Mixed reef success

[Scottm032]

I have had great success in the past with mixed reef. I had fast growing high end sps full of color, bounce mushrooms and high end chalice kicking butt. My tank only sufferred when I bought a boat and neglected the **** out of it.

I am restarting another mixed tank. The main difference is this Reefmat. In the past I kept filter socks and rarely cleaned them. Lots of sludge in my sump. This reefmat is great but I have noticed my nutrients are all but gone. Very low and sometimes undetectable. I started with zoas, some lower end chalice and 2 sticks. A cherry bomb and a pink floyd. Everything is ok but not to my liking. I am hoping my tank will mature some, win my confidence, and I will add more expensive corals.

I have had this tank for 10 years. I removed some old rock, added some of the dry stuff and cleaned a lot of the old stuff killing off the biological benefit in a large way. I am still waiting for some coraline to develop.

So my question is can I eventually keep high end bounce mushrooms, chalice, sps, etc in a tank with almost undetectable nutrients? I have never attempted this and am wondering if you guys are having success with ULNS mixed reef systems.

 

[TX_REEF]

I had a smiliar issue with low/zero nutrients. Nothing was thriving for me. I was running a reefmat, skimmer and algae turf scrubber. I removed the skimmer and algae turf scrubber and the issue resolved. I did add an airstone in the sump for oxygenation since the skimmer also functions as a gas exchange device.

Others may currently have success with low nutrient systems; if that's your goal I'm sure others can chime in.

Best of luck with your new system!