Hi guys, I'm new to reefing and have been trying my hand at softies.
I have a 72 gal bowfront with no sump, a deep sand bed, lots of live rock, and just a HOB filter. I've heard the HOB skimmers are not very good so I've never bothered.
The coral have been doing really well, and look great. My issue is they just don't seem to have much growth at all. I have some GSP, A Kenya tree, and a Toadstool. Recently I just added a couple mushroom frags. I've had the coral for a year and they are in a well established tank of 5 yrs. I've had great success with inverts in this tank also. My cleaner shrimp and crabs have all been happy and alive for 4 years now, and I have a healthy growing snail population. I also have coralline algae going nuts in the tank. Fish are all also happy and healthy.
The coral always looks happy and extended, but my GSP has only gotten a little bigger, but hasn't even grown off the frag plug. My kenya tree has also grown very little and hasn't spread. My xenia melted off and disappeared, and my toadstool has also grown very little. I attempted a hammer frag and it died after 2-3 weeks. It seems everyone else has this stuff grown like a weed, even in an immature or neglected tank.
Looking for some experienced advice. I admit that I don't do water changes, I only top off. But I've never had an issue with nitrates either, they typically are low to non-existent. Do you think I should test for calcium and alkalinity?
If I have to be honest with myself, I have let evaporation go inexcusably too far on a few occasions requiring 5 gallons to bring back. But I have brought it back slowly each time to avoid a large swing in salinity. I'm going to try my best to stay on top of this going forwards. Are there any ATO systems that work without a sump?
For lighting I have a Fluval Reef LED that I run 15 hrs a day at 50% white, 50% pink, 75% cyan, 100% purple.
PH is 8.0
Salinity is 1.025
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Nitrates 10ppm
Temp 76
Thanks in advance for any advice. I would really like to increase my success and move on to other corals, but I want to be successful with softies first.
I have a 72 gal bowfront with no sump, a deep sand bed, lots of live rock, and just a HOB filter. I've heard the HOB skimmers are not very good so I've never bothered.
The coral have been doing really well, and look great. My issue is they just don't seem to have much growth at all. I have some GSP, A Kenya tree, and a Toadstool. Recently I just added a couple mushroom frags. I've had the coral for a year and they are in a well established tank of 5 yrs. I've had great success with inverts in this tank also. My cleaner shrimp and crabs have all been happy and alive for 4 years now, and I have a healthy growing snail population. I also have coralline algae going nuts in the tank. Fish are all also happy and healthy.
The coral always looks happy and extended, but my GSP has only gotten a little bigger, but hasn't even grown off the frag plug. My kenya tree has also grown very little and hasn't spread. My xenia melted off and disappeared, and my toadstool has also grown very little. I attempted a hammer frag and it died after 2-3 weeks. It seems everyone else has this stuff grown like a weed, even in an immature or neglected tank.
Looking for some experienced advice. I admit that I don't do water changes, I only top off. But I've never had an issue with nitrates either, they typically are low to non-existent. Do you think I should test for calcium and alkalinity?
If I have to be honest with myself, I have let evaporation go inexcusably too far on a few occasions requiring 5 gallons to bring back. But I have brought it back slowly each time to avoid a large swing in salinity. I'm going to try my best to stay on top of this going forwards. Are there any ATO systems that work without a sump?
For lighting I have a Fluval Reef LED that I run 15 hrs a day at 50% white, 50% pink, 75% cyan, 100% purple.
PH is 8.0
Salinity is 1.025
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Nitrates 10ppm
Temp 76
Thanks in advance for any advice. I would really like to increase my success and move on to other corals, but I want to be successful with softies first.