formsix
11/04/2014, 08:36 AM
Background: Tank has been set up for 7 months, started with completely live florida gulf rock and sand. Tank is ~75 gallons plus a 40 breeder sump, so just under 100g total water volume. I use, and always have used, RODI water and Instant Ocean salt. TDS meter has just starting to read an output of .01, so I ordered replacement cartridges from BRS along with a reactor and GFO (see plan at the end).
Inhabitants: 5 smallish fish (2 ocellaris clowns, 1 fairy wrasse, 1 royal gramma, and 1 new leopard wrasse), 7 shrimp, 1 large baseball-sized urchin and 4 little ones, 1 flame scallop, tons of feather dusters, little clams that came with the rocks, sponges, etc. There are several gorgonians that don't look as great as they used to, but still okay. There's also a torch coral that is okay (extends, but doesn't seem to be loving life at the moment), and a blasto that couldn't be happier.
So critters generally look good, except the large urchin started loosing some spines about a month ago. That led to our quick assessment that high nitrates might be the culprit (see below). We also had a reduction in algae over the past few months, so I also thought that maybe the urchin wasn't getting enough to eat, and started feeding him nori a few times a week. He seems much better, spine loss stopped completely after both of those changes (yeah, I know making 2 changes at once isn't great, but I didn't really want to experiment on my critter), and he's moving around more, but not completely back to his crazy all over the tank self.
Sooo, the nitrates. We've been battling high nitrates (in the 30-40ppm range) for a while, and slowly getting them down after one big water change (50%) and several smaller (15%) changes. Did my first complete water chemistry check yesterday. Now I'm freaking out more about the phosphates than the nitrates... and I think everything else seems fine?
Calcium 410
Mg 1320
Kh/Alk 9.9
Nitrates ~20ppm
Phosphates 3.06
Other potentially relevant info:
Two weeks ago I added a large ball of chaeto to the sump refugium. It gets some flow, but maybe not enough. It's been turning brown and decaying, no matter what I try to do with it.
I dose phyto in small amounts (a few drops of concentrated stuff 2-3 times a week) to feed the flame scallop and other small inverts, and also to try and bolster my pod population.
We have a skimmer, a Reef Octopus 150, and it pulls some gross sludgy stuff, but not in crazy amounts, and nothing has changed over the past few months. Granted, I have no idea when the phosphates started creeping up. No dosing and no reactors yet.
We do not currently have much of an algae issue, but now I'm worried that one can be imminent. I have been seeing a little algae (cyano probably) under the sandbed (where the sand meets the tank), but nothing on top of the sand or on the rocks. There are tiny spots of brownish algae starting to form on the sides of the tank -- hardly noticeable so far. The return area of the sump seems slimier than usual -- there is a thick layer of cream-coloered biofilm down there, even though I just cleaned it a few weeks ago. No idea what that's about.
Current Plan: I just ordered a dual reactor, some GFO, and some carbon from BRS. Plan is to use the GFO to remove phosphates (starting slow and ramping up over a few weeks). Figured carbon can't hurt, and might help clear up the water a bit -- there are always little particles floating about). Also ordered a Hanna Checker, because I have no idea how accurate that red sea phosphate test is.
Is that enough to start? What else? Anything else seem out of whack or potentially heading that way? Thanks for any and all advice!!
Inhabitants: 5 smallish fish (2 ocellaris clowns, 1 fairy wrasse, 1 royal gramma, and 1 new leopard wrasse), 7 shrimp, 1 large baseball-sized urchin and 4 little ones, 1 flame scallop, tons of feather dusters, little clams that came with the rocks, sponges, etc. There are several gorgonians that don't look as great as they used to, but still okay. There's also a torch coral that is okay (extends, but doesn't seem to be loving life at the moment), and a blasto that couldn't be happier.
So critters generally look good, except the large urchin started loosing some spines about a month ago. That led to our quick assessment that high nitrates might be the culprit (see below). We also had a reduction in algae over the past few months, so I also thought that maybe the urchin wasn't getting enough to eat, and started feeding him nori a few times a week. He seems much better, spine loss stopped completely after both of those changes (yeah, I know making 2 changes at once isn't great, but I didn't really want to experiment on my critter), and he's moving around more, but not completely back to his crazy all over the tank self.
Sooo, the nitrates. We've been battling high nitrates (in the 30-40ppm range) for a while, and slowly getting them down after one big water change (50%) and several smaller (15%) changes. Did my first complete water chemistry check yesterday. Now I'm freaking out more about the phosphates than the nitrates... and I think everything else seems fine?
Calcium 410
Mg 1320
Kh/Alk 9.9
Nitrates ~20ppm
Phosphates 3.06
Other potentially relevant info:
Two weeks ago I added a large ball of chaeto to the sump refugium. It gets some flow, but maybe not enough. It's been turning brown and decaying, no matter what I try to do with it.
I dose phyto in small amounts (a few drops of concentrated stuff 2-3 times a week) to feed the flame scallop and other small inverts, and also to try and bolster my pod population.
We have a skimmer, a Reef Octopus 150, and it pulls some gross sludgy stuff, but not in crazy amounts, and nothing has changed over the past few months. Granted, I have no idea when the phosphates started creeping up. No dosing and no reactors yet.
We do not currently have much of an algae issue, but now I'm worried that one can be imminent. I have been seeing a little algae (cyano probably) under the sandbed (where the sand meets the tank), but nothing on top of the sand or on the rocks. There are tiny spots of brownish algae starting to form on the sides of the tank -- hardly noticeable so far. The return area of the sump seems slimier than usual -- there is a thick layer of cream-coloered biofilm down there, even though I just cleaned it a few weeks ago. No idea what that's about.
Current Plan: I just ordered a dual reactor, some GFO, and some carbon from BRS. Plan is to use the GFO to remove phosphates (starting slow and ramping up over a few weeks). Figured carbon can't hurt, and might help clear up the water a bit -- there are always little particles floating about). Also ordered a Hanna Checker, because I have no idea how accurate that red sea phosphate test is.
Is that enough to start? What else? Anything else seem out of whack or potentially heading that way? Thanks for any and all advice!!