Comments please on pics of my disappointing tank…

[peterhos]

Tank looks good bud, everyone’s tanks goes through a phase where it matures , but as long as you keep doing what you’re doing throw in a cleanup crew. You’ll be just fine! Patience!

Thank you. The tank looks better since I kept my hands out for a couple of days now. Very impressive snails I bought. Nassarius Astrea and … something else….

 

[njreefkeeper]

“… which may fuel dinos like a water change …” LOL …yet I thought water changes were the way to get rid of algae and dinos…! I think a spell of leaving well alone may be in order. Thanks for all the helpful comments everyone.

Can’t look at Dinos and algae as the same animal. Dinos rarely if ever show up in established tanks with mature bacterial density. Dinoflagellates are one of the first organisms on earth and very resilient. Algae pretty much comes from two things…a lopsided Redfield ratio of nitrogen to phosphorous and/or excessive nutrients. It’s mostly clean tanks with dry rock that hasn’t been aged that gets Dinos. A water change essentially serves to make a tank cleaner and anyone who’s had Dinos can attest that a water change made things worse as the boost of trace elements fed the dino bloom. HTH.

 

[Shibaken3]

Thank you. What a trial it all is. Good luck with your algae. I bought another dozen snails yesterday. Do you have a varied CUC?

I do have lots of snails, but they don't touch hair algae.

 

[n00bReefer]

Hi All

I am disappointed with my new set up. 7 months old. Red Sea reefer 250. Roller mat, Red Sea skimmer 350 and TMC ilumenaire+ led lighting. Nitrates 9.0. Phosphate 0.09. Salinity 1.025. Temperature 80. Calcium 500 and Mag 1500. Daily 2% water changes (TM Coral Pro salt). Have raised Alk to 8.1 over 7 months.
I do not mind so much the greenness of my (all dry) rocks. Zoas are growing slowly. Little growth on a few SPS frags. Lost a few SPS frags. After 7 months am I on the right lines or struggling? Any comments much appreciated. Thanks all.

Looks nice! Eventually you'll get some pretty purple algae! That said you may need some more CuC to handle the growth a bit.

 

[Gobi1canobi]

Looks on the right track to me. Everyone's tank matures at different rates. A little surface algae and some diatoms are nothing to sweat over.

Keep up the good work and be patient.

I think mine is a little older but I'm fighting the good fight with you.

 

[Reefingpops52]

Hi All

I am disappointed with my new set up. 7 months old. Red Sea reefer 250. Roller mat, Red Sea skimmer 350 and TMC ilumenaire+ led lighting. Nitrates 9.0. Phosphate 0.09. Salinity 1.025. Temperature 80. Calcium 500 and Mag 1500. Daily 2% water changes (TM Coral Pro salt). Have raised Alk to 8.1 over 7 months.
I do not mind so much the greenness of my (all dry) rocks. Zoas are growing slowly. Little growth on a few SPS frags. Lost a few SPS frags. After 7 months am I on the right lines or struggling? Any comments much appreciated. Thanks all.

Just wondering in the pics I can see no CUC, second how long do you run your lights and why do you keep your calcium so high 430 -450 is optimal your. Frags at that size surly can't be using that much calcium. Also are you doing aminos and how often/much those can also add nitrates to your system. Your system is still pretty new some added biodiversity can help as well pods backed by some reef enhance wich will help maintain pod mass. One last...what are your LED settings for full spectrum and blues and photo cycle you don't have to answer all those just trying to get a full picture...

 

[Reefingpops52]

I think mine is a little older but I'm fighting the good fight with you.

Emerald crabs will make short quick work of that backed by a snail population.

 

[c_ronius]

More flow will absolutely help as much as anything else. Looks about right for only 7 months, but you would probably have some coralline by now with more water movement. Don't give up this hobby requires mega patience.

 

[peterhos]

def takes time. once that purple coralline starts showing up it pairs with the green real nicely. its gonna look great and just keep at it. keep the water good and youre all set for success

More flow will absolutely help as much as anything else. Looks about right for only 7 months, but you would probably have some coralline by now with more water movement. Don't give up this hobby requires mega patience.

So much (often contradictory) good advice. In a Red Sea reefer 250 would you go for one or two reef wave 45’s.

 

[c_ronius]

So much (often contradictory) good advice. In a Red Sea reefer 250 would you go for one or two reef wave 45’s.

I am not familiar with those pumps. I don't use any particular number or formula either. I like to see all areas of the tank with water moving, when you put food in, it should disperse around the entire tank in seconds. Not necessarily fast and violent, but moving everywhere.

Beyond that, the type of flow truly needed will depend entirely on the life in the tank. For softies, lps, and the like, slowly moving is fine. For higher flow sps types (and coralline growth), it can be whole lot more. You have to watch each coral and see how they respond. You want water to be fairly random and come from different directions, many corals do not like one way water flow all day. It is often difficult to get the perfect flow without trying multiple positions, and possibly multiple pumps.

Just the return pump is rarely enough to get the tank moving. I like oversizing controllable dc pumps, and running them on their lower end, then periodically crank em up for a good flush.

The extra powerheads don't need to run all the time either. I give 30min-2hr no extra flow, then 1-4hrs flow using varying strengths/patterns, then repeat.

Hope this helps post more pics in a couple months.

 

[Gobi1canobi]

I understand thanks. I just ordered a small interval infinite repeat timer I figure I’ll do 1 min on 1 off and go from there to find a happy current I got a 360 dc and a hob and o power head now a u.v. So this should make a difference ? Thanks I’ll post?