kirstenk
23.5 Degrees
(this is a repost. i originally posted in the chemistry forum but meant to post here)
For what it's worth.
With all the emphasis on ULNS I want to share my experience. Although my tank is way out of the norm, I feel I will not be alone for long. The lack of PO4 in my tank was very detrimental.
My tank is 4.5 years of age. I have a sandbed 3"- 5" and 16 fish.
Parameters:
Alk 8.0 dKH
Ca 400
Mag 1400
PO4 0.00 ( using more than one colorimeter)
Nitrate <1
When my tank hit the 2 year mark all corals were doing well but I had bouts of cyano. I decided to try a mix of Prodibio and Vodka dosing to out compete it. Never worked and the corals started to suffer. First I lost a lot of zoa’s. Then the LPS and some SPS started to not look so good. I stopped all dosing but the conditions of the corals remained stagnant and very slow death occurred in some. It is important to note that during my dosing I never dosed the ReefBooster or AA’s or anything that would provide nutrients to the tank. I didn’t because logic says if ya have cyano, you have too many nutrients. In hindsight this was a huge mistake. I was P04 limited!
So from the 2 -4 year mark my tank just kinda existed. Parameters the same. Cyano ever present. I was SICK of the cyano.
In August, I decided to make my tank dirtier. I eliminated a skimmer. I ran two G3's. I eliminated the filter socks. Parameters remained the same.
Sept 2 of this year I found a Phosphorus product and started dosing. I wanted to see if the dosing would eliminate the cyano by bringing the C-N-P ratio into balance. I was able to dose this product and raise PO4 to 0.03....24 hours later the reading was back to 0.00.
Over the past 3 months of continued dosing the cyano in my tank is mostly gone. All corals have had a dramatic response. They are growing, they have polyp extension again and even more amazing I have seen some lightening.
PO4 is necessary for a healthy system.
For what it's worth.
With all the emphasis on ULNS I want to share my experience. Although my tank is way out of the norm, I feel I will not be alone for long. The lack of PO4 in my tank was very detrimental.
My tank is 4.5 years of age. I have a sandbed 3"- 5" and 16 fish.
Parameters:
Alk 8.0 dKH
Ca 400
Mag 1400
PO4 0.00 ( using more than one colorimeter)
Nitrate <1
When my tank hit the 2 year mark all corals were doing well but I had bouts of cyano. I decided to try a mix of Prodibio and Vodka dosing to out compete it. Never worked and the corals started to suffer. First I lost a lot of zoa’s. Then the LPS and some SPS started to not look so good. I stopped all dosing but the conditions of the corals remained stagnant and very slow death occurred in some. It is important to note that during my dosing I never dosed the ReefBooster or AA’s or anything that would provide nutrients to the tank. I didn’t because logic says if ya have cyano, you have too many nutrients. In hindsight this was a huge mistake. I was P04 limited!
So from the 2 -4 year mark my tank just kinda existed. Parameters the same. Cyano ever present. I was SICK of the cyano.
In August, I decided to make my tank dirtier. I eliminated a skimmer. I ran two G3's. I eliminated the filter socks. Parameters remained the same.
Sept 2 of this year I found a Phosphorus product and started dosing. I wanted to see if the dosing would eliminate the cyano by bringing the C-N-P ratio into balance. I was able to dose this product and raise PO4 to 0.03....24 hours later the reading was back to 0.00.
Over the past 3 months of continued dosing the cyano in my tank is mostly gone. All corals have had a dramatic response. They are growing, they have polyp extension again and even more amazing I have seen some lightening.
PO4 is necessary for a healthy system.
