Let’s talk dirty water and Sps

[Acrocrazy725]

It’s very difficult for me to keep nitrates up. I feed heavy and NO3 is < 1 PPM. Phosphate on the other hand is .15 to .25. I am trying to avoid GFO because I have always felt that my tank looks worse after using it. Regardless if the the PO4 comes down or not

I started running Rowa phos in a reactor when my phosphates jumped to .9 . All my acros looked really good… go figure. That is way too high for me and feel long term would not be good.
my total system water volume is around 300gal and I only use a cup of it every month. I have been doing this for seven months it has worked well. I also float a mesh bag with a cup of rowaphos because it is lees powerful in bag and gives me much slower changes when needed.

For me, I feed fish 5+ times a day and enjoy doing so. So therefore, I have a high bio load. Presently, My phos is around .09-.14. Still would be happier at .05. And if it takes me another 6 months I’ll get there slowly.
nitrates stable 25.
I wanted to avoid GFO too. This is another avenue that is working well for me.
I use the two little fishies phosban 150 which is smaller one.
How old is your tank?

 

[Slocke]

Nitrates 30
Phosphates about 0.6

I'm not really into SPS just got a mystery pack on a whim. My lights are not good enough really either so with that taken into account.

Results in descending order:

• 2 Birdsnests: One bailed out the other partially bailed but is hanging in there
• Red montipora - Lost all color now an ugly yellow-orange
• 2 Stlyophora - Good color. Little growth.
• Pavona - great color and good growth.

 

[homer1475]

I started running Rowa phos in a reactor when my phosphates jumped to .9 . All my acros looked really good… go figure. That is way too high for me and feel long term would not be good.
my total system water volume is around 300gal and I only use a cup of it every month. I have been doing this for seven months it has worked well. I also float a mesh bag with a cup of rowaphos because it is lees powerful in bag and gives me much slower changes when needed.

For me, I feed fish 5+ times a day and enjoy doing so. So therefore, I have a high bio load. Presently, My phos is around .09-.14. Still would be happier at .05. And if it takes me another 6 months I’ll get there slowly.
nitrates stable 25.
I wanted to avoid GFO too. This is another avenue that is working well for me.
I use the two little fishies phosban 150 which is smaller one.
How old is your tank?

You are totally contradicting yourself here, and not totally sure if you mean to, or are even aware you are.

Rowaphos is GFO. It's just labeled as a proprietary mix, but it's basically expensive GFO.

I have learned over the years that GFO in itself is not bad, it's how fast it can strip the water thats bad. I change my media reactor every other week, and use just a mere 3tbsp to drop phosphates from .2 to .1 in a couple days

 

[92Miata]

My last system naturally ran near undetectable as acros started to grow well/large for the tank volume. I feed heavy and kept a decent amount of fish and things looked great at that range. Things were hardy but also under MH/led. Color was great. Near undetectable was pretty much zero on test kits or very close to it but ICP would show traces of both no3/po4.

I think its important for people to understand that PO4 and NO3 numbers don't tell the whole story about coral nutritional needs, and that the combination of ULNS and super heavy feeding generally works fine. It's the combination of low inorganic nutrient levels and low feeding that tends to be a disaster.

Corals need nitrogen and phosphorus. They can get them via absorbing inorganic nutrients through the water column, through consuming bacteria, and a whole bunch of other ways. Make changes based on coral health and coloration, not based on some magic target number.

 

[Troylee]

I started running Rowa phos in a reactor when my phosphates jumped to .9 . All my acros looked really good… go figure. That is way too high for me and feel long term would not be good.
my total system water volume is around 300gal and I only use a cup of it every month. I have been doing this for seven months it has worked well. I also float a mesh bag with a cup of rowaphos because it is lees powerful in bag and gives me much slower changes when needed.

For me, I feed fish 5+ times a day and enjoy doing so. So therefore, I have a high bio load. Presently, My phos is around .09-.14. Still would be happier at .05. And if it takes me another 6 months I’ll get there slowly.
nitrates stable 25.
I wanted to avoid GFO too. This is another avenue that is working well for me.
I use the two little fishies phosban 150 which is smaller one.
How old is your tank?

My tank is about 10 years old but was just a fowlr.. there for it was neglected pretty bad! Well I wouldn’t say neglected because it was spotless but water changes and dosing etc never happened and didn’t need to happen.. I’ve cleaned it all up and everything is great but the nitrates siting around 100 ugh lol.. it has its pros on cons on buying such an old tank! It’s pest free besides a ton of bristle worms and some sponges loving life lol… zero aptasia or flat worms etc.. it’s coming around!

 

[Troylee]

I think its important for people to understand that PO4 and NO3 numbers don't tell the whole story about coral nutritional needs, and that the combination of ULNS and super heavy feeding generally works fine. It's the combination of low inorganic nutrient levels and low feeding that tends to be a disaster.

Corals need nitrogen and phosphorus. They can get them via absorbing inorganic nutrients through the water column, through consuming bacteria, and a whole bunch of other ways. Make changes based on coral health and coloration, not based on some magic target number.

That’s my plan this time! Last time I chased numbers and was successful but man!! Talk about a chore and lots of money spent lol.. I did realize back then when I quit messing with the tank I had the best results! I never even did a water change the last 2 years I just kept dosing mb7 and vodka and it was perfect… this tank is just mb7 and vodka and topping off with kalk to keep the ph up..

 

[Thor2j]

Or over feeding or neglect like this tank had before I got it.. there’s plenty of ways to raise nutrients.. I think people are dosing way too much stuff any more these days chasing numbers to bottom everything out.. it’s crazy how much this hobby has changed in the last 15 years..

It would be nearly impossible to overfeed, neglect , or other without raising both. His point was high nitrates and barely detectable phosphates. .08 was a max but said detectable was the best. This is nearly impossible to obtain without either dosing nitrates or dosing a phophates remover.

 

[las]

I started running Rowa phos in a reactor when my phosphates jumped to .9 . All my acros looked really good… go figure. That is way too high for me and feel long term would not be good.
my total system water volume is around 300gal and I only use a cup of it every month. I have been doing this for seven months it has worked well. I also float a mesh bag with a cup of rowaphos because it is lees powerful in bag and gives me much slower changes when needed.

For me, I feed fish 5+ times a day and enjoy doing so. So therefore, I have a high bio load. Presently, My phos is around .09-.14. Still would be happier at .05. And if it takes me another 6 months I’ll get there slowly.
nitrates stable 25.
I wanted to avoid GFO too. This is another avenue that is working well for me.
I use the two little fishies phosban 150 which is smaller one.
How old is your tank?

4 months old

 

[Rick5]

@Troylee - Did you ever test your tank's phosphate? I'm curious what phosphate level you are/were running alongside nitrate of 100.

 

[Rick5]

double post

 

[Troylee]

@Troylee - Did you ever test your tank's phosphate? I'm curious what phosphate level you are/were running alongside nitrate of 100.

Yes I did! It was running at .54 haha! Not much I could do! I bought the tank used and just went full bore ahead! I’ve currently got both down and I’m not liking it! Right now it’s at 10 nitrates and .18 po4 my Sps slowed growing and my torches lost a lot of color… I’m currently over feeding my tank and dosing Neo nitro to raise it all back up! I’m okay with the po4 but I want my nitrates around 30-40 personally.. I had a hair algae outbreak cause I added some new dry rock and messed it all up ugh.. once the hair took over it bottomed out my no3… a sea hare had his way with the hair algae quick and now I’m bringing it all up..

 

[Troylee]

double post

My sticks were never faded by either! I got 46 different corals at the moment.. I gotta start thinning the heard as they grow out.. it’s only a 60 gallon cube lol..

 

[Rick5]

Yes I did! It was running at .54 haha! Not much I could do! I bought the tank used and just went full bore ahead! I’ve currently got both down and I’m not liking it! Right now it’s at 10 nitrates and .18 po4 my Sps slowed growing and my torches lost a lot of color… I’m currently over feeding my tank and dosing Neo nitro to raise it all back up! I’m okay with the po4 but I want my nitrates around 30-40 personally.. I had a hair algae outbreak cause I added some new dry rock and messed it all up ugh.. once the hair took over it bottomed out my no3… a sea hare had his way with the hair algae quick and now I’m bringing it all up..

What a combo - 100 nitrate and .54 phosphate, but it was working. Hopefully things bounce back quickly for you.

Sea hares are incredible for hair algae (and dry rock is the devil).

 

[Rick5]

My sticks were never faded by either! I got 46 different corals at the moment.. I gotta start thinning the heard as they grow out.. it’s only a 60 gallon cube lol..

That's going to fill in really well. I've always liked cubes, particularly with SPS. I like the look.

 

[Troylee]

What a combo - 100 nitrate and .54 phosphate, but it was working. Hopefully things bounce back quickly for you.

Sea hares are incredible for hair algae (and dry rock is the devil).

Agreed! Everything in the tank loved the high nutrients so I’m working them back up.. I don’t know high I wanna go with the po4 but I’m gonna keep it down for now and see if it rises with the no3… I’ve lost a 2 corals since I got the tank 6 months ago and that was due to Dino’s.. I had the toxic stringy ones and they took out a birds nest and a torch that ingested them. Rrrr

 

[Rick5]

Agreed! Everything in the tank loved the high nutrients so I’m working them back up.. I don’t know high I wanna go with the po4 but I’m gonna keep it down for now and see if it rises with the no3… I’ve lost a 2 corals since I got the tank 6 months ago and that was due to Dino’s.. I had the toxic stringy ones and they took out a birds nest and a torch that ingested them. Rrrr

Keep us posted on how this shakes out.

Consider yourself lucky with only a 2 coral loss after dinos. It's heartbreaking watching dinos decimate SPS.

 

[Troylee]

Keep us posted on how this shakes out.

Consider yourself lucky with only a 2 coral loss after dinos. It's heartbreaking watching dinos decimate SPS.

I was very vigilant with a turkey baster every couple hours when I was home lol.. it actually made my arm and hand break out which I’ve never had in my life… it stung to put my hand in and left little sores on my arm.. all is good now!

 

[Fish Styx]

Filth is fun! <to a degree> . IME, the trick is to keep it coming in at the same rate it is going out. I remember the old ULNS days, but those amazing pastel colors we got were essentially from us keeping our corals suspended on death's door, IMO. We know a lot more these days, no doubt in part to the work done by a lot of the seasoned hobbyists on this forum. Great pics, BTW.

 

[Troylee]

Filth is fun! <to a degree> . IME, the trick is to keep it coming in at the same rate it is going out. I remember the old ULNS days, but those amazing pastel colors we got were essentially from us keeping our corals suspended on death's door, IMO. We know a lot more these days, no doubt in part to the work done by a lot of the seasoned hobbyists on this forum. Great pics, BTW.

I was one that ran a ulns 15 years ago.. I took a long break and just got back in myself a few months ago.. it’s changed! Everything has changed lol

 

[Fish Styx]

I was one that ran a ulns 15 years ago.. I took a long break and just got back in myself a few months ago.. it’s changed! Everything has changed lol

Very similar story here. I had a hiatus from 2014 until 2021. January 2nd to January 2nd. I made the switch the SW from GW back in '09 and started reefing in the ULNS days. By the time I had to take a break, I had moved away from it because I had some LPS in my system and found that, not only did they do better with some "dirt", but so did my acros!