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SteveZ15

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Ridgewood Queens
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I took a sample to him as well it matched the egg when I had zero phos .. But now I know the tank has phos I would trust it more if the three samples were close but in this case the range was way off . im just being cautious before I use any gfo .. I messed up with that a while a go and took a long time to bounce back I was ready to quit. I don't wanna lose the progress I made over some algae. I'll eventually get the better unit but theres a lot on the list of stuff to get for me now.
 

BKLYNREEF123

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Brooklyn
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I feel your GFO pain. I have a tendency to strip my water of nutrients. I am currently in the rebuilding process. Hopefully I have learned enough and can maintain stability. I hope this thread will increase in popularity and we can get some better understanding of nutrient balance. I will post some photos soon.
 

vio

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Manhattan
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I took a sample to him as well it matched the egg when I had zero phos .. But now I know the tank has phos I would trust it more if the three samples were close but in this case the range was way off . im just being cautious before I use any gfo .. I messed up with that a while a go and took a long time to bounce back I was ready to quit. I don't wanna lose the progress I made over some algae. I'll eventually get the better unit but theres a lot on the list of stuff to get for me now.

Steve PM your cell, i almost finish my experiments , about low nutrition, NO GFO, NO Active Carbon, NO Berlin sucks, NO BioPeletts, just 12 ml of Vodka.
 

SteveZ15

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Ridgewood Queens
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The tank is doing alright but not super. No more algae problems dosing the bacteria and 2 water changes a week seem to help. I broadcast feed then do water change the next day.The colors were getting good I increased the light intensity saw a growth spurt but bleached 2 caps . IM not really blasting the tank I have 300 par at the top and 125 at the bottom now. For some reason these caps don't take more than 175. Im feeding the tank more the past week and dosing acropower 2ml daily. I want to increase the light because the growth was really noticeable but the caps keep fading. Im trying to get them to color and get them used to higher light,for some reason they are finicky. the rest of the coral don't really change in higher light they just actually grow. At 300 par they don't grow that much. I cant wait to get my other tank set up its deeper so I have more room to place stuff. this tank has been a rollercoaster but at least its more up than down lately. Still don't run gfo or carbon. I don't have any real sensitive stuff just average sps maybe ill get a frag of something more challenging and see what happens I gotta pick up food and what not and maybe a fish damn emrald crab killed my file fish a while back and aptasia is coming back that thing really cleaned them up. he nipped at first but when he started eating more of the frozen stuff and roe he stoped. not sure if they really eat them totally or they just stsy retracted because he picks at them.
 
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vio

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Location
Manhattan
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Steve, after many years, i am about to finish my experiments (Low Nutrition) the easy , low cost, so NO GFO, NO active Carbon, NO Berlin Sucks etc. No BioPeletts, just 12 ml. of Vodka for 280 Gal. system (easy to manage) and Protein Skimmer, i also use Diatom Filter to clean my sump every time i see any Detritus precipitation (actually , just use the sump as a Tank, for more water only and room for Protein Skimmer) I think #1 problem is , how NOT to build the Detritus and how FAST to remove, there is a GOOD reason why jackson6745 decide to go with that kind of Aquascape, mean more flow around, less Detritus precipitation, if you have a sand , i will consider "Luxury" need constant clean up. Water flow is the KEY ,NOT to much, NOT less, just good enough to push the Detritus to Protein Skimmer.About Bacteria , that anther issue, the more you dose , the more problem show up, low PH, etc , NOT all the corals like so muck, Thanks to HUB Bacteria Tests, who help me to find up , were i am. I repeat , the KEY is , How FAST you remove the Detritus. List that my opinion.
 

Mattl22

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Location
Garden city
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Question to Jackson and anyone who has had sucess with sps

Ok so I can't seem to get the better of brown slime diatom algae / cyano
But... Corals look pretty decent is nutrient a bit too high causing the slime etc but not high enough to cause browning in acros? Also my nitrate is around 10 ppm
I'd like to get down to 5 I assuming my po4 is fueling my algae issues how much Gfo u guys running ?
Also wondering if I'm fighting an uphill battle with my sand bed?
 

Metrokat

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Question to Jackson and anyone who has had sucess with sps

Ok so I can't seem to get the better of brown slime diatom algae / cyano
But... Corals look pretty decent is nutrient a bit too high causing the slime etc but not high enough to cause browning in acros? Also my nitrate is around 10 ppm
I'd like to get down to 5 I assuming my po4 is fueling my algae issues how much Gfo u guys running ?
Also wondering if I'm fighting an uphill battle with my sand bed?
Have you tried NOPOX to reduce nutrients? Cyano is a lingering problem when dosing bacterias or when excess is present. I've had good success using a combination of lights out, sand bed siphoning and dosi g coral snow with MB7 mixed. If you are dosing bacteria, lower the dose or back off till cyano is better. The NOPOX is a carbon source, it helps reduce chronic nitrate and phos. As with everything, go slow.
 

iliriano

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Question to Jackson and anyone who has had sucess with sps

Ok so I can't seem to get the better of brown slime diatom algae / cyano
But... Corals look pretty decent is nutrient a bit too high causing the slime etc but not high enough to cause browning in acros? Also my nitrate is around 10 ppm
I'd like to get down to 5 I assuming my po4 is fueling my algae issues how much Gfo u guys running ?
Also wondering if I'm fighting an uphill battle with my sand bed?

How many inches of sand are you running?
 

Mattl22

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Location
Garden city
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I've tried a few carbon sources in the past only one that worked for me was bio pellets but I started having issues with my acros so I took them offline but am toying with the idea of putting them back on just hesitant because the best sps tanks I've seen Havnt used any type of carbon dosing
 

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