Hi All -
I'm new to the hobby and am starting to hit the stage where I'm feeling really discouraged and lost. My tank (Waterbox 180.5) has been running for about 7 months now. During that time, I've had no problem adding fish. They all have adapted well and seem happy and healthy. Corals on the other hand, I just cannot seem to get a grasp on. I see these photos of amazing tanks with flourishing corals, and mine either don't grow or die a couple months after adding.
I hope I am narrowing in on the cause (High Phosphate level) and looking for some guidance on how to correct it and then prevent it going forward. Apologies this will be a bit long, but want to make sure I provide as much information about my situation as possible so the experts aren't guessing.
Here's some current stats on my tank:
Temp - 77.5 - 78
Salt - 35ppt
Alk - 8.1
PH - 7.6 - 7.9 (Can't seem to get this to go any higher)
Calcium - 486
Magnesium - 1411
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - Currently at about 10. This has been as high as 40ish but I've been driving it down with NOPOX
Phosphate - Getting reading of 196ppb on the Hanna ULR. I am translating this to around 0.601ppm. I've had this as low as 0.28ppm in past but never any lower than that. I did just test my RODI water and it registered 0 for Phosphate.
Clearly my Phosphate is too high. I used to run GFO in a reactor (Back when I was achieving the 0.28ppm results), but stopped doing that and switched to using Chemi-Pure Blue.
Some additional information about my feeding/maintenance:
Some guidance I'm looking for:
1. To try to solve the immediate problem, should I switch back to running the GFO in the reactor or is there a better course of action?
2. Assuming I can get it under control, any thoughts on how to better control it? Maybe I'm overfeeding, but I've assumed not since fish are always excited and gathered at the front when I feed. They act like they haven't been fed in days each time.
Thanks for reading and helping a discouraged noob.
I'm new to the hobby and am starting to hit the stage where I'm feeling really discouraged and lost. My tank (Waterbox 180.5) has been running for about 7 months now. During that time, I've had no problem adding fish. They all have adapted well and seem happy and healthy. Corals on the other hand, I just cannot seem to get a grasp on. I see these photos of amazing tanks with flourishing corals, and mine either don't grow or die a couple months after adding.
I hope I am narrowing in on the cause (High Phosphate level) and looking for some guidance on how to correct it and then prevent it going forward. Apologies this will be a bit long, but want to make sure I provide as much information about my situation as possible so the experts aren't guessing.
Here's some current stats on my tank:
Temp - 77.5 - 78
Salt - 35ppt
Alk - 8.1
PH - 7.6 - 7.9 (Can't seem to get this to go any higher)
Calcium - 486
Magnesium - 1411
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - Currently at about 10. This has been as high as 40ish but I've been driving it down with NOPOX
Phosphate - Getting reading of 196ppb on the Hanna ULR. I am translating this to around 0.601ppm. I've had this as low as 0.28ppm in past but never any lower than that. I did just test my RODI water and it registered 0 for Phosphate.
Clearly my Phosphate is too high. I used to run GFO in a reactor (Back when I was achieving the 0.28ppm results), but stopped doing that and switched to using Chemi-Pure Blue.
Some additional information about my feeding/maintenance:
- I have around 14 fish. I feed three times a day. In morning, they get a small amount of TDO pellets and a square of seaweed on a clip. In afternoon and evening, they get 2 cubes of Reef Frenzy (hand fed for a few minutes to my cowfish, blue throat triggers clowns and foxface. Then remaining is dissolved in tank water and dispersed for everyone else.) along with a square of seaweed on a clip. All the fish are excited and hungry every time I feed
- I dose 20ml NOPOX each morning
- I add 50ml phytoplankton each morning
- I have to clean my filter socks (one mesh and one felt) each morning or they begin to overflow
- I have to keep the glass clean every couple of days
- Protein Skimmer is productive and I clean once weekly
- Automatic water changes of 5 gallons daily
- Add 20ml Reef Energy AB Plus 3-4 times a week
Some guidance I'm looking for:
1. To try to solve the immediate problem, should I switch back to running the GFO in the reactor or is there a better course of action?
2. Assuming I can get it under control, any thoughts on how to better control it? Maybe I'm overfeeding, but I've assumed not since fish are always excited and gathered at the front when I feed. They act like they haven't been fed in days each time.
Thanks for reading and helping a discouraged noob.