what am i doing wrong?

I will most likely remove the bio pellets once I pull all the sps's out. After that I will raise alk some for better growth. My lights are about 5" awl. Reflectors are nothing great. I lowered the photo period to 4 and 8. Let see if that helps. I guess I could pull the reactor now and see if it helps.
 
Last edited:
here is what im going to do.
1) raise alk to 9dkh
2) take carbon and gfo offline.

im thinking the gfo is may be causing the pellets to ineffective. it can starve the bacteria. its worth a try.

i will monitor phos and see if it rises.
 
Your issue is water quality. Confirm your ro deio system is making clean water first. IO salt reef chrystals is fine. Your light is fine. I cant address your gfo issue as i have no experience in that kind of system. However, I do know people wo have addressed issues like yours by adding bacteria cultures to kick start their system.
 
After going back and looking at your images I would expect that you have a lot of waste build up within and under the rock wall. For now, massive water changes with aged reef chrystals and try adding some bacrteria culture. Long term, either add some more bio suface in a remote sump to deal with the waste build up in the main tank or redo your set up to eliminte the dead zones in the main display. Good luck but dont waste your time and money chasing ghosts. There is no one shot fix to your problem. Its not salt, lights, amino acids or any of that other stuff. All corals need is good water to survive. healthy corals seldom seccumb to bad light. (I personally kept a frag in my sump under a 12 watt led for 6 months just to prove that to my friends) For long term sucess you must set up a system to deal with the wastes in a manner that keeps them moving through the n cycle. The way your system sits now there is a bottle neck, probably phosphates, that is causing stress to your coral. Address the system so that the n cycle can run to the complete reduction of the waste products. After you do that and provide your corals with clean water to start with they will thrive. It isnt as hard as a lot of people on these forums make it out to be.
 
my ro/di system is putting out a tds of 0.. just checked it again last night. im due to replace my resin soon but its ok for now.

i am slowly raising alk. up to 8.7dkh from 8.5. i plan to shoot for 9-9.5.

i am adding 2 drops of mb7 every 2 days.
 
you could very well be right. dave.

i might after my 125g is finished cycing. transfer all my corals to that tank.most of them at least. remove all the rock. rinse it off thoughly and restack with less dead spots.

the 28g was my first tank and was still learning at that point(still am). i didnt stack the rock properly, to many dead spots i think.
 
hehe i just checked out you posts to see where you were at and i saw your 125 start post
lol
You are golden when you get you stuff moved over
Personally I wouldnt clean the rock until i got it into my main system. Rinse it in the main tank. I would be adding the rock and debri to my new system to kick start the cycle.
 
im not using the rock from my 28 in the 125. i am going the dry rock route. i only used about 5lbs of live rock to seed. the cycle should be complete in a week or so.

here is a picture

IMG_0246.jpg
 
On this same note, take a minute and look at my posts and tanks before you listen to me about specifics. My tanks are high energy high nutrient. They work but i dont do it the way most of them here do. My experience leads me to believe that its not how much nutrient you have, its keeping it moving that matters. My systems produce thick corals with deep intense colors. Additives are ca and alk pretty much and they (the systems) feed them selves 23 .9 hours a day. They are nothing like the "low nute" systems that many on here manage. I do feed but only once a day and only fresh squid and food grade seaweed from asian market. In these systems the fish graze constantly and there is lots of suspended matter for the corals to eat. No othere suppliments are needed.
 
my goal is not an ulns. i just want to stay on the lower side to help fight algae and lighten my w/c schedule. i will follow some of your posts.
 
I haven't read through the entire thread, I no only two pages right? :) I started reefing at the young age of 15 and have 9 years under my belt. My theory is keep it simple and keep it the same. Don't go and start changing things, try and do the same thing over and over... Be consistent with the tank. If a change is to occurred slowly change whatever it is. Sps don't like change so when you keep messing with alk and other pars you are just making it worse on yourself.
 
I've read more than a few posts on here about mysterious STN events that cease when the owner removes the bio pellets. Not telling you what to do and I don't have any experience with BPs but I have read a few posts on this forum about it.
 
The best thing i can say about sps and reef tanks is keep things as constant as possible...Maybe its time you ditch the bio pellets and just do things the natural way: watch your feedings, feed enough to feed just the fish, water changes once a week. Supplements are usually not needed If water changes are done weekly. Keep high flow in your tank. I have avortech MP20 cranked at 100% in a 20 gallon high and i get best grow on the sps that are 3 inches in front of the vortech! Nitrates shouldnt be an issue... mine is always between 1-3ppm just make sure your phosphates are always under 0.03.
 
Keep it simple and slow specially in a 28g system any change is critical, since is so small. I do a water change every 2months and spread any changes within a week,my corals are as heathy as they could be, even wild colonies are doing great.
 
I am having similar problems and use the same bio pellets. After reading alot of forums it seems many reefers are experiencing the same issues with stn. I am pulling my pellets this week and using strictly Chemi-pure elite.
 
Back
Top