Who's has high Trates and still keep colors?

[sahin]

OP I think your tank needs 3 things:

1. A bit more liverock. Maybe put in the sump if you dont want to place the extra rock in the display. Especially as it looks like you are running a bare bottomed system like my tank. I honestly believe a bare bottomed tank needs a slightly bit more liverock than a tank which has a sand bed. I would add at least another 15lbs if possible.

2. More food. I have a 47G tank and on some days my tank gets 2-3 cubes of frozen food + flakes. But usually it is at least 2 cubes and some flake food too. Size for size, my tank gets around 4 times as much food as your tank.

My tank is half the size of yours, but gets twice the amount of food. I dont use GFO anymore and my filtration manages the food input and keep PO4 below 0.03ppm and NO3 below 0.2ppm. I also have a bare bottom tank.

3. Once you've added a bit more rock, I would add a few more small fish so you can feed the tank a bit more.

That should improve your situation. Do report back if you make changes.

 

[Johnjohn713]

I do have some additional LR in the sump though it's only about 5lbs. I think I need to upgrade my skimmer. It's pulling tea color skimmate but not as dark as I expected. Thanks for the advice .

 

[Deadcalm]

OP I think your tank needs 3 things:

1. A bit more liverock. Maybe put in the sump if you dont want to place the extra rock in the display. Especially as it looks like you are running a bare bottomed system like my tank. I honestly believe a bare bottomed tank needs a slightly bit more liverock than a tank which has a sand bed. I would add at least another 15lbs if possible.

2. More food. I have a 47G tank and on some days my tank gets 2-3 cubes of frozen food + flakes. But usually it is at least 2 cubes and some flake food too. Size for size, my tank gets around 4 times as much food as your tank.

My tank is half the size of yours, but gets twice the amount of food. I dont use GFO anymore and my filtration manages the food input and keep PO4 below 0.03ppm and NO3 below 0.2ppm. I also have a bare bottom tank.

3. Once you've added a bit more rock, I would add a few more small fish so you can feed the tank a bit more.

That should improve your situation. Do report back if you make changes.

+ 1 Sahin knows his stuff. I had a very similar issue as you a few months ago and followed Sahin's advise on other threads and my sps tank turned around and is now thriving and colorful. Thank you Sahin for all the contributions you've made on this forum over the years.

 

[Johnjohn713]

Yea seems like he sure know a lot when it comes to sps. Will try to add some moreLR to my system in the very near future thanks.

 

[Johnjohn713]

Just retested my Trate it's at 5ppm. I tested all my Params at least a few times to ensure accuracy yet everything is rock solid.

 

[Johnjohn713]

It's actually 10ppm...gosh I'm so color blind

 

[TheStinkyFish]

Believe it or not, I have some great growth and great colors in my tank. I hit a slump and was unbelievably busy. I didn't do any water changes for 2 months. I also wanted to let nature takes it course to see what happened. of course I dosed 2 part and other additives needed but my nitrates reached 80. My corals have been growing like crazy, great color and polyp extension. I have a variety of corals ranging from montis, blue tort, red dragon, tenius, purple table, red planet, zoas, birds nests, rainbow acans but mostly SPS. my phosphate was at .26. Now it has been 7 months. I started doing water changes on a consistent basis. my nitrates have dropped to about 40 and added gfo. phosphates are gone completely.

just my experience so far.

 

[Johnjohn713]

Wow more and more peeps amity with high po4/trates are coming out of the woodwork. Thanks for sharing.