- Joined
- Jan 16, 2013
- Messages
- 240
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- 163
I appreciate it. This is not my first rodeo with a reef. I have done this several times before and never encountered this type of issue.So no algae, no coraline, dosing nitrate despite no obvious nutrient export other than the skimmer and what could be excessively high but balanced Alk and Calc consumption?
And, on top of that, coral don't stay alive.
It definitely seems odd... let me do some digging.
The nutrient issue was one of the fist things that made me realize something wasn't right. I have 13 fish in this tank and several of them are fairly large (Quoyi Parrot and a Naso). I feed what I would consider heavyish (auto feeder does pellets 2x a day and then I do frozen in the evening soaked in Selcon + a sheet of Nori). Yet here I am with Nitrates so low that I have to dose to make them even show up on a test kit and very little PO4 at all.
I have a huge fuge but no macro will grow (probably due to low nutrients). I have 2 bricks of the dimpled Brightwell XPORT (not the NO3 reducing ones) media in the sump, I run filter socks but I for sure do not change them often enough to cause a lack of nutrients, and I have a Large UV Sterilizer. That is about it for filtration besides the skimmer. I don't dose carbon or use GFO. I have a carbon reactor but I only put carbon in it when I feel the need to. I have a hard time believing that changing like 7 gallons a day with an auto water change is enough to make my PO4 and NO3 be so low