Do a Triton icp oes test, just search the internet for it. Also read up on the Triton method and you'll probably find that buying in to that method will cost you no more if not less then all the other additives and water changes you are doing now. I would include the tests as part of your monthly costs to start then later on you can spread them out to every 2 to 3 months once you find stability in your results from month to month. BRS has started a couple videos on it you can watch also and Triton has several guides on their method and they are all worth a read.
SPS Corals Have Almost No Color (w/Pictures)
OP
OP
shawnriv
Active Member
So the big question: how do I reverse this? ;Blackeye
Remove the algae is the simple answer. Doing that in practice may not be so simple. In the short term you can increase PO4. But the algae may again grab it, so eliminating the algae is best. It can be a very hard balancing act to get correct. Good luck.
Charterreefer
Active Member
Carbon dosing is usually used as a last ditch method for tanks that have high nutrient loads. Your tank looks (and sounds) like you have next to no nutrients. Your lighting is probably fine, your coral need energy for photosynthesis. PO4 should be at a detectable level (0.01-0.02) and NO3 around 1.0 ppm. Algae growth seems to always happen to some degree. Sure, if you keep your nutrients very very low you will get no algae growth but likewise, no coral growth as well. I have been using Seachem Flourish Phosphorus and a Calcium Nitrate based NO3 solution to keep my nutrients at these levels. I have been maintaining these levels for half a year now and my sps coral seem very happy and are growing faster then when I had very low nutrients. Hope this helps.
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CeeGee
Active Member
I don’t even have to read this thread. I have been through this. You are going to have some form of algae or another regardless of nutrients.
Your corals are starving. Feed the crap out of your tank. Get nitrates up and phosphates up. Find the sweet spot and hold it at that level.
If you start growing hair algae after upping nutrient input increase your clean up crew.
Your corals are starving. Feed the crap out of your tank. Get nitrates up and phosphates up. Find the sweet spot and hold it at that level.
If you start growing hair algae after upping nutrient input increase your clean up crew.
VP616
Active Member
Cross-check your water test results with your local fish store. Bring them a sample, have it tested, and see how it compares to yours. If they're also using API test kits, don't bother. Order a Triton ICP test (or ATI Essentials test) and send out a sample, regardless of your and your LFS results. At least you'll have a baseline of where the elements measure up in your tank after you get the results back. You can make a decision from there about what steps to take next.
Pohl's Xtra Special was made for ULNS systems like yours, if it is, indeed, a nutrient issue. You can try to begin dosing that and see how the corals react after a couple of weeks. Start at half the recommended dose, then gradually increase. Like others said, algae will bloom, no matter what, so just up the CUC.
Get ReefRoids and spot feed the corals 2-3x/week, if you feel inclined to. Won't hurt anything at this point if you do.
Pohl's Xtra Special was made for ULNS systems like yours, if it is, indeed, a nutrient issue. You can try to begin dosing that and see how the corals react after a couple of weeks. Start at half the recommended dose, then gradually increase. Like others said, algae will bloom, no matter what, so just up the CUC.
Get ReefRoids and spot feed the corals 2-3x/week, if you feel inclined to. Won't hurt anything at this point if you do.
rockskimmerflow
Well-Known Member
A hyper clean tank devoid of nearly all measurable nutrients is not the answer to 'no algae'. And this whole idea of a tiny bit of brown algae on the glass everyday being a problem notion needs to stop. It's so pervasive in this hobby. You NEED algal growth of some form or another to develop a healthy tank ecosystem. The way to control algae is through grazing pressures from the bottom up; copepods, amphipods, isopods, collonista snails, and any and all other typical clean up crew snails and hermit crabs are how algaes should be managed if they are growing in excess.
Carbon dosing IMO is absolutely the root cause of your problem. Feed more, wean off the nopox, and manage your algal levels with grazers while maintaining measureable nutrients in the tank to supply your corals zooxanthellae with some much needed raw material to produce glucose.
The fact that your corals are still hanging in there is a testament to your system otherwise being quite dialed in and stable. Your corals symbionts are literally starving to the point where the coral cannot maintain them in it's tissues at any significant rate any longer. I think you'll see great results with more nutrients present in the tank. Should be quite an easy fix overall. Best of luck with the tank! I think you'll be just fine once the changes are made to the tank husbandry.
Carbon dosing IMO is absolutely the root cause of your problem. Feed more, wean off the nopox, and manage your algal levels with grazers while maintaining measureable nutrients in the tank to supply your corals zooxanthellae with some much needed raw material to produce glucose.
The fact that your corals are still hanging in there is a testament to your system otherwise being quite dialed in and stable. Your corals symbionts are literally starving to the point where the coral cannot maintain them in it's tissues at any significant rate any longer. I think you'll see great results with more nutrients present in the tank. Should be quite an easy fix overall. Best of luck with the tank! I think you'll be just fine once the changes are made to the tank husbandry.
Dilan Patel
2500 Club Member
Seems liek you are running your tank too "clean". Back in the old days it was perceived to have a reef tank all parameters had to be at 0 in order to have success. Little did we know that when we had near 0 nutrients in the tank we were actually starving these corals. So I suggest increaseing the nutrients by feeding more. Also you could dose some amino acids such as acropower in the meantime 
hope this helps a little.
hope this helps a little.
Hello
I also love your display, great job, and honestly from the pics I see colors that stand out, and overall health looks just fine.
Was the rock used live or dead? How long was the tank running, and how did you cycle it? Also, please give detailed break down of c-source dosing, this needs bacteria dosing to also work, which method or products? How is your skimmer set, wet or dry? The tank looks young, at least the rock does, looks on the white side, should that be the case, I would honestly focus more on micro inhabitants, and getting as much diversity as you can into the system. See if your LFS has some rubble, or maybe employ some biological material to add surface area for bacteria homing, this could also aid in c-source dosing. Just some thoughts, I would not over react or chase numbers, as long as there is PE, I would feed aminos and coral foods, but sparingly, and under dosing recommendations. Make sure you feed your fish, and use good quality frozen foods, they too have aminos and some contain probiotics as well. So, dosing coral foods may be too much and redundant to how you are feeding. Rule of thumb, what goes in must be taken out. So, if you have tons of life teeming in the tank, you have more natural filtration because uneaten foods are better broken down. They all play a key role in the aquarium, and my belief is strong that the more life, the healthier and happier the inhabitants. SPS do not like changes, for some reason they tend to do well in tanks established with live rock, not to say dead rock won't or does not work, but likely many steps should be taken in this case to ensure success. Cheers
I also love your display, great job, and honestly from the pics I see colors that stand out, and overall health looks just fine.
Was the rock used live or dead? How long was the tank running, and how did you cycle it? Also, please give detailed break down of c-source dosing, this needs bacteria dosing to also work, which method or products? How is your skimmer set, wet or dry? The tank looks young, at least the rock does, looks on the white side, should that be the case, I would honestly focus more on micro inhabitants, and getting as much diversity as you can into the system. See if your LFS has some rubble, or maybe employ some biological material to add surface area for bacteria homing, this could also aid in c-source dosing. Just some thoughts, I would not over react or chase numbers, as long as there is PE, I would feed aminos and coral foods, but sparingly, and under dosing recommendations. Make sure you feed your fish, and use good quality frozen foods, they too have aminos and some contain probiotics as well. So, dosing coral foods may be too much and redundant to how you are feeding. Rule of thumb, what goes in must be taken out. So, if you have tons of life teeming in the tank, you have more natural filtration because uneaten foods are better broken down. They all play a key role in the aquarium, and my belief is strong that the more life, the healthier and happier the inhabitants. SPS do not like changes, for some reason they tend to do well in tanks established with live rock, not to say dead rock won't or does not work, but likely many steps should be taken in this case to ensure success. Cheers
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