Now what...

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

Yup. Correlation not causation. It's a function of your bacteria populations blooming and waning and canabalizing. Bear in mind when you're reading about the Red Sea zooxanthellae based nutrient control, that you don't really have any zooxanthellae yet. Isn't it just nopox and test kits?

The Alge Control Kit is just NO3 and PO4 test kits. They obviously suggest that you should use NOPOX to control the levels. I have been somewhat skeptical to buy into their system as they seem to be the only ones suggesting a dKH of around 12 for coral growth, along with NO3 between 1 - 2.5 and PO4 around .08. For coral colors they seem to suggest closer to what others are with a dKH around 10, NO3 at .25 and PO4 about .03, and then they want you to dose their 4 colors and 2 coral foods.

I hadn't really planned on dosing NOPOX, or carbon dosing at all for that matter, but it came with their reef mature pro kit which I purchased to help cycle the tank. Once I realized what it was for, it seemed like a cheap way to maintain an ultra low nutrient system. its about $16 for a 500 ml bottle, and they recommend 1ml per 25 gallons to maintain low nutrient levels. What I didn't expect was that when I finally got NO3 close to 10 I would start seeing bacteria blooms everytime I dosed.

Its been a few days since I last dosed, and the water has become incredibly cloudy. I am assuming this too is bacteria blooming. The skimmer is pulling a nice dark green again and this is actually the first time since ive had this tank running that I have gone 3 days without having to empty the collection cup at least once a day. I am actually not looking forward to changing the filter sock tomorrow, because I know its going to throw the skimmer off.

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

So it has been 4 days since I last dosed NOPOX and water is still cloudy as all get out. I did wake up yesterday to bugs all over the glass as km had stated. Today was the best the glass looked in the afternoon in quite some time, and I am happy with how everything is progressing, I just wish the water was clearer.

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

I found the source of the cloudiness, it is remnants from the initial cloud when I first filled the tank. The muck from the sand was able to pass through the filter sock, and settle in every chamber of my sump. It seems that every so often my return pump is managing to suck some of it up out of the return chamber and send it into the DT. Looks like this weeks WC will happen in the sump.

 

[Flippers4pups]

It takes about a year for a reef tank to take off and become stable.

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

Performed a 10% wc today, first in two weeks. Received Red Sea Reef Foundation and Algae Control test kits. My readings are as follows:

SG: 35
NO3: 0
PO4: 0
Ca: 425
KH: 12
Mg: 1440

I am starting to see a small amount GHA which the CUC seems to be happy about and are trimming back quite rapidly.

The diatoms are becoming quite frustrating as the sand bed just does not seem to be improving at all. I am starting to believe that the two MP10s are not providing enough flow and I am considering throwing a gen 3 koralia on the back of the tank to provide a constant 20x water movement from front to back. For the moment I have the two MP10s in constant speed mode just a slight fraction less than full speed, but they sure get hot running that way.

 

[PhillyGeeks]

Hang in there, man. I was the same way looking for the cure a few months ago. It would go from diatom brown, to some cyano and hair algae and I was annoyed at the ugliness. Then all the sudden at about 3 months of the tank being up and just sticking it out, everything seemed to clear up on its own.

I do run a little gfo and don't test for phos, nitrates currently hang out around 3. I do 10% water changes every 10-14 days.

The uglies are frustrating, but as all those experienced people above are saying and had told me, its only temporary and probably unavoidable in most cases. It will run its course

 

[zeemofree]

Performed a 10% wc today, first in two weeks. Received Red Sea Reef Foundation and Algae Control test kits. My readings are as follows: SG: 35 NO3: 0 PO4: 0 Ca: 425 KH: 12 Mg: 1440 I am starting to see a small amount GHA which the CUC seems to be happy about and are trimming back quite rapidly. The diatoms are becoming quite frustrating as the sand bed just does not seem to be improving at all. I am starting to believe that the two MP10s are not providing enough flow and I am considering throwing a gen 3 koralia on the back of the tank to provide a constant 20x water movement from front to back. For the moment I have the two MP10s in constant speed mode just a slight fraction less than full speed, but they sure get hot running that way.

I suggest getting a quality book on marina aquariums to study, guess work is going you chasing your tail in the end.

 

[Bl4ckDr4g0n]

Sorry I was more just following up on how things are progressing along. Ive been playing with the mp10s modes for weeks and yesterday found that at full on constant speed mode the diatom film on the sand bed cant stay there. That with the information I read about how diatoms feed on the byproduct of bacteria at sand water interface. So if i want to use my mp 10s in one of the more dynamic modes that means they run at about 50 to 75% most of the time. So I need to make up for that missing flow with another powerhead. I think a static powerhead running at around 1000 to 1500 gph would allow me to use the mp 10s in their other modes and still have adequate flow in the tank.