So it turns out I’m unintentionally running an ULNS and I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that and looking for a way to safely transition out.
System is 3 months old post fast cycle
Tank is 60gal + 15gal sump (65gal total water by volume)
Tropic Marin Syn-biotic salt (I fear this may be the culprit) 15%-20% water changes every 7-14 days. This is currently my main source of replenishing Alk/Calcium.
Mechanical Equipment: Santa Monica surf 2 Algae scrubber, Klir 4 fleece roller, Tunze 9410 skimmer (oversized but run 6 hrs a day), GKM UV sterilizer, & running carbon.
Contents are 5 small fish, 3 montis, 1 acro, 1 torch, 6 favia/favites/acan, 1 Yuma, 1 skunk cleaner shrimp & various hermits/snails. All seem fine except one monti is fading in color. I feed pretty heavy (fish all have full bellies) with a variety of frozen and pellets 2 - 3 times a day with 2xweekly coral spot feeding.
Today’s Parameters:
Nitrate 0.00 - Hanna Nitrate LR
Phosphate “0” - Hanna Phosphorus ULR
Alkalinity 7.0 - Hanna Alk
pH 7.94 - 8.07
salinity 1.026
temp 77.8 - 78.5
I know this is heresy but I have never tested nitrates until this week. I got the Hanna LR checker in May but never used it until today. I got the HR checker on Monday and my first reading was 0 so I went ahead and used the LR checker today and got 0.00.
I tested phosphates on Monday and got a flashing 0 and the same today. Previous readings ranged between 0.01-0.03ppm.
I have no real substantial algae to speak of in the tank. The scrubber has some slime algae growing but I have to cover half the light (run 8 hr/day) or it goes away. I had some minor dinos in the past but they have receded and can only be seen on the powerheads. The glass regularly gets a white hazy film. Finished my first klir4 roll today after 3 months.
Post 1 of 2 - background details.
System is 3 months old post fast cycle
Tank is 60gal + 15gal sump (65gal total water by volume)
Tropic Marin Syn-biotic salt (I fear this may be the culprit) 15%-20% water changes every 7-14 days. This is currently my main source of replenishing Alk/Calcium.
Mechanical Equipment: Santa Monica surf 2 Algae scrubber, Klir 4 fleece roller, Tunze 9410 skimmer (oversized but run 6 hrs a day), GKM UV sterilizer, & running carbon.
Contents are 5 small fish, 3 montis, 1 acro, 1 torch, 6 favia/favites/acan, 1 Yuma, 1 skunk cleaner shrimp & various hermits/snails. All seem fine except one monti is fading in color. I feed pretty heavy (fish all have full bellies) with a variety of frozen and pellets 2 - 3 times a day with 2xweekly coral spot feeding.
Today’s Parameters:
Nitrate 0.00 - Hanna Nitrate LR
Phosphate “0” - Hanna Phosphorus ULR
Alkalinity 7.0 - Hanna Alk
pH 7.94 - 8.07
salinity 1.026
temp 77.8 - 78.5
I know this is heresy but I have never tested nitrates until this week. I got the Hanna LR checker in May but never used it until today. I got the HR checker on Monday and my first reading was 0 so I went ahead and used the LR checker today and got 0.00.
I tested phosphates on Monday and got a flashing 0 and the same today. Previous readings ranged between 0.01-0.03ppm.
I have no real substantial algae to speak of in the tank. The scrubber has some slime algae growing but I have to cover half the light (run 8 hr/day) or it goes away. I had some minor dinos in the past but they have receded and can only be seen on the powerheads. The glass regularly gets a white hazy film. Finished my first klir4 roll today after 3 months.
Post 1 of 2 - background details.
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