Replacing wavemakers with gyre(s)?

ReeferRyanTN · Dec 6, 2023

I’ve got an 80g tank with the dimensions of 48L x 24W x 16H. It has one corner overflow and return on the left side. Currently have LPS corals, a leather and one tiny acro frag.

Right now I’m running three Jebao wavemakers (2 - PP4 and 1 - PP8). Don’t beat me up too bad over this, I know they’re cheap.

I’m running into cyano issues which of I understand things correctly, is likely due to bottomed out nutrients. I’ve ordered NeoNitro and NeoPhos, so I’m going to be working on that soon. I’m also siphoning out what I can with a turkey baster and during water changes.

However, I think I also have a few dead zones in the tank. I’m considering removing the Jebao pumps and trying out a Maxspect XF350. I’m not sure whether I need a second one, but I thought I’d start with one and see how that goes. Given the short height of my tank, I’d have to mount it horizontally.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. I’ve got zero experience with gyres.

Naturalreef · Dec 6, 2023

Hey Reef,

How old is the tank? Dry rock? Livestock? Parameters? This will help us help you. Neo phos and nitro work great for low nutrient tanks. I started with dry rock and had to put both on a doser to keep my nutrients up.

I have 2 gyres on a reefer 200G2. I love them! Corner to corner flow. If you plan on a mixed tank, one will suffice. full blown Sps , fully grown will need 2.

ReeferRyanTN · Dec 6, 2023

I started the tank a few years ago. Got flatworms and shut the whole thing down. Kept rock in a cooler with a heater and pump for a few months. Ditched all the sand and started fresh after a 5-6 month hiatus. Been going now since March 2022. Was a slow, slow start. Only had a couple clowns for a long while. Tried other fish and they didn’t make it. Now I’ve got 11 corals, with a large piece and several frags, same two clowns, a 6-line wrasse and a small yellow coris wrasse (they get along great).

Nutrients are 0 as previously mentioned
Ca 400, dKH 8.9, Mg 1300
pH staying between 8.16-8.26

ReeferRyanTN · Dec 6, 2023

Oh! I added 40lbs of Carib-Sea live sand a few weeks ago. Sand bed was too shallow. Cyanobacteria started before that though.

Naturalreef · Dec 8, 2023

Sorry for the delay replying back to you. Your parameters look solid. You need to get your nutrients up and balanced. Easiest way is with a dosing pump and two bottles of neo nitro and neo phos. I started with 3 ml of each on a 50 gallon reefer. I’m currently up to 6ml a day because of the new dry rock and sand.

I would follow instructions on the bottle for dosing your tank. Somewhere around 6ml 3 X a day spaced evenly of each bottle and measure daily.

I keep 10 nitrates to .1 phosphate. Gives me a nice buffer if either drop and then I can fine tune the dosing and see what kind of uptake from the rock,sand and corals.

Cyano will go away once your nutrients are “stable” for a while. Slimy bacteria always seems to surface when your nutrients are out of balance.

keep us updated!

sheel be right · Dec 8, 2023

if you want a gyre, the jump 4ks are solid.

jeffpopple · Dec 8, 2023

Naturalreef said:
Sorry for the delay replying back to you. Your parameters look solid. You need to get your nutrients up and balanced. Easiest way is with a dosing pump and two bottles of neo nitro and neo phos. I started with 3 ml of each on a 50 gallon reefer. I’m currently up to 6ml a day because of the new dry rock and sand.

I would follow instructions on the bottle for dosing your tank. Somewhere around 6ml 3 X a day spaced evenly of each bottle and measure daily.

I keep 10 nitrates to .1 phosphate. Gives me a nice buffer if either drop and then I can fine tune the dosing and see what kind of uptake from the rock,sand and corals.

Cyano will go away once your nutrients are “stable” for a while. Slimy bacteria always seems to surface when your nutrients are out of balance.

keep us updated!

Do you dose neo nitro and neo phos indefinitely or do you expect them to stabilize at some point? I have been dosing my tank for weeks and every time I test the following day nitrates and phosphates are 0. Yesterday I doubled the recommended does (6ml nitro and 20ml phos in 52 gal system) and today the nitrates were 0 and phosphates .04. Tomorrow I am sure they will both be 0. Any advice?

Naturalreef · Dec 9, 2023

There are a lot of variables…..what’s taking up the nutrients? Nuisance algae, dry rock, sand, coral, bacteria? How many fish? For me, I use dry rock to start a new tank so I can make my own scape. It takes up a lot of phosphate until it reaches an equilibrium. Denitrifying bacteria also uses nitrate which leads to nitrogen gas which bubbles out of the aquarium. These two things kept depleting my new tanks to zero.

It took 6 months of dosing before nutrients became stable in my lagoon 25. I used a doser and tested daily, then weekly. I only had a pair of clownfish, so I had to supplement nitrate and phosphate. Reefer 200 has 6 chromis to help keep nutrients in the tank. They are fed 5 times a day with the plank feeder. I expect this tank will require less dosing.

I would keep dosing to get your parameters up to 10/.1 I would also spread out the dosing. Coral hate the seesaw with alk and nutrients. I was stuck on zero for a while as well until I let the dosing pump take over. My lagoon was taking 6-8ml a day till it was measurable. I had to buy the big jugs since I was using so much.

It will taper off once everything stabilizes and matures. Then how much you dose will be dependent on livestock,feeding and how efficient your tank is at removing waste which you can fine tune.

ReeferRyanTN · Dec 9, 2023

I just started dosing the NeoNitro/Phos. Tested this morning. Complete 0. Dosed it again right after testing. Will check again tomorrow. Might resort to dosing pump if this goes on a while and from what Naturalreef said, it looks like it will.