robwcormack
Community Member
I don’t understand what exactly this is and why it won’t go away. The sand will whiten up and I touch it but it comes right back the next day. It’s even down in the sand bed. The rocks are covered. It’s a dark burgundy. I thought cyano but I’m not certain. My water parameters seem good.
Nitrate 7.5-8
Phosphate 0.04-0.06
Cal 440
Mag 1400
Alk 7.7-8.7
All checked with Hanna 1-2x per week except the cal and mag about every 2-3 weeks because they’ve been pretty stable. 20%+ water changes the last 2 weeks.
I have tried changing the flow through my uv higher and lower with not much change if any. Using reefmat and skimmer.
My nitrates and phosphates were pretty much zero for a while until about a month ago I started dosing both to keep at a decent level which has been stable. Been dosing 2 part esv cal and alk for many months now and it has been stable.
My snails keep dying and I’ve had a couple small new fish die because they were bullied and hid in the rocks never coming out to eat. Couldn’t find them for weeks. Finally saw what was left of one on the sand a couple days ago and got that out.
Corals have all been doing great and are growing like weeds. BTA has been fine and not moved since put in.
Just doesn’t make sense to me.
Rock was base rock that had cycled in another tank before I upgraded to this bigger one about 6 months ago.
Any advice? Turn off UV and dose MB7 or waste away or something for a bit?
When I stop or reduce dosing nitrate or phosphates they go down relatively quickly. I was under the impression that those things as well as stuff like chemipure reduce nitrate and phosphates but maybe they do more that I’m not fully understanding.
I attached pics which I tried to adjust to make it look as close to in person as I could, but it looks worse in person than the pics by a significant amount. I’m fairly new to all this, so thanks for any help.
Nitrate 7.5-8
Phosphate 0.04-0.06
Cal 440
Mag 1400
Alk 7.7-8.7
All checked with Hanna 1-2x per week except the cal and mag about every 2-3 weeks because they’ve been pretty stable. 20%+ water changes the last 2 weeks.
I have tried changing the flow through my uv higher and lower with not much change if any. Using reefmat and skimmer.
My nitrates and phosphates were pretty much zero for a while until about a month ago I started dosing both to keep at a decent level which has been stable. Been dosing 2 part esv cal and alk for many months now and it has been stable.
My snails keep dying and I’ve had a couple small new fish die because they were bullied and hid in the rocks never coming out to eat. Couldn’t find them for weeks. Finally saw what was left of one on the sand a couple days ago and got that out.
Corals have all been doing great and are growing like weeds. BTA has been fine and not moved since put in.
Just doesn’t make sense to me.
Rock was base rock that had cycled in another tank before I upgraded to this bigger one about 6 months ago.
Any advice? Turn off UV and dose MB7 or waste away or something for a bit?
When I stop or reduce dosing nitrate or phosphates they go down relatively quickly. I was under the impression that those things as well as stuff like chemipure reduce nitrate and phosphates but maybe they do more that I’m not fully understanding.
I attached pics which I tried to adjust to make it look as close to in person as I could, but it looks worse in person than the pics by a significant amount. I’m fairly new to all this, so thanks for any help.
