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Yep it happens to the best of us! Not that I am a "better" hobbyist but I do have some experience.
That being said I skipped something and I wanted to warn you not to do the same!
Lately I have been having polyp bail out on various lps corals. Naturally it has to be a problem with the flow, or the lights, or possibly a nipping fish? Maybe it's that additive I have been using or maybe my alkalinity is a tad high?
Nope it was Nitrates! What?!?! Nitrates? Are you kidding me? As experienced as I am? I haven't checked nitrates via a test kit in years! I usually just look at my corals and they tell me when something is wrong.......oh..errr...whoops!
Yep I did it, it was me. I perform regular water changes, I don't feed that much, but it was the 10PPM Nitrates that have probably been the biggest contributing factor to my recent coral woes.
Word of advice. Don't skip the "elementary" steps. Actually go through those first!
Ok off to figure out the source, change the water a few times and tweak the skimmer.
Oh for any of you who need a refresher or want to dig deeper into Nitrates then check out this article by Randy Holmes-Farley.
That being said I skipped something and I wanted to warn you not to do the same!
Lately I have been having polyp bail out on various lps corals. Naturally it has to be a problem with the flow, or the lights, or possibly a nipping fish? Maybe it's that additive I have been using or maybe my alkalinity is a tad high?
Nope it was Nitrates! What?!?! Nitrates? Are you kidding me? As experienced as I am? I haven't checked nitrates via a test kit in years! I usually just look at my corals and they tell me when something is wrong.......oh..errr...whoops!
Yep I did it, it was me. I perform regular water changes, I don't feed that much, but it was the 10PPM Nitrates that have probably been the biggest contributing factor to my recent coral woes.
Word of advice. Don't skip the "elementary" steps. Actually go through those first!
Ok off to figure out the source, change the water a few times and tweak the skimmer.
Oh for any of you who need a refresher or want to dig deeper into Nitrates then check out this article by Randy Holmes-Farley.