Help, new frag issue STN
- Thread starter ReefsandGeeks
- Start date
bshow24
Member
I'd disagree with this being an "age of tank" issue. I've seen brand new tanks support SPS corals, frags and colonies alike. Reason being, the people running the tanks were far more experienced than even myself and knew how to keep their params consistent.
Just focus on exactly what you said, look into a possible salt mix change to match closer to your desired parameters, and learn from this whole thing.
Just focus on exactly what you said, look into a possible salt mix change to match closer to your desired parameters, and learn from this whole thing.
dkeller_nc
New member
You don't say whether you have a dosing unit. While in theory it's possible to keep alkalinity stable by manually dosing once a day, in practice it's difficult, particularly when you consider that most tests have an accuracy of about +/- 0.5 dKH. Dosing pumps make this far easier, especially if it's a computer controlled dosing pump like the Neptune Apex D.O.S. that allows continuous small additions throughout the 24 hour cycle.
ReefsandGeeks
New member
I do currently dose manually once a day and am saving up to buy a doser. Was going to buy a jeabo, but have been steered away from that option based on what seems like inconsistencies and occasional issues. Not something I want to have happening with the type of coral I have.
I think I may split the manual dose into 2 doses, one in the morning and one in the evening to maintain more consistency while I save for a good quality doser.
As far as light acclimation, how quickly should I ramp up my lighting for the new frags? particularly since they have had some tissue damage. Should I ramp up slower than normal?
Quick update: All of the coral frags I bought have the same tissue regression as they did at the end of the day after I got them. I did not cut any of them or do anything other than slowly bring my parameters to more typical levels. Still in process of adjusting my levels, but getting there. The digi seems to have some better PE than it originally did, so that's a nice sign. Hoping everything recovers in time and can come back to their original glory. Would be a shame to lose these frags. Nothing super high end or pricey, but alot of frags I've wanted for a long time in my tank, but just not been available locally.
I think I may split the manual dose into 2 doses, one in the morning and one in the evening to maintain more consistency while I save for a good quality doser.
As far as light acclimation, how quickly should I ramp up my lighting for the new frags? particularly since they have had some tissue damage. Should I ramp up slower than normal?
Quick update: All of the coral frags I bought have the same tissue regression as they did at the end of the day after I got them. I did not cut any of them or do anything other than slowly bring my parameters to more typical levels. Still in process of adjusting my levels, but getting there. The digi seems to have some better PE than it originally did, so that's a nice sign. Hoping everything recovers in time and can come back to their original glory. Would be a shame to lose these frags. Nothing super high end or pricey, but alot of frags I've wanted for a long time in my tank, but just not been available locally.
dkeller_nc
New member
It's tough to tell about lighting without a PAR meter. Typically, I'll start colonies that I've just purchased at about 150 PAR, then slowly move them up the tank's water column to an eventual PAR of about 300 over the course of several weeks.
ReefsandGeeks
New member
Just an update, it seems all of the frags I got that were STNing are recovering well and growing much of their lost tissue back. I expect another month or two for some of the worse off ones to fully recover, but doing much better than they were after the swap.
I've since corrected my salinity, and worked my alk down to 8.6 instead of 11. My 2-part daily dosage has dropped from 105ml/day to 65ml/day while maintaining the lower alk in the tank. I assume the growth is lower, but the coral all seem to be healthy, so worth it for slower growth IMO. Maybe I'll experiment with elevated parameters in the future on a smaller frag system or something as I find it interesting and exciting to do. But for my display, I'm going to stick with what's working.
Thanks again for all the help everyone.
I've since corrected my salinity, and worked my alk down to 8.6 instead of 11. My 2-part daily dosage has dropped from 105ml/day to 65ml/day while maintaining the lower alk in the tank. I assume the growth is lower, but the coral all seem to be healthy, so worth it for slower growth IMO. Maybe I'll experiment with elevated parameters in the future on a smaller frag system or something as I find it interesting and exciting to do. But for my display, I'm going to stick with what's working.
Thanks again for all the help everyone.
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