Hello all,
It has been quite some time since posting here as I have learned a tremendous amount from reading and lurking the forums.
As the title says this is my 8th month with my first saltwater/reef tank. The tank ran for 7 months with less than spectacular lighting, while my Acropora and Pocilipora did not die they didn't grow and thrive either. I haven't lost a single coral frag since starting which i largely credit to the information available on these forums!! :fish:
A month ago I switched to a sweet 120 Watt LED system from Ocean Revive. For the first time I actually see notable growth on all my corals, which is really rewarding after all this time. I have also added a small HOB skimmer, considering my bio-load in a 40-breeder is only 3 one inch fish I find this sufficient in regards to nitrate control. I also upgraded from a cheap 100 Watt heater to a 150W eheim........so so so much more constant when it comes to temperature, about a .9 degree fluctuation per 24 hours as opposed to my old one at around 4 degree fluctuation!
Since adding the light my SPS have begin to grow at the rate which now requires me to dose Kalkwasser in my ATO, as weekly water changes are not keeping my calc/alk stable enough for my liking.
Now come the questions,
My nitrate sits around 3-5ppm according to RedSea and my Phosphates are undetectable on my RedSea kit. Despite weekly water changes of 20% I still find myself with some GHA and Diatoms. While they grow very slowly, they're still persistent and annoying to look at. I am aware of the problem of algae storing the phosphate and nitrate, therefore i am removing as much as i can each water change. It seems as the growth of the returning algae is much slower each time. I only have a RO system currently as my local water is pretty decent (roughly 140ppm TDS from tap), so i feel the lack of a DI canister could be contributing to the diatoms due to silicate bypassing the RO membrane???
I intend to upgrade to a 4 stage RODI unit tomorrow and continue with my 20% water changes along with manual removal. Would this be considered the correct order of operations to eliminate my algae problem? Is there anything else that would assist me in ridding the tank of algae? I prefer not to use chemicals unless needed, not because i doubt their effectiveness, but it adds another variable to something that is already pretty complex for me.
Also, I've included a photo of my tank. All corals started as tiny frags because Engineering classes are not cheap! Doesn't look as jaw dropping as some of the tanks i've seen on here but its growing well and i love my tank!
Thanks for all the information you all share!!
Cody.
It has been quite some time since posting here as I have learned a tremendous amount from reading and lurking the forums.
As the title says this is my 8th month with my first saltwater/reef tank. The tank ran for 7 months with less than spectacular lighting, while my Acropora and Pocilipora did not die they didn't grow and thrive either. I haven't lost a single coral frag since starting which i largely credit to the information available on these forums!! :fish:
A month ago I switched to a sweet 120 Watt LED system from Ocean Revive. For the first time I actually see notable growth on all my corals, which is really rewarding after all this time. I have also added a small HOB skimmer, considering my bio-load in a 40-breeder is only 3 one inch fish I find this sufficient in regards to nitrate control. I also upgraded from a cheap 100 Watt heater to a 150W eheim........so so so much more constant when it comes to temperature, about a .9 degree fluctuation per 24 hours as opposed to my old one at around 4 degree fluctuation!
Since adding the light my SPS have begin to grow at the rate which now requires me to dose Kalkwasser in my ATO, as weekly water changes are not keeping my calc/alk stable enough for my liking.
Now come the questions,
My nitrate sits around 3-5ppm according to RedSea and my Phosphates are undetectable on my RedSea kit. Despite weekly water changes of 20% I still find myself with some GHA and Diatoms. While they grow very slowly, they're still persistent and annoying to look at. I am aware of the problem of algae storing the phosphate and nitrate, therefore i am removing as much as i can each water change. It seems as the growth of the returning algae is much slower each time. I only have a RO system currently as my local water is pretty decent (roughly 140ppm TDS from tap), so i feel the lack of a DI canister could be contributing to the diatoms due to silicate bypassing the RO membrane???
I intend to upgrade to a 4 stage RODI unit tomorrow and continue with my 20% water changes along with manual removal. Would this be considered the correct order of operations to eliminate my algae problem? Is there anything else that would assist me in ridding the tank of algae? I prefer not to use chemicals unless needed, not because i doubt their effectiveness, but it adds another variable to something that is already pretty complex for me.
Also, I've included a photo of my tank. All corals started as tiny frags because Engineering classes are not cheap! Doesn't look as jaw dropping as some of the tanks i've seen on here but its growing well and i love my tank!
Thanks for all the information you all share!!
Cody.
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