M1ST
04/22/2008, 04:59 PM
Hi All,
So I took the big leap a few months ago from a largely LPS tank to an SPS tank. The system remained the same approx 700 litre system (combined main tank - 5x2x2 and sump). Lit up by 2x250watt Halides and 2x54 watt actinics. I decided while I was at it I would change the aqua scaping, my chance to get rid of the old rock and add in some reef bones that I could shape the way I wanted.
Once all this was done and the parameters were in sync, the old rock went into the sump while the bones in the main tank started up. To kick start this process I was adding carbon in the forms of Vodka and Sugar. I started adding SPS to what I thought was a system with good parameters. After losing colonies by the day I started wondering what could be going wrong.
Anyway, after much headache and re-testing with different test kits my alk was sitting at 14 DKH and could potentially have been the cause of SPS stripping when coupled with carbon dosing.
So, in came new test kits, I then re-balanced the system to 8.5 DKH, Calcium 425, Mag 1380, Phos 0.015, but the nitrates sat at 50. I then re-started the Vodka dosing in the hope that Nitrates would fall but still kept on losing SPS rapidly. Speaking to lots of fellow reefers and hearing stories about keeping SPS in high nitrate systems made me wonder if Nitrates was really the cause of the problem here.
Whilst continueing the Vodka dosing, the old rock in the sump was done away with as by now the bones had been in for almost 4 months, I thought perhaps that potassium may be low but when tested it was perfect. The idea of Iodine also but no problems there either. With colonies going by the day I've come to hit a wall, with Nitrates refusing to go down from 50 and trying almost everything under the sun (Should have mentioned 100 litre water changes weekly) to get through this and I have to say I'm fast losing hope.
The one last resort was to remove my large fish Regal Tang, Purple Tang, minimise feeding and keep up the Carbon dosing up. Well the fish have now gone and my fingers are crossed. Could it be that I have missed something very simple??? or even more complicated?!
Thanks!!!
So I took the big leap a few months ago from a largely LPS tank to an SPS tank. The system remained the same approx 700 litre system (combined main tank - 5x2x2 and sump). Lit up by 2x250watt Halides and 2x54 watt actinics. I decided while I was at it I would change the aqua scaping, my chance to get rid of the old rock and add in some reef bones that I could shape the way I wanted.
Once all this was done and the parameters were in sync, the old rock went into the sump while the bones in the main tank started up. To kick start this process I was adding carbon in the forms of Vodka and Sugar. I started adding SPS to what I thought was a system with good parameters. After losing colonies by the day I started wondering what could be going wrong.
Anyway, after much headache and re-testing with different test kits my alk was sitting at 14 DKH and could potentially have been the cause of SPS stripping when coupled with carbon dosing.
So, in came new test kits, I then re-balanced the system to 8.5 DKH, Calcium 425, Mag 1380, Phos 0.015, but the nitrates sat at 50. I then re-started the Vodka dosing in the hope that Nitrates would fall but still kept on losing SPS rapidly. Speaking to lots of fellow reefers and hearing stories about keeping SPS in high nitrate systems made me wonder if Nitrates was really the cause of the problem here.
Whilst continueing the Vodka dosing, the old rock in the sump was done away with as by now the bones had been in for almost 4 months, I thought perhaps that potassium may be low but when tested it was perfect. The idea of Iodine also but no problems there either. With colonies going by the day I've come to hit a wall, with Nitrates refusing to go down from 50 and trying almost everything under the sun (Should have mentioned 100 litre water changes weekly) to get through this and I have to say I'm fast losing hope.
The one last resort was to remove my large fish Regal Tang, Purple Tang, minimise feeding and keep up the Carbon dosing up. Well the fish have now gone and my fingers are crossed. Could it be that I have missed something very simple??? or even more complicated?!
Thanks!!!