RTN & Zoa Help!

[Tautog]

Could be lighting mixed with nutrient deficiency. Sometimes it's just tough to tell.

I have 3 sticks of Oregon tort in my tank all within a few inches of eachother. One of the will STN from the bottom up if anything swings, the other ones stay fine but retract their polyps.

The Oregon tort polyps are small. I like to use a cheap green birdsnest as an indicator if something isn't right. The long polyps will retract rather quickly if parameters arent proper and I keep it high in a bright lit area.

Sometimes corals in low light areas will take longer to react to unstable parameters.

Yep, that was my first thoughts, and reduced my LEDs to 60%. It's just very weird that one chalice is growing so fast, where others don't. Even slow growers are growing, but others, like the goni's, now have a black fungus killing it, but one seems to be recovering. I never give in with corals. I have seen corals that I thought were dead, or the ones I tried my best to kill, recover, and grow better than ever. And yes.........still confused.

 

[Tautog]

I'm no pro but to the best of my knowledge to accurately achieve a ULNS system, you have to maintain Alk at 7(no higher or lower) and you have to feed a little heavier. So it is kind of a balance between keeping the system clean and but not going overboard. Not really sure. My tank did fine for the first year keeping po4 and no3 at zero with alk at 7. However, corals were still small colonies. My corals didn't start thriving till I removed the skimmer(for my new tank). Kind of weird to see that transition happening. With all that new growth however, I noticed my Alk and calcium depleting and now I dose religiously :D

You removed the skimmer and had success? I've heard this before, but I thought the skimmer was a main, must have, piece of equipment? I haven't started to dose for Ca yet, but need to.

 

[reeferfoxx]

You removed the skimmer and had success? I've heard this before, but I thought the skimmer was a main, must have, piece of equipment? I haven't started to dose for Ca yet, but need to.

Yes. It was my understanding too. I began running a skimmer on that tank from the get go. The skimmer ran for 1 year. Problem was, it was filtering too much nutrients. I couldn't get my po4 or no3 up. Skimmers are also great for adding O2 to the tank.

Originally i was going to tear down my old 20 and get my new 30g going. Not everything went as planned. But, i did remove the skimmer and noticed the 20 gallon began to thrive again. I realized then that my bioload in the 20g was never a problem. Most likely wasnt necessary to have a skimmer, yet.

I think we recommend skimmers for newbies because well, I've noticed, they go a little overboard with fish population. Often times getting fish rated for 75 gallons plus. Those types of fish produce large amounts of waste. I think skimmers are a must, however i think they are as much a necessity as dosing. Meaning, you may not need off the bat, but later on for sure.

My new 30g tank is 100% dry rock cycled without all the micro fauna like live rock. The biology in this tank doesn't oxygenate properly and therefore my skimmer helps oxygenate the water to keep the fish from stressing.

Hope this helps.

 

[Tautog]

Yes. It was my understanding too. I began running a skimmer on that tank from the get go. The skimmer ran for 1 year. Problem was, it was filtering too much nutrients. I couldn't get my po4 or no3 up. Skimmers are also great for adding O2 to the tank.

Originally i was going to tear down my old 20 and get my new 30g going. Not everything went as planned. But, i did remove the skimmer and noticed the 20 gallon began to thrive again. I realized then that my bioload in the 20g was never a problem. Most likely wasnt necessary to have a skimmer, yet.

I think we recommend skimmers for newbies because well, I've noticed, they go a little overboard with fish population. Often times getting fish rated for 75 gallons plus. Those types of fish produce large amounts of waste. I think skimmers are a must, however i think they are as much a necessity as dosing. Meaning, you may not need off the bat, but later on for sure.

My new 30g tank is 100% dry rock cycled without all the micro fauna like live rock. The biology in this tank doesn't oxygenate properly and therefore my skimmer helps oxygenate the water to keep the fish from stressing.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, it does, actually all help welcomed. Just trying to figure out which way to go. I have live rock, and I don't think I have a large bio load, but it hurts to see some corals growing, while others are dying.