One thing you did that NOTICEABLY IMPROVED your reef tank?

[Chessmanmark]

Added utility fish,
Filefish for aiptasia
Foxface wiped out my Bryopsis problem
Vrolik’s wrasse for pests

 

[Tankkeepers]

I stoped using all the extra equipment and went down to a filter pad and water change that's it

My opinion all the extra stuff does not make a better tank or even easier let alone more stable it only adds more fail points the can and will one day cause a crash and wipe the tank

I'm at the point in my tank it's so stable I can leave off the pump for 24 hours and no adverse effects at all I know iv done it on accident

A backup battery doesn't help when you forget to turn it on

 

[BrianAnthony]

I was battling gha and my nitrates were high. I constantly had green algae growing on the glass in a matter of hours with the lights on. Flux Rx started killing the gha within 3 days. After a couple weeks I started dosing Red Sea NoPox and my nitrates went down to acceptable levels in a week. The algae on the glass stopped growing so quickly and I was able to raise my lighting intensity back up to it's optimum levels. So, flux rx and nopox. No adverse affects on my corals or fish or inverts.

 

[monicalooze]

I stopped testing. I know, right? I realized that every time I tested, I would be compelled to change something, which is the opposite of creating a stable ecosystem. I observe religiously, and will test if I see something go south.

I also switched salts from Tropic Marin pro to ESV B-Ionic, and my aquascape collapsed, which drastically improved flow, about a month ago.

Now I do exactly the same thing every week. Same food on specific days, same amount, and I do a 10% water change weekly. Everything is puffy and happy and beautiful. I went from losing euphyllia constantly and stunted growth to a thriving ecosystem. I barely touch it.

 

[nano reef]

I added macro algae (seagrapes) to the sump. It really helped with nutrients imbalance

do you need a refugium and lights? I have a small 10 gallon sump with no room for a fuge

 

[nano reef]

I'm in process of restarting my display tank and have what is left of my livestock in a 10 gallon aquarium. It's been humming along just fine for the past 6 months but two weeks ago I saw some green hair algae starting to take root and cover my tank. I grabbed a few pieces of dry rock that I decided not to cycle and placed them in the 10 gallon. Not only are my fish loving their new places to hide and explore, yesterday I saw that the green hair algae is significantly less. I believe I'm up to 15-20lbs of live rock now and my tank couldn't be happier. So glad I tried that first instead of trying to dose or make fast changes to chase parameters.

Did that not start a mini cycle or more algae. My tank went south when I added dead sand and a small piece of dead rock!

 

[nano reef]

Kept my hands out of the tank

Hey Matt! Love my shrooms and guess what my answer was to what tne thing do you plan to change this year? Keeping my hands out was the answer! My hands are in there daily! My corals havnt been glued down because I cant get my par meter running so my snail keep knocking off my coral so I keep putting my hands in to put them back in place. I hate gloves but I need to find some that fit better until i can get my seneye working as a par meter! How much has that helped? Better growth?

 

[nano reef]

I alternate them daily, one day YellowSNO and the next Probio ...etc. I noticed a boost of microfauna growth. Various sponges, inverts, copepods started almost appearing out of nowhere lol. (They were probably already in my system but they started rapidly growing within a few weeks but didnt notice until about 6-8 weeks after first starting to dose)

Not to mention polyp extension from the corals. The most noticeable things was rapid growth of coralline algae and extreme water clarity. I don't
have a filter sock or anything similar. The system filters on an ATS and a lot of Bio media. Usually when using an ATS it is expected that the water wont be as clear, which I actually prefer. But the PNS products achieved very clear water. Sure the PNS products are costly but personally I would rather spend on these 2 products regularly, without having to spend on anything else. Except fish and coral. I will post pics soon!

I used to have copepods that appeared naturally but then tank crashed. I have been unable to get them back. What is this product you are speaking of? The last time I stared getting these pods it started with white spots on my glass, then I noticed these spots were alive! lol I have those spots again but dont seem to be moving and they have been there for weeks. I wonder what they are. Did your copepods start like that?

 

[nano reef]

Phyto

I keep seeing people say that! How do you go about dosing phyto? Do you feed coral, copepods with it or what?

 

[nano reef]

I just found this while searching for more info on this stuff. I happened to find some online and ordered it -- just got it this morning and dosed the tank. I'm not sure what the outcome will be but I went over to check on things a minute ago and the water smells wonderful -- this sweet, earthy, ocean smell. Not that the water ever smelled bad, but this is a new very good smell.

Do you continue to use the product, and if so how often do you dose it? I was thinking of doing monthly instead of weekly...

Is this stuff only for sps tanks? My tank needs help and I have perfect parameters. I do have a tiny bit of dinos or cyano(cant figure out which, chemi clean does nothing) my corals have been through it at a bad stage and its now alot better better and is now only on glass. these corals were remaining after I lost initial batch from dino/cyano but now they are dying! Only other thing I did before they were dying was add a lot of new corals stupid I know but i thought it was gone. Now new corals are dying as well! Most were delivered in a bad way though with skeletons showing and heads exposed to air. Maybe the dead or dying corals exposed my tank to something is only thing I can come up with! Going to order a icp test as well.

 

[PAreefer710]

Went back to old school way of doing things, sorta. All my tanks are now skimmer less, consistent 10% water change ever week, all the tanks with sumps only have chemipure, carbon and purigen. Others have the same with HOB filters. All 50w 10k DIY LEDs lights. 50% water change every 6 months. Added several circulation pumps to all tanks. Dose nothing accept live photo and calcium. Also use tap water. Remember K.I.S.S. ? I do and love it! Tanks haven't looked so well in years

I use tap and have been for a while now! I also run my tank super simple. Weekly water changes and some gfo. No skimmer or anything snazzy. Have been slowly losing some the bright gold and yellows in the torches though.

 

[BioReefer ^_^]

Added a cleaner wrasse to the fish community made all the difference in the world for my fish. The bullies (clown fish) quit bullying, other fish stopped hiding all the time and everyone is out and swimming around all the time. It’s been well over a year since the cleaner wrasse addition and the fish mood is great. I will never have a fish tank without a cleaner wrasse ever again.

 

[Kenneth Wingerter]

I used to have copepods that appeared naturally but then tank crashed. I have been unable to get them back. What is this product you are speaking of? The last time I stared getting these pods it started with white spots on my glass, then I noticed these spots were alive! lol I have those spots again but dont seem to be moving and they have been there for weeks. I wonder what they are. Did your copepods start like that?

The product that I believe MillennialReefer was referring to is called the Ultimate Ecopack (AlgaeBarn).

https://www.algaebarn.com/blog/live-foods/a-saltwater-smorgasbord-using-the-ultimate-ecopack/

 

[Karsyn]

I finally added my CUC. Tank has been set up since October.

 

[StewL6]

Keeping a detailed log book for each tank.

All for Reef on doser and doing only .1 ML changes at a time 24 hours for trends

Brightwell PhytoChrom on doser and dose at night 3am.

 

[sfin52]

Lights.

 

[DopamineKata]

Started adding Dr. Tim's Re-Fresh after my water changes and man did it clear my tank up

Do you find it has an impact on your snails and shrimp when dosing on a regular basis?

 

[Alex Cataldo]

Getting a quality skimmer and a quality refugium light. Almost immediately everything started looking amazing and was thriving. Long story short, buying the more expensive item once rather than multiple cheaper things is much cheaper in the long run.

 

[szarko]

Not one thing but combinaton

ATI Straton
Calcium reactor
ATS

That took my tank to a whole new level

 

[Zeuserdoo]

I added an ATO. Everything in the tank seemed happier.