The Husbandry Challenge

[ZoWhat]

R2R has alllllll kinds of opinions

I'm opening up my husbandry skills to be discussed, debated and challenged. I'm a big boy and can take constructive criticism

Tank 6ft 180g, sump in basement 100g rubbermaid. 5 diff species of tangs, mostly zoas/palys dominate, 200lbs of large LR.

Tanks been up since 2013

SALT: Fritz RPM
* 460-480ppm calcium (dose pharmgrade calc chlor pellets)
* 10-11dKH on Alkalinity (no dose, comes from WCs in Fritz salt)
* 1500-1600ppm Magnesium (dose mag sulfate flakes from local store as an ice-thawer, contacted Mfgr, safety data sheet says 100% mag sulfate no other chemicals, been using it for 3yrs)
* Low-400s for potassium (dose pharmgrade potassium chlor)
* also dose pharmgrade strontium powder, iodide liquid from SeaChem

* all Red Sea kits for elements and toxins
* 0-0.5 ppm NO4
* 0 PO4
* 0 heavy metals

* 0 DTS RODI water for WCs and topoff water
* 15g WCs weekly, sometimes every 2 weeks
* Salinity 1.023-1.025 SG with using a refractometer with ATO in play

* Temp 78-80 degrees YEAR ROUND. 80 stable during June July August

* LED Lighting cycle using several nm-specific fixtures:
* 2hrs 460nm blue sunrise (ramp up from 10 to 100%)
* 4hrs white 10k- 16k at 30% + 100% 460nm blues
* 4hrs ramp DOWN time, 0% white, 390nm UVA fixture + 420nm fixture + 460nm fixture (ramping down from 100% to 0% at midnight)

* From 11pm to 8am chaeto is being grown in sump area by a 660nm+460nm pink-colored growth LED light

* 8.0pH when lights are out, 8.15~8.20 pH during white brightest lighting cycle

* Wet skim so about 1/4g of sw is skimmed OUT a day

* Feed fish once a day in the AM, combo of diced clams/mussel meat, in the amount they can 100% consume in under 5mins. Food still swirling around at the 6min point, too much food, I reduced amt. All tangs have FAT bellies

* Dose TWICE A DAY (9am + 11pm) 1-2ozs of 80proof vodka + 1-2ozs of vinegar combined....a
Randy Holmes Farley recipe to build good bacteria to devour no3 and po4

* once in awhile dise Dr Tim's Waste Away


Thoughts, comments criticism, debates? Let it all out....


.

 

[Fishfinder]

That's a lot of skimmate!!!!

 

[mcarroll]

How old is the system now?

 

[braappn]

So you need to dose Ca, Mg, and K, but water changes are enough to replenish alk? [emoji848]

 

[ZoWhat]

So you need to dose Ca, Mg, and K, but water changes are enough to replenish alk?

Yeap. My tank is 95% zoas palys and my dKH always stays around 10 with water changes.

I once tried to dose Kalk in small amt and dKH rocketed to 14.x in 2 weeks. Forced me to do a 100g WC

 

[ZoWhat]

How old is the system now?

Tanks been up since 2013

 

[PDR]

I am curious as to why you would need to dose ca and mg if alk, which typically gets depleted faster than either of those, is maintained with just water changes.

Pics?

 

[User1]

Hmm...I was going to reply that I'm making dinner now and also put on a load of laundry...but I don't think that is what you are posting about

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Mag is pretty high. 1350-1380 is my personal target and you could lower cal to 400, just stop dosing or reduce the dosing and let the numbers fall naturally. I would bet small weekly water changes would take care of replenishing all the major and minor trace elements and it would save you money. Doing a large water change to fix something like high alk is a bad idea as well. Alk increased slowly over a few weeks, letting it slowly come down narually is easier on the corals.

 

[mcarroll]

Tanks been up since 2013

No real tips if it's working for you. Don't fix what isn't broken.

Ideas though....

I can agree with someone else who pointed out that you can probably stop dosing for Ca and Mg (probaby K and I too) – maintain them the same way as alk, which has a much higher demand and which ordinarily dictates a stony coral tank's dosing routine. (There should be practically no need for it in a non-stony tank.)

It also seems like your carbon dosing is unnecessary since nutrient levels are already in the negative and since your coral choices would generally appreciate more nutrients in the water rather than none.

I would do these things in order to simplify if it were my system.

2¢