Slow and steady build thread

[Creggers]

Quick update on the WWC corals - sad to say that the chalice is all but dead at this point. I’ve moved him around a few times trying various lighting but I think it’s a mostly lost cause.

The mushrooms doing really well, which is encouraging but I don’t feel great about any of the other corals right now. Concerned that I may be seeing a Dino outbreak starting after my most recent water change so I’m gonna let a week or two go by before starting them again.

My nutrients certainly haven’t bottomed out, NO4 is at around 10 and PO4 is around .1-.2 hard to tell on Salifert kit. I am going to wait a day or so to retest those but those were the readings prior to my WC on Friday. I’m trying to knock down my PO4 cause I’m worried it’s creeping up.

Im sending out another triton analysis to see what’s going on. My major elements have been consistent per the trident. Alk has been hovering between 8.1-8.5, CA 520s, Mag 1295. PH hovers in the low 8s and rarely dips below 8 and never goes above 8.3.

 

[Creggers]

Been about two weeks and I’ve been keeping a close eye on everything in the tank. I finally got my triton analysis back which showed everything in line with natural sea water except for my PO4 that was at .59! That’d explain the issues I’ve had with Stoney corals as from what I’ve read it can prevent calcification.

As a result of this finding I increased my flow a bit, did a 10 gallon water change, and mixed some GFO in my reactor (under what was recommended) to see if that’ll bring my levels down to a reasonable target if .1 or so. I’ve seen some green slime algae breaking out so the phosphate levels being high is probably contributing.

also picked up the mid range Hannah checker to keep a better eye on my phosphates. I hate the salifert kit and honestly checkers are the way to go.

looking forward to a turn around, haven’t lost any of my most recent shipment of corals so hopefully they recover and I see some PE following this recent correction.

 

[Creggers]

Just ran a test of my PO4 and it came back at .1

Turned down my media reactor a bit as I don't want to pull all of the PO4 out of the water.. I did notice that most of my coral looked a bit stressed which I can only assume is a result of the somewhat rapid depletion of PO4. I'm not looking to chase numbers so I'd like to keep that value as steady as possible under .1 and above .00 but that's really it.

Hopefully I'm in the clear now that this most recent nutrient issue is under control. I'll continue to keep an eye out with my fingers crossed that I'm on the path to success!