[TpmReefChief]

Okay, so I know this is a heated topics, so I'm not looking for people to fight over this thread. I just want some opinions and advice. I supplement with fluval trace elements and Kent coral vite. I have coral obviously . Not much right now. Duncan, gsp and some Zoa, but I want to try and keep the tank supplemented nonetheless. so, do you think both are necessary right now , or should I do one or the other. If so which one. Or should I just not do it at all?

 

[ynot65]

Duncan's do better for me by spot feeding size appropriate food, ie cyclopeze then brine shrimp, then mysis and so on as they grow.
I have used trace elements, I believe by Aquavitro or two little fishes, and had good growth all around but best bet is try it and see if you get good results and then go a month or so with out it and see if it's worth doing. A lot will depend on bioload.

 

[Yrahcaz]

You really don't need to supplement anything. The majority of people don't supplement anything (including myself) and see great coral growth. My motto is KISS (keep it simple, stupid). Sure, you can dose supplements and it probably won't negatively affect your tank, or you can dose and (falsely) attribute any good growth to the dosing. You can't go wrong either way I guess. The only thing you have to lose is your $.

 

[TpmReefChief]

Okay ill do a little trial and error. Right now my Duncan has actually been closed for quite some time. Starting to get a little concerned. So its gonna be tough to tell if the supplements are working or not. But, I will still experiment a bit. I can put a pic of my closes Duncan Frag up if you want. Maybe you can tell what's wrong right off the bat.

 

[Yrahcaz]

Oh that looks bad. There isn't anything you can do at this point other than hope it recovers (although this is unfortunately unlikely). Can you give us some info about your tank?

 

[TpmReefChief]

Salinity at .022
38g high tank
Current Orbit led lighting system
Nitrates at 5-10
Nitrites 0
Ammonia - 0
PH is at 8.1
Alk is actually a little high. I think its my water from the tap, its at around 15 dkh

 

[TpmReefChief]

I also have micro bubbles in the tank from the skimmer. Its a fluval ps1 hang on skimmer. I have been trying to figure out and experimenting some methods on how to reduce them. They are a pain in the *** and they may be bothering my coral.

The tank has been established for over 2months. The skimmer should be broken in by now, so that's not it. Trying to figure it out.

 

[Yrahcaz]

Salinity at .022... I think its my water from the tap, its at around 15 dkh

I wouldn't worry about the microbubbles. Although they may irritate corals a little, they won't cause a coral to recede like your duncan has. Did you use any epoxies to hold rocks together? This often causes skimmers to produce microbubbles for as long as weeks, if not months.

3 problems here:

Specific gravity is too low (it should be 1.024-1.026; 1.025 is most often recommended).

Are using tap water or RO/DI or something else? RO/DI is pretty much the one thing you must use to have a successful reef.

That very high alk may be the cause of your problems.

 

[TpmReefChief]

No ro/di, I have heard and seen many successful reef tanks without using reverse osmosis filtration. I use chemipure blue and my phosphates are controlled very well with that. I run a fluval 306. So there is extra filtration there also. I know ro/di help a lot but, from what I heard, unnecessary. yea that alk is too high, definitely. do you have a good method to bring it down? And I am doing a water change this weekend and planned on raising the salinity because I thought that was a main issue. I will get back to you on and update you on the changes at the end of the weekend.

But I will definitely take any ideas on lowering the alk.

 

[TpmReefChief]

Other than an ro/di system...

 

[Marine Monkey]

Phosphates are the least of your problwm with tap water. Check out your local water report you would be surprised. Like my water has many heavy metals zinc and copper aswell as arsnic floride and pharmaceuticals mine also has a desent nitrate count.

what about your calcium and magnesium how are those levels

 

[Yrahcaz]

I don't really know of any sure-fire way to lower alk without doing waterchanges with RO/DI water. The tap water itself may be the cause of the high alk.

 

[ynot65]

+1 on the RODI, it's the most basic of your tanks needs.

 

[TpmReefChief]

I'll look into the rodi system. Calcium is at 400 ppm. Perfect. The magnesium is 1300 ppm. Again perfect. Raised salinity to .025 today. Also tested for iodine and phos. Both were good.

Iodine was a little low. .03