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Innovative Marine 30 AIO Long

diana a

diana a

Staff member
NJRC Member
Moderator
Most of the time phosphate uptake is nitrate limited. So when you suddenly increase nitrate, it causes phosphate depletetion.

Do you have any coraline algae? That is a good indication of water nutrient levels appropriate for corals. If not, I believe that the best action is to dose N and P (rather than trying to feed more).

If you have a fuge, I would clean it out and use the space for something else or do less in lighting hours. No GFO and I would take the skimmer offline. Don't pollute your water with food

How many fishes in the 30G?
 
Hallowhead

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
diana a said:
Most of the time phosphate uptake is nitrate limited. So when you suddenly increase nitrate, it causes phosphate depletetion.

Do you have any coraline algae? That is a good indication of water nutrient levels appropriate for corals. If not, I believe that the best action is to dose N and P (rather than trying to feed more).

If you have a fuge, I would clean it out and use the space for something else or do less in lighting hours. No GFO and I would take the skimmer offline. Don't pollute your water with food

How many fishes in the 30G?
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I have 6 fishes. No refugium. I have small amounts of Coraline algae - it's starting to come in now. Bubble algae is growing. I read that dosing n and p isn't a good idea as it just will become dependent on it rather than finding a way to naturally increase it
 
Hallowhead

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
My zoa's are in the funk again... My nitrates are very close to zero, I have taken my protein skimmer offline. I have a small issue with bubble algae right now but not growing near the polyps.

I have fragged my colonies and every since then things are just not what they used to... could they all still be in shock?

My clown fish & lawnmower blenny LOVE swimming through all my zoa's - I have seen them swimming through zoa's and I am thinking this isn't helping.

Any ideas?
 
Hallowhead

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
Howdy,

Little update.

I have added a BRS 1.1mL doser & have been dosing ~ 3mL of liquid soda ash daily. My nitrates are very controlled around 10ppm now with phosphates ~ .07ppm. My tank is maturing nicely, corals are starting to grow fatter with alk elevated. The only issue my tank has right now is vermatid snails which... are never going away so I shall learn to love them.

I am looking to rent a PAR meter to really tune in my lights if anyone has one.
 
Hallowhead

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
Used a butter knife to smash ~ 20 snails tonight... my oh my is that satisfying watch them crush.

I think my emerald crab scoops them up off the sand and rocks once I pummel them ;)
 
Hallowhead

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
Howdy,

Here we go again with the nitrates being bottomed out... I commenced a heavy feed and reef roids dosage to my corals - once a week. I have brown slimy stuff on the substrate but no where else, I am going to hold off a week on doing a water change as my nitrates seemed to bottom out when I began to water change religiously at 7 days. The tank is approaching the 1 year mark - wishing I wasn't having nitrate issues again :(

Bumble bee snail addition seems to be taking out some vermetid snails but not quick enough! I will be getting some more! I am also thinking of a goby again - I feel like it would help out my substrate.
 
motortrendz

motortrendz

NJRC Member
The brown slimy stuff on your sand is clad dino's.. they're fueled by low nutrients. You need to dose nitrates and phosphates. Not over feed your tank, that can cause an excessive amount of amonia to spike before you even see a rise in nitrates. A uv would also help depending on the strain of dinos you have. Get some microbacter7, it will help to out compete the dinos with benificial bacteria... but nothing will help if your nitrates and phosphates are zero
 
Hallowhead

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
My phosphates are about .04.. I always thought dosing nitrates was a bad idea as you're just correcting an underlying problem of nutrients. I don't know what's exporting all the nitrates from my tank. Before this I was seeing about 10 ppm nitrates steady
 
DangerDave

DangerDave

NJRC Member
Hallowhead said:
My phosphates are about .04.. I always thought dosing nitrates was a bad idea as you're just correcting an underlying problem of nutrients. I don't know what's exporting all the nitrates from my tank. Before this I was seeing about 10 ppm nitrates steady
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I disagree. You are bringing your reef in line with testing and dosing. No different than dosing alk and calc.
deep in live rock or marine pure in a slow flow area will allow bacteria to grow that will consume nitrates. This same concept is what is used to run a denitrator.
 
motortrendz

motortrendz

NJRC Member
DangerDave said:
Btw, I think you only need nitrates. Phosphate is showing .04, but that’s the excess. the rest is being used by the tank.
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It's all depends, when he starts doing nitrates, his po4 will go down. Not sure y but everything I've experienced so far is as your dosing nitrates itll deplete po4. Which is y I recomend doing both. But testing is definitly key, you wouldn't blindly dose alk, dont blindly dose N3 and po4
 
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