Unresolved Sharp turn for the worse

Discussion in 'ASAP' started by andru1313, Jun 26, 2014.

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  1. Pete polyp

    Pete polyp Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    If you already have a skimmer why not carbon dose to bring down the nitrates?

    I have a 29, no sump, no skimmer, no algae, no other mechanical/chemical nutrient removal. I feed extremely heavy (2g rods, 1ml reef roids, 1ml coral frenzy daily). Keeping a tank with no sump or skimmer is actually very simple... If the tank was designed in a way where you don't need them. I have a 4" sand bed, and plenty of live rock. With the 29 I feed so much because its nutrient deficient. I actually have another tank (40 breeder barebottom) that has a fairly large amount of fish (7"+). This tank does have a sump, skimmer and a fuge with macro algae. As for right now the skimmer is draining back into the sump, and I still have undetectable nitrate. The common denominator between the two is the live rock I have used.
     
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  3. Billme

    Billme Eyelash Blennie

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    The common denominator between the two is the live rock I have used.

    The quantity or quality of the rock?
     
  4. Pete polyp

    Pete polyp Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    Quality. I have used many different types of live rock in the past like Fiji, Marshall islands, pukani, kahleni etc. This time around I found this tukani live rock and I'm absolutely amazed by it. Its actually very inexpensive ($110/45lb@salty supply). I have not found one bad hitchhiker (aiptasia etc.) But several great ones. I have chiton spawning in my tank, lots of micro brittle stars etc.
     
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  5. Billme

    Billme Eyelash Blennie

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    Good to know.
     
  6. andru1313

    andru1313 Purple Spiny Lobster

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    So I do run a skimmer. Its integrated in my set up. I don't run carbon but run 2 units of chemipure/filter floss/purigen. I have lots of flow in the tank and don't have any algae on my rocks that i see nor laying on the sand.

    let me post an entire as is tank pic... not pretty but you can get a view of what i am working with. My LEDs are on so hard to get a good pic. I have 70lbs of live rock in my tank. The only fish I have left are my 2 clowns. I am still not finding and Phosphates so nothing is showing up test wise... Unless someone has a different suggestion on how to test that I have used 2 different testers and nothing. I have P04 if needed so i could dose that. And my goal is to just have a plan to keep working on still going with the water change route for now...
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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  7. andru1313

    andru1313 Purple Spiny Lobster

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    Just tested. Looks the same. Here is a pic of the nitrate test.
    [​IMG]
     
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  9. Pete polyp

    Pete polyp Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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  10. Billme

    Billme Eyelash Blennie

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    So looking at it from the side, it looks about 100? Divide that by 10 since you are looking from the side. Double check by looking strait down and use the value that is stated.
     
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  11. andru1313

    andru1313 Purple Spiny Lobster

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    Update... So still doing 5 gallon changes every other day got Reef Crystals so migrating to that salt. I am dosing the tank with 4ml of Red Sea NO3:pO4-x Nitrate and Phosphate Reducer not dosing anything else. I am also only feeding every 3 days. I may need to increase that a bit but so far things are looking okay. Clowns not happy.... So really considering at this point buying a doser so I can make sure things are consistent.

    My levels as of yesterday were...
    pH - 8.0
    Salinity 1.025
    Temp 80
    Ca- 470
    Alk - 8.3 (lower than I want)
    Mg - 1410
    Nitrate - 5
    Phosphate .002

    Crappy iphone pic. Everything looks okay except for the Scoly...
    [​IMG]
     
  12. Billme

    Billme Eyelash Blennie

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    Do you dose alk? Other than that, I'd say the numbers look good.