Testing for nutrients

[alazo1]

Other then phosphates and nitrates are there other things to check for that would indicate high nutrients?. I always thought the two were it but I have browned corals with nitrate 0 and phosphate .02 (hanna colormeter). Are there nutrients that we can't measure?.

thanks,
Albert

[Billybeau1]

Doesn't necessarily have to be excessive nutrients. Could be low calcium, could be metals.

Where is your calcium level and how do you measure ?

Do you run carbon ?

[bertoni]

The phosphorus might be an issue. The resolution of the colorimeter is rather sketchy in that zone, and the level is marginal. The phosphate test kits usually detect only orthophosphate, and there are lots of other forms of phosphorus that can be in the water column. The same goes for other nutrients.

[alazo1]

Billy, I run carbon periodically but planning on leaving the bag in the sump 24/7. It's about 3/4 cup in 100 gallons gross water (Kent). Do you see a diferrence between running carbon or not?. Calcium is 420-450 (salifert).

Bertoni, that's interesting, I thought .02 was a good low number. Do you use phosphate media in your tank?. Seems like I've always had problems with slow growth on a lot of corals. For instance for about 9 months now I've had an orange cap and slimmer that have not grown at all. The slimmer was a frag. The cap was in the tank for a long time. Tank crashed last summer and pulled most of it off. The pieces that were stuck to the lr are just now barely growing. Maybe it's possible that other phosphates that are undetectable are slowing calcification. I've always heard that phosphate can inhibit calcification.

Albert

[bertoni]

I do run a phosphate reactor on two of my tanks. I can't tell how much it helps, though.

[Billybeau1]

Albert, many of us run carbon 24/7. But a good carbon like Black Diamond or Matrix.

I certainly agree with what Bertoni said.

What salt mix to you use ?

[alazo1]

I just ran out of seachem's reef salt and starting io/oceanic 50/50%.

BTW, I haven't mentioned that I started pappone about 2 months ago. I do notice a positive change but have cut way back due to that I don't think my skimmer is big enough to handle the load (euroreef cs 24" 5" diameter non recirculating, forgot model). I'll take pics of my ugly corals and post them.

Is Kent not considered a quality carbon?.

thanks,
Albert

[Billybeau1]

Kent's carbon is probably ok, never used it though. I tend to stick with what I know works.

Since I never heard of "pappone" I figured I'd google it.

Is this what you are referring too ?

“Pappone” Recipe – Italian Coral Food (Updated 1/14/2007)

Materials:
5 Oysters
5 Mussels
5 Clams
5 Shrimp (NOT cocktail shrimp, the big scampi type w/o the head and the shell)
1 Tablespoon of Sugar (not corn syrup, etc.)
200 mL of RO/DI water
10 g of Red Algae (Palmaria palmata; Bisck uses Julian Sprung's brand)
and/or 10 g of Spirulina, 10 g of Nori (spirulina is what Bisck prefers)

Methods: Make SURE that all ingredients are the freshest possible and DO NOT use frozen foods (unless it is impossible for you). Make sure everything "live" is rinsed and cleaned before putting it into the blender. Put all the ingredients into the blender and blend for 5 min, wait 2 min for it to cool, 5 more min blending, 2 min of waiting again, then finally another 5 min of blending (the pausing is so that the solution doesn't get too hot and "cook" from the heat of the blender/blades). Pour into cube forms (approx 10 mL each). Then freeze it all—you want to minimize how long everything is at room temperature.

Procedure: One hour prior to turning off your lights, you have the option of adding Amino acids to the tank*. (For example, 11pm Halides off, add AA’s, 12am, actinics off, then add pappone). Take off the cup of your skimmer, but leave the skimmer running (so you don’t have a massive drop in O2 levels overnight). After the lights are off, start with only a ¼ of a cube per WEEK for every 400 L of tank water (approx 100 gallons). Be sure to measure NO3 and PO4 the next morning so that these parameters don't spike after feeding. You can reduce the amount fed if you are having nutrient problems. Also don’t forget to put the skimmer cup back on the next morning before the lights go back on.

*If everything is going well. It is good to wait and see how the tank is doing for awhile before trying this. The whole point here is that you don't want to change anything too fast, because nothing good happens quickly in this hobby. (Another method to grind up amino acid pills in the next batch of food; however Bisck found that it sometimes causes diatom outbreaks in his tank).




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Seems like something that needs careful monitoring.