Keeping nutrients during fallow period

[bevo5]

So I started a fallow period about two weeks ago. I've been feeding the corals a healthy amount - and trying to drop in food at a somewhat consistent basis, but my nutrient level has just bottomed out completely.

It's a 200g tank and I only had a few fish in there for about two weeks before the fallow period began.

Since I was still feeding the tank I thought I'd just leave the skimmer on and run everything as normal, but now I'm thinking I should just take the collection cup off and stop skimming.

What other options would I have besides dosing? I could just toss more food in - would that work? I don't really want to feed the vermetid snails by just dumping food in.

 

[brandon429]

the only animals left in a tank I can envision after fish are made absent don't really need nutrients if they're being spot fed

doesn't matter if dissolved nutrients are super low if the corals are fat and bulge from a meal.

the low N period is good for the system to hopefully dynamically impact any algae that might be seeded.

even if you have low to no N and P for a while, the good 72 days of quarantine, no coral would care as long as you shot some mysis ground up in the pie hole

pods and small worms and cuc can sustain off the minor feedings that were spot fed and then cast out, or the existing organic stores. a good fallow run is good for the whole reef too as long as the hungry corals got some direct sustenance.

In fact, the healthiest a reef tank could be would be true verified zero nitrate and phosphate and fat animals and coral at the same time.

Feeding and import/export schemes have to be so ideal to attain that, we hardly ever do...so a tradeoff is made to allow a few ppm of nitrate and a couple hundredths phosphate to save work while not giving algae too much dissolved material which favors them and not corals

 

[bevo5]

Ah got it.

So far I've only noticed one coral looking weird. It's a big ora red planet that was spreading like crazy. Now it's starting to get pale/white around the edges and the polyps don't expand much. I was thinking maybe that was nutrients related. I've been feeding reef chili.

Any other good stuff I should be dropping in to help feed?

 

[Bronc]

So I started a fallow period about two weeks ago. I've been feeding the corals a healthy amount - and trying to drop in food at a somewhat consistent basis, but my nutrient level has just bottomed out completely.

It's a 200g tank and I only had a few fish in there for about two weeks before the fallow period began.

Since I was still feeding the tank I thought I'd just leave the skimmer on and run everything as normal, but now I'm thinking I should just take the collection cup off and stop skimming.

What other options would I have besides dosing? I could just toss more food in - would that work? I don't really want to feed the vermetid snails by just dumping food in.

My tank is fallow right now as well and I'm dosing ME Polyp Extender and Spectracide Stump Remover to keep my nitrates up around 2-4.

 

[brandon429]

I personally can get any coral to eat finely ground up or pestled mysids and cyclopeeze

or rods, any good frozen meaty fare but really ground up finely as a tiny exacting spot injection using a pipette

*lighting needs to drop for sure in this type of period* intensity and duration a fair bit, relative to the amnt of nutrient withholdings you can discern through details like that above. bright production level lighting is meant for normal feed and adapted nutrient periods, simulate some extended clouding on the reef to lessen stress related bleaching here most certainly.