SPS Coral help for noob

S

Simonsays456

New member
I have a small nano tank and follow nano forums for the most part. BUT in doing some research into a crazy OC clown came across the SPS forum here.

Apparently all the things that I have been fighting to establish... I.E. zero nitrates and phosphates and a completely stable calc/alk level are not exactly correct.

My Coral all seem happy, polyps extended and growing. But I keep expecting to come home to a crashed tank any day now. everything I have read about SPS indicates I need to be striving for a pristine environment. Which I don't think I have. My tank is rimless and small... evaporation is a problem. Do SPS corals do better with nitrates in the water?

My tank has been running 3months.
Water (API test kit) -
  • Nitrates 0
  • Phosphate 0
  • Calcium fluctuates between 400-460. Dropped to 360 once when I forgot to dose for two days
  • Alk stays at 8. I try to dose to 11 but it will drop back down to 8 within a few hours.

I have some algae problems.... which does not make sense to me as my phosphate tests at zero and I run a phosphate/silica binder in my filter.

I purchased a rather large CUC for my tank to try and combat the algae. And only have one fish an OC clown. I think I feed heavily. Clown seems to miss half the food I give him, but feed every other day.

Am I playing roulette with my corals? Should I add another fish to increase bio load? I'd really like an orchid dottyback.

Any insight would be appreciated!!! Just when I thought I had a good base of knowledge... one google search about a retarded clownfish turns my world inside out!
 
attempting to dose to 11 and dropping like that is certainly not stability and not a good thing..

Many have reported that they get better coloration,etc.. when they allow a small amount of measurable nitrates/phosphates..

If there is really no nitrates/phosphates (and there isn't) then nothing is living as they do rely on it as nutrients..
same as the grass in your lawn or plants in a pot..

You state your corals seem happy/polyps extending.. So whats the problem?

Sounds like you need to do the same thing I tell my wife.. Stay off the internet.. She its banned from medical sites as any little bump,etc.. and all of a sudden she reads she has cancer or some crap like that and freaks out.. :)
 
Well... the problem is I don't understand why everything is ok. If *when* I have a problem in the future it will be harder to correct if I can't determine the cause.

I don't get why my feather duster has a hipster beard of hair algae when my nitrates/phosphates test at 0.

I don't understand why my favorite coral (green Psammacora) is growing when my salinity and alk fluctuate so much.

You are correct though.... I do need to stay off the internet. Fish tank research is becoming obsessive. Trial and error make the best education.
 
Its likely that there is enough nitrate/phosphate in the tank to cause some algae to grow..

Not to mention API test kits are NOT very accurate at all..
can you tell the difference between 0, 1, 2 ppm of nitrate with those.. Heck no
Its what yellow (0ppm) then 10 ppm.. The resolution of those is simply not sufficient to really see the actual number..

Many corals are very also hardy and can adapt to changes without issue..
 
Good deal. I'll quit focusing on what could go wrong and start focusing on increasing stability. Which will involve getting better test kits and watching what I have grow. (Maybe a bigger tank build 60g nuvo looks nice)

I do spend a ridiculous amount of time googling fish swimming patterns. . . Only got one fish.
 
I was testing phosphates with API and getting zero. I bought the Hannah Phosphorous checker and it was higher than the checker reads >.6. If you are having algae problems you have phosphates and nitrates. Either your test kits are not accurate or the algae is consuming it all. Most likely a little of both.
 
Simonsays456 said:
My tank has been running 3months.
Water (API test kit) -
  • Nitrates 0
  • Phosphate 0
  • Calcium fluctuates between 400-460. Dropped to 360 once when I forgot to dose for two days
  • Alk stays at 8. I try to dose to 11 but it will drop back down to 8 within a few hours.
Click to expand...

My thought with Alk are if the tank wants to stay at 8 let it stay at 8. as long as you fall in the acceptable range stability is more important than the actual number.

Check your mag level, usually it's low when things fluctuate that much.
 
ryeguyy84 said:
My thought with Alk are if the tank wants to stay at 8 let it stay at 8. as long as you fall in the acceptable range stability is more important than the actual number.

Check your mag level, usually it's low when things fluctuate that much.
Click to expand...

I think my mag was to low. Finally ordered better test kits. I didn't figure my corals were using that much calcuim. I have about ten frags.. LPS and SPS mix. Only one of size it frogspawn.

Now that my parameters are a bit more stable I think I should be fine with weekly water changes. Maybe dosing mid week if necessary.

Thanks for the help guys!!
 
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