Not New but...

[Geoffrey D]

Hello every one,

Been in this hobby for 4 years now. I like it, even if I have my ONs and OFFs.
My setting is very simple, and I will share pictures later. It has some live rocks, a couple of clown fishes that tend to spam eggs regularly, 2 cleaning shrimps, 2 chromis, 1 blue tang, 2 anemone crabs, 3 tub worms, 1 clam. I just lost 2 pompom grabs, they died, I don't know why. I have a variety of soft corals :

• Sarcophyton lobatum (brown, with green tips) --> they grow or stable
• Briareum (mostly greens) --> they grow and expand
• Nephthea (green also I would say) --> it expands well
• And few mushroom of different sort --> A got one that splits in half one day so it became two

However, I have never managed to keep SPS/LPS. Everytime, they either bleach, or start to shrink after 1 or 2 months. 

I have a stable tank I believe, yet, it is a very small one. 
https://premiumaquatics.com/products/elos-system-mini-standard-17x17x16.html

It has a small but decent sump, where I can put a skimmer, 2 filters and some pouch containing charcoal + live rock (for a so called organic filter...). It has also a small service tank, that contains 5L of water. I set up a small auto topper of fresh water, that I refill with "LIFE" water from NTUC. So, my salinity is stable. 

Automatic feeder that feeds once a day.
Nice Kessil 700 for light, so, power goes from 0% to 20% max during pic hours. Else, I believe it would burn the coral or generate alguae. Colors are overall nice.

My parameters:

1. NO3 : Below 10 or sometimes 25
2. NO2 : 0
3. PO4 : 0
4. Alk : within the range 8-12 (yet, I am not so sure about its fluctuation)
5. temperature 26/27°C

I do water change every week or 2 weeks, with 20 liters that I collect from a neighboorhood shop (convenience), I believe it is sea water. Sometimes I do a big clean up, like 40L of water change, which is a lot, considering this tank is only 90L with a sump on 10l.

I get some diatoms on the sandy bottom. Not sure if it comes from "Life" NTUC water or from the water change (since it might be sea water).

Sometimes i try to feed some small food for corals.

Some people tell me that my tank being so small it will be difficult to achieve anything with SPS/LPS, because water parameters are too unstable. So, they recommend to upgrade to a bigger tank.
 

Any idea?

Thank you

 

[Danieltwx]

I had diatoms on the glass.
After using vibrant, it disappear.


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[Hotwater]

If your tank is small, it's hard to manage the parameters fluctuation. I do agree with those reefers who recommend you to upgrade to a bigger tank. Lesser worries when you are at work as well

[Geoffrey D]

Thanks for the suggestion on bigger tank

To the first reply, what is vibrant?

[Hotwater]

[Fjdam]

I have great success with SPS in nano tank. All you need is stability. Dosing pump and ato should help you with that.

Regarding diatom, you may want to stop carbon dose if you doing so. And keep that tank bit more dirty. 0 parameter no3 and po4 isnt always good. Also dose more bacteria. I personally prefer Microbelift special blend. Smells like shit but works like wonder. Good luck

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[Indeco]

I have great success with SPS in nano tank. All you need is stability. Dosing pump and ato should help you with that.

Regarding diatom, you may want to stop carbon dose if you doing so. And keep that tank bit more dirty. 0 parameter no3 and po4 isnt always good. Also dose more bacteria. I personally prefer Microbelift special blend. Smells like shit but works like wonder. Good luck

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Diatom is related to carbon dosing? Able to explain more bro?

[mafacifa]

You might want to consider dosing amino acids as these are building blocks for corals. Some may say by feeding fish food it helps. Form my experience it does however it may not be always complete.

Tried Redsea Reef energy A and B with good success. I’m waiting for their AB+ so it’s easier to dose from one bottle instead of two.

Also LFS water diffs from salt-mix as it may not contain appropriate amounts of trace elements.

Tank size does not matter. As long u have the ‘recipe’ for success and proper nutrient export it should be fine.


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[Geoffrey D]

Hi Guys,

 

Following up on this topic.

My tank is doing good with fishes and soft corals. Soft corals expand and grow.

But, somehow, all critters (shrimps of any type, snails, crabs, sea cucumber) die in the span of a week to 5. I have tried to feed extra, but they seem to be not interested at all in the leftover. I use biozym staple diet for marine fish.

And also, all SPS or LPS seems to bot be able to make it.

So, I don't understand...my dream is to get SPS/LPS. How?

 

Parameters taken yesterday :

Alk 6.7

Mg 795

No3 10 to 25

Ca 400

Light is about 8h to 10h a day, with a pic at noon to 2 for about 25% of its power. It is a kessil ap700, too big for the tank. So I lower the output, else I get way too many algae.

 

I give every 2 or 3 days a mix of reef roids and reef energy from RedSea...

 

Hellpppppp.

[Otaku Reefer]

nice tank, ur magnesium is low i tink, any phosphate readings? Maybe can share your maintenance schedule especially ur nutrient export, water changes all these. How old ur tank? any corraline algae growth? coraline algae is a sign that ur tank can support corals with calcium carbonate structure

For ur inverts dying, can’t really advise much, from my personal exp, inverts die faster when not well acclimated when first introduced. Do u do acclimation?

If u willingly, best is send in water for ICP test, you can use this as guideline for parameters which may be off.

Hope it helps. Cheers!


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[ReefRap]

Nice tank. I think ur kessil it OP for that tank size?

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[Nicholas Wong]

Is ur kessil abit too high above ur tank? My kessil is only 12 inches above my tank.


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[Geoffrey D]

Thanks guys for the replies. It is kinda a old tank. Like 5 years. But I moved house 18 months ago. So I had to empty it and kept water + life rocks&live stock in big bucket. Upon resetting in the new house, the tank crashed but most of the live stock survived surprisingly. The biggest issues actually came when I replaced some of the bio filter (tiny balls in my sump) with a new type of balls with more holes...since then, like just after Circuit Breaker, the tank has experience algae bloom, and some weird death of fishes that were there for a while.

I usually change 20L of water every other week or every week. Depends on how I feel it. Sometimes, rarely, I add somz trace elements.

Not sure about P04. I will buy some test kits.

Light was high yeah, I brought it down like few weeks ago, but didn't change much.

The anemone that was very stable has been starting to move around like 2 weeks ago.

 

I will upload more photo tmw.

Where can I send water for ICP test?

 

[Otaku Reefer]

Thanks guys for the replies. It is kinda a old tank. Like 5 years. But I moved house 18 months ago. So I had to empty it and kept water + life rocks&live stock in big bucket. Upon resetting in the new house, the tank crashed but most of the live stock survived surprisingly. The biggest issues actually came when I replaced some of the bio filter (tiny balls in my sump) with a new type of balls with more holes...since then, like just after Circuit Breaker, the tank has experience algae bloom, and some weird death of fishes that were there for a while.
I usually change 20L of water every other week or every week. Depends on how I feel it. Sometimes, rarely, I add somz trace elements.
Not sure about P04. I will buy some test kits.
Light was high yeah, I brought it down like few weeks ago, but didn't change much.
The anemone that was very stable has been starting to move around like 2 weeks ago.
 
I will upload more photo tmw.
Where can I send water for ICP test?
 

ur water change schedule seems reasonable, u using RODI or tap water?

ICP helps u rule out or rule in water chemistry issue, some elements unable to test from normal available test kits, so will need ICP. If ur ICP results shows ok, means u need to start looking at lighting(par) and flow. ICP is available at some LFS like FNM, but pls call to check price and availability before hand. Good luck bro.


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[Geoffrey D]

I am using Life water from NTUC or RODI that I buy from iwarna farm. 

Oki, will try to check ICP. I actually was wondering. I have a metal ring that helps with a pipe, and it is verey rusty. The rust falls probably into the sump, but at a very slow level...could it be a risk?

[Otaku Reefer]

I am using Life water from NTUC or RODI that I buy from iwarna farm. 

Oki, will try to check ICP. I actually was wondering. I have a metal ring that helps with a pipe, and it is verey rusty. The rust falls probably into the sump, but at a very slow level...could it be a risk?

it might be a good idea to doublecheck your water by measuring the TDS of ntuc water or LFS RODI. it should be zero or near zero. why dont invest in RODI unit yourself? nowadays can get quite cheap from taobao, or u can wait for forum to get a second hand unit, it will save u alot of trouble in the long run if u can make ur own water.

For the metal part, cant say for sure, basically rust is equivalent to GFO which we use for phosphate control, so might not be causing u problems, but there could be some other components such as heavy metals that could impact ur water quality. For example, chromium is added to make it stainless. Its probably a good idea to remove the metal ring if u suspect something amiss.

Good luck bro! hope got help u.




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