High Nutrient Macro Algae/Sea Grass Reef

Chasmodes said:
What kind of food are you putting into your autofeeder? I found a good mix of Vibra Bites, spirulina flakes, and earthworm flakes did very well while I was away. I came back to fat healthy fish, but, the longest I was away was two weeks doing this. I had someone come and check on things (like making sure the water level was topped off) and could call me if they saw something go wrong. I told them that they could feed the fish frozen food if the wanted too, which they did, but it was about once every three days.
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Our plans sound similar. I hope to have either my sister or my son check on the 2-3 Xs a week. The same as you, check the ATO reservoir, make sure all looks normal and to feed some frozen.

Thanks for the tip on what foods you fed. How were the nutrients when you got home?
 
I have so much macro growth LOL, ammonia and nitrite zero, nitrate was 15. I didn't check phosphate but I suspect it runs higher since I don't currently use RO/DI and just top off with well water, and also the amount of prepared food was a once daily feeding, just one turn of the feeder, so really, less prepared food than I fed by hand. I don't have corals to worry about, and all my fish were still really fat. I had three tanks to worry about, and my river tank has one species that won't eat dry food, hence the need for my friend to stop by in addition to checking the water level in the oyster reef tank.
 
Chasmodes said:
I have so much macro growth LOL, ammonia and nitrite zero, nitrate was 15. I didn't check phosphate but I suspect it runs higher since I don't currently use RO/DI and just top off with well water, and also the amount of prepared food was a once daily feeding, just one turn of the feeder, so really, less prepared food than I fed by hand. I don't have corals to worry about, and all my fish were still really fat. I had three tanks to worry about, and my river tank has one species that won't eat dry food, hence the need for my friend to stop by in addition to checking the water level in the oyster reef tank.
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Thanks Kevin for the info on your tank. I do have coral that also need fed and I don't want the macros to recede either. For that reason I will have 1 turn of the auto feeder twice a day. I plan to implement that ahead of time to test it out for 2 weeks before we leave. I will try that in May so that I have time to tweak things before we leave.
 
I'd recommend that if you're using it regularly before you go, replace the batteries with new ones right before you leave. I know that they last a while, but I've been surprised more than once that a feeder stopped working earlier than I expected.
 
Chasmodes said:
I'd recommend that if you're using it regularly before you go, replace the batteries with new ones right before you leave. I know that they last a while, but I've been surprised more than once that a feeder stopped working earlier than I expected.
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Yes, thank you. I will replace the batteries in the automatic battery back up pumps too. Oh my goodness, so much to think about and that's not even getting into getting our bikes ready for such a long trip.
 
Chasmodes said:
I make a list of everything I have to do or pack before I go on trips now, because I'm too old to remember anything! :LOL:
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Yes, that's what I need to do too! Into my 6th decade I can't remember things so well either.

I came home from a week of being with out of state grandkiddos. My hubby was here until Friday when he came to join me and we returned together today (which is Sunday). The tank was fine but I noticed the circuit that the gyre is on had tripped. I always have aeration equipment on more than 1 circuit for that very reason. With the return pump and the power head, everything was fine. We still need to figure out why that circuit is tripping however. When we go to Alaska I plan to have all three pumps on different circuits plus the battery backup.
 
Not much new to report on the high nutrient macroalgae tank. Most of the coral look happy and full, except the green star polyp which doesn't look good at all. I used to not be able to kill the stuff and now I can't seem to keep it a live. I moved it to the sandbed in hopes that a new location might revive it but I am not holding my breath. Everything else that I got at the frag swap is doing great so I am pleased about that. Both my frogspawn and hammer, along with the trumpets are growing which is cool. I really like LPS coral.

I am still going longer between water changes and hoping that every 3 weeks is a good schedule. I am keeping an eye on nitrates and phosphates as I don't want them to bottom out from macroalgae growth. I also harvest macroalgae every week to help keep a balance.

Today I cleaned the glass with a scraper rather than being lazy and only using the magnet cleaner. It always looks so nice when I do that. I should do it more often, tee hee!
 
I hate cleaning the glass, especially on my acrylic tank. But, after it's done, it looks so good that I'm glad that I did it. I wish that someone would invent a tank that cleans itself, like windshield wipers :p
 
I tested the nitrates and phosphates yesterday and they are holding steady with NO3 at 10ppm and PO4 at .5ppm. The nitrates are a little lower than I would like so I am going to increase feeding frozen food to 2 Xs a day to see if that brings them up a little. Like I stated a day or so ago, the coral look really good but I am worried that while I am away for 3 weeks that the macroalgae will grow and strip the water column of nutrients to the detriment of the coral. I think I will teach my sister how to prune the ulva to counteract that.

On a positive note, I noticed that the gsp had a tiny bit of opening of some polyps this morning so maybe the move to the sandbed was the right thing to do for it. I will keep you posted.
Since I am not using the magnetic frag rock for the gsp, I noticed the codium blew over to it and was caught on it. I decided that I liked the look so I entwined the codium more securely on it and will leave it there.
 
I was going to increase feeding frozen food to attempt to get my nitrates back up to 30-35 ppm like they have always been at but felt nervous that that would also increase the phosphates, which I did not want to go any higher. So instead I am going to dose some calcium nitrate in an attempt to raise the nitrates only. I also ordered new test kits for nitrates and phosphates as mine have been expired for a while now. Our trip is still 2 months away almost so this will be a slow change. If it helps I can add it to the top off water.

My tank is looking its best ever and its hard not to feel some anxiety about leaving it for 23 days. My sister is a very capable tank sitter but her and my son will only have eyes on it twice a week. I do have 2 friends with reef tanks, (one of them much more knowledgeable than me) as back ups. I will have about 50 gallons of water change water made if it is needed and I will also have all the top off water made ahead too. I have always told myself that I will not be a slave to my tank so I just need to make all the preparations ahead of time and then let the chips fall where they may.
 
I forgot to report that last week my new test kits for NO3 and PO4 came. I tested with the old kits and new kits and the new unexpired kits showed much higher NO3 and PO4. Oops, I guess I should have done that first before I bought calcium nitrate to bring up the NO3. So, now I am back to doing weekly water changes. I did a 10 gallon water change yesterday. This morning when I tested NO3 was 30 ppm but PO4 went up significantly to 3 ppm! I think I will add a little GFO passively to bring that down before I get into an ugly algae situation. Thank goodness I have flourishing macroalgae or I would probably already be in an ugly nuisance algae situation! The tank actually looks great so its a relief to be able to make small adjustments without worrying too much.
 
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