Having trouble keeping SPS happy.

[JG1]

I have a 100g Zeovit system that's been running since December.

Params are:

Temp 78.0-79.0
SG 35ppt (my refractometer was way off and I just corrected this a couple days ago....salinity was actually about 1.021)
Ca 440
Alk 8dks
PO4 0.04
NO3 0 (maybe very minimal if any)
MG 1300
Potassium 390

Dosing:

ZeoBak 4 drops 3x's/week
Start3 0.3ml 2x's/day
Food7 3 drops 3x's week
SP 4 drops 3x's/week
ZZ/BM 1/2tsp and 8 drops 3x's/week
CV 4 drops every day
AA's 2 drops 3x's/week
B-Balance 5ml 3x's/week
Lugols 1 drop 3x's/week

Running 1L new zeolites and .2L old zeolites in Rx 24/7 at about 100gph.

Running 1c KZ carbon in media Rx 24/7 changed every 3 weeks.

Lights are an 8 bulb PM (4 B+, 2 FP, 2 NG) that I'm running all bulbs for 6 hours and 2 blues for 10 hours.

I think I'm gonna cut the daylight photoperiod down to 4 hours. Seems like when the frags are on the sandbed they have great PE and color but when I glue them higher on the rock they lose PE and color. Should I go heavier on the AA's? I have about 110 net gallons.

I feed the tank once or twice a day with formula one flake and PE mysis.

Very frustrating.

 

[Allmost]

Hello,
so what is the Issue ? seems like I missed it .... color of SPS ?

are they bleaching ? browning ? dying ? ... ?

any pic ?


change of SG from 1.021 to ... is a big change, so corals could be a bit stressed.

also try to aim KH at 7, and MG at NSW levels.

the basic 4, what is the dosing like ?

some pics of the problem could help us understand more.

 

[JG1]

Hello,
so what is the Issue ? seems like I missed it .... color of SPS ?

are they bleaching ? browning ? dying ? ... ?

any pic ?


change of SG from 1.021 to ... is a big change, so corals could be a bit stressed.

also try to aim KH at 7, and MG at NSW levels.

the basic 4, what is the dosing like ?

some pics of the problem could help us understand more.

SPS colors just pale out and lose PE. I've tried taking pictures but my camera's white balance is off and the pics come out very blue and it's hard to see clearly.

 

[Logzor]

First, check for pests eating your corals.

Are you running any phosphate binding media?

 

[dzhuo]

Dosing:

ZeoBak 4 drops 3x's/week
Start3 0.3ml 2x's/day
Food7 3 drops 3x's week
SP 4 drops 3x's/week
ZZ/BM 1/2tsp and 8 drops 3x's/week
CV 4 drops every day
AA's 2 drops 3x's/week
B-Balance 5ml 3x's/week
Lugols 1 drop 3x's/week

Running 1L new zeolites and .2L old zeolites in Rx 24/7 at about 100gph.

Running 1c KZ carbon in media Rx 24/7 changed every 3 weeks.

OMG! JG, are you sure you need all these? I am certainly not a pro Zeovit guy but I understand how you guys want to run a UNLS. But isn't this insane? I would explode in 2 days unless you somehow manage to automate all these? How are you going to keep up with all these the next 2 or 3 years? Money aside, how are you able to enjoy your tank with a long list of things to do daily and weekly? [Sorry for the rant]

Sounds like your tank is nutrient poor? Have you try to run your tank normally like just skimmer, water change, fuge and feeding normally?

 

[Allmost]

SPS colors just pale out and lose PE. I've tried taking pictures but my camera's white balance is off and the pics come out very blue and it's hard to see clearly.

Id say the stress from SG change

also, do suspend dosing of B-balance ! it DOES pale out corals.


double check the flow through reactor as well,

 

[Allmost]

First, check for pests eating your corals.

Are you running any phosphate binding media?

no po4 remover is needed with Zeovit system.

 

[JG1]

First, check for pests eating your corals.

Are you running any phosphate binding media?

I have no red bugs or AEFW's.

No PO4 media, I'm using zeovit.

 

[JG1]

OMG! JG, are you sure you need all these? I am certainly not a pro Zeovit guy but I understand how you guys want to run a UNLS. But isn't this insane? I would explode in 2 days unless you somehow manage to automate all these? How are you going to keep up with all these the next 2 or 3 years? Money aside, how are you able to enjoy your tank with a long list of things to do daily and weekly? [Sorry for the rant]

Sounds like your tank is nutrient poor? Have you try to run your tank normally like just skimmer, water change, fuge and feeding normally?

I know, it's a lot. Hopefully I start getting results soon or it's not gonna be worth it.

 

[JG1]

Id say the stress from SG change

also, do suspend dosing of B-balance ! it DOES pale out corals.


double check the flow through reactor as well,

Acros' were paling out when the SG was low also. I just fixed the problem Sunday.

 

[JG1]

Id say the stress from SG change

also, do suspend dosing of B-balance ! it DOES pale out corals.


double check the flow through reactor as well,

Thx I'll stop the B-B.

 

[evoi19]

your dosing seems fine, as i'm on a similar regime like you. Salinity might be the culprit.

What kind of flow do you have right now?

 

[JG1]

your dosing seems fine, as i'm on a similar regime like you. Salinity might be the culprit.

What kind of flow do you have right now?

I have a 48x24x20 w/ an MP40W on each side running reef crest in master/slave

 

[iceh]

Acros' were paling out when the SG was low also. I just fixed the problem Sunday.

fixed the problem? Did you bring your salinity back up too quickly? That could stress them even more.

 

[JG1]

fixed the problem? Did you bring your salinity back up too quickly? That could stress them even more.

Probably very stupid but I did a 30 gallon water change and mixed up the new water with RBS @ 45ppt. That brought the tanks salinity up to 35ppt.

 

[JG1]

what do you guys think of my photoperiod?

Should I keep it at 6/10 or reduce it to 4/10

 

[JG1]

I'm half tempted to do away with zeovit and all this dosing and just get a GFO reactor along with feeding the sps every night with a 50-100 micron food.

 

[Ostentum]

Always had the best success with SPS with the two following keys.

stability

Simplicity

Stable water conditions, lots of flow. Never been a fan of the ULNS. To me colors are always paler. SPS do like a low level of phosphates. Zero=Bad imho.

 

[chercm]

mine in the same boat but have the green algae at the sametime

 

[Alex T.]

ULNS only worked for me as nitrates were falling. Once I hit zero my corals looked pale. I also always had a little algae here and there. it's really no big deal unless it gets out of control. Algae is present on the most pristine reefs in the world yet the reefs measure 0 nitrate and .003 ppm phosphate. This is why I don't trust phosphate as a sole SPS killer unless you can actually measure it on the cheapest of liquid hobby grade kits. Maybe someone needs to run some GFO in the South Pacific :lmao:

Seriously though. Do not equate algae blooms to a definite nutrient problem. Tanks go through cycles and periods of algae blooms. After I hit zero on nitrates my SPS looked terribly pale with less polyp extension. I also had some hair algae. Running GFO would have been many on this forum's suggestion and it would have wiped out my SPS. I chose to cut the carbon dosing in half, even though I was at a maintenance dose and started feeding more. The SPS colored up and the algae actually slowly receded through regular regular water changes and manual removal once a week. The salinity may have been raised a little too quickly also. Aside from stability being key, I would check my RODI cartridges and see if the water being added is helping in nutrient export or slowly building it up with less than desirable components.