Going Slooooow... LQT's Oceanic BC29 Build
- Thread starter LQT
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LQT
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Since my last update, I have taken the fuge basket offline. Aside from the initial growth spurt of chaeto when I first put it in, growth has since been mediocre at best. The GFO reactor is now back online running in place of the fuge basket.
In order to provide my coral with more nutrients my clownfish pair have a few new tank mates. All new fish were put through TTM and quarantine procedures. I now have a new purple fire fish, a green chromis and a banggai cardinal. That will be it for new fish inhabitants. Hopefully with my religious maintenance habits and the fish poop from my 5 fish, I will be able to strike a balance and keep my corals fed.
Dosing wise I've scaled back my Alk and Calc dosing a little to 20ml each throughout the day. I'm thinking of switching from Reef Crystals to regular Instant Ocean as I'd like to reduce my current Alk level from 9.5 down to around 8. I think switching salts will help me avoid the Alk upticks on water change days as RC is relatively high in Alk. SPS have fully encrusted for the most part and new growth branches have begun to sprout up.
In order to provide my coral with more nutrients my clownfish pair have a few new tank mates. All new fish were put through TTM and quarantine procedures. I now have a new purple fire fish, a green chromis and a banggai cardinal. That will be it for new fish inhabitants. Hopefully with my religious maintenance habits and the fish poop from my 5 fish, I will be able to strike a balance and keep my corals fed.
Dosing wise I've scaled back my Alk and Calc dosing a little to 20ml each throughout the day. I'm thinking of switching from Reef Crystals to regular Instant Ocean as I'd like to reduce my current Alk level from 9.5 down to around 8. I think switching salts will help me avoid the Alk upticks on water change days as RC is relatively high in Alk. SPS have fully encrusted for the most part and new growth branches have begun to sprout up.
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Looks great, can't wait to see it fill in. See you in a year.... 
5 fishes should be a good amount of waste. Just keep them fed. I like the choice of fishes as well.
If your alk is too high, why not just keep cutting back on dosing? Seems easier to me than changing salts and having to add more or the same amount of 2 part.
5 fishes should be a good amount of waste. Just keep them fed. I like the choice of fishes as well.
If your alk is too high, why not just keep cutting back on dosing? Seems easier to me than changing salts and having to add more or the same amount of 2 part.
LQT
Active member
Yeah, I totally realize that I am pretty chock full of frags. When they really begin growing into mature colonies perhaps it'll be upgrade time! 
I have started to cut back a bit on dosing... went from 25ml to 20ml of 2 part recently... we'll see, I have a bag and a half of RC left from a 200 gallon box. It just seems that whenever I do a water change, there's always a big spike in Alk. I'm considering Brightwell's Neomarine salt as well as it is closer to NSW levels. I'm really trying to chase stability at this point. Also, my fear is with almost no detectable Nitrates in my system, the high Alk levels will lead to Alk burn on my SPS.
I have started to cut back a bit on dosing... went from 25ml to 20ml of 2 part recently... we'll see, I have a bag and a half of RC left from a 200 gallon box. It just seems that whenever I do a water change, there's always a big spike in Alk. I'm considering Brightwell's Neomarine salt as well as it is closer to NSW levels. I'm really trying to chase stability at this point. Also, my fear is with almost no detectable Nitrates in my system, the high Alk levels will lead to Alk burn on my SPS.
"Reefkeeping has very little to do with maintaining fish or corals, and everything to do with maintaining water chemistry"
- Some dude
My second favorite reef related quote, right behind "only bad things happen quickly". I can't tell you how many times I've applied that one to lots of aspects of life, lol.. But that aside, you're on the right track! Red Sea coral pro, and IO Reef Crystals are what everyone tries to use at first, and eventually when they get into maintaining water chemistry they find those mixes don't do what they want. Some exceptions like Reefwreak who has his biocube stocked to the rim -- Those things probably chug alk / cal like everyday's a drinking contest.
- Some dude
My second favorite reef related quote, right behind "only bad things happen quickly". I can't tell you how many times I've applied that one to lots of aspects of life, lol.. But that aside, you're on the right track! Red Sea coral pro, and IO Reef Crystals are what everyone tries to use at first, and eventually when they get into maintaining water chemistry they find those mixes don't do what they want. Some exceptions like Reefwreak who has his biocube stocked to the rim -- Those things probably chug alk / cal like everyday's a drinking contest.
LQT
Active member
Today I started dosing KNO3 (potassium nitrate) in order to increase my nitrates. I've been at undetectable nitrates since I started this tank. Since my alkalinity runs in the high 9s to low 10s, O nitrates have been a concern for me. I've tried to feed my fish and coral more in an effort to increase my nutrients but I find in doing so, my PO4 goes up and my nitrates remain at 0. I made a solution from RODI water and Spectracide stump remover. Dosed my tank this morning to 3ppm of nitrates and will monitor its effect on PO4 as well as how quickly my tank can process the nitrates down to 0. We'll see how this goes and what effect it will have on my SPS... keeping my fingers crossed!
Let us know how it goes. I've always had a similar problem, though I haven't tested my PO4 in a long time. I imagine it's high since I have the marinepure blocks, which will reduce nitrate but not really PO4. I have some freshwater planted tank Potassium nitrate that I haven't used yet, maybe you'll motivate me to start using it
LQT
Active member
Here is an FTS taken from my iPhone 7 with a gel filter. Everything is encrusting quite nicely. Still working on colors for the acros though. I think things will greatly improve when I add an additional array into my Nanobox retrofit and when I lower my Alk to around 8 or so. We'll see...
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