Essentially starting over

[pdiehm]

The last of my SPS frags have all lost their flesh, no more corals are in the tank, and as of last night, my paramters were:

8.7 alk
8.33 pH
420 Calcium
1350 Magnesium
1.026 Salinity
0.25-0.50 nitrates
0.00 PO4

My reefbreeders photon 48 continues to be a big PITA as I absolutely cannot get this thing dialed in, and has been that way since I got the light almost 2 years ago. Since I have no corals, and just my anemone, I have lowered the settings to 50% blue, 5% white as I figure out whether I want to go Fish Only or have a mixed Softie/LPS tank. Maybe one day when I'm wealthy and have money coming out of my arse, I will get a T5 fixture, which takes all the guess work out of light spectrum, intensity etc. It's On/Off. I am toying with putting a 60" Retrofit system (front and back of my canopy) but wouldn't you know it, the way I built my canopy, I can't figure out how to mount it and keep it secure. As it is, only one side would have the mounting screws.

I think I cleared up my dinoflagellates problem with Dino-X.

BioCube29:

I am starting 2 part dosing on my BioCube which has a shitton of coraline algae, a torch, brain, some candy canes, zoa's, a Favia that is coming back to life and FGSP. My levels drop a lot over a week. I just did a 15 gallon water change last night on the cube, and my readings were 8.6/430. So will test nightly for a week, come up with my numbers, and figure it out.

Once I get the grasp of 2 part dosing, maybe I'll do that for the 120 downstairs which is now bare except for an anemone and a pair of clowns. Im thinking that I'll add the following fish:

a Goby with a shrimp
Midas Blenny
Kole Tang
Yellow Tang
Maybe the Chocolate Tang (undecided)
Maybe a couple different flasher wrasse, we'll see. If they can adapt to once a day feeding and be good, then yes. If not, then no.
A 6-8 group of Bangai/Pajama Cardinals

For corals, I am thinking:

Some Zoa's, some Torches and Frogspawn, Brains, Favia, Acan's, and a Maze Brain. I'm all for other suggestions.

Another thing that I really struggle with is coral placement, I honestly have no clue where to place corals.

As I continue to dial in the Photon 48, for general idea, what's the PAR I want on the sandbed? In theory, if I have the sandbed right number wise, the rest should fall into place right?

 

[pdiehm]

Took some PAR reading with Seneye. Light at 65B/25W

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[mcgyvr]

I would lower your alk.. When your nitrates/phosphates are really low your alk needs to follow.. take it down to 7.5 or 8 and keep it stable..
I'd bet thats why your SPS lost flesh... alk burn..
that or raise nitrates/phosphates..

your light seems fine but can certainly be turned up higher..
100-150 on the sand bed is fine for lower/medium light corals..

 

[pdiehm]

I would lower your alk.. When your nitrates/phosphates are really low your alk needs to follow.. take it down to 7.5 or 8 and keep it stable..
I'd bet thats why your SPS lost flesh... alk burn..
that or raise nitrates/phosphates..

your light seems fine but can certainly be turned up higher..
100-150 on the sand bed is fine for lower/medium light corals..

So if I get say 80-100 in the corners, and 130-150 on the bottom center, I would be in business?

That said, I still have a vision of an SPS dominant tank, I just don't think I have the ability or knowledge/understanding to do it.

For now will stay in the LPS realm. Maybe I can raise the light a little bit in intensity, but I should (at least based on my reading so far this morning) be able to place almost any LPS coral anywhere in the tank save the high points where the PAR is reading 200+ and be in a good spot.

 

[CrayolaViolence]

T5 light fixtures aren't that expensive. A 4 bulb Odysea off of eBay cost 80-120 bucks (depending on the length) and they come with bulbs and free shipping. I changed out my kessils for the lights and my corals have been doing much, much better.


As for your DKH (carbonate hardness) being 8.7---Mcgyvr, my understanding about it was that it acts as a buffer to absorb acidity. Actual alkalinity is based on your PH since PH measure if the liquid is alkaline or acidic. If carbonate hardness acts as a buffer, how can it burn the corals?

 

[mcgyvr]

I'm not a chemist nor really understand the chemistry enough but "alk burn" (burnt tips) is very common in SPS tanks,etc... with low nutrients (ULNS,etc..)..

My SPS corals start to get burnt/lose tissue,etc.. once my alk gets over 8.5 or so..

Its pretty common knowledge with the SPS guys.. and plenty to read by googling "alk burn"

 

[pdiehm]

I could get an oddysea but with my canopy mounting it inside isn't really an option, since I don't think you can hang them and with how they are designed I am not sure how the heat dissipation would be with their fans.

As an example, I have my light sitting on top of the canopy shining through a cutout that I made.

I was thinking about the 60" retrofit kits (front and back) but they are 249 each.

I think in time I may do that or get a single 48" ATI 4x54 or 6x54 and hand from inside the canopy. I am pretty sure you can adjust the hanging height of them but do not know at this point.


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