!!!Clear Water Questions!!!

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Brian Baker

Brian Baker

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I can tell you I have a biocube 14g with a good bit of corals, 3 diffrent clowns and a hi fin goby. Like you my phosphates are little higher than one would like got gha also. I use a homemade media basket in the back with filter floss on top, chemipure elite in the middle and phosguard on bottom ( trying to control phos). I do weekly water changes about 25 to 30 percent. Besides my pistol shrimp kicking stuff up, my water is also crystal clear. I think the chemipure elite and filter floss are to thank.

20180510_151123_Film1.jpg

I was thinking that the refugium in the back of the tank would really help with that. This is my first tank and started it in March. Ever since then, I have been wanting a refugium and after this thread I think I have finally made up my mind to do it.

The problem is that this is only a 32g and with that small of a tank, I still have a total of around $2,300 invested since March. Everyone was right this is an expensive hobby! ;Greedy
 

Rico11mac

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About 20lbs of live rock, 5lbs of sand, flowerpot coral, BTA, devils hand coral, frogspawn, torch coral, plate coral, mushroom, a couple of other corals that I cant remember, two clowns, one chromis, yellow tang, sleeper goby, crab, three hermits, 5 snails.

One chromis in pic is gone! Also, algae on the right has been removed as well!
Tank.jpg

Other guys will obviously disagree, but the term "overstocked" is all relative. If your test kits are showing high phosphates, then you may use that term. If you're keeping up with water changes enough to keep phospates at .03 or less, then I would say that's not the issue. There are 2 things that algae need to grow, and nutrients is only 1 part of the equation. So, you may need to cut back on the amount of food. Light is the other variable. Make sure your PAR is enough for the coral to stay healthy but not too high. Also, your photoperiod should not be any longer than 10-12 hours, only about 6 of which need to be at full strength. The other 2-4 hours can be used for ramping up/down. Finally, anything less than a 45 gallon tank is really hard to keep up with the nutrient export. For example, if you do a 25% water change weekly, there is still 75% polluted water and that can really be a ton for that small of a tank. I hate the fact that these companies that promote nano systems fail to mention the simple fact that the smaller amount of water that you have the less the nutrients are distributed throughout the system. Also, nano tanks do not typically allow for a sump/refugium. Growing macroalgae works wonders for reducing the nutrients in the display.
 
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Other guys will obviously disagree, but the term "overstocked" is all relative. If your test kits are showing high phosphates, then you may use that term. If you're keeping up with water changes enough to keep phospates at .03 or less, then I would say that's not the issue. There are 2 things that algae need to grow, and nutrients is only 1 part of the equation. So, you may need to cut back on the amount of food. Light is the other variable. Make sure your PAR is enough for the coral to stay healthy but not too high. Also, your photoperiod should not be any longer than 10-12 hours, only about 6 of which need to be at full strength. The other 2-4 hours can be used for ramping up/down. Finally, anything less than a 45 gallon tank is really hard to keep up with the nutrient export. For example, if you do a 25% water change weekly, there is still 75% polluted water and that can really be a ton for that small of a tank. I hate the fact that these companies that promote nano systems fail to mention the simple fact that the smaller amount of water that you have the less the nutrients are distributed throughout the system. Also, nano tanks do not typically allow for a sump/refugium. Growing macroalgae works wonders for reducing the nutrients in the display.

I appreciate the information. Like I said in a previous reply, I plan on getting the inTank™ mods that would allow a refugium in this particular tank. Also, I was looking at The King of DIY on youtube and he has a DIY water polisher that I can do for like $15 and it looks like lit would work great.
 

madweazl

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Also keep in mind that the diamond goby is likely responsible for a large portion of the particulate floating around which is actually a good thing as it stays suspended for eventual removal by the floss (and/or consumption via corals).
 

Richard Cross

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whats your light schedule like? also to beat the dead horse the tang is a no go they need lots of swim room. as far as the other fish ive got a little more stocked then you in the same tank and do a 20-25% water change weekly with RODI water and my params stick to near perfect. my intank medai basket is 3 layers of filter floss on top, purigen in middle and chemipure elite on bottom shelf.
 
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Brian Baker

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MAIL CALL. Came in on Sunday. I did a big tank maintenance cleaning everything that I could and then installed everything. Two days later, no more particulate matter in the tank.
IMG_9015.JPG

Also, whoever suggested the pinky filters, a big thank you to you! after the big cleanup I had to change the first filter the very next day cause it was so clogged with crap.

I bought a maxi-jet to use as a DIY water polisher. Works really well if anyone else is interested in getting one. I bought mine on amazon for $13.


Anyhow here is the updated picture. The white things you see are specks on the back wall. Not sure what that is. Also I added a Lettuce Nudibranch to eat the hair algae.
IMG_9020.JPG
 

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You mentioned you had Algae. How long are you running your lights for?? Sometime it can be some as simple as time reduction in your lighting schedule.
 

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White things on the back are likely just tubeworms; they're harmless filter feeders. If so, they proliferate like crazy so if you find them unsightly, remove them while it's still easy. As for the nudibranch, they will starve to death after they've mowed down the algae to so line up a new home if you werent already aware of this.
 
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You mentioned you had Algae. How long are you running your lights for?? Sometime it can be some as simple as time reduction in your lighting schedule.

Lights ramp up at 8:00 AM and ramp down at 8:00 PM

I was thinking of changing it to 11:00 to 11:00 so that when I get home at 9:00 every night I can enjoy it for a while before I go to bed.
 
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White things on the back are likely just tubeworms; they're harmless filter feeders. If so, they proliferate like crazy so if you find them unsightly, remove them while it's still easy. As for the nudibranch, they will starve to death after they've mowed down the algae to so line up a new home if you werent already aware of this.

Yes, my LFS said that once it is all gone just to bring him back for a credit. I imagine that he will be in my tank for a month or so. There is plenty of it on the back wall in the corners.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

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