Opinions wanted on levels.

[lpsouth1978]

Please share your opinions or even the levels you keep your params at. I have read a LOT of different things on here and have a pretty good idea where things should be, but I would like to get opinions.

I have been trying to get things in my tank to color up and especially grow. We were running a ULNS but I think we were starving our SPS so we discontinued the Biopellets, and GFO about 2 months ago. We have not noticed any negative impact from discontinuing them. Here is all of the information I have on the tank as it sits now.

System

300g tank, SPS Dominant - Running 10 months
90g sump/refugium
~300 lbs live sand
~200 lbs Pukani dry rock
Reef Octopus Regal 300SSS protein skimmer
Custom LED Light Fixture w/456 3W Cree diodes in various colors
2x Jebao RW-20 wave makers w/JBWave controller
Jebao DTC-15000 return pump
Jebao 4 pump doser - dosing Alk,, Calcium, Amino Acids, and Mg
55g ATO reservoir w/Tunze ATO

Inhabitants

4 - Green Chromis
1 - Lyretail Anthias
3 - Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
1 - Blood Shrimp
Many crabs and snails

Params

Temp - 78 (ranco controller)
SG - 1.026 (Calibrated Refractometer)
pH - 8.0 (Milwaukee pH controller)
Nitrate - 0 (Nyos)
PO4 - 0.027 (Hanna ultra low range Phosphorus)
Calcium - 500 ppm (Nyos)
Alk - 8.064 (LaMotte)
Mg - 1305 (Nyos)

We started dosing the Amino Acids 2 weeks ago, at the same time we started nightly coral feedings of Phyto, Oyster eggs, and occasionally fish roe. Prior to that we were not feeding the corals anything.

The params that are the least clear to me are Alk and Mg. I have read that it is best to keep Alk closer to 7 while others say closer to 11.

Similarly, I have read 1350 for Mg though some say they like to keep it closer to 1500.

Your thoughts, especially on the Alk and Mg levels, are greatly appreciated.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I'd say the cause would be your 0 Nitrate. You probably need to either add A LOT more fish or start dosing Nitrate. I'll let the experts weigh in though.

 

[downbeach]

I would start by adding more fish, and the necessary feeding.

 

[CHSUB]

"where's the Beef".....add fish!!!!!!!

 

[toothybugs]

Agreed with the feeshies. My own 75 is pretty well loaded but I also have a substantial display fuge. I run it in tandem with vinegar to keep things in control while the macros (they're new) catch up to the rest of the class.

PS the ocean runs around 7dKH for alk. My own tank seems to look best at about 7.5 or so.

 

[bertoni]

Alkalinity generally is fine at any level between 7 and 11 dKH, although some tanks that get carbon dosing seem to do better at the low end of the scale. The canonical ocean average for magnesium is 1275 ppm or so, and higher levels won't do much for the average tank. All of the numbers you posted are fine, in my opinion.

I agree that more food might result in better growth and coloration. That's where I'd start, but lighting is another possible issue, and there are other considerations after that.

 

[lpsouth1978]

Thank you all for your thoughts. It sounds like we are on the right track. We are feeding the corals a good amount of filter foods daily in an effort to make up for the lack of fish.

The reason that there are only a handful of small fish in there right now is that we had an Ich outbreak and removed all but those fish to let the tank run fallow. We have not been able to remove these last 5 fish, no matter what we try. There is no way for us to remove any of the rocks without destroying corals, structures, etc. We are kind of at a loss as to how to get these last few fish out.

We are at a point where we are even considering a LARGE, coral safe, fish (Grouper or Lionfish?) that would eat these little guys as a snack, but that is definitely a last resort option. Opinions on how to remove them would also be appreciated. All of the other fish have already been in QT for about 2 months.

 

[bertoni]

I wouldn't count on a predator catching the fish. You might be able to catch them with a trap, but I don't know much about capturing fish.

 

[lpsouth1978]

I wouldn't count on a predator catching the fish. You might be able to catch them with a trap, but I don't know much about capturing fish.

Unfortunately, we have already tried the trap, but had little success with it. We did catch the mated diamond watchmen goby pair with it though.