MonoZXM
New Member
Hi reefers,
This post might be a bit lengthy as I want to thoroughly explain my situation. I've been maintaining a 20-gallon reef tank for about a year now, but it's starting to feel cramped. Plus, I love collecting rare and high-end corals, so I've decided to upgrade to a 100-gallon tank. Now, my new tank is about 4-5 months old, and I'm encountering some issues that I could really use some help with.
I'm feeling quite frustrated with nutrient control in my reef tank. Initially, I fed twice daily with only frozen mysis shrimp, making sure to rinse it before feeding, to minimize my PO4 levels. Surprisingly, my PO4 stayed at 0.1, and NO3 hovered around 10, which seemed a bit high considering the feeding.
Then, I introduced some Algae Barn Live phytoplankton in hopes of reducing my PO4 and NO3 levels as well as boosting my pod population, but instead, my PO4 shot up to 0.15, while NO3 remained unchanged. To combat this, I added some softball-sized chaeto and a small amount of Red Ogo Gracilaria Macroalgae that came with my pods order to the refugium. However, after a couple of weeks, there were pretty much no changes in PO4 and NO3 levels, and the chaeto began to turn white, and diatoms were growing in the refugium and on the chaeto as well. Interestingly, the Red algae thrived compared to the chaeto, showing noticeable growth.
Since I still need to feed my coral, I started incorporating Arcti-Pods and Oyster Feast into the fish food once a day, along with feeding coral reef roids once a week. Additionally, I began dosing Brightwell Aquatics Phosphat-E (5 drops daily), which maintains my PO4 at around 0.15 (without dosing, it can rise to 0.2 or more). However, I'm unsure of what to do next, as I'd prefer to avoid daily manual dosing. While I know I could use GFO, I've heard conflicting opinions about its impact on reef tanks and how to control its phosphate removal.
Parameters and some additional information:
Alk, Cal, PO4, and NO3 were tested using Hanna checker; Everything else using Red Sea. I perform a water change every week, ranging from 10% to 20%.
Alkalinity: 8.3 - 8.6
Calcium: 450
Magnesium: 1450
pH: 7.9 during the daytime, 7.8 during nighttime
Phosphate: 0.15
Nitrate: 10 - 15
Fish: 9 (2 pairs of clownfish, 2 gobies, 1 wrasse, 1 tang, 1 blenny)
Others: 2 shrimp and some cleanup crews
Coral:
4 Zoa
2 Torch
7 Mushroom
1 Goni
2 Chalice
2 Anemones (both clownfish pairs not hosting it
)
Appreciate any insights or suggestions you might have!
This post might be a bit lengthy as I want to thoroughly explain my situation. I've been maintaining a 20-gallon reef tank for about a year now, but it's starting to feel cramped. Plus, I love collecting rare and high-end corals, so I've decided to upgrade to a 100-gallon tank. Now, my new tank is about 4-5 months old, and I'm encountering some issues that I could really use some help with.
I'm feeling quite frustrated with nutrient control in my reef tank. Initially, I fed twice daily with only frozen mysis shrimp, making sure to rinse it before feeding, to minimize my PO4 levels. Surprisingly, my PO4 stayed at 0.1, and NO3 hovered around 10, which seemed a bit high considering the feeding.
Then, I introduced some Algae Barn Live phytoplankton in hopes of reducing my PO4 and NO3 levels as well as boosting my pod population, but instead, my PO4 shot up to 0.15, while NO3 remained unchanged. To combat this, I added some softball-sized chaeto and a small amount of Red Ogo Gracilaria Macroalgae that came with my pods order to the refugium. However, after a couple of weeks, there were pretty much no changes in PO4 and NO3 levels, and the chaeto began to turn white, and diatoms were growing in the refugium and on the chaeto as well. Interestingly, the Red algae thrived compared to the chaeto, showing noticeable growth.
Since I still need to feed my coral, I started incorporating Arcti-Pods and Oyster Feast into the fish food once a day, along with feeding coral reef roids once a week. Additionally, I began dosing Brightwell Aquatics Phosphat-E (5 drops daily), which maintains my PO4 at around 0.15 (without dosing, it can rise to 0.2 or more). However, I'm unsure of what to do next, as I'd prefer to avoid daily manual dosing. While I know I could use GFO, I've heard conflicting opinions about its impact on reef tanks and how to control its phosphate removal.
Parameters and some additional information:
Alk, Cal, PO4, and NO3 were tested using Hanna checker; Everything else using Red Sea. I perform a water change every week, ranging from 10% to 20%.
Alkalinity: 8.3 - 8.6
Calcium: 450
Magnesium: 1450
pH: 7.9 during the daytime, 7.8 during nighttime
Phosphate: 0.15
Nitrate: 10 - 15
Fish: 9 (2 pairs of clownfish, 2 gobies, 1 wrasse, 1 tang, 1 blenny)
Others: 2 shrimp and some cleanup crews
Coral:
4 Zoa
2 Torch
7 Mushroom
1 Goni
2 Chalice
2 Anemones (both clownfish pairs not hosting it
)Appreciate any insights or suggestions you might have!
