Reef Roids Daily?

[Nubomb]

I’ve been struggling trying to keep my nutrients up. It’s a small Fluval 13.5 and I do have chaeto growing in one compartment. I’ve lowered its lighting down to only a few hours per night. Water change schedule is now every 3-4 weeks.

I feed heavily, at least I think I do. Frozen 2x per day and pellets once. 3 small fish and a good sized cleanup crew. I currently do reef roids 3x per week. 2x broadcast and once spot feed. Is it a waste to do this daily or would my corals benefit?

I have Zoas, Palys, Frogspawn, 3 mushrooms, Devils hand/finger, candy cane, birds nest, some type of encrusting LPS I believe.

 

[andrewey]

I'd start with your testing before you make any large changes. What are you nutrient levels and what are you using to test them. From the sounds of your setup and feeding schedule/volume, I would always ensure your tests were accurate/resolution was correct before I made any changes.

 

[Nubomb]

Using API test kits. Same ones since beginning the tank back in December 2019. I know it’s not the best test kits but directionally Has been “good enough” and historically inline with how a tank matures. I bottomed nutrients and battled Dino’s and was able to increase levels and got rid of them.

I’m currently at 0 phosphate and Nitrate because of weekly water changes. I know once I back off again, levels will creep up. I’d prefer to do more frequent water changes which is why I was considering feeding corals daily.

 

[Nick Steele]

I would maybe go to 4 times a week and see if that ups nutrients at all. Sometimes they won’t raise for a couple weeks and then will spike high and quickly. I went from 0 phos to .15 in less than a week and I did nothing different. It’s slowly gone down over a few weeks but I stopped broadcasting reef roids. I now just spot feed twice a week.

Is the tank 6 months old? If so and you started with dry rock it’s possible the rock is soaking up the phosphate for the time being.

 

[Caseyoidae]

You still probably have some phosphate and nitrate just not detectable by those tests. I’d get better tests eventually but wouldn’t change anything if the tank looks healthy. There are better options to raise No3 and po4 like dosing trisodium phosphate for example. Dosing reef roids isn’t a great long term solution for raising no3po4 but it will work to some degree.corals will benefit some but most get the majority of their energy from light.

 

[andrewey]

I would agree that your level are probably higher than zero and that the resolution of the API test kits makes figuring out your exact figure difficult.

 

[BarSnackz]

Do you have any algae? You said your chaeto is growing, therefore you have nutrients in your tank. I had a tank that actually had 0 NO3/PO4 and my chaeto wouldn’t grow the couple months I had it in there.
I think that if your corals are doing okay visibily, then keep doing what you’re doing and buy a different brand test kit when you get the chance. No need to switch things up if it’s working.

 

[Nubomb]

Thanks everyone. Just don’t want to hang around double zeros for too long. Seems like when I do, Dino’s come out of dormancy. I’ll continue working on balancing fuge, water changes and feeding.

 

[Nubomb]

No visible algea in the tank, glass gets coated very slowly. Coralline is starting to explode. Chaeto isn’t really growing like a weed but looks healthy.

 

[Pistondog]

Thanks everyone. Just don’t want to hang around double zeros for too long. Seems like when I do, Dino’s come out of dormancy. I’ll continue working on balancing fuge, water changes and feeding.

Using reef roads spike the phosphate for me.
Make sure your chaeto light is sufficient. It should be pink and hard to look at for intense growth.

 

[BarSnackz]

No visible algea in the tank, glass gets coated very slowly. Coralline is starting to explode. Chaeto isn’t really growing like a weed but looks healthy.

keep doing what you’re doing. You’re obviously doing something right if you’re getting coralline.

 

[vsolovyev]

I’ve dosed reed roids daily for maybe a month, my corals loved it, unfortunately so did the green hair algae, that’s why I dialed back to 3 times a week.