My SPS dominant 180g

[bubbaque]

I dosed in the sump and in the display.

 

[CoralWealth]

well I made my own fish food tonight and I have a feeling that after a little bit of this. I am going to have no problems with my nitrates and phosphates, we will see though.

Turned the whole tank cloudy and the fish were going NUTS for the bigger pieces and some of the corals had the best daytime PE I have seen in one long time.

 

[mcarroll]

well I made my own fish food tonight and I have a feeling that after a little bit of this. I am going to have no problems with my nitrates and phosphates, we will see though.

Turned the whole tank cloudy and the fish were going NUTS for the bigger pieces and some of the corals had the best daytime PE I have seen in one long time.

Solving N or P problems through feeding seems to get mixed results at best. So I agree there's a good chance you do need to feed at least a little more than you had been (only make small adjustments!), but that's a longer term plan.

In the short term, dosing a more or less pure form of NO3 and PO4 is what seems to generate results. For dino's try to maintain PO4 ≥ 0.10 ppm and NO3 ≥ 5 ppm.

(I may have said that already. )

 

[Sahin]

well I made my own fish food tonight and I have a feeling that after a little bit of this. I am going to have no problems with my nitrates and phosphates, we will see though.

Turned the whole tank cloudy and the fish were going NUTS for the bigger pieces and some of the corals had the best daytime PE I have seen in one long time.

How are the SPS doing now? What things did you put into your home made fish food blend? How did you make it? Please share with us.

 

[CoralWealth]

How are the SPS doing now? What things did you put into your home made fish food blend? How did you make it? Please share with us.

SPS overall are doing good. I did have a small problem when I went on vacation and alk rose from 7 to above 9, no idea how fast it rose but I lost a couple frags.

Still not getting the colors I want on the corals, but I attribute a lot of that on me going on vacation and alk jumping around. I am not going on vacation for awhile so hopefully I can keep it stable.

Fish food was nori, squid, shrimp, mussels, clams, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, blood worms, krill, silverssides, pellets and flakes.

 

[CoralWealth]

I also added a pair of blue throat triggerfish, they are eating a lot but still shy with all my tangs, etc. luckily nothing is bothering them, they just get scared when i get up to the tank

 

[CoralWealth]

Corals looked really good this morning with PE which was good to see. Still trying to keep alk stable around 7-7.5. Have to figure out the sweet spot dosing wise.

I also started up dosing FWS and coral
Booster again to see if that'll help color or accelerate growth. I also have acropower being dosed once a day after lights out, only 10 ml. I did order Reef actif and I may start dosing that.

 

[CoralWealth]

First good picture I have been able to take with my iPhone that actually shows it's true colors under just the reefbrites

 

[mcarroll]

I also started up dosing FWS and coral
Booster again to see if that'll help color or accelerate growth. I also have acropower being dosed once a day after lights out, only 10 ml. I did order Reef actif and I may start dosing that.

I know you've been working on this: https://www.reef2reef.com/search/2442304/
(A little of this info could be repeat.)

But it sounds like N, P and alk are still "a bit waggley"....definitely the weak links in your system at the moment and the most likely causes of any and all coral issues mentioned.

I'd really really suggest not do any of the things you mentioned adding until you have already:

• stabilized alk at your preferred level (≥ 7 dKH)
• stabilized NO3 at ≥ 5-10 ppm
• stabilized PO4 at ≥ 0.10 ppm

Note that ≥ means greater than or equal to – this will be your minimum ppm, not maximum.

• Keep both nutrient values at or above these ranges and dino's will disappear.
• Every time P dips to zero it favors a bloom of dino's...about the same for N.
• Every time the dino's bloom, they put a little greater strain on the tank's nutrient inputs even after the bloom is gone.
• So dosing N and P nutrients is actually balancing the nutrients in the tank, not raising them.
• All of these things will coincidentally resolve your coral color issues (etc), BTW.
• Also, if you aren't already running activated carbon I would start.

Even if you were, start running it in smaller quantities that you change out more frequently for max potency......dino toxins will irritate more than just your corals! Keep an eye on your pod and snail population....if the pods are just sitting around instead of zipping, they may be consuming toxic dinos. Similar for your snails. Your pods may already be gone...that happens too.

 

[CoralWealth]

I know you've been working on this: https://www.reef2reef.com/search/2442304/
(A little of this info could be repeat.)

But it sounds like N, P and alk are still "a bit waggley"....definitely the weak links in your system at the moment and the most likely causes of any and all coral issues mentioned.

I'd really really suggest not do any of the things you mentioned adding until you have already:

• stabilized alk at your preferred level (≥ 7 dKH)
• stabilized NO3 at ≥ 5-10 ppm
• stabilized PO4 at ≥ 0.10 ppm

Note that ≥ means greater than or equal to – this will be your minimum ppm, not maximum.

• Keep both nutrient values at or above these ranges and dino's will disappear.
• Every time P dips to zero it favors a bloom of dino's...about the same for N.
• Every time the dino's bloom, they put a little greater strain on the tank's nutrient inputs even after the bloom is gone.
• So dosing N and P nutrients is actually balancing the nutrients in the tank, not raising them.
• All of these things will coincidentally resolve your coral color issues (etc), BTW.
• Also, if you aren't already running activated carbon I would start.

Even if you were, start running it in smaller quantities that you change out more frequently for max potency......dino toxins will irritate more than just your corals! Keep an eye on your pod and snail population....if the pods are just sitting around instead of zipping, they may be consuming toxic dinos. Similar for your snails. Your pods may already be gone...that happens too.

Thanks for all that! I am feeding more, etc to try to raise n and p. Alk will be stable now since I'm not going on anymore vacations. I don't have dinos anymore and haven't for a couple weeks actually.

 

[mcarroll]

Thanks for all that! I am feeding more, etc to try to raise n and p. Alk will be stable now since I'm not going on anymore vacations. I don't have dinos anymore and haven't for a couple weeks actually.

I'm glad to hear still no more dino's!!!

Feeding more doesn't help correct N and P imbalance if there is one, BTW. In fact it can throw things further off if increases aren't done in moderation.

I think you had noted some coral issues and then the added processes you mentioned made me nervous in light of the current N and P levels/consistency.....that's all! For your coral's sake as well as for the dino's don't ease up on dosing for N and P as much as needed until you stop seeing either one trend toward zero so hard.

 

[CoralWealth]

I am going to continue to feed a lot and go from there. I am going to continue to add the FWS and CB till I run out which will be in a couple weeks and then see if I notice a difference after I stop.

I did pick up the reef activ but am not sure if I want to dose yet, I don't think it can hurt anything.

Also I have an INSANE amount of aiptasia right now and I am not sure how to get rid of it. should I get a filefish or will my triggers kill them? I really want to get rid of them but the aiptasia x would take me forever and I know they will come back right away if I do it that way, especially since I have so many in the sand.

 

[mcarroll]

If you didn't aiptasiaX the first ones you saw and let the aiptasia spread for any length of time, that's bad....very hard to eradicate.

All critters you'd want to add to your tank don't really like them, but they'll eat them if nothing else (like flakes, pellets) is available. If you can semi-starve your tank for a while (like you have no fish) and add a BUNCH of peppermint shrimp, they'll clear them out quickly. But in a well-fed tank with fish, they will eat everything but aiptasia and they'll stay too shy to go out hunting for them

Klein's Butterflyfish is my favorite aiptasia eater, but like the rest of the fish, they can also switch to other polyps....aiptasia are usually the first to go, but they might not be the last – especially if there's ever a lag in your feeding routine. Poly-eating fish will not stick to aiptasia if they're HUNGRY.

Feeding more is cool if that's what you want to do, but don't think of that as doing anything to balance nutrients is all. Feeding will not balance nutrients that are already out of whack. (Not saying that's your case....just saying "if".)

 

[mcarroll]

I forgot to add that you can do it manually with Aiptasia X, but you have to be persistent and do some every day. I usually choose that route vs adding livestock, believe it or not. (I don't do it at all when it's up to me though – the first one burns!!!!!! )

 

[mcarroll]

Also forgot to mention nudibranchs....they're dedicated and will only eat aiptasia. Unfortunately they are both expensive and a delicacy in most reef tanks – they simply disappear into the rocks never to be seen again in many cases. Not great odds considering the cost. Still, they could work....especially on a new-ish tank where there might not be so many predators.

 

[CoralWealth]

yeah i know aiptasia x will help get rid of them but there are too many now that I cannot use that or I would be doing it for a long butt time every single day, which yeah isnt going to happen so I am looking into different options

 

[mcarroll]

yeah i know aiptasia x will help get rid of them but there are too many now that I cannot use that or I would be doing it for a long *** time every single day, which yeah isnt going to happen so I am looking into different options

I did the manual method on a 180G that was RIFE with them. I spent no more than an hour a week, but I did it every single week. If you could hit it more often, you wouldn't have to spend as much time per treatment.

The point is that even though it seems unwinnable when you look at how many there are, you don't have to get them all at once.....work at a human rate and you'll get em. You just can't give up or take a break. For heaven's sake don't run out of Aptasia X!!

Fish are the next best thing IMO, then peppermint shrimp and nudibranch's after that....but none of those options are any more perfect than manual when all things are considered. Manual is the only one guaranteed to work....just happens to be the most effort too. Pick your favorite downside.

(I've spent a lot of time slaying aiptasia....I do feel your pain. If a mojano wand would have helped you get on top of the problem sooner, then get one of those to have around "next time". Highly effective, but too laborious for multitudes of them.)

 

[CoralWealth]

yeah i guess i better get on it then haha

 

[Daniel@R2R]

First good picture I have been able to take with my iPhone that actually shows it's true colors under just the reefbrites

Beautiful pic!

 

[CoralWealth]

Beautiful pic!

Thanks! I dont think I will ever do better with my iPhone haha, eventually I will have my friend come over to take some good pictures.