No nems allowed in this tank, I've had enough coral deaths over the years to never keep them again outside of a dedicated tank!
Thomas' CADE Reef 1500 S2
- Thread starter Darkxerox
- Start date
Some time lapse shots. The SPS have been picking up growth really fast, puddling out, and branching. I'm realizing the overlap of the lights means I need to boost the side lights and possibly drop the middle slightly to get better PAR where I need it.
Also the shots are from different times of day, otherwise colors look better now too. However still getting cyano since my nitrates are low.
Lost one torch on the left side unfortunately. However everything else is still kicking.
Finally getting my alk over into the 7.0 range from 6ish post vacation. It took increasing dosing about 3x from what I was using before.
Plan is to order some ammonium carbonate or potassium nitrate as well and figure out a dosing strategy. Feeding 7x a day even with 16 fish isn't enough. I've got the butterfly and tang growing up in the nano and three more anthias on the way.
Also the shots are from different times of day, otherwise colors look better now too. However still getting cyano since my nitrates are low.
Lost one torch on the left side unfortunately. However everything else is still kicking.
Finally getting my alk over into the 7.0 range from 6ish post vacation. It took increasing dosing about 3x from what I was using before.
Plan is to order some ammonium carbonate or potassium nitrate as well and figure out a dosing strategy. Feeding 7x a day even with 16 fish isn't enough. I've got the butterfly and tang growing up in the nano and three more anthias on the way.
Last edited:
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
@Darkxerox
Uhhmmm
Have I fallen into a time warp??
Has October already happened?!
Can you provide any of the upcoming lottery numbers?
Uhhmmm
Have I fallen into a time warp??
Has October already happened?!
Can you provide any of the upcoming lottery numbers?
Patio
Supporting Member
I think you clicked right when I updated, try again
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
Was way more exciting when it was October 10th...
Started ammonium bicarb dosing after seeing this snotty algae growing (didn't act like dinos, but couldn't confirm under a scope.) photo from Aug 10th:
They didn't disappear at night or break loose easily (more like a gelatin consistency). Hard to vacuum too since it gelled up the sand. At the time nitrates had dropped to 0.2 ppm with PO4 at 0.19 ppm. Feeding even 7x daily with larger amounts didn't raise numbers. Red cyano started to take over as well but corals were growing well:
LPS started to go pale in color:
Ordered ammonium bicarb 9/20 and started dosing 9/22.
Made a stock solution of 20 g/L and put it in a spray bottle to add manually. Started with 4mL per day and raised it to 10mL after I didn't see any ill effects on the animals.
After 1 week the snotty algae disappeared completely. Nitrates are up to 2ppm however the red cyano took over patches that used to be occupied previously.
We'll see if things balance out once I keep pushing N higher. I did notice faster stony coral growth as there's new growth tips on all the SPS.
Clams seem like they're doing just fine as well (likely the culprits for my low nitrogen anyways). Although the Brightwell clam holders are disintegrating already, even without clams on them.
They didn't disappear at night or break loose easily (more like a gelatin consistency). Hard to vacuum too since it gelled up the sand. At the time nitrates had dropped to 0.2 ppm with PO4 at 0.19 ppm. Feeding even 7x daily with larger amounts didn't raise numbers. Red cyano started to take over as well but corals were growing well:
LPS started to go pale in color:
Ordered ammonium bicarb 9/20 and started dosing 9/22.
Made a stock solution of 20 g/L and put it in a spray bottle to add manually. Started with 4mL per day and raised it to 10mL after I didn't see any ill effects on the animals.
After 1 week the snotty algae disappeared completely. Nitrates are up to 2ppm however the red cyano took over patches that used to be occupied previously.
We'll see if things balance out once I keep pushing N higher. I did notice faster stony coral growth as there's new growth tips on all the SPS.
Clams seem like they're doing just fine as well (likely the culprits for my low nitrogen anyways). Although the Brightwell clam holders are disintegrating already, even without clams on them.
Alexander1312
Supporting Member
Not sure if it is worth pushing nitrate more with the amm bicarb beyond where you have it now, since your phosphate is already elevated too. Keeping current levels should give the extra SPS growth without further polluting the water. But that's my view and you might aim for something else.
On a related note, are you running 3 MP40s for this tank? Or are there other power heads that I do not see? What program and intensity are you running? Looks like the MP40s are using the wide flow guard? I am sure you optimized this already but given the length of your tank and this cover, I wonder if there is enough flow and which is why the cyano enjoys it so much right now?
tribbitt
Supporting Member
Dosing a nitrogen source might facilitate the uptake of both N and P, lowering P while raising N since P is being less actively supplemented. I don't know exactly how important nutrient ratios are, but N and P uptake is definitely linked. And in this case with 0.2 (now 2) ppm NO3 it looks like N might be a limiting nutrient
Yeah 3xMP40. Flow has been restricted since I've been breaking in new wet sides, but they run on the wave engine during the day in a gyre up to 55% currently, but will scale up to 75% once fully broken in. They also got pretty clogged up until I cleaned them last night so I'll see if that helps.
@tribbitt got what I'm planning. N is severely limited still at 2ppm. I need to get to 10-15ppm to have it more balanced as the corals are still very pale. Probably something I'll have to dose consistently off a pump too. @Matt_Wandell said he used it in his ATO which is an idea. Maybe it's compatible with sodium bicarb since that will save a pump head?
Still doing monthly water changes. However ammonium bicarbonate dosing is helping keep nitrogen up. Almost no effect on pH at night though! Probably since they have gills and respire more than corals.
I should do an ICP or something to check if anything else is depleting.
PjFish
Supporting Member
I kept a bunch of little neck clams in a tank and sump when I lived in Naples Florida back in the 90’s Water was crystal clear just used nsw. Also picked up a live rock full of mussels a few years back which thwy only lasted about a year or so..Wonder if anyone now days keeps mussels or clams in tanks..
From what I understand. People that try the regular clam / mussels thing. Always get them from the wrong environment. Thus only last a few months. I think it’s either too many clams or too little. Especially we don’t know what we are doing. As clam per gallon of filtration.
Having said that. Arnold @Apon did clam filtration for years and years.
Getting healthy clams seems to be the key I've found. The wild ones lately from Vietnam and Palau seem to carry the parasite. Mine have all been from ORA and trouble free, much like the older batches of clams like I guess Arnold's are/were.
That plus blasting them with light (450+ umol of PAR).
If you wanted to go cheaper to reduce nitrates, derasas might be a good bet, but they grow very large very fast.
I've tried a derasas twice, like 1-2 inch ones, they both didn't last 2 months for me. Though the 3-4 inch maxima clam I have had from 2 cams ago is looking great.
Not sure if I got bad/sick clams like u mentioned here or they were just way to small and fragile. Maybe a slightly larger one would have done better