first try at sps.....

[reeftivo]

dissolved organics will load up the water molecule and wont let your sps feed well. Your tests will seem adequate but the doc's will build up fast without a good skimmer.

 

[saltyliving]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12765802#post12765802 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by blackthunda77
but ive been dosing on the light side, maybe ill bump up the dosage. weird thing though is that calc is right where it needs to be but its alil harder raising the alk. is it ok to add more of the alk supplement than the calc? on the directions it say to add both equally. thanks for the help by the way.

I would bump up the alk my tank has a larger calcium demand thand alk. this is common i have seen it go both ways. i dose 20% more calcium than alk with my 2 part.

 

[reeftivo]

Buy a good nitrate test kit and avoid any dip tests as they are subject to age of the reactive litmus paper used and are very unreliable.

 

[saltyliving]

your skimmer needs to be pulling out as mucha as possible. may if the docs are the case a couple big WC and the skimmer working hard will do it.

what do you use for top off

 

[blackthunda77]

i have been doing water changes actually, about 10 gal 2 times a week and its only a 55 gal system with a 20 gal refugium. i usually use RO water i buy from the LFS but sometimes when that runs out i sadly do use tap water. Im saving up for a rodi unit. is there a way to test for DOCs or is that basically the nitrate issue?

 

[reeftivo]

ultimately the docs are converted to nitrate but can accumulate in the system increasingly over time and WC and skimming may not be able to keep up depending on efficiency of the skimmer and number of water changes. You dont want to replace too much water at a time for fear of breaking the balance of the system. Your lighting should be more than enough but with all that heat you must have a lot of evapration. Are you running an ATO set up? and if so what kind?

I'm currently running a tunze osmolator ATO with static sensor (great unit!) and I pull RO water from a five gallon bucket next to the tank which is disguised as a planter. The ATO keeps my salinity at a constant 1.024. The nice thing with this unit is you can run a kalk doser(not reactor) right inside the unit and it will dose kalk everytime your system tops off.

 

[blackthunda77]

ok so i tested my ph when i got home and it was around 8.0 so i knew it was gonna come up, but i still need to bump it up a bit. also i tested my nitrates with my test kit at home and it def was not showing 0, more like somewhere between 10-20 so im thinking around 15 or so.

 

[reeftivo]

as you know, you need to get those nitrates down. I realize the LFS had a reading of 0 and you are showing 10-20ppm then you should base your perameters on the 10-20 reading just to be safe. Several questions: what are you feeding and how much? How deep is your sand bed(what type?) What do you have for a good clean-up crew? If frequent water changes do not help much along with good skimming then you have something in the system generating nitrates and you need to figure out what it is.

Sps corals need pristine water to thrive. Some species will tolerate slightly elevated nitrates such as cluster acros but I dont know of any others that will.

 

[blackthunda77]

i have about a 3-4 inch sand bed. just added 10 more hermits and 10 more astreas this weekend. 5 of each in my refugium and main display. im keeping an eye on my trates though, but they have been seeming to come down recently, so im testing more frequently. ill keep you uys updated. i dont feed to mcuh so i doubt thats the probelm.

 

[reeftivo]

do you vacuum your sand bed? with a sand bed that deep you may be getting excessive anerobic pockets if your sand bed buddies are'nt doing the job. also, if you get circulation dead spots where you can see food settle after feeding then you may need to get better flow behind your live rock. these are hot spots for nitrate build up. I know some people recommend leaving the bed alone but if you vac the first inch or so you wont upset the bacterial balance. Just dont vacuum to deep! If you dont vacuum then you need some good bed stirring critters such as the astreas you mentioned along with nassarius snails which will literally live in and out of the sand bed eating all the goodies. another awsome bed bug is the fighting conch but they may become too big. certain brittle stars are really good too!

good luck!

keep us informed(-:

 

[CLOWNSPUR]

i agree with reeftivo