EpisodeMnH
Community Member
To start off, I have a Torch that I'm on the verge of losing. Extremely gutted since it's my favorite (and most expensive) coral in my tank. It's not completely dead yet, but it's lost 90% of the flesh of one of it's heads, and the other head is extremely frail and probably on the verge of doing the same. It doesn't have brown jelly from what I can tell. It was a slow process, but it started extending less and less and staying smaller over the past month or so, and then as of the past 3-4 days it's went completely downhill. I have been treating the tank with Flatworm Exit, and so far I have used it 4 times (once a week) since there were stragglers that didn't die each time. This MAY have contributed to the Torch's decline, but nothing else in the tank was affected at all. Other corals are an additional Torch, a Frogspawn, multiple Zoa clusters, Sinularia and Toadstool Leathers, GSP, and Pulsing Xenias.
My nutrients are admittedly a bit high. Nitrates are sitting at 15-20 PPM. (Hard to tell exactly, as I'm using API test kits, and it's really hard to differentiate the different shades of orange. It's not quite as dark as 20, but not quite as light as 10, so that's why I say 15-20.) Phosphates are 0.25. So again, this may have been what harmed the Torch, but nothing else in the tank has been affected, including my other Torch, which is healthy and still fully extending daily.
So all I can do at this point is lower my nitrates and phosphates and hope I lose nothing else. I have a 32.5 gallon, and I already do weekly water changes of slightly more than 10%, at 3.5 gallons. I'm now going to up that to 15% and change 5 gallons weekly, and see how that helps.
But I want to try additional dosing/filtration as well and I'm weighing my options. I want to go with whatever's safest. I was looking into vodka/vinegar dosing, or carbon dosing in general, and noticed there's a risk of crashing the tank due to O2 issues and pathogenic bacteria, so I'm not so inclined to go that route. To add to this, my options are a little limited due to my tank. I have an all in one tank, specifically a Fluval Flex, and so I can't go with any options that require a sump, such as an ATS. The tank has it's own built in "sump" of sorts in the back, but it's compact and already full, so again, that option is out. Biopellets are a maybe as well. They require a media reactor, and I've never used one, so not sure how big they are in person. If they're slim enough, I MAY be able to slide them in the side chambers in the back, but again, that's up in the air. Same goes for GFO. I could simply use it in media bags and put them in my media chambers in the back sump, but it's to my understanding that GFO is also best used in media reactors, to prevent clumping.
My other option is implementing macroalgae, which I never have before. I replaced the foam chambers that the tank came with, with inTank media chambers. Using those, I can do a proper macroalgae refugium in the back of the tank. I currently run filter floss, activated carbon, and Biomax in the 3 chambers, in that order. But I could rearrange and run those on one side, while the fuge is on the other. This would obviously be the safest, most natural method that I can attempt, however, how effective is macroalgae at lowering nitrates and phosphates? I know that they essentially starve out the nuisance algae by feeding on the nutrients that they otherwise would, but beyond that does it actually lower nutrient levels, or is it implemented moreso solely for a prettier, more algae free tank?
My nutrients are admittedly a bit high. Nitrates are sitting at 15-20 PPM. (Hard to tell exactly, as I'm using API test kits, and it's really hard to differentiate the different shades of orange. It's not quite as dark as 20, but not quite as light as 10, so that's why I say 15-20.) Phosphates are 0.25. So again, this may have been what harmed the Torch, but nothing else in the tank has been affected, including my other Torch, which is healthy and still fully extending daily.
So all I can do at this point is lower my nitrates and phosphates and hope I lose nothing else. I have a 32.5 gallon, and I already do weekly water changes of slightly more than 10%, at 3.5 gallons. I'm now going to up that to 15% and change 5 gallons weekly, and see how that helps.
But I want to try additional dosing/filtration as well and I'm weighing my options. I want to go with whatever's safest. I was looking into vodka/vinegar dosing, or carbon dosing in general, and noticed there's a risk of crashing the tank due to O2 issues and pathogenic bacteria, so I'm not so inclined to go that route. To add to this, my options are a little limited due to my tank. I have an all in one tank, specifically a Fluval Flex, and so I can't go with any options that require a sump, such as an ATS. The tank has it's own built in "sump" of sorts in the back, but it's compact and already full, so again, that option is out. Biopellets are a maybe as well. They require a media reactor, and I've never used one, so not sure how big they are in person. If they're slim enough, I MAY be able to slide them in the side chambers in the back, but again, that's up in the air. Same goes for GFO. I could simply use it in media bags and put them in my media chambers in the back sump, but it's to my understanding that GFO is also best used in media reactors, to prevent clumping.
My other option is implementing macroalgae, which I never have before. I replaced the foam chambers that the tank came with, with inTank media chambers. Using those, I can do a proper macroalgae refugium in the back of the tank. I currently run filter floss, activated carbon, and Biomax in the 3 chambers, in that order. But I could rearrange and run those on one side, while the fuge is on the other. This would obviously be the safest, most natural method that I can attempt, however, how effective is macroalgae at lowering nitrates and phosphates? I know that they essentially starve out the nuisance algae by feeding on the nutrients that they otherwise would, but beyond that does it actually lower nutrient levels, or is it implemented moreso solely for a prettier, more algae free tank?
