Alex T.
Active member
After a year of vodka dosing and running a low nutrient system with undetectable nitrates and phosphates, my sps began to recede and stop growing. At first, I suspected flatworms. Then when I was speaking with someone I got many frags from at MACNA in Atlantic City last year, he confirmed that he was having a flatworm problem in his system.
I acted drastically and dosed twice the amount of Salifert Flatworm Exit and to my surprise...nothing! Then I set up a buffered freshwater dip, and again...nothing. I immediately knew I had rushed to judgement and just did something very stressful to my (up until then) fast growing colonies. I started checking at night with a flashlight at the base to see if there were any eggs, bitemarks or other predators crawling around. Then I decided that I would stop vodka dosing and begin feeding my fish a little more and feeding some Oyster Feast at night.
Within weeks I started to get a full on hair algae outbreak and everything has suffered tremendously for the last 5 months. In the meantime, so many things have happened that I can't point the finger at any one thing in particular. After a water test last month I found that my alkalinity was barely holding 6dkh while calicum had skyrocketed to 600. I slowly switched salt mixes to something a little higher in alkalinity that wouldn't throw my reactor's parameters out of sink. I also started dripping a very weak solution of kalkwasser at night and run gfo and carbon through a BRS reactor. I no longer have the hair algae, polyp extension and coloration is creeping back slowly, and 2 new frags are showing very healthy and promising signs. I've never missed a water change, and routinely perform 16% per week. Because my reactor has stabilized to the new salt brand's parameters, there is much less instability than before.
My parameters are as follows:
NO3: 5
PO4: undetectable (Salifert)
Calcium: 430
Alk: 9 to 10
Specific Gravity: 1.025
Magnesium: 1320
My tank is a 72" x 18" x 27" 150 with one center brace. Because of this I have two island structures under each "bay" with 400 watt Radium on new Galaxy e-ballast (love the look) over each bay. This is complimented by 216 watts of actinic lighting as well. For circulation I have an Iwaki 30 RLXT returning from the sump/refugium with 4 (that's right 4) Vortech MP40's on alternating reef crest mode. Flow is extreme and chaotic, but no corals get pounded for any length of time due to the randomness of the pump program.
My main question is this: Even though I'm slowly inching my way back and not running an extremely low nutrient system, will nitrates at 5 ppm be an obstacle in keeping my sps from coloring up and calcifying. I know I have plenty of light and flow, and my skimmer (ETSS 900 with Iwaki 55 RLT) skims wet at half a gallon of crud a day. I feed much less than I used to do while vodka dosing.
Sorry for making you read a novel. I just wanted to try and get it all down so that I minimize the amount of further questions I may have to answer for the pros out there.
Thank you in advance.
I acted drastically and dosed twice the amount of Salifert Flatworm Exit and to my surprise...nothing! Then I set up a buffered freshwater dip, and again...nothing. I immediately knew I had rushed to judgement and just did something very stressful to my (up until then) fast growing colonies. I started checking at night with a flashlight at the base to see if there were any eggs, bitemarks or other predators crawling around. Then I decided that I would stop vodka dosing and begin feeding my fish a little more and feeding some Oyster Feast at night.
Within weeks I started to get a full on hair algae outbreak and everything has suffered tremendously for the last 5 months. In the meantime, so many things have happened that I can't point the finger at any one thing in particular. After a water test last month I found that my alkalinity was barely holding 6dkh while calicum had skyrocketed to 600. I slowly switched salt mixes to something a little higher in alkalinity that wouldn't throw my reactor's parameters out of sink. I also started dripping a very weak solution of kalkwasser at night and run gfo and carbon through a BRS reactor. I no longer have the hair algae, polyp extension and coloration is creeping back slowly, and 2 new frags are showing very healthy and promising signs. I've never missed a water change, and routinely perform 16% per week. Because my reactor has stabilized to the new salt brand's parameters, there is much less instability than before.
My parameters are as follows:
NO3: 5
PO4: undetectable (Salifert)
Calcium: 430
Alk: 9 to 10
Specific Gravity: 1.025
Magnesium: 1320
My tank is a 72" x 18" x 27" 150 with one center brace. Because of this I have two island structures under each "bay" with 400 watt Radium on new Galaxy e-ballast (love the look) over each bay. This is complimented by 216 watts of actinic lighting as well. For circulation I have an Iwaki 30 RLXT returning from the sump/refugium with 4 (that's right 4) Vortech MP40's on alternating reef crest mode. Flow is extreme and chaotic, but no corals get pounded for any length of time due to the randomness of the pump program.
My main question is this: Even though I'm slowly inching my way back and not running an extremely low nutrient system, will nitrates at 5 ppm be an obstacle in keeping my sps from coloring up and calcifying. I know I have plenty of light and flow, and my skimmer (ETSS 900 with Iwaki 55 RLT) skims wet at half a gallon of crud a day. I feed much less than I used to do while vodka dosing.
Sorry for making you read a novel. I just wanted to try and get it all down so that I minimize the amount of further questions I may have to answer for the pros out there.
Thank you in advance.
Sorry to hear about all of your troubles, but I can definitely relate as I have had more than my share as well
