All,
I can't keep any lps in my tank to save my life. I am not sure what the issue is as my softies do just fine. I currently have a 180 gallon aquarium with an icecap 36XL sump and the tank has been set up well over a year with plenty of coraline algae growth in the tank. I fight green hair algae, but it has been minimal for a little while now.
I have 3 mp 40s, two on one end of the tank, one on the other (run in lps mode maxing out around 48%). I also struggle to grow any algae in my refugium (chaeto, caulerpa, etc.). I have switched between the innovative marine 9 watt grow light and a simple 29 watt fluorescent light without much luck. As needed, I run carbon and gfo and test my water weekly. I have 4 ai hydra 32 lights over the tank and run them from 7am to 5 pm. I run filter socks in the aquarium and a reef octopus protein skimmer, which pulls out a lot of junk. These are the numbers I get based on the apogee par meter.
My last test showed phosphates at around .02, but it can get as high as .1. My nitrates were right around 15 but have been as high as 19. I keep my alk between 8.4 and 9 and calcium is 420 and magnesium is 1330. The salinity is 1.025 and tank temp is kept at 78 degrees. I also sent in an icp test a couple of days ago to see if there are issues there, but a previous icp test showed nothing out of the ordinary. I use BRS for alk, calcium and magnesium.
I do a water change every two weeks with ro/di water. I have around 15 or so fish and a decent clean up crew. I stupidly had an air freshener in the room, one of the glade plug ins that I recently removed, not sure if that was creating this issue or how much effect it may have had.
I welcome all questions and suggestions on what I might be doing wrong, so I can reverse this lps trend and how I can also fix my refugium issue.
Thanks in advance!
I can't keep any lps in my tank to save my life. I am not sure what the issue is as my softies do just fine. I currently have a 180 gallon aquarium with an icecap 36XL sump and the tank has been set up well over a year with plenty of coraline algae growth in the tank. I fight green hair algae, but it has been minimal for a little while now.
I have 3 mp 40s, two on one end of the tank, one on the other (run in lps mode maxing out around 48%). I also struggle to grow any algae in my refugium (chaeto, caulerpa, etc.). I have switched between the innovative marine 9 watt grow light and a simple 29 watt fluorescent light without much luck. As needed, I run carbon and gfo and test my water weekly. I have 4 ai hydra 32 lights over the tank and run them from 7am to 5 pm. I run filter socks in the aquarium and a reef octopus protein skimmer, which pulls out a lot of junk. These are the numbers I get based on the apogee par meter.
My last test showed phosphates at around .02, but it can get as high as .1. My nitrates were right around 15 but have been as high as 19. I keep my alk between 8.4 and 9 and calcium is 420 and magnesium is 1330. The salinity is 1.025 and tank temp is kept at 78 degrees. I also sent in an icp test a couple of days ago to see if there are issues there, but a previous icp test showed nothing out of the ordinary. I use BRS for alk, calcium and magnesium.
I do a water change every two weeks with ro/di water. I have around 15 or so fish and a decent clean up crew. I stupidly had an air freshener in the room, one of the glade plug ins that I recently removed, not sure if that was creating this issue or how much effect it may have had.
I welcome all questions and suggestions on what I might be doing wrong, so I can reverse this lps trend and how I can also fix my refugium issue.
Thanks in advance!