11mixedreef
New member
OK hopefully this is the most appropriate thread to put this in but I need some softies help as well. My story is my 110 mixed reef was started Dec. 15 2015 I tried to do everything right this time and be as patient as I could be. I am a United States Marine currently deployed with my spouse looking after my tank. From December till almost March I took care of it and had pretty good success I may of only lost one coral or so and that was a flower pot which I didn't at the time know needed a mature tank, in addition to that I only lost a couple fish after the cycle and that was pro ably due to the break in after the cycle adding too fast were all guilty and no quarantine process. Since I've been gone we have had quite the hard ships my spouse takes decent care of the tank and follows my instructions well we haven't lost a fish in the past 6 months however coral is just not growing one bit I know coral grows slow but there is 0 growth on anything except a few heads on my zoa colony. and my LPS hammers and frog spawn are alive 0 growth and minimal polyp extension. I will try and list our processes to the best of my remembering so you can assist us in getting the tank turned around till I get back in a month and a half.
first issue was mid march about 3 weeks after i left we had a heater stick and the temp rose from 78 to about 84 I had her pull the heater and it was quickly replaced now the temp stays 78-79
next about 2 months later one of my AI hydra 26 hd's fried for no good reason the company now owned by ecotech sent my wife out a replacement but at the cost of a week with only one side of the tank illuminated and all the coral had to be moved to that side in the mean time I was so disgusted I forked out the money to buy two new radion xr30 pros and the mounts.
with some connectivity issues for about 6 weeks my wife had set up the radions with toms program I believe and had 100% on all for a 7 hr photo period at 90% mid day and of course 2 hr ramp up and down at the beginning and conclusion of the day at 12 k I had her turn it down to 40% and move it to 14k instead because I think it was hindering the corals from polyp extension but we have seen no improvement yet and that has been about 10 days.
some other issues we tried to adjust was for 2 months my CA was 360 so i had her dose our reef fusion and over the course of 2 weeks bumped it up to 500 when tested at the LFS and with some water changes and regular dosing its come down to 450
Alk has been low since not sure how much of an issue it is but I'm scared to have her raise it cause that could be catastrophic it sits at 6 as the LFS tests it
OK so equipment 110 DT with a 40 gallon sump currently
running 2 felt filter socks then a reef octopus 110 skimmer wanting to upgrade soon
then a small fuge which i put cheato in but it died off
a mag 9.5 return that runs my high capacity gfo and rox carbon BRS reactors they get changed about ever 30-45 days
we do bimonthly water changes of about 25 gallons and were using fritz pro salt but have recently slowly changed to red sea coral pro with no differences
using the radion pros as stated and two PP8 jebaos for flow they are on full alternating causing a nice little standing wave and a gentle sway to the corals when they used to extend all the way for me they haven't been changed but looking to upgrade to mp 40s x2 and a new WiFi Neptune apex when I get back in September
Here is the last tests values from my LFS they haven't changed much
SAL 1.025
PH 8.3
AM 0
Nitrite 0.10
Nitrate 2.5
Calcium 460
Alk 6
Mg 1300
Phos 0.25
we dose reef fusion 4.5 cap fulls every day and 4 caps of reef fusion 2 every other day
6ml of vodka once a week (I don't know if this is negatively effecting it or not but i dont seem to have a nitrate issue)
rotifeast a couple teaspoons twice a week and two small feedings a day of frozen brine or mysis or pellets
I will be setting up a QT tank when I return so don't get on me for that I will try and attach pictures of the tank before and now please give me input for why I'm getting 0 growth and little extension.
Ethan
first issue was mid march about 3 weeks after i left we had a heater stick and the temp rose from 78 to about 84 I had her pull the heater and it was quickly replaced now the temp stays 78-79
next about 2 months later one of my AI hydra 26 hd's fried for no good reason the company now owned by ecotech sent my wife out a replacement but at the cost of a week with only one side of the tank illuminated and all the coral had to be moved to that side in the mean time I was so disgusted I forked out the money to buy two new radion xr30 pros and the mounts.
with some connectivity issues for about 6 weeks my wife had set up the radions with toms program I believe and had 100% on all for a 7 hr photo period at 90% mid day and of course 2 hr ramp up and down at the beginning and conclusion of the day at 12 k I had her turn it down to 40% and move it to 14k instead because I think it was hindering the corals from polyp extension but we have seen no improvement yet and that has been about 10 days.
some other issues we tried to adjust was for 2 months my CA was 360 so i had her dose our reef fusion and over the course of 2 weeks bumped it up to 500 when tested at the LFS and with some water changes and regular dosing its come down to 450
Alk has been low since not sure how much of an issue it is but I'm scared to have her raise it cause that could be catastrophic it sits at 6 as the LFS tests it
OK so equipment 110 DT with a 40 gallon sump currently
running 2 felt filter socks then a reef octopus 110 skimmer wanting to upgrade soon
then a small fuge which i put cheato in but it died off
a mag 9.5 return that runs my high capacity gfo and rox carbon BRS reactors they get changed about ever 30-45 days
we do bimonthly water changes of about 25 gallons and were using fritz pro salt but have recently slowly changed to red sea coral pro with no differences
using the radion pros as stated and two PP8 jebaos for flow they are on full alternating causing a nice little standing wave and a gentle sway to the corals when they used to extend all the way for me they haven't been changed but looking to upgrade to mp 40s x2 and a new WiFi Neptune apex when I get back in September
Here is the last tests values from my LFS they haven't changed much
SAL 1.025
PH 8.3
AM 0
Nitrite 0.10
Nitrate 2.5
Calcium 460
Alk 6
Mg 1300
Phos 0.25
we dose reef fusion 4.5 cap fulls every day and 4 caps of reef fusion 2 every other day
6ml of vodka once a week (I don't know if this is negatively effecting it or not but i dont seem to have a nitrate issue)
rotifeast a couple teaspoons twice a week and two small feedings a day of frozen brine or mysis or pellets
I will be setting up a QT tank when I return so don't get on me for that I will try and attach pictures of the tank before and now please give me input for why I'm getting 0 growth and little extension.
Ethan
