I run an sps dominated reefer 350 and my parameters have been pretty close to the Redsea reef recipe for an sps dominated tank for quite a while.
Salinity 35 ppt
Calcium 430 ppm
Magnesium
1280 ppm
Alkalinity around 8 dKH
Nitrate around 0.25 ppm to 0.5ppm
Phosphate 0.08
I also dose reef energy. But use the ATI essential pro for dosing.
But at these super-low nutrient levels, I struggle with both cyano and dino's in the tank. My tank naturally has low nitrate levels of near-zero but my phosphates would creep up over time. The thing is how do you prevent dino's and cyano with these numbers? They are caused by a lack of nutrients, not an excess. I find it hard to believe the pristine sps dominated tanks shown by Redsea can be maintained for any length of time without similar issues to what I am seeing develop.
If i try to reduce my phosphates down to around the 0.03 mark (which is where they recommend) it just makes the dinos and cyano worse.
My bio-load is quite high with over 14 small fish and two tangs that are too big for the tank. I have quite a lot of live rock and surface area for the volume of water which is why my nitrates are always low. It almost feels like I have too much live rock. Plus most of it was a proper mature live rock when I started the tank.
I feed flakes, pellets and frozen and feed twice per day.
I have plenty of flow 2 x mp40s on nutrient transport mode most of the day. I use ATI sunpower T5 lights.
I am pretty much doing everything right according to what I am reading yet I still have these issues.
Don't get me wrong the health and growth on most of my corals is great it's just this constant formation of dino's on frag racks and hard surfaces and cyano on the rocks and sand that I find so frustratring.
Salinity 35 ppt
Calcium 430 ppm
Magnesium
1280 ppm
Alkalinity around 8 dKH
Nitrate around 0.25 ppm to 0.5ppm
Phosphate 0.08
I also dose reef energy. But use the ATI essential pro for dosing.
But at these super-low nutrient levels, I struggle with both cyano and dino's in the tank. My tank naturally has low nitrate levels of near-zero but my phosphates would creep up over time. The thing is how do you prevent dino's and cyano with these numbers? They are caused by a lack of nutrients, not an excess. I find it hard to believe the pristine sps dominated tanks shown by Redsea can be maintained for any length of time without similar issues to what I am seeing develop.
If i try to reduce my phosphates down to around the 0.03 mark (which is where they recommend) it just makes the dinos and cyano worse.
My bio-load is quite high with over 14 small fish and two tangs that are too big for the tank. I have quite a lot of live rock and surface area for the volume of water which is why my nitrates are always low. It almost feels like I have too much live rock. Plus most of it was a proper mature live rock when I started the tank.
I feed flakes, pellets and frozen and feed twice per day.
I have plenty of flow 2 x mp40s on nutrient transport mode most of the day. I use ATI sunpower T5 lights.
I am pretty much doing everything right according to what I am reading yet I still have these issues.
Don't get me wrong the health and growth on most of my corals is great it's just this constant formation of dino's on frag racks and hard surfaces and cyano on the rocks and sand that I find so frustratring.