Top down shots
- Thread starter Big E
- Start date
Big E
Premium Member
thanks Tony.....Hmm...........that's interesting.
A couple things come to mind.........
1. Those small bags the frags were in may have skewed the water sample.
Fresh cut sliming acros may have reacted with the reagent & gave a false reading.
2. I basted my rocks about 40 minutes before you stopped by, so there may have been a short term spike.
Which unit do you have? I didn't think they read that high?
Would you mind stopping over after work again & bring your tester? I'd like to get a few more readings to verify that. I'll re-imburse you for the reagent packets. No rush, whenever you have time.
A couple things come to mind.........
1. Those small bags the frags were in may have skewed the water sample.
Fresh cut sliming acros may have reacted with the reagent & gave a false reading.
2. I basted my rocks about 40 minutes before you stopped by, so there may have been a short term spike.
Which unit do you have? I didn't think they read that high?
Would you mind stopping over after work again & bring your tester? I'd like to get a few more readings to verify that. I'll re-imburse you for the reagent packets. No rush, whenever you have time.
Toadally
New member
Thanks for the info... I'm curious to see what your PO4 and NO3 readings are. My colors are ok, but nothing spectacular as yours. They all have that pastel color. I'm looking for deeper richer colors. Since reading your posts, I've taken the GFO offline and just running carbon in the Phosban 150 reactor. My PO4 and NO3 always read zero, but I still get HA in various places on the rocks.
Have you looked at Alagefix for your HA? Worked for me. ck this thread, its really long, but if you skip through parts of it you can get the general consensus.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1595003&highlight=alagefix
Toadally
New member
I've used it without any success. The HA is not really that bad. It's just in a few places here and there. It comes and it goes...it goes more so when I lower the PO4 to zero. But still it persists in small amounts.
The problem started when my tank crashed last year from a faulty temp prob, which turned on the heater. The tank got up to 95 degrees killing three fish and a bunch of very nice SPS. Since then I've had issues with HA. No doubt it killed off a lot of stuff and the rock and sand are harboring and leaching bad things. The tank has been up for almost three years.
Big E
Premium Member
Tony stopped by today & tested my phosphte levels.
The readings were done twice and we got .37 & .34. I'm not suprised by the number as I was thinking it would be over .20
This is significantly higher than most Sps reefers target........usually around .03 or so.
We checked fresh make up water just for another test & that came out zero.
We also tested Nitrate with his kit & it was zero. I have always read zero also with my Salifert kit...........we all know these kits don't read low enough to tell you much, but it was just something worth checking while we were at it.
Thanks, Tony!
The readings were done twice and we got .37 & .34. I'm not suprised by the number as I was thinking it would be over .20
This is significantly higher than most Sps reefers target........usually around .03 or so.
We checked fresh make up water just for another test & that came out zero.
We also tested Nitrate with his kit & it was zero. I have always read zero also with my Salifert kit...........we all know these kits don't read low enough to tell you much, but it was just something worth checking while we were at it.
Thanks, Tony!
Bruce Leroy
New member
Hey BigE!
Very nice Colors your getting on your SPS. Just curious to what Salt Mix your Using? And are the T-5's in a Canopy, or Hood?
Any FTS?
Thanks!
Very nice Colors your getting on your SPS. Just curious to what Salt Mix your Using? And are the T-5's in a Canopy, or Hood?
Any FTS?
Thanks!
purplereef
Active member
You have me thinking Ed. What phosphate level I am currently running? What test kit did you guys run?
Big E
Premium Member
You're going to get more algae, but let a good cleanup crew handle it. Make sure you keep your rocks clean of detritus. The snails will eat the algae & it will die off without dirt in the rock to fuel it.
You have to be patient....it will take a good 6 weeks or so for the colors to change or darken. Don't be scared off by the algae...........remember going cold turkey on GFO might cause a short term spike & the algae will grab some, but the bacteria in the corals will get what they want first..........then the algae will get the rest.
Big E
Premium Member
Hi Dan,
We used the 713 Hanna Checker. It has a +/- error of.04.............so I think I can safely say my PO4 is between .30 & .40 even with the error figured in.
I guess .35 would be a good ceiling........Maybe someone can work up from a low level, target something below that like .15 or .20. It would probably be better to have a smaller pool of phosphate in the water & still get the colors.
Check out the Snowcone prostrata..........pics are a month apart. Not the same angle but for comparison sakes I don't think it matters much.
Big E
Premium Member
I'm using IO.......the T5's are DIY setup(ice cap ballast)--- hanging about 6" from the water line.
I don't have a good full tank shot...........my tank's front glass is trashed & it's nothing but frags mounted on dead coral heads in half the tank. I only have about 3 colonies right now that aren't frags. This is a holding tank till I can set up my 120g display.
I'll take some tank shots when the corals grow a bit more.
I just mounted all the frags a week or so ago.
Big E
Premium Member
I cut three frags off this Paletta last week............you can see two of them on each side of the centered branch. They are already healed & polyps are showing through. The far right one is a day or two newer.
So much for the old adage that high phosphates above .03 will inhibit coral calcification. It hasn't affected growth on this coral. I don't think anyone knows what levels calcification will be inhibited especially in our tanks with thousands of other variables at work in each tank.
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So much for the old adage that high phosphates above .03 will inhibit coral calcification. It hasn't affected growth on this coral. I don't think anyone knows what levels calcification will be inhibited especially in our tanks with thousands of other variables at work in each tank.
purplereef
Active member
Wow Ed that Snowcone is looking awesome! I must be running mega high phosphates currently.
Big E
Premium Member
Rainbow Stylo---It looks a bit flat.........I'm going to move it up some. It's been sitting at the tank floor from day one.
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Blue lightning Horrida.........this thing was half dead on one side when I got it. I had to literally cut the frag in half & paste it to the rock. It's finally showing some growth & some slight gray after 4 months.
I really thought this one was a goner.
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Blue lightning Horrida.........this thing was half dead on one side when I got it. I had to literally cut the frag in half & paste it to the rock. It's finally showing some growth & some slight gray after 4 months.
I really thought this one was a goner.
Big E
Premium Member
It would be interesting to see where you're at.............higher or lower than mine.......... wouldn't shock me either way.
Although, higher might explain that one crappy mat algae you can't get rid of.
Dan I sent you a pm.
