Problems keeping SPS -lights? Parameters?

[Bfragale]

Ok. I think that’s the plan:

Resume normal feeding. Test phosphates at GFO reactor exit. Keep up in GFO, test phosphates more regularly in DT to get idea of what’s going on.

Also I’ll order some aminos tonight.

 

[Daddy-o]

Take all the info you’re getting and look for what the majority of people are saying and then do some googling/searching to see if those recommendations seem to be what’s best. I say that because I’ve seen two posts that I’d disagree with whole heartedly-

Finding the source/reason behind your PO4 jumping that high (from .14 to .51) would be priority 1 if that’s possible just because it’s odd

Adding a GFO reactor to combat elevated PO4 number 2

Increase NO3 (or lower Alk to 8-8.5)

Personally for acros I’m targeting NO3 around 2-5 and PO4 .12-.15 amd Alk is steady at 10.5

In the past Alk 8-8.5
NO3 and PO4 undetectable- this requires a little more work dosing things

PS stay away from Lanthium Chloride unless your very experienced with what your doing- many other “safer” ways to lower PO4

Low Alk lower nutes, higher Alk have to have higher nutes or you’ll fry your acros

Another way to increase NO3 is dosing, It’s be used the stump remover but have opted to now dose food grade potassium nitrate.

If I am one of the posts, please let me know.

 

[Bfragale]

Take all the info you’re getting and look for what the majority of people are saying and then do some googling/searching to see if those recommendations seem to be what’s best. I say that because I’ve seen two posts that I’d disagree with whole heartedly-

Finding the source/reason behind your PO4 jumping that high (from .14 to .51) would be priority 1 if that’s possible just because it’s odd

Adding a GFO reactor to combat elevated PO4 number 2

Increase NO3 (or lower Alk to 8-8.5)

Personally for acros I’m targeting NO3 around 2-5 and PO4 .12-.15 amd Alk is steady at 10.5

In the past Alk 8-8.5
NO3 and PO4 undetectable- this requires a little more work dosing things

PS stay away from Lanthium Chloride unless your very experienced with what your doing- many other “safer” ways to lower PO4

Low Alk lower nutes, higher Alk have to have higher nutes or you’ll fry your acros

Good information. Thank you.

I did dose phosphate X when I first got the tank. Phosphates were 2.5+. I reduced over the first month to about .1.

I thought it was because the guy I got it from never cleaned or did water changes.

But the more I’m thinking about it it may be the rocks...

He said rocks and tank was 3+ yrs old. I did add some rock as well from other reefers. The only “unknown” is if the rocks are leaching phosphate.

Q: if rocks were i tank for 3 years would they Still leach phosphates? Could last guy have treated something to tank to make them absorbs phosphates? Guy I got it from was not even testing water. .....

 

[Daddy-o]

Ok. I think that’s the plan:

Resume normal feeding. Test phosphates at GFO reactor exit. Keep up in GFO, test phosphates more regularly in DT to get idea of what’s going on.

Also I’ll order some aminos tonight.

A lot of reefers like AcroPower. I use this and Me Polyp Extender. I used to use RedSea A&B but the carbs. were driving up my Phos.
Cheers! Mark

 

[Bfragale]

A lot of reefers like AcroPower. I use this and Me Polyp Extender. I used to use RedSea A&B but the carbs. were driving up my Phos.
Cheers! Mark

Thanks Mark, I’m gonna order the AcroPower, I have the reef roids polyp booster. Do you think that’s ok to use with acropower?

 

[Daddy-o]

Good information. Thank you.

I did dose phosphate X when I first got the tank. Phosphates were 2.5+. I reduced over the first month to about .1.

I thought it was because the guy I got it from never cleaned or did water changes.

But the more I’m thinking about it it may be the rocks...

He said rocks and tank was 3+ yrs old. I did add some rock as well from other reefers. The only “unknown” is if the rocks are leaching phosphate.

Q: if rocks were i tank for 3 years would they Still leach phosphates? Could last guy have treated something to tank to make them absorbs phosphates? Guy I got it from was not even testing water. .....

If his phosphates were high the rocks would absorb til in equalibrium with the water. Now they will leach til they are the same as your water.

 

[phillygeeks]

Which phos test kit? May be worth trying another. I used the Hanna ULR and it was pretty solid

 

[Reefnjunkie]

Good information. Thank you.

I did dose phosphate X when I first got the tank. Phosphates were 2.5+. I reduced over the first month to about .1.

I thought it was because the guy I got it from never cleaned or did water changes.

But the more I’m thinking about it it may be the rocks...

He said rocks and tank was 3+ yrs old. I did add some rock as well from other reefers. The only “unknown” is if the rocks are leaching phosphate.

Q: if rocks were i tank for 3 years would they Still leach phosphates? Could last guy have treated something to tank to make them absorbs phosphates? Guy I got it from was not even testing water. .....

No they wouldn’t not leech (I’m near certain) over that course of time)

Not knowing the history of the rocks, and the note “bad husbandry) scares me a bit on the rock- I assume you used brand new sand- with no signs of ammonia nitrate/trite all should be fine.

The fact your PO4 jumps that high has to be something leeching or food (possibly poor skimming) I can’t say for certain.

Least amount of work may be to switch salts to something like Fritz, or Red Sea Blue bucket both mix around 8-8.4 if I recall on alk and then add a small fluidized reactor with GFO if you can’t find the source of why PO4 is jumping

 

[Reefnjunkie]

If his phosphates were high the rocks would absorb til in equalibrium with the water. Now they will leach til they are the same as your water.

I wasn’t aware of that- interesting

 

[Daddy-o]

Thanks M

Thanks Mark, I’m gonna order the AcroPower, I have the reef roids polyp booster. Do you think that’s ok to use with acropower?

Will the reef roids drive up your phosph.?

 

[Reefnjunkie]

Might be just my opinion but I’d hold off on all the aminos for now- they are beneficial, I have everyone mentioned in my fishroom now but thats not going to solve the issue of why you aren’t able to presently keep SPS

I’m afraid you’ll be seeing cyno and other bacterial headaches as a result of them

One thing at a time


Just my thoughts

Good luck- acros are the only real coral out there LOL

 

[phillygeeks]

Might be just my opinion but I’d hold off on all the aminos for now- they are beneficial, I have everyone mentioned in my fishroom now but thats not going to solve the issue of why you aren’t able to presently keep SPS

I’m afraid you’ll be seeing cyno and other bacterial headaches as a result of them

One thing at a time


Just my thoughts

Good luck- acros are the only real coral out there LOL

I agree with this. Take is slow and put adding more sps on the back burner until you get in tune with what's happening. A lot of good points popping up.

Identify cause of higher phos. Easy gfo for slow lowering until about 0.1. Bioload is probably the best way to add nitrates rather than supplements. They may go up as phos lowers so keep an eye on this. Would be reasonable to transition to lower dKH salt like blue bucket, TM pro, aquaforest, etc. Maybe shoot to correct this over a couple months and then consider sps again once you hit a stable point with readable nitrates, phos around 0.1 or less ( but certainly not zero) and dKH around 8.

This is kind of how I would tackle it and it's kind of a summary of what's here

 

[Bfragale]

Which phos test kit? May be worth trying another. I used the Hanna ULR and it was pretty solid

I have both the ppm and PPB Hanna for last few months. Before I was using salifert.

 

[Bfragale]

If his phosphates were high the rocks would absorb til in equalibrium with the water. Now they will leach til they are the same as your water.

Makes sense.

 

[SPS_ONLY]

@Bfragale I have 3/4 of an 8Oz Acropower bottle that I don't use. If you're interested in the bottle, let me know. I would be glad to ship it to you for free.

 

[Bfragale]

No they wouldn’t not leech (I’m near certain) over that course of time)

Not knowing the history of the rocks, and the note “bad husbandry) scares me a bit on the rock- I assume you used brand new sand- with no signs of ammonia nitrate/trite all should be fine.

The fact your PO4 jumps that high has to be something leeching or food (possibly poor skimming) I can’t say for certain.

Least amount of work may be to switch salts to something like Fritz, or Red Sea Blue bucket both mix around 8-8.4 if I recall on alk and then add a small fluidized reactor with GFO if you can’t find the source of why PO4 is jumping

When I purchased the tank, had two full grown clowns and a 5” blue tang. The water almost looked like ice tea it was so dirty. Tons and tons of algae. He had canister filter that was picked with detritus. It was probably worst I Have ever seen. You could not see thru the tank looking long ways. I was surprised the fish were still alive.

I paid $300 for tank stand and top, sand/rocks/fish including a chiller, and a few odds and ends. I was not going to buy it but when I realized there were still fish alive I felt I had to “save” them.

I kept the sand but rinsed it best I could and added some more sand. I also added more rocks. I never tested it before I moved/cleaned it. When I set it up I added 50g new salt water and only kept about 30g of the old water. Followed by 25% changes weekly for 1st month. By end of 1st month things were pretty stable. I had diatoms I believe from new sand, but I got rid of the red slime algae just by cleaning, sucking out and water changes. It actually came back much faster then I anticipated.

 

[Bfragale]

Will the reef roids drive up your phosph.?

I’m not sure about the polyp booster, I would have to look into that.

 

[Bfragale]

No they wouldn’t not leech (I’m near certain) over that course of time)

Not knowing the history of the rocks, and the note “bad husbandry) scares me a bit on the rock- I assume you used brand new sand- with no signs of ammonia nitrate/trite all should be fine.

The fact your PO4 jumps that high has to be something leeching or food (possibly poor skimming) I can’t say for certain.

Least amount of work may be to switch salts to something like Fritz, or Red Sea Blue bucket both mix around 8-8.4 if I recall on alk and then add a small fluidized reactor with GFO if you can’t find the source of why PO4 is jumping

Forgot to add: I do have GFO reactor. Also I have a bucket of Red Sea blue bucket. Once my ro tanks are here that’s what I’ll be switching to.

 

[Bfragale]

Might be just my opinion but I’d hold off on all the aminos for now- they are beneficial, I have everyone mentioned in my fishroom now but thats not going to solve the issue of why you aren’t able to presently keep SPS

I’m afraid you’ll be seeing cyno and other bacterial headaches as a result of them

One thing at a time


Just my thoughts

Good luck- acros are the only real coral out there LOL

It had cyno when I got it. But so far so good. I’ve dealt with diatoms, cyno, some Green hair algae (still have a few spots deep in rock crevice but 95% gone)

I’m going to research aminos a bit, I would hate to creat a new problem trying to solve another one lol.

Tank is just starting to from purple coraline algae and also some green coralline algae? I have little spots on rocks and back wall

maybe not now, but ultimately I would love to have sps corals.

 

[Bfragale]

I agree with this. Take is slow and put adding more sps on the back burner until you get in tune with what's happening. A lot of good points popping up.

Identify cause of higher phos. Easy gfo for slow lowering until about 0.1. Bioload is probably the best way to add nitrates rather than supplements. They may go up as phos lowers so keep an eye on this. Would be reasonable to transition to lower dKH salt like blue bucket, TM pro, aquaforest, etc. Maybe shoot to correct this over a couple months and then consider sps again once you hit a stable point with readable nitrates, phos around 0.1 or less ( but certainly not zero) and dKH around 8.

This is kind of how I would tackle it and it's kind of a summary of what's here

This seems like great advise. I ordered aminos but may hold off on those but everything else sounds like a good plan of “slow” attack. Thanks again