ultimatemj
Active member
I'm curious what y'all consider "heavy out"...
Higher Nitrate Tanks and SPS?
- Thread starter labas39
- Start date
tinman
Well-known member
cup full of stinky nasty brown goo once every week is what im content with
my chalices actually tell me if i am feeding heavy or not or too heavy ..
here is how i do it ..
i left feeding completely out except for autofeeder ( feeding pellets twice a day) and this went on for a full month when i was on vacation.
by the time i came back Sps corals are super colorful .. not pale not brown and vivid colors and good PE .. but chalices on the other hand lost their intense color and paled out ..
so i did two things .
1. i taped black tape over whites on the front.
2. i started spot feeding frozen once every 4 nights
the chalices are slowly getting their color back and sps stays good color. if i see any sps going brown ( i hope this is not a one day thing) then ill stop spot feeding again and see where it goes.
Sawdonkey
Premium member
I use biopellets, GFO, and a big skimmer. I have much bigger and dirtier fish than your typical sps tank. I feed a lot, my fish poop huge, and I do my best to remove all of that through filter socks, weekly gravel vacuuming, GFO, biopellets, and skimming.
I was actually having problems coloring up a few corals, cut out some feed, added a little more biopellets, swapped out my GFO, and my Vivids Rainbow, a notoriously difficult acro to color up, is showing some promise.
So for me, I don't know if I'd call my tank low nutrient, but I do all I can to remove nutrients.
ultimatemj
Active member
So I've got a somewhat similar situation...negligible Nitrates (<0.25) and notable Phosphates (>0.35).
My tank is just shy of 2yrs old. I made the mistake of starting it with old FOWLR sand and rock...and started out with the meter spiked!
View attachment 13043
After battling theN03 and P04 down to the point, I was starving the inhabitants, I took the GFO offline....and then the P04 came back, but not the N03.
Back in Jan I had negligible Nitrates (<0.25) but the Phosphates came back (>0.35)
View attachment 13042
Added Algae scrubber, harvest every 2wks, and the P04 came down.
View attachment 13044
Well now I'm back in the same spot I was in Jan, negligible Nitrates (<0.25) and notable Phosphates (>0.35). Scrubber still producing, but slower. And the skimmer has to be run wet to get anything out of it.
I've increased my feeding and added a fish! Only thing that has changed now there is micro algae growth in the display
At this point I'm considering putting the GFO back online
Corals are doing decent, not bad, but not great either. Some of the colors are dull and some show a little stress. Not where it wants to be...
View attachment 13045
So, the other thought is I should add some nitrates...but I've got algae growing....so...add GFO or N03? or both?
My tank is just shy of 2yrs old. I made the mistake of starting it with old FOWLR sand and rock...and started out with the meter spiked!
View attachment 13043
After battling theN03 and P04 down to the point, I was starving the inhabitants, I took the GFO offline....and then the P04 came back, but not the N03.
Back in Jan I had negligible Nitrates (<0.25) but the Phosphates came back (>0.35)
View attachment 13042
Added Algae scrubber, harvest every 2wks, and the P04 came down.
View attachment 13044
Well now I'm back in the same spot I was in Jan, negligible Nitrates (<0.25) and notable Phosphates (>0.35). Scrubber still producing, but slower. And the skimmer has to be run wet to get anything out of it.
I've increased my feeding and added a fish! Only thing that has changed now there is micro algae growth in the display
At this point I'm considering putting the GFO back online
Corals are doing decent, not bad, but not great either. Some of the colors are dull and some show a little stress. Not where it wants to be...
View attachment 13045
So, the other thought is I should add some nitrates...but I've got algae growing....so...add GFO or N03? or both?
Sawdonkey
Premium member
So I've got a somewhat similar situation...negligible Nitrates (<0.25) and notable Phosphates (>0.35).
My tank is just shy of 2yrs old. I made the mistake of starting it with old FOWLR sand and rock...and started out with the meter spiked!
View attachment 13043
After battling theN03 and P04 down to the point, I was starving the inhabitants, I took the GFO offline....and then the P04 came back, but not the N03.
Back in Jan I had negligible Nitrates (<0.25) but the Phosphates came back (>0.35)
View attachment 13042
Added Algae scrubber, harvest every 2wks, and the P04 came down.
View attachment 13044
Well now I'm back in the same spot I was in Jan, negligible Nitrates (<0.25) and notable Phosphates (>0.35). Scrubber still producing, but slower. And the skimmer has to be run wet to get anything out of it.
I've increased my feeding and added a fish! Only thing that has changed now there is micro algae growth in the display
At this point I'm considering putting the GFO back online
Corals are doing decent, not bad, but not great either. Some of the colors are dull and some show a little stress. Not where it wants to be...
View attachment 13045
So, the other thought is I should add some nitrates...but I've got algae growing....so...add GFO or N03? or both?
I'd go with GFO if the PO4 is that high and not coming down. That is very high!
ultimatemj
Active member
What about the missing nitrates????
Last time I was in this situation I added GFO, and as it lowered the P04 my chalices receded and I lost 3 acans and a goni
Something about the imbalance (low No3 w/ high P04)is causing my to roller coaster
Last time I was in this situation I added GFO, and as it lowered the P04 my chalices receded and I lost 3 acans and a goni
Something about the imbalance (low No3 w/ high P04)is causing my to roller coaster
jayjerk
Premium member
What about the missing nitrates????
Last time I was in this situation I added GFO, and as it lowered the P04 my chalices receded and I lost 3 acans and a goni
Something about the imbalance (low No3 w/ high P04)is causing my to roller coaster
My $0.02....f chasing numbers...when I had my 150. I ran at .64 p04 and all my coral had great color. Stability is key. F a number
I've told anyone who listens. Stability...if u keep swamp water keep it coral will adjust. U create an environment in with wc is always changing and coral can never adjust.
I have spoken...lol
Last edited:
ultimatemj
Active member
My P04 is an extra factor to the thread topic....
I'm ultra low N03, how would you react to that when P04 is high and corals are 'just ok'?
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I'm ultra low N03, how would you react to that when P04 is high and corals are 'just ok'?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
jayjerk
Premium member
Disclaimer...I am not a role model...
Now that we got that out the way...I wouldn't react. Coral being ok is a matter of perspective...fact of the matter is some coral just dint do well in people's tanks. ie..all "dragons" hate me, but I can keep any other "high experience fish or coral" and have no issue....y...who knows ..lol. .do what ibknow for a fact any smoothie skin acropora I can't keep. I've tried 8 times but who's counting.
Just an example to reinforce my theory.
Again a disclaimer.........I am not a role model