Box Of Crayons

[ReeferTCG]

Your corals are looking great!

Thankss

 

[ReeferTCG]

I started with dry rock and a remote sand bed in the sump, so for the past months I’ve been buying a lot of coral to increase biodiversity.

I’ve been struggling with low nitrate and high phosphate (.2–.5).

I removed media in the sump that was collecting detritus. After redoing the sump, phosphate has been trending down.

I was ammonia dosing but decided to add more fish instead — 2 anthias and 4 chromis.

I’m planning to slowly remove the sand from the sump to reduce detritus buildup and help increase nitrates.



Everything looks better now you think removing the ceramic block media was a good call to increase nitrates and reduce phosphates from detritus?

#reefsquad#reefsquad #Heathenso#Smorgasbord]4397575[/ATTACH]

 

[ReeferTCG]

Lol @Reefer Matt frag racks made the pic, they are so nicely made!

 

[Fish Styx]

I started with dry rock and a remote sand bed in the sump, so for the past months I’ve been buying a lot of coral to increase biodiversity.

I’ve been struggling with low nitrate and high phosphate (.2–.5).

I removed media in the sump that was collecting detritus. After redoing the sump, phosphate has been trending down.

I was ammonia dosing but decided to add more fish instead — 2 anthias and 4 chromis.

I’m planning to slowly remove the sand from the sump to reduce detritus buildup and help increase nitrates.



Everything looks better now you think removing the ceramic block media was a good call to increase nitrates and reduce phosphates from detritus?

#reefsquad#reefsquad #Heathenso#Smorgasbord]4397575[/ATTACH]

IMO, yes to removing the bio media However, I would wait on removing the sand just yet. Trend the data for another week or two to see where the system settles.

Then determine if you need to remove the sand. If so, remove one half at a time, and trend again.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I’ve been struggling with low nitrate and high phosphate (.2–.5).

The food you feed your fish plays a role here too. What are you feeding?

Lol @Reefer Matt frag racks made the pic, they are so nicely made!

Hey thanks! Those frags are looking awesome on it! If you ever need more, they are available on the website now.

 

[tharbin]

IMO, yes to removing the bio media However, I would wait on removing the sand just yet. Trend the data for another week or two to see where the system settles.

Then determine if you need to remove the sand. If so, remove one half at a time, and trend again.

Just my 2 cents.

+1

great looking tank.

Go slow with any media removal. It can cause wild swings if done too quickly.

 

[Red_Beard]

Ditto. Keep the sand and pull one block a week. Dose nitrates and skim heavy and see where that gets you. Maybe some gfo to help get phos back in line.
Analyze your feeding habits and go from there.

 

[ReeferTCG]

Thanks all!

I have neptune auto feeder 3 times a day for the anthias and chromis. As well as some fish that might get aggressive so I try to overfeed to keep them happy. its on the lowest setting and it has tds/pe mysis/ hikari algae. Every other day a small piece of lrs frozen and frozen PE. Luckly after removing the media phosphates are going down a bit and nitrates slowly coming up for the coveted 100 to 1 ratio

 

[That Crusso Kid]

IMO, yes to removing the bio media However, I would wait on removing the sand just yet. Trend the data for another week or two to see where the system settles.

Then determine if you need to remove the sand. If so, remove one half at a time, and trend again.

Just my 2 cents.

+1

great looking tank.

Go slow with any media removal. It can cause wild swings if done too quickly.

+1 which makes it a total of 4 cents now. All we need is 1 more to cover the 5 centses.

 

[Red_Beard]

+1 which makes it a total of 4 cents now. All we need is 1 more to cover the 5 centses.

would those five censes make a nickel? a centsy nickel...

 

[That Crusso Kid]

would those five censes make a nickel? a centsy nickel...

I think that math computes so, yes, yes they would!

 

[Fish Styx]

Thanks all!

I have neptune auto feeder 3 times a day for the anthias and chromis. As well as some fish that might get aggressive so I try to overfeed to keep them happy. its on the lowest setting and it has tds/pe mysis/ hikari algae. Every other day a small piece of lrs frozen and frozen PE. Luckly after removing the media phosphates are going down a bit and nitrates slowly coming up for the coveted 100 to 1 ratio

Don't chase it too hard. Keeping it stable is much more important. Trust me, if I told you what I run my PO4 at (in a stick tank) you'd probably have a stroke.

 

[Fish Styx]

would those five censes make a nickel? a centsy nickel...

Mmmm.... centsy nickels.

 

[ReeferTCG]

Don't chase it too hard. Keeping it stable is much more important. Trust me, if I told you what I run my PO4 at (in a stick tank) you'd probably have a stroke.

Lol i think low po4 helps a looot but not super necessary. I posted in insta once my PO4 and people were like “if my po4 was that high I would puke” phosphate police

 

[Red_Beard]

Lol i think low po4 helps a looot but not super necessary. I posted in insta once my PO4 and people were like “if my po4 was that high I would puke” phosphate police

Yeah, i would be the last one to criticize(about that). I run .2-.3 all day, every day right there with you.

 

[ReeferTCG]

Yeah, i would be the last one to criticize(about that). I run .2-.3 all day, every day right there with you.

.2 gang!

 

[Fish Styx]

.2 gang!

Ahem... .8 on occasion

 

[Rocks reef]

+1
Now we have a centsy nickel!

 

[ReeferTCG]

+1
Now we have a centsy nickel!

a nickel! Finally!

 

[Rocks reef]

Actually, I’m on the fence about removing the bio media. You want as much surface area to colonize with bacteria. Bacteria are huge movers of both NO3 and PO4.
Look at it this way, say you have a tank with tons of live rock verses one with minimal rock. The one with more rock will always be able to consume/process nutrients faster. Corals have a lot to do with consumption too… actually the zooxanthellae are the consumers which in turn feed the corals.