Should i be running carbon/GFO

[vivek]

i have a 3 month old setup. i have of late been battling slow growth and not so good coloration of my corals. only recently i have started to see coraline growth starting to cover my rock work. there is hardly anything in my tank other than the 20 odd frags, three fishes. i have been trying different things with not much of success. obviously when you do not know the cause you keep looking for answers. my 220g setup has 3 20k 400w xm bulbs. Here are some of the thoughts that i came up with. Would like your opinion

parms rock stable with the help of a calc reactor

ph-8.08
ca- 430-450
alk 8.3-9dkh
mag- 1320
po4 -zero
nitrates-zero
water changes 5% weekly
kent marine salt used
flow 3 tunzes 6100 on 7095 controller
300lb of live rock
diy skimmer- does not pull much out of the tank

clams doing well, sponges on rocks, lps somewhat struggling with growth (favias), montis look happy, green color in the tank sucks.


1) Nutrient poor tank- running phosban, refugium, carbon making things worse- did shut off the phosban reactor this weekend. wondering if the carbon also needs to be booted out. Or leave them in line and feed amino acids and other supplements (zeovit).

2)do nothing and wait

3) add more fishes and feed them more.

any help will be appreciated as i am running out of ideas


vivek

[am3gross]

what is the temp in the tank?

[jackson6745]

Got a Full tank shot?

[spleify]

I like the idea of the AA's and or other carbon dosing.

JMO

Spleify

[madadi]

change the 20k bulbs to 10k XM bulbs. it should make a difference in your growth if in fact your parameters are in check and stable.

[vivek]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13220938#post13220938 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by am3gross
what is the temp in the tank?

sorry

the temp is 79-82

[Paulairduck]

A 3 month old setup is really still new. what test kits are you using for the alk and the phosphate. I would give the tank more time before you expect superior growth and coloration.

The XM 20K bulbs are fine, used them before and growth was good.

I would still run the phosban and carbon just use them in half doses.

it takes time and stable params to get growth and great color, some of us never achieve either:rolleyes:

[vivek]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13222249#post13222249 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paulairduck
, some of us never achieve either:rolleyes:

i really hope i am not one of them.

[shelburn61]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13220859#post13220859 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by vivek
i have a 3 month old setup. i have of late been battling slow growth and not so good coloration of my corals. only recently i have started to see coraline growth starting to cover my rock work.

diy skimmer- does not pull much out of the tank

clams doing well, sponges on rocks, lps somewhat struggling with growth (favias), montis look happy, green color in the tank sucks.



#2 and #3
Your tank is young and that may contribute, but IMO your corals are starved. Green is the first color to go IME.

3 fish in a 220 is nothing. Add fish and feed more. Not all DIY skimmers perform well, but if yours is a good design and you were feeding it should at least be pulling green water.

Carbon or GFO are not your problem. The corals won't miss the inorganic PO4 and DOCs they remove.

[vivek]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13225446#post13225446 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shelburn61
#2 and #3
Your tank is young and that may contribute, but IMO your corals are starved. Green is the first color to go IME.

3 fish in a 220 is nothing. Add fish and feed more. Not all DIY skimmers perform well, but if yours is a good design and you were feeding it should at least be pulling green water.

Carbon or GFO are not your problem. The corals won't miss the inorganic PO4 and DOCs they remove.

Yes it is a meshwheel and does pull up green gunk that needs to be cleaned once a week. With very little bioload (fish and corals) and nitrates and po4 reading zero (for whatever the test kits are worth-- i use salifert) i was blaming the low nutrients for a slow performing skimmer. I have always thought of upgrading the skimmer but was holding off because of my concerns of pulling out the nutrients even more.

i think i will add more fish and feed the tank more. Since the corallines have started to grow in the last 3 wks( whew!! finally something other than Cheto grows in my tank lol!!) and see how it goes.

Vivek

[NealNano]

Stay with the 20ks, you are running 400watt halides. The high K rating is canceled out by the high wattage of the 400s. Your tank is only 3 months old. This is when you should start to see an increase in corline growth. In reefing all things take time.

[60Cubed]

Only bad things happen fast in this hobby!

Also the 20k's won't give the par the 10k will. I run a 12k reeflux and will be replacing it with a 10k XM next week. I will increase my ppfd by about 50 with this switch. I was running a XM 15k(P.O.S.) bulb before. The switch to the 12k increased my ppfd by about 40 and growth through the roof. Very anxious to see what the XM 10k will do for me!

[vivek]

my corallines are really coming along nicely. I hope this is an inflection point for both and coloration of my SPS. Patience and hope and feeding the tank is what i am relying on for now. Resisting and trying not to tweak too many things is the tough part

Vivek

[cnaegler]

i also run 3- 400 watt 20 k's and my growth was not impressive so i added 4- 110 watt VHOs, 2- 10k's and 2- super actinics. i must say growth has really picked up and it still has great colors! just my .02.