Help me get ready for SPS - 3 Big problems.

Thanks for that. I will work on getting the Ca up to 450, but not until the "testing" period has finished. So I get a good handle on how much is being taken out of the water each week.

 

Usually between 400 and 500 is best for any hard corals, but in my opinion, this level attributes primarily to the potential growth rate rather than the overall health of a coral short term.

 

Why are you dosing those other chemical products you posted? I for one am not so sure about those.
And why are you feeding coral food? - I'm the exception to the rule here, but IMHEO, coral get over 90+ % of what they need from light. the water coumn has microscopic particles by feeding the fish, fish poop, etc.

Just my 2 cents.

Good luck, you'll be on the right track soon.

Oh, and I agree about light acclimating your corals to your LEDs. The LED's have a very focused light, and lower wattage goes a long way.

 

Microbacter 7 and Prodibio are bacterial supplements. Really because enough bacteria never hurts. And I use coral food because I have some NPS corals e.g. sun corals/ Gorgonians/Sea fans.

 

Adding bacteria? Can't say I've heard of that. Does your ammonia rise when adding bacteria? I can see a die off occurring increasing ammonia.

 

Why would there be a die off? I have done this for a year so far, and my ammonia and nitrates are only ever at 0. More bacteria ensures even if there is a little bit of die off that there is enough bacteria to convert ammonia to nitrates and then be consumed.

 

Well, bacteria establish a population that's suited to the food available to them. If they are over populated and there isn't a food source, they'll die. It could lead to a sudden spike. That doesn't sound like your issue, however. But like I said, I've never heard of anyone adding bacteria to a tank post-cycle. They tend to self-regulate their population once established through a cycle.

 

I know the microbacter recommends a maintenance schedule of dosing. It's not very much but it does keep some good bacteria in the water to help maintain a low nutrient system.

 

Its just 5ml per day for my system. And in a 500ml bottle that costs like $10 is a pretty small price to pay.

And I can swear on my fish tank that using bacterial supplements did more to cure my cyanobacteria problems than GFO ever did. I am completely nuisance bacteria free since using microbacter and prodibio products.

 

If it works for you, by all means, go with it.