Uh oh what did i do right?

[JCOLE]

As the title states my tank is doing really well right now and I am trying to pin point what I recently did so I can stick with it. The problem is as well as we all know with this hobby is that a lot of change at once is not always a good thing for this reason. It is hard to pinpoint what went wrong or right.

Anyways I plan on sticking with what I am currently doing but these are the changes I made within the last month. What do you think? Was it all of these or do you think just a couple of things?

1. I switched from IORC to Tropic Marin Pro Reef and doing weekly water changes
2. Upgraded my Mars Aqua Black Boxes and replaced the LEDs out to a better custom spectrum.
3. Changed out my CARX to a Neptune DOS to work with my Trident and dose 2-part. My CARX was not keeping my parameters steady. I was getting a 1dkh fluctuation everyday. I know this isn't much but not I get a .20 dkh at the most and it is steadily getting tighter.
4. I put Acropower on a doser and dosing daily
5. Added a chiller and now my tank stays consistent between 77.8-78.9.

A lot of changes at once but my tank seems to have responded with better color and growth.

 

[MentalNote]

Haha. No idea, but its the same strategy that I've had recently. I made a bunch of changes, the tank is doing well..but i'm not exactly sure why...

For the sake of conversation, here are my thoughts on your changes:

1. Switch from IORC to Tropic Marin Pro Reef and doing weekly water changes
A lot of well known reefers (Jason Fox, etc) reportedly use RC, so I don't think salt mix has that much of an impact.
2. Upgraded my Mars Aqua Balck Boxes and replaced the LEDs out to a better custom spectrum
Perhaps, hard to compare, but spectrum can have a large impact.
3. Changed out my CARX to a Neptune DOS to work with my Trident and dose 2-part.
As long as the reactor had the same Alk stability, I don't think that this would have much of an impact. I always thought the reactor would be better at adding trace elements and preventing salinity creep than 2 part. (I use 2 part too)
4. Put Acropower on a doser and dosing daily
Perhaps. I used Acropower on and off but can't claim any definitive results. I think it's difficulty to observe the change as it's so slow. BRS investigates seems to demonstrate increased growth with amino acids.
5. Added a chiller and now my tank stays consistent between 77.8-78.9.
I guess this depends on how high your temperature as were getting? I'm surprised if your using LEDs that you had an issue too high of a temp.

My tank too seems to be doing quite well. Here are my changes in the last few months:
1. Dosing Red Sea AB+, used Acropower for a few months before that.
2. Dosing Trace Elements. Based on ICP results, started dosing strontium, barium, iodine, fluorine and manganese (Aquaforest Component A, C, and Triton Manganese)
3. Reef Roids at night. Target feeding SPS and LPS at night, at least 3 times a week.
4. Increased fish feeding. Increased from ~3 to 4 frozen cubes a day to ~7
5. Cycling intensity of my lights. Clouds on led and fluctuating peak 6 hour light intensity on T5s to have short duration intensity dips.

Next steps for me is automating the trace elements as I am not very consistent. I'm also going to stop dosing aminos and try easySPS EVO and booster to see impact on coral polyps.

Maybe this is all a symptom of spending too much time at home...

Good luck!

 

[Uncle99]

Wow, those Acros man, freak.....absolutely stunning
I vote mainly number 2, lights.

 

[JCOLE]

Haha. No idea, but its the same strategy that I've had recently. I made a bunch of changes, the tank is doing well..but i'm not exactly sure why...

For the sake of conversation, here are my thoughts on your changes:

1. Switch from IORC to Tropic Marin Pro Reef and doing weekly water changes
A lot of well known reefers (Jason Fox, etc) reportedly use RC, so I don't think salt mix has that much of an impact.
2. Upgraded my Mars Aqua Balck Boxes and replaced the LEDs out to a better custom spectrum
Perhaps, hard to compare, but spectrum can have a large impact.
3. Changed out my CARX to a Neptune DOS to work with my Trident and dose 2-part.
As long as the reactor had the same Alk stability, I don't think that this would have much of an impact. I always thought the reactor would be better at adding trace elements and preventing salinity creep than 2 part. (I use 2 part too)
4. Put Acropower on a doser and dosing daily
Perhaps. I used Acropower on and off but can't claim any definitive results. I think it's difficulty to observe the change as it's so slow. BRS investigates seems to demonstrate increased growth with amino acids.
5. Added a chiller and now my tank stays consistent between 77.8-78.9.
I guess this depends on how high your temperature as were getting? I'm surprised if your using LEDs that you had an issue too high of a temp.

My tank too seems to be doing quite well. Here are my changes in the last few months:
1. Dosing Red Sea AB+, used Acropower for a few months before that.
2. Dosing Trace Elements. Based on ICP results, started dosing strontium, barium, iodine, fluorine and manganese (Aquaforest Component A, C, and Triton Manganese)
3. Reef Roids at night. Target feeding SPS and LPS at night, at least 3 times a week.
4. Increased fish feeding. Increased from ~3 to 4 frozen cubes a day to ~7
5. Cycling intensity of my lights. Clouds on led and fluctuating peak 6 hour light intensity on T5s to have short duration intensity dips.

Next steps for me is automating the trace elements as I am not very consistent. I'm also going to stop dosing aminos and try easySPS EVO and booster to see impact on coral polyps.

Maybe this is all a symptom of spending too much time at home...

Good luck!

Besides the lights I think everything else helped attribute to better stability. Could just be a combo of everything.

 

[JCOLE]

Wow, those Acros man, freak.....absolutely stunning
I vote mainly number 2, lights.

If this was to me then thank you. I think the lights were a big factor also.

 

[Phildago]

What was your previous tank temp?

 

[JCOLE]

What was your previous tank temp?

Varied. In the winter it was able to maintain around 78-79. In the spring it was starting to push from 78 in the mornings and nights to up to 82 in the afternoon. This is the reason for the chiller. My tank is plumbed into the garage and it is getting in the mid 90s in the afternoon now. At its hottest right now the tank stays between 77.8-78.9.

 

[jda]

Probably none of those. Maybe? It was probably just the right time for your tank to get mature and get easier.

If your tank was getting really hot, then the chiller could have made a big difference.

 

[JCOLE]

Probably none of those. Maybe? It was probably just the right time for your tank to get mature and get easier.

If your tank was getting really hot, then the chiller could have made a big difference.

The perfect storm!

 

[Phildago]

Varied. In the winter it was able to maintain around 78-79. In the spring it was starting to push from 78 in the mornings and nights to up to 82 in the afternoon. This is the reason for the chiller. My tank is plumbed into the garage and it is getting in the mid 90s in the afternoon now. At its hottest right now the tank stays between 77.8-78.9.

Interesting. I wonder if you're seeing benefit from the temp change and of you are I wonder if it's because of the steady temp, or the lower temp. I keep my tank at 80, and things seem good.