Looking to hire experienced reefer for consult
- Thread starter GardenVariety
- Start date
Here is what I would do if it were my tank...
Stop auto water change.
Not sure if your RODI has chloramine blocks but add Prime to both tank in the sump and also top off
Can't tell if it's a reactor in your return chamber...if it is then turn it/them off
Adjust skimmer to skim dry or just turn off
Take dosing off
This is the most important...Feed the crap out of the tank. However, I don't see any fish so you may have to do amino. Keep on doing it until you see algae the more the better. Feed phyto if you have it. Keep on feeding.
Even if you keep SPS...do the same thing.
Stop auto water change.
Not sure if your RODI has chloramine blocks but add Prime to both tank in the sump and also top off
Can't tell if it's a reactor in your return chamber...if it is then turn it/them off
Adjust skimmer to skim dry or just turn off
Take dosing off
This is the most important...Feed the crap out of the tank. However, I don't see any fish so you may have to do amino. Keep on doing it until you see algae the more the better. Feed phyto if you have it. Keep on feeding.
Even if you keep SPS...do the same thing.
I get my frozen from Tong's in FV so don't mind stopping by to check out your tank. No charge if your corals die or live LOL
What kind of salt are you using? I see instant ocean box but just checking.
Oh....and why do you use the inkbird thing when you have apex?
What kind of salt are you using? I see instant ocean box but just checking.
Oh....and why do you use the inkbird thing when you have apex?
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GardenVariety
New member
Dude, your system is too advance and clean for LPS.
Nicely setup, start adding some SPS
Thanks. I'm slowly realizing that all my hard work in designing my system might be why this is happening.
I will dial AWC to .5% a night to build nutrients.
My RODI does have chloramine removal. It's the BRS 6 stage.
I don't have any reactors.
I'm going to program my skimmer to turn off during the day and only run at night for PH stabalization.
I need to continue to does ALK to maintain stability.
I just dumped a tablespoon of Reef Roids, LPS grow pellets and mysis. I'll continue to do this daily until I have some PO4.
I do have a few fish but they are small.
I have a few SPS (Monti's and Pocilliporas) but I vastly prefer LPS and softies.
GardenVariety
New member
I would be totally cool with you stopping by. I use Red Sea Coral Pro but I'm thinking about switching to IO. The tank is at my office. I use the Inkbird controllers as a safety measure in case the Apex reads the wrong temperatures.
GardenVariety
New member
What are the actual Nitrate and Phosphate levels you recommend?
dodgerblew
Team RC
when my no3 and po4 were running to low I emptied liquid skimmate back into sump and turned off skimmer.
I also agree with above posters if you're into LPS and softies, they like water more nutrient rich so you don't need to water change real often. I don't think you'll need to change more then 10-15% monthly
GardenVariety
New member
I got a new Apogee 510 PAR meter today. Looks like I'm only getting ~85 PAR at the top with Kessils at 45%. I'm now thinking that with the low light and zero phosphates my corals simply are starving. So disappointing.
GardenVariety
New member
Good finding. You know your problem now.
Very nice investment into that PAR meter, please let me know if you are willing to rent it out? I need some tuning on my lights also
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I would be open to it but not for awhile. I need to slowly increase my lighting and will have to have the PAR meter to accurately gauge.
solitude127
Proud user of IO Salt!
hopefully it's that simple of a lighting issue. Keep us posted.
GardenVariety
New member
Will do. I've also raised Phosphates to .1. Euphylia and Acans are starting to perk up. Lost a couple Monti Frags that were on the edge. I'm guessing they couldn't handle the increase in Phosphates coupled with the lack of light.
JustAClownFish
Member
Since when is this an indicator of a healthily balanced reef? Zeovit systems rarely have any algae at all, would you call them unbalanced? I've seen numerous healthy tanks without any coralline algae at all. I don't understand the coralline hype anyway. Once your tank is stocked you won't see your rocks anyway. That said the green and maroon varieties look way better than the so highly welcomed pink variety. I personally think that anything growing on the glass/back wall of the aquarium makes the tank look filthy.
EDIT:
BTW phosphates are never truly 0. The test kits we use, even the Hanna one, aren't accurate enough. You can feed your corals to make up for the lack of nutrients (e.g. Zeovit systems) OR you can feed your tank heavily to raise NO3/PO4. You do not need to turn off everything as this could lead to a SUDDEN rise in nitrate/phosphate which would shock the corals as well.
JustAClownFish
Member
They would bleach first and then die off if it was the light. How come everything else is doing fine at 85 PAR? I don't even believe that it's this low. Kessils are strong. ANd you even said that you bleached one coral when you increased the intensity. If it's truly 85 then increasing it by a couple % would not lead to bleaching.
I saw that you have a lot of equipment. Why don't you take everything offline and take care of the tank manually? The more equipment you have the more variables you introduce.
I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this but have you thought about pests, parasites or chemicals in your water? Run GAC, do a couple 25% water changes to replace all the water in your tank and then basically start over. Like I said, monitor everything manually and dose ALK,CA,MG manually and don't dose anything else.
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JustAClownFish
Member
Here from this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2433040
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2433040
Here's a quick and dirty shot from today. Kessil A350W 24" above sand, about 5 inches over tank. Meter said 1153 at the surface and 170 on the sand. About 350 at the top of the big birdsnest. Meter is 2 months old so I'm confident it's calibrated. I'm using their new 3 piece wand to hold the sensor so I can control it quite well.
See the Kessil shadowing ? Yup.
See the uneven growth caused by the shadowing ? Hmmm, can't find it.
NSW 35 ppt
CA 460
Alk 7.5
Mg 1600
GardenVariety
New member
I'm pretty sure my brand new, high end PAR meter is accurate. I run the lights at around 30% color (blue) so that probably effects it. I've done everything else you can think of and have consulted with some of the most respected people on this forum. The goal is to increase at around 5% a week and maintain my nutrients. I've kept successful reef tanks for almost 20 years and never ran into problems until I switched to LEDs. I honestly believe that I would never be in this situation had I gone with my gut and stuck with T5s. I should have rented a PAR meter earlier at the very least.
By the way, BRS did a very thorough review of the 360's where they tested the PAR a number of different ways. They were getting around 400 MAX when they put 4 very close to eachother. Those numbers you posted above cannot be accurate. I would trust BRS's methodology.
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JustAClownFish
Member
I don't know why you mentioned BRS. They just came to the same conclusion that the Kessils aren't as powerful but they didn't say that 85 par will kill corals... You have 5 Kessils. Five dude!!! There are many people who use Kessils with great success and they do not have your problems. I've seen SPS only tanks with Kessils.
You're saying your readings are accurate and the guy's readings I quoted must, therefore, be wrong because YOU are infallible since you have been in the hobby for 20 years, right?:rollface: How do you know your PAR meter is accurate? Just because it's new it means it's accurate? How much doe the 20 years add to your 'experience' when you have to offer someone to pay them to help you? :headwallblue:
Just think about what you said. You said you turned up the intensity and the coral bleached and then you went ahead and concluded that not enough PAR is killing your corals. How does that make sense?
Tidalgardens states that 50-150 par is low to medium lighting. Even SPS can do fine in 85 par if the spectrum is right.
The store I worked at had the shittiest LED fixtures from China, Tawain and what not, 10 -20 years old and super dim, nitrates were around 160ppm, skyrocketing phosphates etc. yet his corals (LPS AND SPS) were doing OK and of course, softies were doing great. Just OK, but they were alive and you can't keep your corals alive under high tech Kessil LED's? Yea sure. You're deceiving yourself.
You're saying your readings are accurate and the guy's readings I quoted must, therefore, be wrong because YOU are infallible since you have been in the hobby for 20 years, right?:rollface: How do you know your PAR meter is accurate? Just because it's new it means it's accurate? How much doe the 20 years add to your 'experience' when you have to offer someone to pay them to help you? :headwallblue:
Just think about what you said. You said you turned up the intensity and the coral bleached and then you went ahead and concluded that not enough PAR is killing your corals. How does that make sense?
Tidalgardens states that 50-150 par is low to medium lighting. Even SPS can do fine in 85 par if the spectrum is right.
The store I worked at had the shittiest LED fixtures from China, Tawain and what not, 10 -20 years old and super dim, nitrates were around 160ppm, skyrocketing phosphates etc. yet his corals (LPS AND SPS) were doing OK and of course, softies were doing great. Just OK, but they were alive and you can't keep your corals alive under high tech Kessil LED's? Yea sure. You're deceiving yourself.
GardenVariety
New member
I'll bite.
1. Just because one Kessil puts out 85 doesn't mean 5 puts out 425. Well, maybe if you could put them all into the exact same space over the tank. I have 5 over a 7ft tank which means they are about 16" apart.
2. Kessils can do fine with SPS when cranked to 80-100% intensity and color however most people chose to go with more powerful LEDs like Radions.
3. I'm saying my readings are accurate because the PAR meter is an updated version designed specifically to use with LEDs.
4. I'm obviously not infallible. That's ridiculous. I have no experience with Kessils and exhausted all other options before asking for more experienced members to help. I wasn't asking for help from a person like you.
5. Corals can recede and bleach for a number of reasons. Too much light, too little light, ALK swing, TEMP swing, too much nutrients, not enough... I assumed it was my light being too strong because people like you who have never put a PAR meter to Kessils swore up and down that they were super powerful.
6. I have many many corals and 90% are fine. You are just trolling. Put some facts behind your statements and stop misleading people with baseless third hand information.
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