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Beautiful! Looks like your on the right path, i wouldnt sweat the cyano, itll go away on its own. Honestly it couldve started from the acropower, but itll resolve when you get back on track. Please cut your gfo in half, from what ive seen sps go pale when phosphates are extremely low. Id work on raising your n03, and feed more to see if theres good results. What kind of filtration are you running?Thanks to this great thread I'm hoping I have found a resolution to my pale coral issues. After lots of reading I've started Nitrate dosing this week and would like some advice/guidance to make sure I'm on the right track. I'm dosing to hopefully reslove my pale coral issue and potentially reduce/eliminate my nuisance algae. I apologize this came out to be so long....
I started dosing Monday on my 58 gallon with 5ml of potassium nitrate (stump remover watered down). This brought my Nitrates from 0 to .25. By Tuesday (24 hours later) it was back to zero. On Tuesday I dosed 10ml which brought my Nitrates up to 1. Today (24 hours later) my Nitrate level was .5. My plan tonight and moving forward is to keep dosing 1oML until I hit a nitrate level of 2 and then track and maintain from there. Since I started dosing I've noticed that the color of my Cyano appears to have become a much stronger red (kinda scary ).
my current levels tonight:
PO4: .009, NO3:.5(after dosing) Alk 7.2, Calc: 428, Mag:1410, PH:8.4, Salinity:34.8
**Nitrate has been 0 for 6 months. PO4 fluctuates between .000-.02 for the past week closer to .02
I dose AquaForest B and V 2 drops every 3 days or so and AcroPower 10ml every 3 days (just reduced to 5ml).
I always run 1-2 cups of carbon and just recently (1.5 weeks ago) started running GFO (1/2 cup) to help combat the Cyano. Other than that I run a skimmer and filter sock.
Full story:
I have a 58 gallon tank that has been up and running for 5 years now. I did a big 'remodel' on it 9 months ago changing the landscape and adding almost all new higher-end equipment. the tank has been very steady with the new gear now for 6+ months. My corals (mostly SPS) are doing well with OK growth. For the majority of those 9 months my nutrients were zero and my corals have been very pale and completely hit/miss on polyp extension. A few months ago I started to realize the nutrients were probably my biggest issue. I've been using AcroPower for 6+ months and found that if I don't dose it a few times a week my colors get worse and my polyp extension reduces.
Following the default path I added a couple more fish and started feeding much more. Since then my growth has increased and the colors are just the slightest bit better. I still have not seen a nitrate level > 0 in 6 months but my PO4 is starting to show. Along with seeing some measured PO4 I've started seeing a little hair algae and most recently (past 3 weeks) Cyano.
This has led me to now start moving forward with Nitrate dosing. From my readings it appears that my troubles with coral colors could be related to this. Also, even though my PO4 has been <02 and usually around .009 or less I still have some nuisance algae.
Any advice / guidance would be helpful. I want to keep moving forward but I don't want to be feeding the Algae.
Tank pic from tonight
Cyano:
Corals that need some colors: