Fishdad's Reef Setup

[Newman]

idk if that is what's causing it. may be other things. so many things can piss off coral into dying.

i think it was a bit early for that kind of coral anyway. start with only soft corals for a while. shrooms, zoas, palys, that tree coral you had are all good.

aqualifters can lose suction power when something like air blocks the airlines. or dirt. all you have to do is knock the particle that is blocking the flow out of the motor. it happened to mine a lot actually. I always made sure they are lifting optimally. if they are slow, i either forced flow through them or gently hit the pump (lol). i think you can force the flow by applying air pressure on one end of the aqualifter - so, to the tube that intakes the water.
Then w/e dirt was blocking the flow should get pushed out for optimal function of the pump.

let me know if that helps. hopefully you havent thrown the old aqualifter out yet...

 

[FishDad]

Yup its gone. Go to know though.

As for the EC, it is supposed to be a beginner coral. Apparently easy to care fore. I get that my tank isn't mature but all my levels are spot on with phosphates being an exception.

I think I am going to try switching salt brands. I have read lots of complaints about Red Sea and their very expensive. My lfs uses Crystal Sea, I may switch to them. I just researched scientific breakdowns of the different salts and guess what? Red Sea tested for phosphates at .08, the same results I was getting.

 

[Newman]

marine life does need phosphates to some degree but idk if that concentration you are getting is too high or not. i liked instant ocean salt when i had reefs.

 

[FishDad]

It is too high. The ocean (apparently) has a concentration of .005. It has been theorized that an acceptable reef tank level is .03. IO came in at .13 in a box and .02 in a tub. Strange huh?

 

[Newman]

yeah odd .

 

[FishDad]

Looks like coralife takes the cake. This is pretty interesting....
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?fo...sis_0208.pdf&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13860262497336

 

[Newman]

interesting until you see that Instant ocean has more calcium and magnesium than reef crystals...that's when you know that analysis is full of **** because reef crystals is more reef-oriented and has increased levels of everything corals need including more calcium and magnesium compared to IO as advertised on the box. I have used both salt mixes and I agree. i think i tested them too, but am not sure anymore.

 

[FishDad]

Any experience with crystal sea? It fared well in that study and I've heard is used by chemist for reef studies. My lfs swears by it, but who knows.

 

[Newman]

no sorry, all i used were reef crystals and then i switched to IO because crystals were getting expensive to buy. even for small tanks.

 

[FishDad]

I can't decide what brand to go with. Just about all reviews say Crystal Sea is junk and crashes tanks but my lfs highly recommends it. Then Red Sea tested for .08 phos on that analysis, which is the same level I got. But the reviews for it are awesome. Their label says "No phosphates". WTF? However their levels for cal and mag are spot on. It seems to be preferred for people (I'm one) who want to get away from dosing. No other salt really meets that criteria. But its $70 for 175 gallons. It also get good reviews for quickly dissolving and higher salinity than other salts.

 

[Newman]

ues w/e salt you described in your last few sentences. sounds like a good one. if you think phosphate is a problem you can try a refugium with macro algae or just get an algae scrubber going.

 

[FishDad]

Bought another bucket of Red Sea. It just seems to be the best all round. I also started using GFO in a reactor. That should help with phosphates. Its just expensive. Saw online someone said GFO stands for Grossly F****** Overpriced. That's for sure.

 

[Newman]

if it is expensive try growing algae in a controlled manner...

 

[FishDad]

I looked into that. Takes some enginuity to rig up an algae scrubber. I also definitely don't have the space for it. I do have a nice colony of cheato, but it's not doing enough to get phos down. I'm at .08 now, we'll see what it's at tomorrow.

By the way, my electric blue hermit died. Not sure why. He was just lying next to his shell. Strange.

 

[Newman]

not just a molt?

 

[FishDad]

Nope, dead as a door nail.

 

[FishDad]

Why am I getting a random diatom bloom on the substrate?

 

[Newman]

tank is cycling. you may not notice on test results. sounds like the tank isn't ready for all the livestock you added. don't worry this is normal. it takes a long time to get into balance. diatoms normally mark an end of a cycle.

 

[FishDad]

Strange. What would be the chemical imbalance that they are living on?

 

[Newman]

the diatoms? they likely take in phosphates and cilica but mostly nitrates that get produced in large amounts at the end of a cycle. they may help with ammonia and nitrites too.
dont freak out about diatoms, they go away. you'll get much worse algaes in the future