Koty
Well-Known Member
First, apologies for the data bombardment.
420-liter tank, sump, Chaeto refuge, mostly LPS.
My salinity was low probably for a long time (1.0230) until 4 days ago when I started using Tropic Marin hydrometer it is now 1.0267
Mg is 1600 but the RedSea Mg kit is crap.
Ca, Kh are 475 and 13 respectively (it is 13 for a week as I did a dosing mistake, it was about 9 in the last month)
NH3 is 0, NO3 is now 10 usually between 10 to 1
Phosphate is 0.01 never goes above 0.08
pH is always between 8.1 and 8.3
Temp is 24.5 °C
Tank is about 170 days old.
About a month ago I started experiencing a rise in phosphate and brown hair algae bloom I started dosing a lot of bacteria (40 ml per day) for 3 weeks and then I started dosing RS NoPOx acetic/acid/ethanol stuff (6ml/day). A week later the algae is almost gone so I continue to dose
After the BHA took over I added AF GFO about 200 gr as the phosphate was 0.1 ppm
Frogspawn and heliofungia died, large elegance bailed out and died, I have three hammers one from the end of the cycle that was looking great (lost its green fluorescent color). Now they are all receded and although the abovementioned hammer is getting its green color a bit but is still reseeded. 2 Goniopora and 2 Alveoporas are recently added are looking OK but not perfect. Other corals 4 Acans, 3 torches, Duncan look normal (I am being careful as I am new to reefing).
During the last 3-5 weeks, I did a 3 20% water changes although my salinity was always off as I underestimated the inaccuracy of a refractometer w/o a reference.
As the algae bloom started, I did an ICP which found 25 ppb Tin! (Sn),
I also had:
1.24-fold the amount of Br, (yellow)
Not enough Sr (0.54), (yellow)
Not enough S (0.75), (yellow)
Not enough Iodine, (yellow)
Not enough K (0.61) (red)
Since then there were 3 20% WC which amount to a bit less than 50% WC. I dosed 600 ml of the AF components 123+ to up my Ca and KH that were on the low side (
I also took off the GFO and added for 3 days TLF Metasorb to get rid of heavy metal (“Tin and friends”)
So now that my salinity is correct (a bit on the high) and although the alkalinity is sky-high (13) The alerts are hopefully less relevant due to the water change and the fact that I dose the iodine-containing AF Build every other day 4 drops as part of the AF coral feed plan. I also feed 10 ml of Red-sea AB+.
I have no idea what is relevant to the current situation of the hammers. Is it the algae? TKH swings due to adding GFO? My Salinity that was off?
I use AF reef salt. I have yet to detect at least some KH/Ca consumption although I have LPS. My interpretation is that maybe my tank is currently not providing a good enough condition for coral growth. Any thoughts? Is my hammer doomed or should I wait patiently for it to slowly recover? Pic1 shows the torch and receded hammers, Pic 2 receded hammer, Pic 3 Bubble coral not fully opened (?)
Thanks
Koty
420-liter tank, sump, Chaeto refuge, mostly LPS.
My salinity was low probably for a long time (1.0230) until 4 days ago when I started using Tropic Marin hydrometer it is now 1.0267
Mg is 1600 but the RedSea Mg kit is crap.
Ca, Kh are 475 and 13 respectively (it is 13 for a week as I did a dosing mistake, it was about 9 in the last month)
NH3 is 0, NO3 is now 10 usually between 10 to 1
Phosphate is 0.01 never goes above 0.08
pH is always between 8.1 and 8.3
Temp is 24.5 °C
Tank is about 170 days old.
About a month ago I started experiencing a rise in phosphate and brown hair algae bloom I started dosing a lot of bacteria (40 ml per day) for 3 weeks and then I started dosing RS NoPOx acetic/acid/ethanol stuff (6ml/day). A week later the algae is almost gone so I continue to dose
After the BHA took over I added AF GFO about 200 gr as the phosphate was 0.1 ppm
Frogspawn and heliofungia died, large elegance bailed out and died, I have three hammers one from the end of the cycle that was looking great (lost its green fluorescent color). Now they are all receded and although the abovementioned hammer is getting its green color a bit but is still reseeded. 2 Goniopora and 2 Alveoporas are recently added are looking OK but not perfect. Other corals 4 Acans, 3 torches, Duncan look normal (I am being careful as I am new to reefing).
During the last 3-5 weeks, I did a 3 20% water changes although my salinity was always off as I underestimated the inaccuracy of a refractometer w/o a reference.
As the algae bloom started, I did an ICP which found 25 ppb Tin! (Sn),
I also had:
1.24-fold the amount of Br, (yellow)
Not enough Sr (0.54), (yellow)
Not enough S (0.75), (yellow)
Not enough Iodine, (yellow)
Not enough K (0.61) (red)
Since then there were 3 20% WC which amount to a bit less than 50% WC. I dosed 600 ml of the AF components 123+ to up my Ca and KH that were on the low side (
I also took off the GFO and added for 3 days TLF Metasorb to get rid of heavy metal (“Tin and friends”)
So now that my salinity is correct (a bit on the high) and although the alkalinity is sky-high (13) The alerts are hopefully less relevant due to the water change and the fact that I dose the iodine-containing AF Build every other day 4 drops as part of the AF coral feed plan. I also feed 10 ml of Red-sea AB+.
I have no idea what is relevant to the current situation of the hammers. Is it the algae? TKH swings due to adding GFO? My Salinity that was off?
I use AF reef salt. I have yet to detect at least some KH/Ca consumption although I have LPS. My interpretation is that maybe my tank is currently not providing a good enough condition for coral growth. Any thoughts? Is my hammer doomed or should I wait patiently for it to slowly recover? Pic1 shows the torch and receded hammers, Pic 2 receded hammer, Pic 3 Bubble coral not fully opened (?)
Thanks
Koty
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