Going FOWLR What changes?

joeyrm7 · Mar 25, 2020

The mighty have fallen. I'm retiring and figure that its time to cut some expenses so I'm converting my highly successful reef tank to FOWLR. Currently on Triton but wondering how and what I should manage going forward. Do I continue to carefully monitor Alk, calc, mag, dose or just manage via water changes? What levels should I maintain? My lfs is thrilled as I am exchanging my corals for his moving my tank and storing for a few weeks while I relocate. Any advice, other than "don't do it" will be gratefully accepted.

dankaqua · Mar 26, 2020

In a mature tank, fish typically do very well as long as they get the proper nutrition. Assuming you don't have an ammonia spike, you shouldn't have to worry about your fish. Without inverts, alk, calc, mag etc are not much cause for concern either. Maybe just keep an eye on nitrates, pH and salinity.
As you cut back on the reef inhabitants, the corals etc that used to take up nutrients will no longer be there so those values will likely rise. That might result in an algal bloom or other "ugly" issue. Don't know if you are against adding new equipment, but a fuge or ATS might be a way to "balance out" the tank.
Lastly, I have to put in 2 cents for the idea that increasing your activity/focus for reef keeping might be a good idea. Retiring with not enough things to keep you active is not a good plan in my opinion. If you have had good success in reefing, maybe you could start earning some $$ by fragging off some corals and selling them. That would lower your expenses and increase your activity at the same time.