ULNS on fairly new tank

[Heavymman]

Hi all, I finally got back into the hobby this past September after a 12 year break. I setup a 60 gallon cube with a 10 gallon sump and nice skimmer to add. So far I slowly introduced my 2 clowns and Midas Blenny and the tank has been extremely stable with significant signs of corraline algae patches growing (started with cured dry rock). I decided it was time to introduce some corals and I wanted a go at SPS this go around.

My lighting and water movement is more the sufficient for SPS but to my surprise 0 NO3 and PO4 is not good for them!

I don’t know what to do at this point and I am a firm believer once you start adjusting one thing it will set the symbiotic relationships off causing you constantly battling to get steady levels again.

My ideas are to remove the filter sock and run the skimmer only for 8 hours in the morning. Lighten my water changes up and feed heavily both flake, myosis and reef roids.

Not really sure what to do any advice is appreciated

 

[Dkeller_nc]

All of those things will help; I suspect you'll find that you don't have any issues maintaining a reasonable dissolved nutrient concentration if you're dosing Reef Roids. The only thing I might suggest being cautious about is turning off your skimmer, depending on the number of fish you have in your system, whether the sump's enclosed in a cabinet, whether the tank's covered, and how much surface movement you have. Skimmers do play a significant role in gas exchange, though there are plenty of tanks with a fairly low bioload that seem to do just fine without them.

 

[Heavymman]

All of those things will help; I suspect you'll find that you don't have any issues maintaining a reasonable dissolved nutrient concentration if you're dosing Reef Roids. The only thing I might suggest being cautious about is turning off your skimmer, depending on the number of fish you have in your system, whether the sump's enclosed in a cabinet, whether the tank's covered, and how much surface movement you have. Skimmers do play a significant role in gas exchange, though there are plenty of tanks with a fairly low bioload that seem to do just fine without them.

I have a lot of surface movement and tanks is not covered. Also, I have 2 clowns and a Midas Blenny (yellow wrasse next week when done with QT. Can I monitor ORP on the apex to make sure gas levels aren’t that affected?

Also I have reef chili not reef roids, I constantly get them mixed up lol not sure if there is a diffence.

I guess my last system I struggled with PO4 and NO3 so much I thought 0 was a good number but I guess not really.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Dkeller_nc]

I think you'll be OK if you have lots of surface movement. To be honest, and even though I've a couple of chemistry degrees, I really couldn't answer the ORP question. There are a LOT of things that seem to affect ORP, not just oxygen saturation.

I think that Reef Roids, Reef Chili, TLF ZooPlan, etc..., are all about the same thing - dried copepods. I personally also feed Oyster Feast and PhytoFeast. The OysterFeast is, in theory, something the corals would directly consume, but I feed PhytoFeast for other critters in the system, principally tubeworms and opportunistic clams that came in on the live rock. All of it, though, definitely contributes to the NO3 and PO4 in the system - if I forget to feed for a couple of nights, it's quite noticeable in the water tests.

 

[Heavymman]

I think you'll be OK if you have lots of surface movement. To be honest, and even though I've a couple of chemistry degrees, I really couldn't answer the ORP question. There are a LOT of things that seem to affect ORP, not just oxygen saturation.

I think that Reef Roids, Reef Chili, TLF ZooPlan, etc..., are all about the same thing - dried copepods. I personally also feed Oyster Feast and PhytoFeast. The OysterFeast is, in theory, something the corals would directly consume, but I feed PhytoFeast for other critters in the system, principally tubeworms and opportunistic clams that came in on the live rock. All of it, though, definitely contributes to the NO3 and PO4 in the system - if I forget to feed for a couple of nights, it's quite noticeable in the water tests.

Thanks again for the help