Nutrient levels and sps

[reeferfoxx]

Understood. I will go over everything tonight. I've been using Red Sea pro test kits but I will also use my Api test kit and compare the readings.

My photo period is 12 hours with 5 hour ramp up/down and 2 hours at peak. I'm running a hydra 26 had on a 24" x 22" tank and peak intensity is 50% and I run them at 14k.

I only noticed the bleaching after I started to dose nopox and my nitrates dropped quick from 18ppm to 5-8ppm in about a week. Since then I cut the dose in half and my nitrates have been hovering around the 8ppm range. Phosphate has always been low and is currently .03 - .04

My salinity has always been at 1.026 tested with a refractometer and I always make sure my water changes match perfect. Temp hovers 78 degrees and never swings more then a degree up or down.

I'm. Ot sure what other info I can give but please anything else that may help I will provide.

Natural sea water keeps PO4 around 0.005. Your PO4 is about 10 times higher than that. You actually have some text book parameters for a perfect tank. However, you have begun nopox and the tank is only 5 months old. That is kind of strange to me.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Should I try and lower the light intensity 10% ?

Yes.
The rule of thumb is to set a coral on the bottom as it is usually the area of the least light. So you may have on of 2 problems. A difference in ALk(not likely I think, going from low alk to high) or too much light. rather too much light too fast. as corals will acclimate to a point. So if nutrients were fluctuating and esp low. itll have probs.

 

[Rpc07]

When I first got the frag I placed it about halfway up my rock work for a few weeks then moved it to the top. Does age of a tank matter with nopox? My nitrates were 15-18ppm so I started to dose to bring them down along with water changes. Should I stop nopox all together and see what happens?

I'm new to sps obviously and I'm trying to learn but don't want to sacrifice a bunch of frags to do so.

Reeferfoxx you mentioned that my p04 is about 10 times higher then sea water but at the same time said my parameters are textbook for a perfect tank?

I really appreciate all the help from everyone.

 

[Marek-S]

Do you use any gfo to control phosphates ? Sometimes over doing it may cose bleaching .
I use half or even 1/3 of what they recomand .

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Lux meter basic
5000 lux = 100 par.
Is 10% 100 par dunno.
lowering intensity from 300 par to 200 or below will probably help though.

theres a sale on Amazon! $12.99
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AQT68CO/ref=sr_ph_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473288546&sr=sr-1&keywords=lux
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lighting-upgrade-with-a-lux-meter-saltyfilmfolks.248417/

 

[Rpc07]

Do you use any gfo to control phosphates ? Sometimes over doing it may cose bleaching .
I use half or even 1/3 of what they recomand .

Before nopox I used the full amount of gfo to control p04. Once I noticed the bleaching I cut the amount in half and that is where I am at now.

Lux meter basic
5000 lux = 100 par.
Is 10% 100 par dunno.
lowering intensity from 300 par to 200 or below will probably help though.

theres a sale on Amazon! $12.99
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AQT68CO/ref=sr_ph_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473288546&sr=sr-1&keywords=lux
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lighting-upgrade-with-a-lux-meter-saltyfilmfolks.248417/

For 13 bucks I'll be ordering the lux meter and I'll figure out how to use it when it comes in.

 

[Ike]

1.) I personally don't like the slow ramp up and ramp down of lights and long photo period. 6-8 hours of intense light is what I suggest and have had great success with. Corals can usually handle shorter periods of high light, it's often too long of a photo period that causes problems. Also, the ramping up and ramping down of intensity seems to do nothing for the corals, it's for the human. If your setup is mine, I'm probably running it full blast for 7-8 hours

2.) carbon dosing is too difficult for experts to understand and control, that goes doubly for beginners. I don't think anyone other than maybe fowlr keepers should be carbon dosing, but if you're going to do it having some years under your belt helps quite a bit. I haven't seen a whole lot of great long term tanks that carbon dose. I think the reliance and commonness of carbon dosing has been a step backwards for SPS tanks in particular. Driving nutrients too low is very damaging to corals and it happens with many (most?) people when carbon dosing at some point.

 

[david p.]

hi,

take my advice with caution cause i'm new to the hobby. but i found that my birdnest did better in mid to lower section of the tank with med flow. i initialy installed them on top with hight light/ flow and they kinda stalled and did not show growth or little growth. since i moved them, the growth really explode... it could also be acclimatation to my parameters.

 

[reeferfoxx]

1.) I personally don't like the slow ramp up and ramp down of lights and long photo period. 6-8 hours of intense light is what I suggest and have had great success with. Corals can usually handle shorter periods of high light, it's often too long of a photo period that causes problems. Also, the ramping up and ramping down of intensity seems to do nothing for the corals, it's for the human. If your setup is mine, I'm probably running it full blast for 7-8 hours

2.) carbon dosing is too difficult for experts to understand and control, that goes doubly for beginners. I don't think anyone other than maybe fowlr keepers should be carbon dosing, but if you're going to do it having some years under your belt helps quite a bit. I haven't seen a whole lot of great long term tanks that carbon dose. I think the reliance and commonness of carbon dosing has been a step backwards for SPS tanks in particular. Driving nutrients too low is very damaging to corals and it happens with many (most?) people when carbon dosing at some point.

I agree with the carbon dosing statement, some what. However the ramping up and down is nothing more than mimicking a natural solar cycle. Despite what you think, nature does it. Granted i have both types of light fixtures. Coral do adapt. That is why light acclimation is important.

 

[Rpc07]

I think I'm going to stop dosing nopox and monitor everything and give it a few weeks and see how things are doing.

 

[Ike]

Nat

I agree with the carbon dosing statement, some what. However the ramping up and down is nothing more than mimicking a natural solar cycle. Despite what you think, nature does it. Granted i have both types of light fixtures. Coral do adapt. That is why light acclimation is important.

The light in nature might vary in intensity depending on the point in the day, but that doesn't mean it's needed or even beneficial for our aquariums. Plus from what I've seen, blasting a tank for 6-8 hours with only a short ramp up and ramp down time might be more like nature.

Plus, nature has crown of thorns starfish too and hurricanes too, doesn't mean I'll be shipping the covers den for one and adding an outboard motor to my tank once or twice a year :p

 

[reeferfoxx]

Nat


The light in nature might vary in intensity depending on the point in the day, but that doesn't mean it's needed or even beneficial for our aquariums. Plus from what I've seen, blasting a tank for 6-8 hours with only a short ramp up and ramp down time might be more like nature.

Plus, nature has crown of thorns starfish too and hurricanes too, doesn't mean I'll be shipping the covers den for one and adding an outboard motor to my tank once or twice a year :p

:rolleyes:

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Ya all gotta admit, despite the differences in method being used and recommended, it all seems to be working. Scientifically that's pretty interesting, personally, I think its cool I was here to observe it.
Thanks yall. Good thread!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I think I'm going to stop dosing nopox and monitor everything and give it a few weeks and see how things are doing.

Cool. Hopefully it finds it own balance.
Are you on A refugium? I like them. They really seem to add stability, of course...IMO;)

 

[Rpc07]

I have a very small refugium it's all my sump will allow. Some rubble rock and a baseball size of cheato. I never expected much nutrient export from it mostly counted on it for pod reproduction.

 

[Rpc07]

Here is my sump setup. I turned the included ato container into a mini fuge by drilling it and using my gfo reactor to feed it, it drains directly into my return chamber.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Nice!