Getting your reef "in the zone"

Jdzzl03 · Feb 23, 2022

Hey everyone! I am curious what your experience is getting your reef to your ideal parameters and how long it stays there before you inevitably need to adjust or fiddle with dosing / water changes etc... I realize that this will vary from tank to tank but just curious what you are experiencing. From my own reef (250g mixed and starting to add more SPS) I feel like there are a few weeks that params are stable and then inevitably things start to drift a bit and need correcting either due to consumption or the cause of something else that seems unrelated (lighting schedule change, battling Dinos etc..). I'm trying to balance wanting to micromanage every minor param swing as sometimes being hyper reactive has caused more problems than letting things settle back down, particularly early on when I was first starting to use the Neptune Trident. Let me know your thoughts and tips / tricks! Cheers!

Hoodstream · Feb 23, 2022

Probably 0 help at all but I got two micro reefs a 10g and a 20g. If something goes wrong in a tank that size it’s way less forgiving then a larger tank. So I started by doing my daily doses every morning. Testing on a specific day, usually every Thursday unless I suspect an issue, and I make salt water in a separate bucket that my 60g wouldn’t need and dose that with supplements. That way when I take supplements out I’m adding some back in. You have to do math so you don’t overload but now my micros are thriving. I also found products suited for my needs my micros get nano reef by Kent and my 60g gets reef fusion 1/2 and whatever’s needed to maintain that.

DeniseAndy · Feb 23, 2022

Well, I have to admit, I am very hands off even with a KISS system. While battling some briopsis recently in my 40g, I had to treat and then treat for cyano, but it is balancing nicely now after a month. My 6g, I just do a 100% water change when it is having any algae issues (on the glass). I have never had issues with hair algae or briopsis in that tank for some reason. Weird after 6+years.

My 210g only had issues for the first year after setting it up into the second year. Hair algae. I have had that fixed for a while now and aside from the occasional cyano, it runs itself. I rarely do any changes aside from normal maintenance.

Basically, I have not done testing in years. I do not run a sps any longer though. My lps system is great and my softie system is great too. I have clams though, so do keep stable conditions.

I feed, water changes as needed, check all is working on the Ca rx, Carbon Rx, UAS and good to go. I clean the sides at least once a week. I will try to get pics of the lps system. Here are some of the 210, 6g and the corals in the 40g/20g.

Hoodstream · Feb 23, 2022

DeniseAndy said:
Well, I have to admit, I am very hands off even with a KISS system. While battling some briopsis recently in my 40g, I had to treat and then treat for cyano, but it is balancing nicely now after a month. My 6g, I just do a 100% water change when it is having any algae issues (on the glass). I have never had issues with hair algae or briopsis in that tank for some reason. Weird after 6+years.

My 210g only had issues for the first year after setting it up into the second year. Hair algae. I have had that fixed for a while now and aside from the occasional cyano, it runs itself. I rarely do any changes aside from normal maintenance.

Basically, I have not done testing in years. I do not run a sps any longer though. My lps system is great and my softie system is great too. I have clams though, so do keep stable conditions.

I feed, water changes as needed, check all is working on the Ca rx, Carbon Rx, UAS and good to go. I clean the sides at least once a week. I will try to get pics of the lps system. Here are some of the 210, 6g and the corals in the 40g/20g.

You have some seriously beautiful tanks! That 6g is awesome!!! I thrive for that in my micros! The 250g is just as stunning! Thanks for the share going to show my fiancé as she just started her tank and is getting discouraged with her micro! Great share!

DeniseAndy · Feb 23, 2022

Thank you. ;Shamefullyembarrased I love the little tanks. I always start with live rock for them. This makes a huge difference. I have set some up on and off as I feel like it.

The one in the video is a traveling tank (bring to show kids at outreach programs) and it has been in this particular form about 1-2 years.
Hard to explain, as i have kept the 6g over 6 years, but I put different corals an animals in it as I want for the programs. This one has been this way as I said for over a year now. I love it.

Jdzzl03 · Feb 23, 2022

DeniseAndy you have an awesome setup! Yeah I try to follow KISS method but when I first setup the Trident I found myself constantly second guessing myself and trying to correct things on a daily basis even though my corals looked and seemed perfectly happy, which led to other weird problems like Dinos when my nutrients bottomed out. Moving forward I'm working on the test twice (or several times over a few days), dose once methodology vs reacting to every Neptune alert. Going from a 75g to 250g has been an adventure for sure getting things dialed in.