I am currently running Chemi-Pure Blue switched out every 4-5 weeks. If I stop using the Chemi-Pure and move over to the Rox is there any damage I can do to the few SPS I have? Can too much carbon running hurt things? I was thinking of replacing the carbon weekly because I heard Carbon loses effectiveness. Is this overkill?
Probably. It sounds like you may be doing most of that "just becuase" vs for a specific purpose. I'd feel free to scale back (to zero) on anything that has an ambiguous purpose. I use carbon and GFO only as-needed. Both can definitely be overdone.
Sicce Syncra 2.o return (560 gph)
It's a sunk cost, but in case you can make a switch somehow to your benefit, that's a
huge pump for that 34 gallon tank.
All you need is from 120 GPH to 240 GPH of actual flow. So a Syncra 1.0 or 1.5 would work for your system height.
The 0.5 would almost do it if the tank were a little shorter.
But either the Syncra 1.0 or 1.5 would be almost perfect. Those are <$50 pumps vs the $100 Syncra 2.0, so that's a pretty good cost difference. Might tempt you to switch! ;)
Your tank should be getting something like 340 GPH from the current setup, so
all kinds of room to go down.
The main benefit at this point would be lowering power use.....probably a small priority. If you were still buying new (or were willing to switch), then a different pump would be in order.
Now, it's really just FYI. :)
- My nitrates are steady currently below 10 via a difficult to read Red Sea basic kit.
- Phosphates read as 0.00 on the Hanna Phosphate (not Phorsporus) Checker
That PO4 level is going to be a problem in the long term. I would probably eliminate or reduce the usage of ChemiPure (which has GFO in it) and see where PO4 levels out to.
"Low PO4" is good....near-zero or zero are bad. Very bad.
Zero or near-zero nitrates can be a problem too, but not usually as bad.
I'm not a fan of dried foods and it's usually very debatable how much of this stuff gets eaten vs just settling out or being filtered out. I say it's a good thing you're only feeding this infrequently.
There are a ton of non-dried options, including freshly hatched brine shrimp and even decapsulated brine shrimp eggs. All very simple and inexpensive.
I would see if you can get away with just feeding your fish MORE and BETTER but without blowing up your PO4 or NO3 number.
To do this,
make small changes you your feeding routine no more than
once every few weeks and monitor your numbers for changes. Changes to the tank as well as changes to the numbers can take weeks to finally balance out, so be patient when making changes.
:)
I'm trying to be as simple as possible.
Not adding any other corals to tank until September/October...then was going to add only two more monti digitata colonies as toppers and a space invader pectina...then full stop, letting it all grow out.
I think you're definitely on a good track, but I'm not sure it's as simple as possible. :) How big a priority for you is this?
Is there anything glaringly wrong that you see, or something I should be adding?
The tank is already more or less full in <1 year. That's the only real "criticism" I can think of. :) Stocking up so fast is typically very challenging for most folks – and indeed a harder way to set up a reef, so harder would be expected. I would double-down on your commitment to stop adding more critters. +1 :)
Keeping your fish stock levels low is a
very smart move. :)
