I just can't win with Nitrates

[kissman]

i agree with Stolireef, In the beginning you want everything to be prefect, but sometimes less is more. the more i tested, dosed, and tested, dosed. the worse i was. now i just keep it simple, dont over feed, stay on top of my water changes and maintenance and everything in my tank seems to be happy

I agree and I was doing the same till the Cyano started smothering coral. Might have been feeding to much if anything

 

[anthonys51]

When you feed your fish do you see food all over your tank. I feed my fish very little. I snow my tank once every 4 days. I feel the eat when I do that. I just know more fish have died from over feeding them under. I used to be a huge over feeder. Even went to over feeding anonymous

 

[anthonys51]

When you feed your fish do you see food all over your tank. I feed my fish very little. I snow my tank once every 4 days. I feel the eat when I do that. I just know more fish have died from over feeding them under. I used to be a huge over feeder. Even went to over feeding an

 

[kissman]

When you feed your fish do you see food all over your tank. I feed my fish very little. I snow my tank once every 4 days. I feel the eat when I do that. I just know more fish have died from over feeding them under. I used to be a huge over feeder. Even went to over feeding an

I guess I am still trying to get the amount dialed in. Onetime I was losing coral because I was under feeding now I am over feeding I need to find the sweet spot

 

[anthonys51]

how do you know they where dying because of under feeding.

 

[anthonys51]

i personally feed my coral every 3 days, spot feed, but i also have no detectable traces of nitrates or phosphates, but i have friends who never feed their coral and they seem to live .

 

[kissman]

because I was battling some serious problems and was feeding two to three times a week. I was doing a lot of things and it made my water to clean

 

[anthonys51]

what kind of coral did you have die and how long did they take to die most corals get most of there food from symbiotic algae, i have a friend that has a tank full of soft coral and only feeds his fish 3 times a week.

 

[kissman]

I was going through old tank syndrome, i had LPS, SPS and some softies

 

[anthonys51]

that's not really a disease, it several things we tend to do over time that causes this,
Its like new tank syndrome was years ago before we learned how to fully cycle a tank.
OTS is mostly neglect or improper maintenance or a nutritional imbalance. Underfeeding can cause coral to fade, but one thing i learned is there will be lots of opinions on how often to feed coral. so unless you where only feeding them once a month, i would say some other factors caused your coral to die besides malnutrition. i personally think 35 lbs of rock in a 55 is way to little , i would add another 25 lbs at least, and i have 1925 gph with my power-heads plus a canister filter for my 29 gallon tank. most reef have a lot of water flow, so i tend to want my water to move. stops things for settling.

 

[kissman]

35lbd of Pukani is a lot different than 55lbs of Fiji thought Pukani a lot lighter. I am pushing about 2600gph

 

[anthonys51]

isnt 35 lbs of feathers and 35 lbs of rocks the same thing lol yes i know its dry rock, mine was wet rock, so i have water weight too, but still think you need more live rock. things growing on them i feel helps feed the tank (maybe i am wrong, but it feel it helps probably doesn't but makes me feel good )

i am pushing close to your 2600gph if you add my filter and my tank is half your size. i would increase that.

 

[kissman]

Yes but fill a tank with a pound of feathers and another with a pound of brick and measure the height of the pile of feathers vs the bricks

 

[Stolireef]

Kissman:

Can you post some shots of the corals being smothered by the cyano. If it's that thick, then you definitely have a nutrient imbalance. Fish should be able to handle a few days (if not more) without feeding. There are, of course, exceptions but I've even gone several days without feeding an anthias and she was completely fine. As I noted in my previous post, just reduce feedings, do water changes and wait. Anything else is just treating the symptom rather than the cause. I really don't think it's the density of your rock or any other part of your overall setup and it sounds like you have strong husbandry practices. Time is on your side though and cutting back on adding nutrients will probably solve the problem long term.

 

[Stolireef]

BTW, as far as flow is concerned, on my 110, I have an MP40 running at about 90% and three Tunze 6095 Streams each pushing about 2000gph. Roughy 80 times turnover in tank.

 

[anthonys51]

i was only joking about the feather. sorry i thought i was funny

yes her turnover is around 47, mine and yours are around 80.

i totally agree with stolireef, i tend to rather try to fix the problem instead of treating it and high nitrates = to much feeding.
now there are ways to combat this chemically and other ways, but i feel the best way is the natural way and in the long run its better and leads to a more stable tank naturally

 

[kissman]

Kissman:

Can you post some shots of the corals being smothered by the cyano. If it's that thick, then you definitely have a nutrient imbalance. Fish should be able to handle a few days (if not more) without feeding. There are, of course, exceptions but I've even gone several days without feeding an anthias and she was completely fine. As I noted in my previous post, just reduce feedings, do water changes and wait. Anything else is just treating the symptom rather than the cause. I really don't think it's the density of your rock or any other part of your overall setup and it sounds like you have strong husbandry practices. Time is on your side though and cutting back on adding nutrients will probably solve the problem long term.

That was my first setup i have redone the tank since then. With this Cyano i have know its only on the tips of some SPS

 

[kissman]

BTW, as far as flow is concerned, on my 110, I have an MP40 running at about 90% and three Tunze 6095 Streams each pushing about 2000gph. Roughy 80 times turnover in tank.

I might move the Hydor 4's around the SPS were not liking the flow was blowing the skin off of one. I am planing on buying 2 Jabeo 8RW's soon i hope so the flow will be dispersed better

 

[kissman]

i was only joking about the feather. sorry i thought i was funny

yes her turnover is around 47, mine and yours are around 80.

i totally agree with stolireef, i tend to rather try to fix the problem instead of treating it and high nitrates = to much feeding.
now there are ways to combat this chemically and other ways, but i feel the best way is the natural way and in the long run its better and leads to a more stable tank naturally

I agree and dont want to use chemicals. I am dosing vinegar but i am blasting rocks, doing water changes running a phosban reactor while blasting rock so catch as much stuff as i can

 

[anthonys51]

try just aiming the power head higher. this way the bulk of the strength of the flow hits the surface and wont be as powerful just a thought