LPS corals receding

[gmann]

Originally Posted by Wheelman76

Salinity is pretty high at 1.028 , I would buy a Salifert nitrate test to get a better idea where it's at for sure. If the nitrates are truly 0 then your LPS are not going to be happy , and as someone already mentioned will make your tank no3 limited and not allow bacteria to consume po4.

I also agree with investing in an rodi system. How often does the film algae regrow on the glass after cleaning ?

I had one Jess, but it took forever to get to the level of water I needed so I decided to just start buying 5 gallon cdn spring jugs. Glass gets dirty ever 4 days or so.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by gmann

more what?

Sorry, more nitrate...auto correct typo. Get a better NO3 kit to conform your testing - I like Salifert or Red Sea Pro.

CUC: couple of trochus snails, there should be some nassarius in there, and 4-5 zebra hermits
- lights: 3 x kessil 360, running from 2pm to 9pm
- supplement with 2 x t5 (coral plus & blue plus) from 4pm-8pm

Lighting looks fine. Your CUC is sadly lacking. I'm betting if you added a bunch of CUC the algae would get eaten and not come back as long as the CUC is alive still.

You said 60 gallons is about 25% wc, so your tank is probably a 180 or 230 depending on sump?? If so, I'd suggest 10 Trochus (15 if they are small) and 20 Scarlet Hermits (not other types) to start. See where that gets you - you may need quite a bit more.

vacuum gravel yes, basting rocks, not so much

Basting is one of the best ways to help combat an algae problem.

I missed that 37 ppt...that's walking the edge of safety and if your calibration is off this could easily become 30 ppt which could cerainly kill your corals on its own. Natural seawater is typically 35 ppt and there is no reason to aim for any other number in a reef tank. Make sure you calibrate with a SEAWATER calibration solution (not sodium chloride solution, not ro water).

[gmann]

Originally Posted by Myka

Sorry, more nitrate...auto correct typo. Get a better NO3 kit to conform your testing - I like Salifert or Red Sea Pro.



Lighting looks fine. Your CUC is sadly lacking. I'm betting if you added a bunch of CUC the algae would get eaten and not come back as long as the CUC is alive still.

You said 60 gallons is about 25% wc, so your tank is probably a 180 or 230 depending on sump?? If so, I'd suggest 10 Trochus (15 if they are small) and 20 Scarlet Hermits (not other types) to start. See where that gets you - you may need quite a bit more.



Basting is one of the best ways to help combat an algae problem.

I missed that 37 ppt...that's walking the edge of safety and if your calibration is off this could easily become 30 ppt which could cerainly kill your corals on its own. Natural seawater is typically 35 ppt and there is no reason to aim for any other number in a reef tank. Make sure you calibrate with a SEAWATER calibration solution (not sodium chloride solution, not ro water).

I already calibrate with solution, so I believe it is pretty accurate. as for the clean up crew, I will grab more along with a new test kit this week. Thanks for your feedback.

[dino]

I used to use the spring water until I started to measure the tds in it and would sometimes get 15-25 tds so I switched to r.o and never looked back. cleared up a lot of algae issues and corals are happier

[H2o2]

Just a thought stray voltage

[Myka]

Originally Posted by gmann

I already calibrate with solution, so I believe it is pretty accurate. as for the clean up crew, I will grab more along with a new test kit this week. Thanks for your feedback.

You're welcome.

Regarding the RO water, it does take a long time. The most convenient way to do it is to either tap into a line or hook it up to a laundry tub. Then have two containers - one for RO/DI and one for saltwater mixing/storage. For a tank your size, I'd recommend the RO tub be around 20 gallons, and the saltwater tub be about 60-80 gallons or more if you want to store a few waterchanges at a time. Then you tee off the output of your RO, at a float valve to each tub, and a ball valve going to each tub. Then you just open the ball valve of the tub you want to fill and let it run overnight or while you're at work and they will shut off auto-magically. Works great.

You can buy faster membranes too - I use a 150 GPD membrane, so I can fill up a 60 gallon tub in about 10 hours. A 75 GPD membrane would take twice as long. I got the membrane from Bulk Reef Supply, and 6 years later I'm still getting 2-3 ppm TDS out of the membrane, so they are very good quality.

[iamfrontosa]

Did you change your lights or bulbs; or altered photoperiod ? When my acans and chalices are out in the open, they either bleached or melted....

[gmann]

Originally Posted by iamfrontosa

Did you change your lights or bulbs; or altered photoperiod ? When my acans and chalices are out in the open, they either bleached or melted....

no if anything I added back the t5's. Only thing I have been playing with is gyre location. Trying to get better flow to combat the cyano.