Solitaryensis
Supporting Member
That’s not the onllllllly reason
. But I do have a nitrate issue that I need to address Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Help diagnose my tank!
- Thread starter Solitaryensis
- Start date
That’s not the onllllllly reason
. But I do have a nitrate issue that I need to address Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Solitaryensis
Supporting Member
Deal with one problem at a time.
treylane
Guest
I recently switched to feeding with the pumps off, which means the fish are actually able to eat ~85% of the food I put in rather than having excess food fly around and wind up in crevices all over the tank. It's made a huge difference in the plague of majanos and diatoms on the sand.
The bacteria that are stimulated when you add the missing carbon by using NOPOX should eventually be able to outcompete the dinos/cyano, but until you reduce their head start it is somewhat risky.
The phosphate removers will leave you with a nitrate problem, whereas NOPOX, chaeto, and other growth-based strategies don’t. But I agree the phosphate is likely the larger problem right now.
The phosphate removers will leave you with a nitrate problem, whereas NOPOX, chaeto, and other growth-based strategies don’t. But I agree the phosphate is likely the larger problem right now.
Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
water changes!
do them often
make them large enough to matter
you can't do them too often
old fish and corals
no chemistry tests
do them often
make them large enough to matter
you can't do them too often
old fish and corals
no chemistry tests
Solitaryensis
Supporting Member
Updated pics of the dinos
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rygh
Guest
That bit of red around the coral on last picture looks like Cyano to me.
First photo I don't see anything. Maybe try with a flash.
But it is hard to tell without a microscope anyway.
Honestly, it looks pretty clean in general. Coraline seems to be spreading, which does not
happen when Cyano/Dinos get out of control.
Not sure you should do much of anything.
First photo I don't see anything. Maybe try with a flash.
But it is hard to tell without a microscope anyway.
Honestly, it looks pretty clean in general. Coraline seems to be spreading, which does not
happen when Cyano/Dinos get out of control.
Not sure you should do much of anything.
Solitaryensis
Supporting Member
This is the inside of my overflow box. 7–10” stringy. Will get some additional photos tonight. Either way, I’ve clearly got a phosphate issue I need to address.
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rygh
Guest
That looks like slime from a bacterial bloom to me.
Perhaps with a bit of coral mucus mixed in.
I would definitely NOT do any carbon dosing like Nopox. It will almost surely make that worse.
On the other hand, I would also just remove it and not worry much.
Really:
Perhaps with a bit of coral mucus mixed in.
I would definitely NOT do any carbon dosing like Nopox. It will almost surely make that worse.
On the other hand, I would also just remove it and not worry much.
Really:
- Water changes
- Slowly add GFO in a sock or reactor
- Patience
Solitaryensis
Supporting Member
More pics with whites.
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Kensington Reefer
Supporting Member
Clam looks like it’s a goner
ofzakaria
Guest
From physical characteristics it does look either dino, or bacterial bloom.More pics with whites.
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Does it go away at night and show up during day?
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Solitaryensis
Supporting Member
Clams in good shape - just closed up when I turned on my whites to take the pic
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Solitaryensis
Supporting Member
ofzakaria
Guest
Check my tank journal I am adding some informstions about dino and cyano..just my personal experience not claiming anything.
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Solitaryensis
Supporting Member
Hey guys, quick update here.
- I tried NOPOX for about 2 months and it didn’t seem to make much of a difference with respect to nitrates or phosphates.
- I used the Brightwell phosphate remover and while it did lower the phosphates, I didn’t notice any change in the growth nor the inability to grow zoas and mushrooms so I didn’t move onto using GFO. Would you guys suggest using GFO anyways? Perhaps I need to have sustained lower phosphates before I’ll start to see any differences?
- The dinos went away for good (hopefully - haven’t seen them for months).
- I still can’t grow zoas. I had a theory that something in the sand (the theory was either spinoid worms or brittle worms) was bothering the zoas so I decided to start removing the sand bed. I was also getting tired of sand blowing everywhere and thought the removal of the sand could help with nitrates and phosphates. I’ve removed most of the sand from the front of the tank and the mushrooms seem to be doing better now but no luck with the zoas.
- Still can’t grow chaeto.
- oddly enough SPS have really taken off in the past several months and on some of the larger colonies I am seeing nearly daily growth.
- about a month ago I added the Aquatic Life T5 hybrid system and I’m really loving the color blend.
- Overall I am enjoying the tank now that I am seeing sustained success with SPS but still incredibly frustrated that I cant seem to grow zoas. I would love to have zoas fill in some of the bare spots in the rock. Would love to hear more ideas on how I can get this addressed! TIA
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- I tried NOPOX for about 2 months and it didn’t seem to make much of a difference with respect to nitrates or phosphates.
- I used the Brightwell phosphate remover and while it did lower the phosphates, I didn’t notice any change in the growth nor the inability to grow zoas and mushrooms so I didn’t move onto using GFO. Would you guys suggest using GFO anyways? Perhaps I need to have sustained lower phosphates before I’ll start to see any differences?
- The dinos went away for good (hopefully - haven’t seen them for months).
- I still can’t grow zoas. I had a theory that something in the sand (the theory was either spinoid worms or brittle worms) was bothering the zoas so I decided to start removing the sand bed. I was also getting tired of sand blowing everywhere and thought the removal of the sand could help with nitrates and phosphates. I’ve removed most of the sand from the front of the tank and the mushrooms seem to be doing better now but no luck with the zoas.
- Still can’t grow chaeto.
- oddly enough SPS have really taken off in the past several months and on some of the larger colonies I am seeing nearly daily growth.
- about a month ago I added the Aquatic Life T5 hybrid system and I’m really loving the color blend.
- Overall I am enjoying the tank now that I am seeing sustained success with SPS but still incredibly frustrated that I cant seem to grow zoas. I would love to have zoas fill in some of the bare spots in the rock. Would love to hear more ideas on how I can get this addressed! TIA
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Flagg37
Guest
Zoas and mushrooms are softies and tend to like a “dirtier” tank. Sps on the other hand are the opposite. Trying to find some kind of balance is tricky if not impossible in some cases. This is why I think successful mixed reef tanks can be the most difficult. I think I’d be happy with having the sps thriving like it sounds like is the case.
Solitaryensis
Supporting Member
That’s the biggest part of this mystery. My tank IS dirty so you’d think the zoas, mushrooms and chaeto would be thriving but they aren’t. On the other hand, SPS are thriving.
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