Your advice and thoughts please 3.5mth into reefing

[Twoddler]

Hi all, I'm 3.5 mth into reefing and loving every moment, so far delt with aiptasia, bubble algae, flukes.
The tank is 220 imp gal, it probably looks older than 3.5 months because I've acquired some live stock and corals from friends who have lost interest inthe hobby .
I'm sort of at a cross roads now, my tank is stable nothing changes much, but some parameters are high.

I'm dosing ati essentials 2 part 15ml/day
Sump, Skimmer, bio blocks, floss and refugium ( cheato) UV
Temp 24.3c
Red sea test kits
Ph 8.....8.2
Salinity 1025
Alkalinity 9
Amm 0
Nitrite 0.2
Nitrate 30 .....50
Phos 0.12
Calcium 360
Mag 1600

Water changed 20% last weekend, nothing has changed.
I would just like some input, to fine tune things especially nitrates and phosphate.

I realise I've a lot of stock in the tank and have progressed a lot quicker than I would have liked, but it was hard to say no to freebies lol

 

[MaxxuM]

Glad to hear you're having fun! It's an exciting hobby.

".... aiptasia, bubble algae, flukes."

Wow, you've already been challenged and kept going. Just one of those can force people to quit. Good for you.

Your parameters are a little off. The nutrient levels may be due to your battle with the algae, but if not then you might want to address it before it causes a problem. Your ALK, calcium & magnesium seem to be out of ratio. Do you know what your salt mixes to (Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium)? Maybe the two-part not in ratio to your salt mix. You might want to mix up the salt powder so it doesn't settle.

 

[Twoddler]

Thanks for your reply, that's what I was worried about, my parameters being out of whack and keeping algae under control, the reason for the post was I'm not sure what to do next. Not sure what salt mixes too, I use Aquaforest reef salt, usually mix 100ltrs over night when doing water change. Should I stop the dosing of the 2 part? To get base values, do I need to add a carbon source? I'm just not sure , could do with a bit of guidance.

 

[MaxxuM]

When they ship salt it can settle or stratify. So mixing up the bag can help equalize the salt mix (pointless if you're mixing an entire bucket at the same time though). I'd test a fresh batch of salt to compare. Test kits aren't that accurate so if they match up then whatever the real levels are then at least they are equal. Also, if you're not using a RODI unit then that would be my #1 guess as to your problem. And if you do, test your RODI water with a TDS meter to see if it's working properly. Some need to be manually flushed from time to time.

In such a large tank I'd use the BRS method plus either Red Sea's or Tropic Marin's trace elements. Two-part can get expensive and you cannot adjust parameters like you can with BRS+Red Sea/TM.

EDIT: I just noticed you're in the UK. Don't know if there is a place you can get the same product sold by BRS, but I'm guessing probably.

 

[Twoddler]

When they ship salt it can settle or stratify. So mixing up the bag can help equalize the salt mix (pointless if you're mixing an entire bucket at the same time though). I'd test a fresh batch of salt to compare. Test kits aren't that accurate so if they match up then whatever the real levels are then at least they are equal. Also, if you're not using a RODI unit then that would be my #1 guess as to your problem. And if you do, test your RODI water with a TDS meter to see if it's working properly. Some need to be manually flushed from time to time.

In such a large tank I'd use the BRS method plus either Red Sea's or Tropic Marin's trace elements. Two-part can get expensive and you cannot adjust parameters like you can with BRS+Red Sea/TM.

EDIT: I just noticed you're in the UK. Don't know if there is a place you can get the same product sold by BRS, but I'm guessing probably.

Thanks for the reply, mixing the dry salt in the bucket before use I did nt know, but I do use rodi and always check tds, I,ll take a look at BRS

 

[lavoisier]

I love your tank! Nice work.

I would be concerned with your nitrites and nitrates. They are high. Having said that at 3.5 months you still have a new tank with lots of livestock so you are a ways from equilibrium in your system. My thoughts would be to do water changes a couple of times a week to start lowering nutrients. With your anthias you are likely feeding 4 or 5 times a day (which they need to flourish) but maybe cut down on the amount you feed. (I noticed a large piece of nori but not any tangs. If your fish are not eating the nori within 10 or 15 minutes you may want to cut that down).

 

[Twoddler]

I love your tank! Nice work.

I would be concerned with your nitrites and nitrates. They are high. Having said that at 3.5 months you still have a new tank with lots of livestock so you are a ways from equilibrium in your system. My thoughts would be to do water changes a couple of times a week to start lowering nutrients. With your anthias you are likely feeding 4 or 5 times a day (which they need to flourish) but maybe cut down on the amount you feed. (I noticed a large piece of nori but not any tangs. If your fish are not eating the nori within 10 or 15 minutes you may want to cut that down).

Thanks for your reply, I have a Foxface, Coral Beauty and Lemon Peel, my lfs advised me to feed nori, saying that I probably put to much in for to long ( still learning ) so I,ll take your advise 10 to 15 mins. At the moment I tend to feed once a day ( working 9hr days to pay for hobby lol )
Water changes, I manage 100 ltrs (10%) every other wk, although I did do 20% split over 2 days.
I did have a slight ammonia spike, but now zero, therefore I think I should see nitrite become undetectable and then concentrate on nitrate export, I just don't know how long this process will take