About to call it quits!
- Thread starter mannyo_09
- Start date
RioReefr
New member
Just my opinion, but I think your lights are set too high and the Alk/Ca are too high considering your very low nutrients.
There is a separate area on this forum that has pages upon pages of the AI Lights. Personally, I have the AI Prime HD and I will attach my settings.
Everything I read is you should really only peak your lights 3-4 hours a day. I don't know if the respiration intervals do anything, but most people have said extensive peak lightning is not good.
Additionally, take a look at this article:
http://reefinabox.com/right-alkalinity-coral-growth/
There is a separate area on this forum that has pages upon pages of the AI Lights. Personally, I have the AI Prime HD and I will attach my settings.
Everything I read is you should really only peak your lights 3-4 hours a day. I don't know if the respiration intervals do anything, but most people have said extensive peak lightning is not good.
Additionally, take a look at this article:
http://reefinabox.com/right-alkalinity-coral-growth/
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Daddi0
Active member
Red Sea reef Energy A/B add carbohydrates and aminos but not trace elements. Also kinda hard to believe that you have 0ppm phosphates from natural seawater, out here on the west coast natural seawater runs up to .25ppm phosphates. Gotta get them nitrates up to around 5 also.
You could also check the lfs rodi for chlorine
Cheers! Mark
You could also check the lfs rodi for chlorine
Cheers! Mark
mannyo_09
New member
Thanks for the information, going back and looking at the schedule that I have and the BRS video that reviewed it, they did that schedule to replicate an SPS dominant tank that would resemble the par output of the radeons.
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mannyo_09
New member
Well, I haven't added any new livestock since I changed to the current schedule I have now.
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mannyo_09
New member
So should I be adding trace elements also?
I think I'd be best if I just start to mix my own salt water and purchase an rodi system. I live in south Florida and I was doing research on how they treat the water down here and it seems they use small amount of chlorine and chloramine. Would a 4 stage rodi be sufficiently should I get a 5 stage to be safe?
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Daddi0
Active member
I bought the BRS 6 stage with an extra membrane and it works well for me. I would wait to add trace minerals til your reef shows a "need" for them and you can test for them.
I was buying natural saltwater when I started reefing and we got to .45ppm phosphates. I started mixing my own saltwater with Red Sea blue bucket and my reef looks so much better.
Cheers! Mark
I was buying natural saltwater when I started reefing and we got to .45ppm phosphates. I started mixing my own saltwater with Red Sea blue bucket and my reef looks so much better.
Cheers! Mark
mannyo_09
New member
Honestly I don't think I've ever tested the water I get from my LFS. I think the soonest I've ever tested it, is maybe a week after doing the water change. and the reason I think I was getting a reading of 0 phosphates was because I was feeding my fish every other day, sometimes every two days and I would do a 20% water change once a month.
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hkgar
Active member
A 4 phase RO/DI should be fine. That's what I use, but with a Spectrapure RO 99% rejection RO membrane.
WVfishguy
New member
This is off the wall, but possible:
You may have more nitrite, nitrate and ammonia than you think.
Enough to grow softies well, but kill SPS.
During a very hot spell many years ago, I noticed my test kit reading zero when I knew damn well the tank had not had time to cycle.
I had left my test reagents in the hot van, and the heat destroyed them. I had to throw away every reagent and buy new.
You may ask your local shop to test your water, or you could simply check your tests. (Hint: a drop of urine in an ammonia test will show a positive - if not, the reagent is bad.) :spin3:
You may have more nitrite, nitrate and ammonia than you think.
Enough to grow softies well, but kill SPS.
During a very hot spell many years ago, I noticed my test kit reading zero when I knew damn well the tank had not had time to cycle.
I had left my test reagents in the hot van, and the heat destroyed them. I had to throw away every reagent and buy new.
You may ask your local shop to test your water, or you could simply check your tests. (Hint: a drop of urine in an ammonia test will show a positive - if not, the reagent is bad.) :spin3:
Tripod1404
Active member
I think you nitrate and phosphate levels are too low for the given alkalinity level. Either increase P and N or reduce the alkalinity. NSW is also very poor in soluble N and P, but the alkalinity is between ~6.5 - 7 dKH. If you desire to keep low nutrients like NSW, you need to keep alk low.
mannyo_09
New member
Thanks for the info, i will test them out. I'm looking to upgrade my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test kits to the Red Sea ones. But they have been kept in the stand since I purchased them
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mannyo_09
New member
I'm sure the alkalinity level is what my LFS keeps it at cause that's where I get my water from. Once I start mixing my own salt water I'll be able to get a lower alkalinity level as I will go with the Red Sea blue bucket for salt mix since I don't have any heavy demand corals
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mannyo_09
New member
I originally had a 28g biocube and then got this 45 AIO and figured that for the small amounts of water changes I would be doing it was easier and more practical to just get my water already mixed from them. But now I'm realizing that's not very smart
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I would imagine there are a number of responsible LFS owners who would disagree with you on this. Many also run tank maintenance businesses and know their stuff, so maybe paint with a smaller brush.
Kevin
WVfishguy
New member
I would imagine there are a number of responsible LFS owners who would disagree with you on this. Many also run tank maintenance businesses and know their stuff, so maybe paint with a smaller brush.
Kevin
Good point, well taken. I don't think of a "Pet Shop" as the Local Fish Store. The LFS's Ive been to that do maintenance are usually fish only with a few herps, but there are shops I know who do sell pets and do a fine job with maintenance. That includes the LFS owner who took over part of my route, so again, point taken.
mannyo_09
New member
The only LFS I've use is called strictly fish. And they only specialize in salt water aquariums. You can look them up, they have a website. And I've taken the time to talk with the owners and they have a strict maintenance schedule they follow and are extremely knowledgeable about salt water aquariums.
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