[Wiskey]

I have read allot in this forum about stony corals and good water quality but,....

Tank 1:

I have a friend who's system has been up for years, it has a 1/2 inch SSB that he never siphons, his rocks are full of detritus he never blasts off. He has a fuge and sump full of LR, macro, and about 1/2-3/4 of detritus laying on the bottom that he never cleans. His tank is plagued with Hair Algae along with a few other types of algae, and he has redbuggs.

His skimmer is an old Berlin, and it does almost nothing, his in-tank flow is under 20X

His phosphate is constantly detectable, over 1.0 and he has nitrates around 25.

His lighting is 4*96W PC bulbs over a 90 gallon tank (4 foot by 18 inches by 24 inches tall)

He never touches anything in his tank! he leaves it completely alone, except for water changes when the tank looks like it needs it (usually about monthly.

what kills me is any stony coral he puts in his tank does great, his color isn't the greatest but he gets great growth out of stony corals

Tank 2:

My tank, no detectable phosphate, nitrates are there, usually around 5-10, no detritus, weekly water changes, and a huge Beckett skimmer skimming wet, I use 2*250W MH set to give me a par around 200 for about 10 hours per day. I get about 70X in-tank flow, this tank has been up about a year.

But I am constantly messing with my tank! I mean every week or two I am making major changes because I don't feel that my tank is right yet. I raise the lights, lower the lights, adjust flow, add flow, remove flow, ect,...

With a few exceptions when I get a new coral it does great for a little while, encrusts and even grows a bit, then it stops, and after about 6 months starts to STN

Do you think this messing with my tank is what is keeping me from having success like my friend? Or do you think something bigger is going on? :help:

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[Casey]

Im starting to think keep your hands out of the tank and just let it run you have never tried that.:agree:

 

[Spanky]

But I am constantly messing with my tank! I mean every week or two I am making major changes because I don't feel that my tank is right yet. I raise the lights, lower the lights, adjust flow, add flow, remove flow, ect,...

Here's what you do.

Go out and get a lot of really big acrops. That way you can't do all those things. The first time to break one to pieces, you'll stop.

 

[Wiskey]

That is the other thing, the larger peices I have seem to do far better, they just don't grow.

Here is what I am getting at here:
I keep trying to get my system "perfect" But is it possible, that even with an inperfect system the corals would adapt to what I have if I left it alone?

I mean having too much light, too little light, too much flow, too little flow ect,... Would they just "deal with it"?

BTW, STN and paper thin tissue, coupled with lack of PE is what usually ends up happening to my corals just before they go compleatly.

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[Spanky]

Wis, you have a system that's easy to change and easy to clean, that doesn't mean you have to do it all at one time.

The trick to these systems is that they ARE easy and fast to change. That means you can clean it in a hurry.

I think you are not putting enough food in there. I don't mean letting food sit and rot, that you don't want to do and that's where these systems shine. You can put a lot of food in, then get it out before it rots. It's the rotting and releasing that causes problems.

Frist go get you some small fish that need to be fed small amounts several times a day. That's a good place to start. I like things like chalk bass, small one spot cardinals, -- fish that feed in the water column all day long.

That will up your "load" so to speak. From there you can add a few other fish and tinker with it some more.

I added 6 juv reef b'flys, a dozen chalk bass, and a few other things. I feed them 3-4 times a day, but small amounts.

Watch your skimmer after you feed. If about a hour later, you're getting mostly clear foam, but it's foaming more, it's getting it out. A few hours later, you should see green skim.

 

[Wiskey]

Spanky:

I have never had green skimate, only slightly dark or clear.

I have added a few more fish lately, I am now up to 6 in a system that holds about 50 gallons, this is a recent change.

I am hesitant to add more because of my 5-10 nitrate, and I want to see how the system reacts to the ones I just added.

I can't really feed several times per day because I am working 12 hour days right now, hopefully not for long, but you never know. I could get an auto-feeder though if this is important.

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[Casey]

Small frequent feedings get the timer thingy and let it do it,yes it is important and keep your hands out dude let the tank be stable for a while
and it will get better with time and age,sometimes when we try to hard we just mess it up more.:beer:

 

[Wiskey]

Ok, until I get the timer thingy I will add a cube of food in the morning before I leave for work (smaller food as the lights aren't on yet) and a cube of larger food (fish food) when I get home.

Does this sound good? Or should I shoot for more?

I will also try not to change anything in the tank, try really hard, I promise, except for fixing my microbubble problem.

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

This is important, I forgot to add it:

I also do get that brown algae on the front pane of glass and it needs cleaning about every 5 days. Does this indacate that nutreants are higher than we think? Or should I not worry about it?

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[Witfull]

everytiime MojoMike yelled at me to keep my hands out of my tank,,,id yell back,,,stop falling in yours~~

 

[Casey]

This is important, I forgot to add it:

I also do get that brown algae on the front pane of glass and it needs cleaning about every 5 days. Does this indacate that nutreants are higher than we think? Or should I not worry about it?

Thanks,
Whiskey

No that is perfectly fine you are worrying to much,try to relax and just let that baby run,I throw a cube in everyday before I go to work it works fine,Whiskey I want you to stop worrying so much about it and enjoy the hoobby more it doesnt have to be so worrysome.(is that a word):thumbup:

 

[Spanky]

everytiime MojoMike yelled at me to keep my hands out of my tank,,,id yell back,,,stop falling in yours~~

rotfl ain't that the truth

Whis, if you are fooling and fiddling with it all the time, you're not giving it time to stabalize. Until you let it stabalize somewhere, you don't know what you need to adjust and not.

 

[Spanky]

Whis, I just caught this. If you are doing things like this, that explains your thin skin, RTN, STN, etc

I changed around some plumming last weekend and re-did my return line. Since then the skimmer has yet to produce an ounce of foam, I assume this is due to the plastisizers used to manufacture the rubber hose.

This has been going on for a full 7 days now without a skimmer and I am starting to get worried, is there anything I can do to help the skimmer work again?

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[Casey]

Yes it does he cares to much if I could just get him to keep his hands out for a while his tank would stabalize and start to rock!:doh: :lol:

 

[Wiskey]

Whis, I just caught this. If you are doing things like this, that explains your thin skin, RTN, STN, etc

Normally speaking I don't do things that effect the skimmer like that, but that is one exception. I did that after finding that my return pump was only running at like 250GPH when I thought it was doing more like 600GPH.

I managed to get it to return a measured 400 or so GPH by using a rubber hose rather than 400 90deg fittings.

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

everytiime MojoMike yelled at me to keep my hands out of my tank,,,id yell back,,,stop falling in yours~~

ROTFL, there is a moral in there somewhere
Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

Here is the plan!

I am going to stop messing with it for the next 2 months, nothing above weekly water changes, cleaning the skimmer, toping off, adding my DIY 2 part, and siphoning my detritus. (It should be easy to NOT do something, but not for me)

I also plan to feed smaller amounts at least 2 times per day, more if I am home, or get that autofeeder in.

Think that'll work?
Whiskey

 

[Spanky]

There's a lot of things that someone could 'think'. But we aren't there to see what it does.

Take the next few months to "tweek" it.

If you start seeing more algae, tinker with the skimmer- just a little bit.

If you see some thinning, feed a little more.

etc etc

You need to slow down with major tinkering, let it get stable, so you can see where you are at.

Then do small changes. Remember, what looks like a small adjustment to something like a skimmer, can equate to a large change to the tank over time.

 

[Wiskey]

There's a lot of things that someone could 'think'. But we aren't there to see what it does.

Good point.

So the thought is that if I have algae the skimmer is not getting the food out fast enough and I need to skim a little wetter. (I have never had green algae though, just those diatoms)

If I get tissue thinning, STN, or lack of PE, feed a bit more often.

I'm on it! At least I still get to tinker with something

Thanks,
Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

As another related question, does it mean anything that I never get green algae, only the brown diatom stuff?

Thanks,
Whiskey