33 Gallon Reef

[Sidius]

No idea why it turned the pics sideways.. my apologies to anyone's neck that is viewing!

[Sidius]

Quick update.. Things are going well but there are a couple new things I'm monitoring... A little over a week ago I trimmed my chaeto back (removed half) and there seemed to be a nitrate + phosphate spike after. It wasn't insane but the nitrates went from around 2-3ppm up to around 25ppm and the phosphates went from almost undetectable up to around 0.1. They have both been dropping slowly (seemingly as the chaeto grows back, the nutrients are dropping) and after a couple small 4 gallon water changes they seem to be back down to better levels. Nitrates are back down to around 8-10ppm and phosphates are back down to around 0.03-0.05. It's very possible the rise in nutrients was also caused by a snail dying or something. It seems like they're all accounted for but it's hard to get an accurate count of my Trochus and Cerith snails since I have 10 of each and they're never all visible at the same time (hiding in or behind rocks).

I've also started slowly switching my salt over to Red Sea Coral Pro from IO Reef Crystals over the last 3 weeks (each week I use a tiny bit more CP salt and a bit less RC during my water changes) and I've noticed that slowly during that time, my yellow tipped austera seems to have had some tissue loss around the base. I'm watching it closely. It could be completely unrelated but hopefully it doesn't continue. Aside from that small tissue loss on the base, the coral seems happier than ever and has colored up more than ever before on the rest of the frag. If it continues to lose some tissue at the base, I may try clipping off the top/healthy part and tossing the base?

Lastly, I found a pretty cool phone app called Aquarium Note. I doubt it's a new app but it is new to me. Great place to keep track of maintenance, track growth or issues, keep a log of changes, livestock, gear, take pics, etc. It also has a handy tool for reading color charts when testing your water parameters.

[Frogger]

I really do not think that removing Chaeto from your tank would have any impact on the nitrates and phosphates.

How often are you testing you phosphates and nitrates and what kits are you using and have they expired?

I believe the main thing that can cause a spike is fish, coral, large snail has recently died/ disappeared in your tank.

Your corals use nitrates, phosphates as does coraline algae, and a decline in their growth can lead to an increase in the nutrients in your tank.

I have found that the best way to tell how your hard corals/ coraline algae are doing is to monitor your alkalinity usage. If your alkalinity usage is dropping, basically your measured alkalinity is increasing you could have an issue.

[Sidius]

You are likely right (same thing another experienced reefing friend recently told me). It was just an observation as it seemed to happen almost over night after removing the chaeto. I've done an extra water change this week to bring them back down to 10ppm now (I typically do a 4 gallon change every Sunday). I'm testing every other day with Salifert test kits purchased from J&L about 6 months ago.

What prompted me to start testing was basically within a day or two of removing the chaeto, I had a green film algae growing on all my glass to the point I was having to scrape it a couple times per day (I'm pretty anal about clean glass but it was very noticeable). Prior to that I hadn't had to scrape the glass in weeks. It very likely was be caused by a trochus snail that died and it was just a coincidence. I'm still trying to get an accurate count. I will remember the tip about the Alkalinity usage. I have just ordered a Red Sea Reef Foundation test kit and will track that as well.

[Synthesis]

Just an observation here, but you said that you have 20 snails in a 33 gallon tank. Snails need a constant food source. They also produce waste. Eventually your system becomes mature enough that you may not be producing enough algae as a food source and they will slowly starve. You can watch many videos online about the issues surrounding many "clean up crew" packs being huge overkill and most just dying off slowly which will cause spikes in nutrients.

To put your 20 snails in perspective, I have 8 snails (4 varieties) in a 25 gallon tank along with 4 small hermits and a single emerald crab. The tank is really clean for the most part and the snails are all very happy.

Keep a close eye on all 20 snails.