Why cant I grow A bali green slimer?

[notenoughtanks]

I have a 75 gallon sps tank i've had up and running for a few years now and had decent sucess, I used to have explosive growth but it has slowed w/ time.I was running no sump and a prizm skimmer.I use 175 watt 10k bulbs w/ VHO actinics, you cant tell me 175's arent enough, I used to get 6 inches a year growth,i add a sump/fuge and a octopus nw-150 but i'm having no luck w/ this slimer and a leng sy cap, they both hold color but dont grow, i've tried them in different places,nothing.Am I skimming too much now?anyone have anything to add it will help

 

[BLKTANG]

post params.


presence of P04 will inhibit calcification of stony corals.

 

[SDguy]

Or lowered pH, perhaps due to wintertime, closed up house, higher CO2 levels...

Parameters would be needed, and what did you mean by "I USED to have explosive growth"? What happened? When did things slow down?

 

[notenoughtanks]

as far as what happened, I got more rock, sand, corals.and what i'm thinking might have been crucial, I was using ro water from a fellow reefer(who also had explosive growth) that had a culligan installed ro unit with no di,and then I got my own ro/di.Could the di be my downfall?
Params are:Ca-400-450
nitraTES-0
po4-0, but could be existant, i'm using red sea test kits
alk-1/3 of the low to high meter(damn red sea)
temp 79
ph- around 8, dont test very often
I havent felt the need to invest in better test kits b/c everything does pretty well and is growing,(with the exception of these corals,and a ORA tortand ora blue millie now that I think of it)Here's some pics.

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[BLKTANG]

from all the algae i would guess u have a Po4 problem wich is undetctable because the algae feeds on it.

That would slow growth.

Perhaps without the DI in your RO is the cause of your Po4.


Test your make-up water & post all params.

 

[notenoughtanks]

like the di is bad or not use a di at all?

 

[BLKTANG]

maybe the di cartrige is bad.

 

[BLKTANG]

maybe the di cartrige is bad.

Thats y i said to test your make-up water.

 

[notenoughtanks]

o yeah, I run carbon as well,and use 2 part.
thought I might add...
po4-0
nitrate-0
alk- as low as it can get
I dont think you can test freshwater ph w/ a salt test kit,
didnt test ca

 

[jmcmahon66]

IMO, the PO4 is having an effect on growth. There is plenty of algae growth to show it is there. Your corals look great and full, perhaps as they grow, they are reducing the flow. I have had no algae issues since I bought a huge skimmer,and setup a phosban reactor. I bet that huge leather isn't helping any either. Some people have reported increased growth after removing a leather.HTH

 

[notenoughtanks]

yeah, I had that out of this tank under vho's and less flow, and did'nt see the polyps in 6 months, so I put it back out of mercy,IMO. As for the flow, I've added some to make up as I go,Keep that input coming

 

[JollyGreen]

I would purchase a TDS meter for testing the Total Dissolved Solids in your water.

I have an RO/DI system, I just tested it once when I got it to make sure it read zero and then continued using it for a year.

What I never thought about is the first few cups of water have high TDS that is around 15-40. After you let it run a minute or two mine goes down to zero.

I checked the bin of water next to my tank and sure enough it was 15. I dumped all that and washed it out with 0 TDS water, ran the RO system a couple minutes and filled it. I now have a bin of 10 gallons of 0 TDS water.

I wasn't having large algae problems, but I have two small patches that I want to go away. I am hoping this will do the trick over the next couple months. I also have a Coralife 65g skimmer and a power filter running carbon.

JG

 

[drock59]

What kind of skimmer are you running?

 

[notenoughtanks]

octopus nw-150

 

[notenoughtanks]

oh, IMO I also top of half of my evaporation w/ kalk

 

[bogg]

Your binding your p04 with the kalk!. ixnay imediatleay!.

 

[SDguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8914763#post8914763 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bogg
Your binding your p04 with the kalk!. ixnay imediatleay!.

What? Kalk dripping is supposed to precipitate PO4 at best. Are we now saying removing PO4 is the slimer no-growth problem?

 

[notenoughtanks]

I'm confused too, I thought that precipitating p04 was a good thing, along w/ everything else kalk has to offer?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Re: Why cant I grow A bali green slimer?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8906469#post8906469 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by notenoughtanks
Am I skimming too much now?anyone have anything to add it will help

You need a skimmer upgrade. Kalkwasser isn't the problem. Nutrient export is.

 

[TomDe]

How is that so?

My NW-150 does a great job on a well stocked 90. The Octo-150 is not a good skimmer for a 75-90?