why are all my sps getting lighter?

[Rob_Reef_Keeper]

I can not see under the starboard.

79-80 temp

green chromis 3-4 months
scopas tang - 1 month +

All evaporation watre is replaced via RO/DI/DI throug a kalk reactor

[gwaco]

i'm wondering if there is a nutrient build up under it . i know when i pulled mine up it was pretty full underneath . i know some have not had a problem with this but those where in some pretty big tanks .

[leveldrummer]

did i read that right that you all think you should keep your metal halides time down because it will take less zoox to feed the coral?? how can they stay so colorful in nature? i know no matter what light we can put on our tank, matching the sun isnt going to be easy.

[gwaco]

in nature though , there isn't 365 days of bright sunshiny days either . i run my m.h.s for 6 hours a day , at about 4-5 inches from the surface , but that is what works for me .

[Rob_Reef_Keeper]

i am about to give up - I dont understand the problem - onr agumeny is to feed lightly one is to feed heavy, one is more light one is less light - I have tried them all - the only thing that seemed to work was my 46G with a SSB before I torn it down for this 58 with a DSB no BB and cooking rock.

Too many ideas with no results. I should have trashed the rock a year ago and started from scratch instead of this hokus pokus hope it works magic.

[gwaco]

rob before you give up , i have some thoughts that if it were my tank i would do .
first i would pull everything out , put it in some bins , pull the starboard out , then do one of the next two things .
1. get a piece of tempered glass to fit where the starboard was and run some ribbons of silicone on it to support it just alittle off the bottom of the tank , then silicone the entire perimeter of the glass . this would be to keep any rock slides from cracking the tank bottom . this would keep all the detritus on top . eliminates nutrients from getting stored underneath.
2. forget step one and reaquascape on the tank bottom . i had an oceanic 58 so i know theres not a whole lot of room for a rock slide to hit the bottom , would probally hit the sides first .
the next thing i would do is get rid of half of the rock you have . you say you have about 80# s so cut that down to 40 or 50 # . that would be plenty to support your tank . ( i have maybe 80# in my 180 , with about 25 fish , so i know you won't have a problem )
just create a very open aquascape , because with your flow you should not have any problem get detritus out .
with your frustration you really don't have much to lose by trying this . i feel you would see quite an improvement as compared to whats going on now !

[Rob_Reef_Keeper]

Removing rock is going to make a difference? I think thi rock is no good to begin with. Dont want to or have the space to redo the tank. If I did I would have to get rid of the fish/corals while the tank cycles.

[Geoff]

do you have room to put a 5g bucket or another small tank that you can slap a DSB in? put a refugium on the tank. as long as the refugium is inline in the tank the "benefits" will be seen in the display.

do you have any old bulbs lying around? what K are they?

G~

[Spanky]

Originally Posted by Rob_Reef_Keeper

There is NO coraline on the rocks. NONE. There is some very light pink on the glass. I think this is telling a huge story to the problem.

Originally Posted by Rob_Reef_Keeper

If there were lack of nutrients then explain why I have to clean the glass everyday to remove the brown algae buildup?

This much I know. Coralline does not like high nutrients and too much light.

I don't think your nutrients are too low. If you're not getting polyps and your corals are getting too light, I would have to guess too much light.

Rob, just putting food in the tank and not having something eat it, is not the way to go. It's harder to remove that way.

[Rob_Reef_Keeper]

Originally Posted by Spanky

This much I know. Coralline does not like high nutrients and too much light.

I don't think your nutrients are too low. If you're not getting polyps and your corals are getting too light, I would have to guess too much light.

Rob, just putting food in the tank and not having something eat it, is not the way to go. It's harder to remove that way.

I agree about not dumping allot of food in the tank.

The MH is only on for 5 hours.

Phoenix 14K 250 HQI and 2 95W VHO actinics.

I have no room for more equipment. I have too much now between the reacotrs, top off and mixing containers and test kits and etc.

I dont get it. Look at allot of the tanks out there and they dont have these problems.

[SPC]

Originally Posted by gwaco

steve i was not doubting your knowledge or your questioning ,nor did i feel like you were flaming him . i just kind of felt that leonardo was taking a little beating for his comments ,

Hi Gary, my choice of the word "dangerous" was probably not the best, and I questioned this when I posted it.

which he never stated that he had any type of scientific knowledge to back it up , i believe he was only stating his own personal observation, and he did this because of what he had learned on this forum

...but this is part of what I was questioning, was his suggestions (what he has learned) based on science (personally I had to read parts of this thread a few times to make sure I understood what was being said)? When his reply to me was that he would recommend feeding more over ANYTHING else (such as skimmer, lights etc...), then I felt we needed to find out if this advice was sound.

The real point I was trying to make in my other post to you was that I feel this "feed your SPS tank heavy" can be dangerous (there I go again ) to what I believe are the many people reading this thread who are having the same problems as Rob.

some times i find it hard to make suggestions to people because i don't want to be the one that is "construde" as the one that caused their tank to crash .

I think we all should be wary of this, Gary, there are many times I don't post because I don't know enough about the subject (fish and coral disease just being one example), and posting could very well cause more harm than good.
Steve

[SPC]

Originally Posted by Rob_Reef_Keeper

i am about to give up.

I here ya Rob, this is one tuff hobby!

Too many ideas with no results. I should have trashed the rock a year ago and started from scratch instead of this hokus pokus hope it works magic.

I definately have thought of this too over the last 6 months or so. Do you know that I have had the DSB out of my tank for almost 2 years now and I am still siphoning sand out with the detritus. The sand is coming out of the rock!

A couple of years ago I tore my 180 down during a move to Florida. Once here I set the tank back up BB with no animals other than a few snails, coral, and a flower anemone. I ran the lights on the tank and siphoned out detritus like crazy. The only outside food was a small piece of shrimp fed to the anemone every 3 weeks or so. The tank ran like this for a year. About 8 months ago I set the tank back up in it's permanent place in our bedroom and added a few small fish, mini hermits and snails. After all of this time I still spend at least 30 minutes a day just siphoning out detritus, which appears to me to mostly be coming out of the rock!

Anyway, during the last couple of weeks I have been redoing the aquascape trying to make sure I have no dead spots under and between rocks, but really question if I can get to this point and still be able to keep my gorgs (some of which are 18" or so long). So, I know some of the frustration you are going through with your system and can understand if you decide to back out of the hobby and catch your breath.

Steve

[SPC]

Originally Posted by gwaco

rob before you give up , i have some thoughts that if it were my tank i would do .
first i would pull everything out , put it in some bins , pull the starboard out , then do one of the next two things .
1. get a piece of tempered glass to fit where the starboard was and run some ribbons of silicone on it to support it just alittle off the bottom of the tank , then silicone the entire perimeter of the glass . this would be to keep any rock slides from cracking the tank bottom . this would keep all the detritus on top . eliminates nutrients from getting stored underneath.
2. forget step one and reaquascape on the tank bottom . i had an oceanic 58 so i know theres not a whole lot of room for a rock slide to hit the bottom , would probally hit the sides first .
the next thing i would do is get rid of half of the rock you have . you say you have about 80# s so cut that down to 40 or 50 # . that would be plenty to support your tank . ( i have maybe 80# in my 180 , with about 25 fish , so i know you won't have a problem )
just create a very open aquascape , because with your flow you should not have any problem get detritus out .
with your frustration you really don't have much to lose by trying this . i feel you would see quite an improvement as compared to whats going on now !

Have you been spying on me over the last couple of weeks, Gary . Excellent advice! BTW, Rob, I have my rock sitting on the bottom glass.
Steve

[Rob_Reef_Keeper]

Why do you say its the starboard now? If there is no nitrate, po4 readings adn no algae do you thik there is a problem?

Lets look at the facts instead of guessing on methods. It appears everyone is trying different things and some things work for some people.

When my old tank was 1 in of Natures Ocean Sand I had no problems. I switches tanks and went with a 4in DSB of southdown. That I never seeded so it ended up trashing the tank. So I removed the sand 2 years ago and still had problems. I cooked the LR a year ago and no more algae but no more stable reef either. So IMO when I cooked the rock it did something to it.

I see allto of TOTM's thjat have been running fine with Sand and without refugiums and some do. Maybe its all luck but as some of you know my on going battles with this tank are incredible.

I listened to allot of your help and some things work but some dont. For instance removing the DSB but then after that the anser was cook the rock. Now the asnwers are No starboard and a refugium. If I did that then whats next week? Need red lights for the tank or need to Flux capicitor on the skimmer or something else.

What about redoing it all from scratch? New everything? What wopuld be those methods?

[SPC]

Originally Posted by Geoff

JIMBO!!!

where have you been? i have not seen you around in forever!!!

glad to see you back haunting here again.

G~

What? No welcome back for me, Geoff?
Steve