Joe's Reef Journey
- Thread starter Joseph Lee
- Start date
Joseph Lee
Supporting Member
Joseph Lee
Supporting Member
grizfyrfyter
Guest
You test nitrate and phosphate several times a day?
Joseph Lee
Supporting Member
Sorry, it was a typo. Just fixed it to "week".
Joseph Lee
Supporting Member
Joseph Lee
Supporting Member
Yes, I use Kamoer X1 dosing pumps. The tubings are bent by heat so that they can hook behind the tank.
Left - Alk, Middle - Water, Right - Calcium
Flexible tubings to the pumps inside the cabinet.
5G water reservoir slides out with many tiny plastic wheels.
As you can see in this photo the tubings are barely visible.
Joseph Lee
Supporting Member
Today I got rid of the sandbed. Seems like The Og bounce is shrunken a little but other than that I am pretty happy with the fact that my tank will run cleaner.
I have been testing ALK, NO3, PO4 almost every other day for a few months, and here are my findings so far:
1 Maintaining Alk is easy as long as you test water 1 - 2 times a week. Dosing adjustment came a long way, it is now so much easier thanks to a smartphone app.
2 NO3 and PO4 become zero so often that some of the corals were becoming paler in color.
3 Adjusting po4 and no3 dosage every time after testing water is not fun.
3 Decided to feed instead of dosing and corals are reacting much positively (vs dosing). Read a write-up from a tropic marine guy that NO3 from feeding is better than dosing.
4 Next challenge: Feeding the exact same amount every day to stabilize po4 and no3 as much as possible. Probably not 100% possible but I would want the po4 to be around 0.02 to 0.05 and no3 to be around 3 - 7.
I have been testing ALK, NO3, PO4 almost every other day for a few months, and here are my findings so far:
1 Maintaining Alk is easy as long as you test water 1 - 2 times a week. Dosing adjustment came a long way, it is now so much easier thanks to a smartphone app.
2 NO3 and PO4 become zero so often that some of the corals were becoming paler in color.
3 Adjusting po4 and no3 dosage every time after testing water is not fun.
3 Decided to feed instead of dosing and corals are reacting much positively (vs dosing). Read a write-up from a tropic marine guy that NO3 from feeding is better than dosing.
4 Next challenge: Feeding the exact same amount every day to stabilize po4 and no3 as much as possible. Probably not 100% possible but I would want the po4 to be around 0.02 to 0.05 and no3 to be around 3 - 7.
Joseph Lee
Supporting Member
Here is my maintenance schedule:
Everyday
0.5ml (or 10 drops) of MB7 and Vibrant
0.5ml (or 10 drops) of PO4
Do not dose NO3 yet.
The exact amount of flake food
Check temp
Wed
Feed to Cynarina and bounce and lord
Feed one frozen cube
Test alk, no3, po4
Check temp
Weekend
Test alk, CA, mg, no3, po4
Test PH at night
10% water change (Blow live rock)
Rinse pre-filter
Reef roids
Fill top off the reservoir
Check temp and salinity
End of every month
Clean all 4 glass panels
Replace carbon
Rinse the entire bio-media thoroughly
Clean the intake
Clean the wavemaker
Check 2 part level
Check any tear on the dosing pump tubing
Check TDS
Everyday
0.5ml (or 10 drops) of MB7 and Vibrant
0.5ml (or 10 drops) of PO4
Do not dose NO3 yet.
The exact amount of flake food
Check temp
Wed
Feed to Cynarina and bounce and lord
Feed one frozen cube
Test alk, no3, po4
Check temp
Weekend
Test alk, CA, mg, no3, po4
Test PH at night
10% water change (Blow live rock)
Rinse pre-filter
Reef roids
Fill top off the reservoir
Check temp and salinity
End of every month
Clean all 4 glass panels
Replace carbon
Rinse the entire bio-media thoroughly
Clean the intake
Clean the wavemaker
Check 2 part level
Check any tear on the dosing pump tubing
Check TDS
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Coral reefer
Past President
Very easy to raise phosphate with feeding of fish and corals. Should not need to dose it.
Why add vibrant every day?
Why add vibrant every day?
Joseph Lee
Supporting Member
Agreed, I think I was worrying too much about high no3 and po4 by overfeeding and trying to nail the exact numbers which is an exhausting way of reef keeping.
Reason for Vibrant every day:
1 I use Vibrant because I already have both Vibrant and MB7. I like the fact that I am adding more bacteria strains.
2 Weekly dosing fluctuates my po4 and no3 level. I want more stability. I use glass bottles with droppers which makes the dosing quick and easy.
3 I don't have a skimmer so I want additional nutrient export to compensate for that.
3 Bacteria is a good source of coral food.
Coral reefer
Past President
I think you might want to look into what vibrant actually is…Agreed, I think I was worrying too much about high no3 and po4 by overfeeding and trying to nail the exact numbers which is an exhausting way of reef keeping.
Reason for Vibrant every day:
1 I use Vibrant because I already have both Vibrant and MB7. I like the fact that I am adding more bacteria strains.
2 Weekly dosing fluctuates my po4 and no3 level. I want more stability. I use glass bottles with droppers which makes the dosing quick and easy.
3 I don't have a skimmer so I want additional nutrient export to compensate for that.
3 Bacteria is a good source of coral food.
Joseph Lee
Supporting Member
Hi Popper, First of all, thank you so much for the xenia and zoa frags, my son is very pleased with those.
For me, maintenance is another aspect of the hobby that I really enjoy
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Joseph Lee
Supporting Member
Good idea!!
Here is what I found: The main ingredient in Vibrant is a cultured bacteria blend at 95% of the content. Other ingredients include 1% Amino Acids (Aspartic Acid), .05% Vinegar, and 3.5% RO/DI water. Vibrant does not publish what types of bacteria cultures are included in their solution.
Pls let me know if you have different info or review.
I think my dosage is less than what the instruction says but I think I should consider lowering it as PO4 and NO3 are on the lower side.
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DaddyHook
Supporting Member
There is a couple peer review threads of it from pretty recent on R2R. They’re well done. I believe it has come out to be mostly an AlgicideGood idea!!
Here is what I found: The main ingredient in Vibrant is a cultured bacteria blend at 95% of the content. Other ingredients include 1% Amino Acids (Aspartic Acid), .05% Vinegar, and 3.5% RO/DI water. Vibrant does not publish what types of bacteria cultures are included in their solution.
Pls let me know if you have different info or review.
Joseph Lee
Supporting Member
Thanks so much for sharing, it is lots of info to take in. Just to make sure, I think I will stop using it for now and see if there are any improvements in the coloration and health of the corals.
My speculation: Vibrant has some fluconazole in it...
***** EDIT 5-December-2021***** My original speculation was inaccurate. However, it did prompt another hobbyist to run some tests similar to those published in this paper. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33191523/ "This study investigates the utility of bromophenol blue (BPB) as a safe, rapid...
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