Diagnose my tank ;)

[Anonymous]

Okay, overall my tank is not doing too bad, but there are a couple little things that are nagging at me that I'd like to get some feedback on.

First, history...

• 
  * 125 Gal system w/ 37gal partitioned sump. Sump has DSB refugium lit opposite main tank lighting cycle
  * System has been up just over a year
  * Red Sea Berlin skimmer running 24/7
  * 4x 96w VHO lighting in main tank, on for about 7.5 hrs/day
  * Moderately heavy fish load: Mated pr of maroon clowns, 1 medium convict tang, small coral beauty angel, large horsehead blenny, 1 green chromis, 1 royal gramma
  * Irregular 25 gal water changes (once a month or so, on average), always with RO water

Now here's the weird goings-on:
1. Nitrates read consistently around 10-20ppm, no matter how many water changes I do.
2. Leather corals thrive, button polyps are pretty healthy, but not swarming the rocks or anything. Mushroom polyps / ricordea do mediocre--they don't really die off, but they don't really grow either. Xenia slowly shrivels and dies back. A purple gorgonian that's been in-system for about a month is showing some die-off toward the base, but is still somewhat polyped out. Really the only think that's showing fantastic growth though is my leather.
3. Very little algal growth of any sort. I have to wipe the front glass maybe once a week for diatoms, if that. Any snails I add slowly die off (starvation, I'd assume). I get a great deal of red-slime algae in the refugium (but nowhere else in the system), enough that it overgrows and smothers any type of macroalage I try to culture. Corraline is so slow-growing it's basically non-existent.


My thoughts and other tidbits:

A) Even after large or multiple water changes, the water takes on a yellowish cast within a day or two.
B) I have thousands of bristleworms, but very little other microfauna. Some copepods/amphipods, but they usually stay in the rockwork. Also, tons of those little tiny stumpy-legged starfish on the glass and tons of baby brittlestars in the substrate.
C) Even if I 'storm' the tank and remove a lot of detritus from the substrate, it seems like there is still quite a bit there. I use a fairly rough grade of aragonite, but there is some finer sugar-sand mixed in, so it's hard to tell if it's organic detritus or just the finer grade stuff stirring up.
D) I've tried dosing with Iodine for a few weeks to see if that would help the softies, but I didn't see any noticeable effects at all.
E) Shrimp (peppermint & cleaner) do well. Larger hermits do well.

Any thoughts/input?

 

[Anonymous]

I'm thinking about increasing the main tank lighting cycle to see what kind of effect that has on the photosynthetic soft corals.

Speaking of which, I forgot to mention I had a nice rock of green star polyps. The polyps slowly turned white and just recently the whole thing started dying off. :?

 

[Juck]

Hey John,

How much LR is in there? How are you maintaining Calcium & at what levels? Where's your Alk at? How much/often are you feeding the tank?

I would imagine a big bag-o-carbon in the sump somewhere would clear the yellowing.

 

[Anonymous]

How muck turnover do you have? I would increase the lighting and the time it is on. I run 4x110 VHO on my tank for 12.5 hours a day and have everything growing. Your load is about the same as what I have in my 110 and I do not have problems. For the yellow cast you may want to start running some carbon, it should help. Xenia does not last in my tank either, and I have never been able to figure out why.

 

[Anonymous]

As mentioned above, what does your calcium/alkalinity/pH look like? Also, the carbon will clean up the yellowish tint in your water.

How about some pics, photography dude?!?!?!

 

[Mouse]

I'm thinking about increasing the main tank lighting cycle to see what kind of effect that has on the photosynthetic soft corals.

I was going to say, 7.5 hours isn't very long. My freshies on for 12 hours, some do 14. Im sure my reef was atleast 10 hours a day.

going back to read the rest

 

[Mouse]

3. Very little algal growth of any sort. I have to wipe the front glass maybe once a week for diatoms, if that. Any snails I add slowly die off (starvation, I'd assume). I get a great deal of red-slime algae in the refugium (but nowhere else in the system), enough that it overgrows and smothers any type of macroalage I try to culture. Corraline is so slow-growing it's basically non-existent.

Hmmmm, the red algie in the fuge seems to be a indicator of insufficient flow. Apparently its quite a common thing to see pooling arround the base of rocks in big tanks, so id think your fuge might benefit from a little more aggitation (not the kind the sump dishes out either :wink: ) in the form of a wee PH.

going back to read more 8O

 

[Anonymous]

Hey John,

How much LR is in there? How are you maintaining Calcium & at what levels? Where's your Alk at? How much/often are you feeding the tank?

I would imagine a big bag-o-carbon in the sump somewhere would clear the yellowing.

No idea what levels the Ca and alk are at--I've never tested them, as I've only been keeping softies. LR--maybe 180lbs or so. It's a pretty good layout of rock. I'll have to get some full-tank photos this weekend, I haven't done any in awhile.

Good call on the carbon. What causes that yellowing, anyway?

 

[Anonymous]

I've got some pretty good circulation going in the tank--roughly the equivalent of of two mag-7s, one on either end of the tank pointing at each other. There's turbulence in pretty much the entire tank, anyway.

I do add a lot of food to the system--the clowns alone are big eaters, then add the tang. Say about half a teaspoon to a teaspoon of pellet food a day, plus a dollar-bill-sized sheet of nori a day for the tang and blenny.

The last time I tried ot add xenia, I got this little clump of stuff from the guy who gave me some xenia that he was calling white xenia. It has the polyps like xenia, but then smaller fronds or polyps at the ends. That seems to be doing well, although the small polyps are pretty shriveled. Regular pulsing xenia just doesn't fare well at all, never has. (here's a photo of that "white xenia" (even though it looks more pinkish in this shot): http://www.whitesharkphoto.com/images/I ... ted_RS.jpg )

 

[Mouse]

Ok, now it would seem to me that your larger predatory scavangers are doing well. So thats your bristles, serpents and various shrimpage.

Your getting small ammounts of red algie, which also from what i hear is more of a bacterea, and you have small readings of nitrates in the system.

You know what Man, it looks to me like you may be a little over zelous in the feeding department. If your using Zoe, or Selcon id try cutting it out for a while to reduce excess polution at feeding time. Do more accurate target feeding for a while, and ease up on the DT's etc, as your leather seems good. The elevated nitrates might also be a cause of your myserious snail deaths, so maybee's try a few more of them once your nitrates are down.

Ive noticed that your cleaning crew doesn't have too many in the detritus department. So id get some tiget tail cukes and maybee a queen conch to go on the bottom. And then gradually, as your nitrates come down, add some nassarus snails to create more turnover in the sand bed, and i'd also add some nassarus to the sump.

Also try putting some mysid shrimps in the sump, they might help out with a bit of cleaning for your macro's, and could also supply another type of fresh, live food for the predatory corals in the system.

Not sure if your running carbon, but with the leather showing the best growth id say that it was winning the biochemical war. Add some carbon, and see if the leather was attacking anyone else. If theres no change ditch it, and it might even be beneficial untill your nitrates get down.

Im sure that once the lighting schedule and flow rates increase, your algal production will follow, this will reduce diatomic algies, paving the way for corraline to grow more rampantly (would the leather coral also be inhibiting this :? ), once the algies take a hold and your reduced feedings come into play the nitrates should come down, so then in with the snails and detrovores. These should then clean the system further creating the perfect conditions for corraline and other calcious growth.

howzat for a plan Dude 8)

oh yea, get a kalkreactor or a calcium reactor, you must be so tired of dosing that stuff.

 

[Anonymous]

going back to read more 8O

Yeah, I did kind of write a book, didn't I? :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

How about pH, John?

I was just joshing about the pics, although I always LOVE seeing tanks pics.

 

[Mouse]

i allways prefer loads of info, you can get a real idea of things then.

Gotta go, work just landed on my desk (pesky bankers), see ya round Sharky

 

[Anonymous]

I like Mouse's idea about a tiger tail...mine really keeps the sand mixed up.

 

[Mouse]

Chris, i only just noticed it was you with that Avatar

kinda thought youd left town, glad to see i was wrong

 

[Anonymous]

Im sure that once the lighting schedule and flow rates increase, your algal production will follow, this will reduce diatomic algies,

See, that's something that's always bothered me. Even though I feed the hell out of that tank, I don't get much algal growth. Good, bad, or indifferent, I don't have hair algae, don't have much diatom algae, don't have any slime in the main tank...but also can't keep macros going in the sump either. :?

paving the way for corraline to grow more rampantly (would the leather coral also be inhibiting this :? ), once the algies take a hold and your reduced feedings come into play the nitrates should come down, so then in with the snails and detrovores. These should then clean the system further creating the perfect conditions for corraline and other calcious growth.

howzat for a plan Dude 8)

oh yea, get a kalkreactor or a calcium reactor, you must be so tired of dosing that stuff.

The rest of the plan sounds pretty good. I just hate underfeeding that system, as the clowns and tang especially beg constantly and get pissy if they don't get fed. Personally, I'd really like to get rid of the clowns, but my wife is attached to them.

I was under the impression that doing basically a FOWLR with some softies, I wouldn't need to worry so much about the Ca levels (other than for corraline growth)...?

 

[Mouse]

Well, the Ca levels will drop over time, i think its best for maintaining alkalinity, and seen as you dont have many SPS's, it would take a long time for it to depleat. But seen as your corraline isn't taking off, id say you may have a slight shortage.

Do you do any kind of remineralising to your RO before a water change?

 

[Anonymous]

Do you do any kind of remineralising to your RO before a water change?

Just the ol IO salt. I got on the kick of B-Ionic for awhile, and seemed to have a bit of a corraline spurt, so I'm sure my Ca levels are way down. B-Ionic is just a pain to do every day.

I've tried those balance block things, but they never seem to have much of an effect.

 

[Anonymous]

Seachem Reef Advantacge Calcium and Reef builder works for me. Twice a week and all is good.

 

[Anonymous]

I need a clarification from someone who knows...doesn't a combination of calium and alkalinity keep your pH up? In other words, doesn't a drop in either potentially screw up your pH?

Mouse, I'm still around!