Balancing heavy feeding with nutrient export
- Thread starter jimrawr
- Start date
jimrawr
New member
Cyano is still there, doesnt seem to be going away anytime soon. Algae scrubber isnt doing anything at all yet. I tested N & P a couple days ago and both 0.
SPS seem to be getting worse, they seem "thin" and like the skin is rough. Not thick skinned and healthy. In fact this morning one of my SPS started to STN at the tip of the acro.
At a loss, dont know what it is at this point since everything tests well and stable. I've been feeding a lot more lately which seemed to improve things at first, but then things got worst. Everything still looks starved.
Right now I am feeding daily:
1 cube of Rods Food (measured to be around the same as a cube of mysis, size wise)
1 half sheet of nori
2 pinches of flake
Reef Roids -or- Oyster Feast at night
Its more than enough food for the fish, and coral food as well.
SPS seem to be getting worse, they seem "thin" and like the skin is rough. Not thick skinned and healthy. In fact this morning one of my SPS started to STN at the tip of the acro.
At a loss, dont know what it is at this point since everything tests well and stable. I've been feeding a lot more lately which seemed to improve things at first, but then things got worst. Everything still looks starved.
Right now I am feeding daily:
1 cube of Rods Food (measured to be around the same as a cube of mysis, size wise)
1 half sheet of nori
2 pinches of flake
Reef Roids -or- Oyster Feast at night
Its more than enough food for the fish, and coral food as well.
Dapg8gt
New member
If your testing 0 on N&P that's your problem Ime. I just went through it with just p04, pale thin skinned acros that eventually rtn randomly.
I know you say you are feeding heavy but you have to get those levels up from 0.Thats just my opinion though but I can guarantee once you register some nutrients you will be on the right track.
I know you say you are feeding heavy but you have to get those levels up from 0.Thats just my opinion though but I can guarantee once you register some nutrients you will be on the right track.
jimrawr
New member
Ok everyone I just re-tested everything to be sure nothing was off. Here are results
SG:1.025 - I re-calibrated with solution
CA: 520 - last tests were 470,470,475 on 11/4, 11/7, 11/12. This makes me think the small increase is due to the corals not doing well and slowing their growth thus consuming less. Anyhow, a 40ppm increase over 3 weeks shouldnt be that bad. I reduced dosing pump a bit
ALK: 8.0 - last test was 7.7 on 11/15
MG:1425
po4:0 (using Hanna)
NO3:0 (using API)
Temp is monitored via apex controller, so no issues there. Water is zero TDS using my own RODI unit.
So clearly something is going on, other than the normal range of things to check. Now I am not even sure if its the feeding because theres really a decent amount of food going into the tank on a daily basis. I guess have no nitrates can still be problematic though, so maybe I need a few more fish to increase the bioload. I would also love to hear thoughts on potassium. I have never tested this at all. Any other ideas..?
SG:1.025 - I re-calibrated with solution
CA: 520 - last tests were 470,470,475 on 11/4, 11/7, 11/12. This makes me think the small increase is due to the corals not doing well and slowing their growth thus consuming less. Anyhow, a 40ppm increase over 3 weeks shouldnt be that bad. I reduced dosing pump a bit
ALK: 8.0 - last test was 7.7 on 11/15
MG:1425
po4:0 (using Hanna)
NO3:0 (using API)
Temp is monitored via apex controller, so no issues there. Water is zero TDS using my own RODI unit.
So clearly something is going on, other than the normal range of things to check. Now I am not even sure if its the feeding because theres really a decent amount of food going into the tank on a daily basis. I guess have no nitrates can still be problematic though, so maybe I need a few more fish to increase the bioload. I would also love to hear thoughts on potassium. I have never tested this at all. Any other ideas..?
jdamon
New member
From the last pics you posted, the rocks are incredibly clean (free of algae). Are you running GFO? I had to turn mine off as it was stripping too much from the water, even with heavy feeding. If you are putting in enough nutrients, there will be algae growing, somewhere, ATS, refugium, glass, live rock. And, I still think you could benefit from carbon dosing. Coral seem to appreciate the bacteria in the water column. Good luck!
jimrawr
New member
No GFO at all. You are right about the rocks, they are very clean. Good coraline algae growing, but thats it. Algae Scrubber is literally doing nothing for a month. I really think I am feeding enough, but somehow the nutrients are being removed efficiently it seems. Is it possible my AquaMaxx skimmer is stripping the water too much? This skimmer seems to be working better than any skimmer I have ever used as far as how much DARK stuff it pulls out, how fast, and how much sludge there is.
offdahooklikeoj
New member
I would leave the skimmer on so you are still able to get oxygen into the water column. I would just turn the valve down so it doesnt skim much of anything. Also I think you need to add more fish and continue to feed, fish constantly pee/poop which feeds the corals and will help you get some nitrate readings.
jdamon
New member
jimrawr
New member
Yeah I think I would need to leave the skimmer off for quite some time (more than I am comfortable with) to see any kind of spike in NO3 and PO4. I think I will just raise it. I have an Eheim autofeeder I use when I go on vacations. Maybe I will use this to auto feed 3 times per day, and then feed nori and rodsfood as well manually.
Can it be something other than feedings? Maybe there is something missing in the water thats not normally tested for? Someone mentioned potassium before.. Should I consider buying a kit to check into this?
Can it be something other than feedings? Maybe there is something missing in the water thats not normally tested for? Someone mentioned potassium before.. Should I consider buying a kit to check into this?
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