don't really know why the growth seems slow-none.
Ideas? Please?
I don't get the blue thumb reference and I have no queen angle.
I was just going to post this in a separate thread, but here . http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2017/2/aafeature . Not all corals are the same, some take moths to get encrusted and grow. Sometimes the corals won't grow in a certain spot. I can see in my system that the same exact acro grows at different rates in different areas, because in one spot there is more flow than in another spot. Another trick I've learned is if your acro encrusts a little bit doesn't grow upwards, I cut off the top from the base and reglue it elsewhere, this actually promotes the base to heal up on the top and start growing much faster. And the frag starts encrusting again. I started doing that after watching this guy do it. It actually works great.
Oh yeah and PH everyone says don't race the ph, I think it's very important for coral growth
One thing that helped me is calling up the heavy hitters that grow for a living on the phone. Asking questions. I'm yet to find someone that wasn't willing to take the time to talk. To my surprise I've heard things like "there is no magic formula, Zero tds, quit chasing numbers, I only run a skimmer, I only feed the fish not the corals, quit running carbon and gfo, quit trying to achieve ultra low nutrients, leave stuff alone". .. and of course the obvious- good lighting, flow, and stability which includes checking kh every day. So when it comes to that, I did it and it's working. I just realized the other day I have well over 1k just on one small frag rack. Oh well..
it's called KISS... but not sure KISS for a reef tank.. is KISS for a normal human been...
(KISS = Keep It Stupid Simple)
Oh, why?Thank you for the information. I'm just not sold on Dana Riddles science methods to be honest.
There are definitely more then one way to do things. Luckily corals adapt to our doings. Personally I found his speeches to make sense, and started adapting some of his methods. For me personally, I've been having really good luck. I'm getting good growth and color on corals that are said to need high par by giving them lower par and lower alk. (200 peak/7.5). Unfortunately I'm going to need to start dosing nitrates before I can increase my kh. Definitely a first world problem. .Thank you for the information. I'm just not sold on Dana Riddles science methods to be honest.
I never knew there was any correlation between n03 and alk. So n03 at higher levels allow for high alk levels which in turn causes rapid growth in corals pending calcium levels too, right?There are definitely more then one way to do things. Luckily corals adapt to our doings. Personally I found his speeches to make sense, and started adapting some of his methods. For me personally, I've been having really good luck. I'm getting good growth and color on corals that are said to need high par by giving them lower par and lower alk. (200 peak/7.5). Unfortunately I'm going to need to start dosing nitrates before I can increase my kh. Definitely a first world problem. .
The way I think about it is that it's possible for corals to growth too fast. ULNS (low no3) can increase growth. Higher alk can also increase growth. Doing both is a bad idea. So higher alk more common on non ULNS systems, values closer to NSW on ULNS. Few things are black & white, but that seems to be the basic gist.I never knew there was any correlation between n03 and alk. So n03 at higher levels allow for high alk levels which in turn causes rapid growth in corals pending calcium levels too, right?
dosing 2 part my cal levels just tag along and are always within range. My concern is keeping kh rock steady with a dosing pump spread out. I just test kh and add equal of ca alternately with the pump. As a result it stays between 420 and 440. Despite feeding heavy I can't see any pink or blue in the test kits. When I try to go beyond 7.5 a few corals lighten. So I feel low 7s is safe. I'd rather be at 8-8.5I never knew there was any correlation between n03 and alk. So n03 at higher levels allow for high alk levels which in turn causes rapid growth in corals pending calcium levels too, right?
I was just wondering about testing alk. I dose about 15ml of alk mainly in the a.m. when I test my parameters it my show 8.3, 8.4 which is hours after it doses. If I were to test after my programmed dosing time would that 8.3 be higher? Or is 8.3 the "stabilized" parameter for it?dosing 2 part my cal levels just tag along and are always within range. My concern is keeping kh rock steady with a dosing pump spread out. I just test kh and add equal of ca alternately with the pump. As a result it stays between 420 and 440. Despite feeding heavy I can't see any pink or blue in the test kits. When I try to go beyond 7.5 a few corals lighten. So I feel low 7s is safe. I'd rather be at 8-8.5
Its probably higher. What's the no3 and po4?I was just wondering about testing alk. I dose about 15ml of alk mainly in the a.m. when I test my parameters it my show 8.3, 8.4 which is hours after it doses. If I were to test after my programmed dosing time would that 8.3 be higher? Or is 8.3 the "stabilized" parameter for it?
Walked into my living room today and corals were looking alot more pale then I like to see them under my full spectrum.