lukinrats
Premium Member
Ok... I think that I may have some idea about the answers that I will get, but I just want to ask some questions, and see if I can remedy my problem
I have a tank that is about 4-4.5 years old now, but there is a catch to that... I have taken it down and moved it twice, in the last couple of years... We moved at the beginning of 2007.. the tank was set up from January until September... We eventually decided to get new carpet and furniture, so I had to take it down... Took it down, and while I was waiting, I had a skimmer and sump built to my specs... Also I drilled the tank, etc... In the meantime everything was housed in a 55 gallon rubbermaid container, and it all did surprisingly well... So, I put the tank back up like it was before, except for the substrate which was completely changed out... I only kept a few cups of the old to seed it with + live rock... It has been up and running now for about 1 month +/- a week or so... I am just now starting to show some N and P in my tests, and there is more P than N... My chaeto is not growing at all, and is a dark green color, but not dead... I am using the light that is recommended on melevsreef.com ... So I am using GFO to control the P, but I am wondering if I should be or not... I am thinking the macros are limited by N at this point, and will not be removing any P until I can get it balanced out... So the question might read: Should I use GFO to control P right now, and essentially keep starving the macros, or should I try to dose some iron to see if that is the problem
I can test for iron, but I have no idea where that should be... Any advice here?
Also, most of my overflow goes to the skimmer section in my sump, and then whatever does not is routed to the fuge... So should I also send the skimmed water over to the fuge first?
I have a tank that is about 4-4.5 years old now, but there is a catch to that... I have taken it down and moved it twice, in the last couple of years... We moved at the beginning of 2007.. the tank was set up from January until September... We eventually decided to get new carpet and furniture, so I had to take it down... Took it down, and while I was waiting, I had a skimmer and sump built to my specs... Also I drilled the tank, etc... In the meantime everything was housed in a 55 gallon rubbermaid container, and it all did surprisingly well... So, I put the tank back up like it was before, except for the substrate which was completely changed out... I only kept a few cups of the old to seed it with + live rock... It has been up and running now for about 1 month +/- a week or so... I am just now starting to show some N and P in my tests, and there is more P than N... My chaeto is not growing at all, and is a dark green color, but not dead... I am using the light that is recommended on melevsreef.com ... So I am using GFO to control the P, but I am wondering if I should be or not... I am thinking the macros are limited by N at this point, and will not be removing any P until I can get it balanced out... So the question might read: Should I use GFO to control P right now, and essentially keep starving the macros, or should I try to dose some iron to see if that is the problem
I can test for iron, but I have no idea where that should be... Any advice here?
Also, most of my overflow goes to the skimmer section in my sump, and then whatever does not is routed to the fuge... So should I also send the skimmed water over to the fuge first?