I have taken the time to search and read other people with a similar situation. I'm kind of scratching my head here. Would love some input or experience. Below are pictures of my problem areas. Along with some of my sps doing very well with great polyp extension and growth. Sometimes i'll snip the tips, sometimes they will recover slightly, most of the time continue to die off. Sorry for dirty glass pictures!!
- Tank is 11 months old w/ plenty of coralline build up etc. Please refer to my build thread for pictures.
- Par up near the top of the rock work is around 200ish. 8 hours at max par with 2 hour ramp up and 2 hour ramp down. Running 4x XR30 G4 Pros with diffusers. I use to be at 300-325 par up top but slowly brought down intensity thinking that may be it.
- Alk = 7.8 with a max fluctuation of .1 daily.
- Calcium = 440-450 with max fluctuation of 5-10 daily.
- Mag = 1370-1390 with max fluctuation of 10 daily.
- Nitrates = 8-10. Never changes. Always been rock solid.
- Phosphates = .05-.08. I need to GFO in order to achieve these consistent numbers. I have a ton of fish. Feed twice daily. Flakes and pellets in morning and meaty foods in afternoon.
- I dose 6ml of acropower every morning within a 30 min period. Once a week I'll mix up some benepets coral food and spot feed as needed.
- PH = 8.2
- Daily water changes of 2-3%. 200g total water system.
- Salt 1.026
- Temp = 77-78
- No pests have been noticed and even gotten up in the middle of the night to look.
Additional Info. Everything is connected to an Apex. I dose Alk, Calcium, and Acropower. I verify my trident readings via secondary test equipment such as Hanna, API, Salifert. I run GFO/Carbon. I have a refugium with chaeto (Very healthy). I run a UV sterilizer every night for 9 hours. I run 2x MP40s and 2x MP60s and push as much flow as my sand bed will allow. I have a wide variety of corals. A bunch of SPS. Some growing like crazy, and encrusting nicely. A couple randomly begin to have algae build up on tips and turn brown.
I have been dealing with this for the last 6 months or so. I make my own water. Filters changed as needed when I read 1 TDS. Tested my RO water, Free Chlorine/Total Chlorine is 0.
I have been using Fritz Pro (Blue box salt). Yes I have read all the issues with Fritz. Not sure what to believe. I sent out an ICP water test back in February just for fun. Results are below. I finally gave in and decided to switch to Aquaforest salt on Thursday. Since then I have been changing 6 gallons every night (Normally do 4 gallons). I do not do large water changes. I tested my new batch of Aquaforest mix, and everything is as expected. I was hoping to do a ICP test before switching to Aquaforest to see what what my results are after using fritz for 11 months but haven't had time.
Guide me fellow reefers!
- Tank is 11 months old w/ plenty of coralline build up etc. Please refer to my build thread for pictures.
- Par up near the top of the rock work is around 200ish. 8 hours at max par with 2 hour ramp up and 2 hour ramp down. Running 4x XR30 G4 Pros with diffusers. I use to be at 300-325 par up top but slowly brought down intensity thinking that may be it.
- Alk = 7.8 with a max fluctuation of .1 daily.
- Calcium = 440-450 with max fluctuation of 5-10 daily.
- Mag = 1370-1390 with max fluctuation of 10 daily.
- Nitrates = 8-10. Never changes. Always been rock solid.
- Phosphates = .05-.08. I need to GFO in order to achieve these consistent numbers. I have a ton of fish. Feed twice daily. Flakes and pellets in morning and meaty foods in afternoon.
- I dose 6ml of acropower every morning within a 30 min period. Once a week I'll mix up some benepets coral food and spot feed as needed.
- PH = 8.2
- Daily water changes of 2-3%. 200g total water system.
- Salt 1.026
- Temp = 77-78
- No pests have been noticed and even gotten up in the middle of the night to look.
Additional Info. Everything is connected to an Apex. I dose Alk, Calcium, and Acropower. I verify my trident readings via secondary test equipment such as Hanna, API, Salifert. I run GFO/Carbon. I have a refugium with chaeto (Very healthy). I run a UV sterilizer every night for 9 hours. I run 2x MP40s and 2x MP60s and push as much flow as my sand bed will allow. I have a wide variety of corals. A bunch of SPS. Some growing like crazy, and encrusting nicely. A couple randomly begin to have algae build up on tips and turn brown.
I have been dealing with this for the last 6 months or so. I make my own water. Filters changed as needed when I read 1 TDS. Tested my RO water, Free Chlorine/Total Chlorine is 0.
I have been using Fritz Pro (Blue box salt). Yes I have read all the issues with Fritz. Not sure what to believe. I sent out an ICP water test back in February just for fun. Results are below. I finally gave in and decided to switch to Aquaforest salt on Thursday. Since then I have been changing 6 gallons every night (Normally do 4 gallons). I do not do large water changes. I tested my new batch of Aquaforest mix, and everything is as expected. I was hoping to do a ICP test before switching to Aquaforest to see what what my results are after using fritz for 11 months but haven't had time.
Guide me fellow reefers!
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