What numbers/parameters should I be chasing?

[Devan Patel]

With months of neglecting my tank and treatments for cyano and gha, and just fish in the tank I finally decided to take care and want to build an sps dominant tank now. I had left my dosers on after my tank crashed when all my corals died and some fish, then I started neglecting it. My parameters were through the rough so I will attach them within a couple days and after doing a 20 gallon water change.

07/25/23: 50.3

PH: 8.2

Ammonia: 0.25ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 40 ppm

Phosphate: .50 ppm possibly

No skimmer active and loss of flow



I currently just tested alkalinity and it’s at like 13.7-14. Calicum is at 500+ ppm plus I can only see to 500 on my redsea test kit. So I’m just going to assume between 500-600 easily. I guess the tank just racked up all these numbers with the dosers being on and nothing in the tank but fish. But with this high alk that means calcium should be reduced which then means my calcium had to be through the roof at maybe 1000ppm who knows



7/30/23: 50.3

Summary: turned off dosers because there were no corals and parameters were extremely high.

Test Kit Red Sea Foundation Pro:

Alkalinity: 10.6 dkh

Calcium: 500 ppm

Magnesium: 1400 ppm

Test Kit API:

High range PH: 8.0

Ammonia: looking like maybe 0-0.5 maybe, doesn’t look fully yellow(showing zero)

Nitrite: 0 ppm

Phosphate: 0.25 ppm

Nitrate: looks to be 20 ppm



Equipment and what I’m running (7/30/23):

Water box 50.3 AIO

Skimmer

Filter floss

1 fluval Phosphate filter pad absorber (for fun)

A bag of gfo

Couple bags of carbon

Filter mesh

1 Nero on max (2000 GPH)

Waiting for my other one to get replaced

1 jebeo sow-4 max speed

1 jebeao slw-10

2 AI hydra 32hd

2 dosers dosing calcium and alkalinity

3 clowns and one baby wrasse

What numbers should I try to chase, to create stability?

 

[BigRick]

Rule#1 don't chase numbers... stability... slow wins the race. Just stop dosing whatever is high.

 

[bakbay]

Looks fine to me - if you have to “chase numbers”, try chasing Alk to stabilize between 8-9.

 

[chthao]

chase happy corals

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Assuming you're tank is still on the new side, most those numbers aren't ideal for a tank under 2-3 years old.

I'd recommend a couple major water changes to get the numbers back down, and start getting back into your old routine to keep everthing in check.

 

[Uncle99]

I don’t chase numbers but do watch trends.
Those numbers look fine to me, I’m running those 5 years.
It’s OK to be cautious. Maybe CA high a bit, not an issue.
Test weekly and see where they are going.

 

[jimfish98]

I haven't tested anything since the tank cycled. Not one to chase a number. If the bio is good, fish are good. Beyond that water changes do the rest for me.

 

[BanZI29]

watch the ammonia. that should be 0. the rest...as long as your corals are big, open, and happy, don't chase. stabilize.

 

[Devan Patel]

Assuming you're tank is still on the new side, most those numbers aren't ideal for a tank under 2-3 years old.

I'd recommend a couple major water changes to get the numbers back down, and start getting back into your old routine to keep everthing in check.

Here’s my tank before the Dino’s and crash

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Here’s my tank before the Dino’s and crash

Looks like a successful mixed reef, and the start of something awesome! What's the age of the tank at that point?

It certainly seems like going sps dominant is the natural next step for you. Just get things back to a good starting point and try to fight the urge to neglect it this time... hehe.

Try not to focus on controlling your nitrates and Phosphates too much and your cyano issues should work itself out.

At the beginning you're going to have to be diligent with maintenance and course corrections but as things settle and mature, you can allow things to happen naturally.

Hoping that you maintained the robust colonies of bacteria and diverse microfauna in the tank, restarting should be a lot easier that starting from scratch.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I'm not one to chase numbers, either. I just make sure my tank is nice and happy

 

[Devan Patel]

Looks like a successful mixed reef, and the start of something awesome! What's the age of the tank at that point?

It certainly seems like going sps dominant is the natural next step for you. Just get things back to a good starting point and try to fight the urge to neglect it this time... hehe.

Try not to focus on controlling your nitrates and Phosphates too much and your cyano issues should work itself out.

At the beginning you're going to have to be diligent with maintenance and course corrections but as things settle and mature, you can allow things to happen naturally.

Hoping that you maintained the robust colonies of bacteria and diverse microfauna in the tank, restarting should be a lot easier that starting from scratch.

I actually was thinking about restarting but I thought about it and it’s not doing so bad right now. Here’s a picture of the tank as of right now. No cyano or gha for a while now got it under control now. And honestly not sure how long it’s been running to be honest haha. All I know is I’m out of money, high school budget is killing me haha

 

[UtahReefer]

Rule#1 don't chase numbers... stability... slow wins the race. Just stop dosing whatever is high.

BigRick is absolutely right. Don't chase numbers. Every system is different. Stability and patience is everything. Someone who has their ALK at 8.2 will be just as successful as another person keeping it a 9.5 IF they both keep it close to stable. Corals are remarkable animals and they do adjust to their environment.

 

[Doctorgori]

“chasing numbers” is just a overused idiom; one minute someone will say it, next minute they will tout getting a heater and tell you lock in 78F…

Chasing temperature is pure folly IMO for a heated home south of the north pole… Someone spit out 78F and everyone “chased”/ran with it. No clue how many tanks have suffered or crashed from the cold but my money is on 10X that number being zapped by stuck thermostats. or failed AC’s …I set my home thermostat on 72F and live with the alleged slow growing corals…heck Lights, pumps, wave makers, UV’s et add enough heat assuming you don’t live in a cave…Unless you got a goldfish bowl and a normal home, your temp swing ain’t gonna matter that much anyway….

Just one opinion here but I’d say monitor your alkalinity on a reasonable schedule and stabilize it. Heck most tanks alk swings daily but still IME its the most important number to keep within a tolerance…

Nitrate and phosphate? I dunno, there is that whole “Redfield ratio” or whatever it is… my take, either you got algae or you don’t and your corals are growing or aren’t … I’d chase/monitor phosphate if things look funky and keep/adjust that number (most agree under .1 - .05)

Mg & Ca …I just adjust 1-2x monthly (or more) all at once back to NSW params…you got room to play here IME

Then there is that whole ICP/Moonshiners thing thats getting popular now… I dunno, sounds compelling TBH… Not sure how smart I am or willing to pay for ICP test or interpolate them or buy a few dozen bottles… Still following along anyway