Treefer32
Valuable Member
I'm getting closer to having things stabilized. However, I still feel like something isn't quite right.
Tank is 340 gallon display and 75 gallon sump (half full). 2.5 years old. 17 fish, including 3 large tangs are all doing great!
Issues
I have a stunner chalice that was 10-12" in size and receding now.
Duncans that had grown 10 new heads and over the last few months some of the new heads started dying off.
3 x 1 inch frags of acans that despite feeding twice a week will not take off at all. I feed religiously Reef roids, Reef energy AB+, brine shrimp pellets, and home made selcon soaked frozen food target feeding each of the acans. They grab on to a piece here and there but they just won't grow, they don't even look like acans at this point. They've been in the tank 1.5 -2 years and are no bigger than they were. I'm surprised they're still alive.
What's going well:
Acropora are growing and show polyp extension since dosing trace elements and are doing great.
Hammer that has 4 new heads growing in the last 2-3 months. Doing great!
Orange Ricordea at different levels of the tank spreading well.
Toadstool that's continuously adding new flesh.
A Rainbow RBTA that's growing new tentacles each day almost. Seems to be loving the new dosing regimen!
My initial thought is too much light. Things improved quickly when I began dosing very low amounts of trace elements Red Sea A, B, C, D and Reef Energy AB+.
I dose 4 ml of each of the trace elements twice a week. That's when I saw corals coloring up and starting to improve. Many are doing great now. The ones not, like the duncan, I think may be lighting, but not sure.
Alk remains stable between 9.5 and 10.2, Calcium 440-480, Magnesium 1440-1480 (red Sea Test kits).
I dose baked baking soda for alk and BRS Calcium chloride for calcium, following their 2 part recipe based on consumption.
I use IO salt right now. Salinity is maintained at 1.025.
Nitrates: 16- 20 and phosphates .12 - .16 - Algae Turf Scrubber is my primary filtration, which I religiously clean ever 7 days.
I do 15-20 gallon water changes 3 times a week.
I'm sending off a Tritan ICP test to see if there's anything that's really imbalanced or off with my water. I'm hoping that yields something that's not major but easily adjustable.
I have 3 AI Hydra 52s over my tank facing front to back. Tank is 3 foot wide by 6 foot long, by 31" tall. Lights are about 6-8 inches above the water. I also run 4 80 watt Aquatic Life T5HO bulbs as well. Two in the front and two in the back.
This is my Hydra AI settings that I've been using. I'm not sure if it's too much, the wrong spectrum or if it has nothing to do with lights. I've got a set maintenance schedule that I'm adhering to daily to ensure everything stays the same.
Tank is 340 gallon display and 75 gallon sump (half full). 2.5 years old. 17 fish, including 3 large tangs are all doing great!
Issues
I have a stunner chalice that was 10-12" in size and receding now.
Duncans that had grown 10 new heads and over the last few months some of the new heads started dying off.
3 x 1 inch frags of acans that despite feeding twice a week will not take off at all. I feed religiously Reef roids, Reef energy AB+, brine shrimp pellets, and home made selcon soaked frozen food target feeding each of the acans. They grab on to a piece here and there but they just won't grow, they don't even look like acans at this point. They've been in the tank 1.5 -2 years and are no bigger than they were. I'm surprised they're still alive.
What's going well:
Acropora are growing and show polyp extension since dosing trace elements and are doing great.
Hammer that has 4 new heads growing in the last 2-3 months. Doing great!
Orange Ricordea at different levels of the tank spreading well.
Toadstool that's continuously adding new flesh.
A Rainbow RBTA that's growing new tentacles each day almost. Seems to be loving the new dosing regimen!
My initial thought is too much light. Things improved quickly when I began dosing very low amounts of trace elements Red Sea A, B, C, D and Reef Energy AB+.
I dose 4 ml of each of the trace elements twice a week. That's when I saw corals coloring up and starting to improve. Many are doing great now. The ones not, like the duncan, I think may be lighting, but not sure.
Alk remains stable between 9.5 and 10.2, Calcium 440-480, Magnesium 1440-1480 (red Sea Test kits).
I dose baked baking soda for alk and BRS Calcium chloride for calcium, following their 2 part recipe based on consumption.
I use IO salt right now. Salinity is maintained at 1.025.
Nitrates: 16- 20 and phosphates .12 - .16 - Algae Turf Scrubber is my primary filtration, which I religiously clean ever 7 days.
I do 15-20 gallon water changes 3 times a week.
I'm sending off a Tritan ICP test to see if there's anything that's really imbalanced or off with my water. I'm hoping that yields something that's not major but easily adjustable.
I have 3 AI Hydra 52s over my tank facing front to back. Tank is 3 foot wide by 6 foot long, by 31" tall. Lights are about 6-8 inches above the water. I also run 4 80 watt Aquatic Life T5HO bulbs as well. Two in the front and two in the back.
This is my Hydra AI settings that I've been using. I'm not sure if it's too much, the wrong spectrum or if it has nothing to do with lights. I've got a set maintenance schedule that I'm adhering to daily to ensure everything stays the same.
Lighting changes can be devastating, so I want to be careful. I guess I should just break down and test with a par meter after I get the ICP test back.
