Does anybody know what type of hitchhiker snails these are? I had been trying to get rid of them, but they keep reproducing. They don’t seem to be eating the seagrass or Blasto, so a few weeks ago, I decided to let them be.


The Taam Rio Nano Skimmer is producing skimmate now. I haven’t found a replacement floss/carbon cartridge yet, but I decided to put the original in anyway. I’ve been thinking about replacing it with some carbon in a media bag.


‘Chips’ will be going in my 40 gallon to meet his future mate ‘Fish’. She still misses her old mate and I don’t want him to get too big before I introduce him. He is far less shy and his appetite is awesome, so I think he’ll do fine with the big guys.


‘Butters’ is doing very well too. His appetite is also very good. He’s certainly ready for the big tank, but I don’t want my lagoon to be fishless, so he will stay put.

I’ve moved my clownfish to my 40 gallon tank
The two Ocellaris Clownfish get along very well. The male went right up to the female and wouldn’t leave her alone. She seemed put off by him at first, but within 5 minutes she was following him around the tank (she didn’t swim that much after her first mate jumped). All of the other fish were well established so there was a good chance that some territorial issues might arise. The Two Spot Blenny and Bartlett’s Anthias seem OK with him, but the Black Cap Basslet has charged him a few times (and the female doesn’t run interference for him yet). I’m not sure if it’s going to be a problem yet or not. I’ll get rid of the Black Cap if it cannot get along with everyone (if I could ever catch him); he is one of the most aggressive members, but the first one to hide in the rocks.

I’ve introduced two mature Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp into the lagoon
They came from my 40 gallon. One got it in his head to start picking at my Rock Flower Anemone, which completely closed up on itself for protection. I like the anemone better then the Cleaner Shrimp, so the banishment was an easy decision. I had originally planned on keeping shrimp in the lagoon anyway; plus it was looking pretty bare without the clownfish.

sounds like everything is doing well. would you recommend the rio skimmer to anyone?

I wish I could answer that simple straight forward question better. I’m used to my Aqua C Remora (on my 40 gallon), so maybe I’m just spoiled. I just wish that you could plug it in and everything ran perfect; however, you do have to fiddle with the venturi intake (not enough and it doesn’t want to skim, but too much and the siphon breaks causing the water flow to stop). Plus, I’m not sure were to buy replacement filter cartridges for it yet (the cartridge seems to help with the micro bubble issue); however, I’m thinking that a media bag full of carbon will prove just as effective.

It is the size of a smaller HOB filter (taking up almost no room in the tank, while still leaving enough room for an average HOB filter on the back of a 10 gallon tank). All in all, I think that it’s OK for a $30 skimmer. It is probably as efficient as an airstone skimmer; but even airstone skimmers can’t compete with the price, once you figure in the costs of airstones and an air pump that is powerful enough to produce skimmate.

Confused? I want to like it, and kind of do. I hope that helps.

Ok, I was just wondering as it seems to be an interesting product. I like the fact that it is small, cheap, and HOB. For some reason not too many people have been buying these; I have only seen one other person on RC who had one and he was happy with it. I may end up trying one eventually since it would probably be a nice addition to any lightly stocked nano. Light skimming would help keep the water clearer and what not. If I can find one locally I am going to give it a try on my 20H.

I still haven't really gotten any new macros in my 20H yet either. The sawtooth caulerpa is really taking off and is completely across the back side of the tank. When the water gets warmer again locally, I am going to go find some codium in the local water ways. The tank has a shallow sandbed so I don't think it would be too great for sea grasses.

If you don’t get your hopes up too high (realizing what it cost), you’ll probably be satisfied with this inexpensive, compact, HOB skimmer – if you buy it for: light skimming, more flow, another media chamber, additional oxygen, and better pH consistency. I believe that we will see more of this type of skimmer/filter in the future (with inevitable improvements). However, at this point in time, I am hesitant to either hype this skimmer up or trash it. I’d be interested in your opinion if you decide to purchase one of these.

Stupid shrimp:
My Cleaner shrimp is now feasting on my Stomatella Snails.

Anemone update:
My anemone has opened back up. I had fed him the day before the shrimp started picking on it. I think the shrimp was picking at the anemone’s mouth to get at the wastes.

Clownfish update:
‘Chips’ made it through the night. He doesn’t seem frightened and swims right by the Black Cap (which still occasionally charges him). I think that they will be OK, but if I ever move my tank (which I’m hoping to do this spring or summer), I might decide to sell the basslet to my LFS.

10 Gallon Star Grass Lagoon
December 31, 2006

I’m still getting some bubble algae once in awhile, but nuisance algae are pretty minimal. I was able to successfully quarantine my clownfish that has just transitioned into my 40 gallon tank. I’m very glad that I did this as he was shy and wouldn’t eat at first; now he is outgoing and has a healthy appetite.

While the fish and corals have been doing fine, unfortunately my seagrass has not fared as well. The grass is still alive, so I’m still very hopeful for a full recovery. I’m going to setup my CO2 system in the next two weeks (I hope it makes a difference). The skimmer is now skimming; now I’m thinking about replacing the Maxi-Jet with a Mini-Jet on my wave timer.

October 31st:


November 31st:


December 31st:


New Cleaner Shrimp:

That star grass seems to just flat out refuse to grow, doesn't it? The CO2 should help out.

Thanks, I hope so. It’s disappointing looking at the decline over the last couple months. I imagine that more light would help too. It also seems like the higher flow areas are doing worst than the lower flow areas; so I’ll probably try reducing the flow as well. Plus, I have got to start testing the parameters and see what the levels really look like.

sea,
you're probably low on PO4 or it's processing it too efficiently. i'd feed more, especially since your shrimp is snacking on the stomas.

are you still running the skimmer? (btw how's it working?) if so, stop.

i forgot what lighting you're using (too lazy as i type to look back).

use tap water perhaps?
I still remember my old 15G the algae in there grew like hell, I can't stop it at all no matter what I do. I use RODI, I use different salt, I don't feed the tank at all, I only turn on the MH light for 3 hours a day, but all the algae just grow like they are the display. I have at least 6-7 different kinds in there. watch out for pH when u dose CO2, I am sure you think of that already, but oh well, good luck anyways.

I appreciate the helpful suggestions, thanks!


Thanks Tiny! I’ve been trying that for that last couple of days. I have my fingers crossed.

I’m still running the skimmer as I was hoping that it would be able to help balance the pH. But I’m just speculating because I don’t even know what the pH is (I’ve only tested it once since the tank has been setup).

The skimmer seems to work OK; for what I wanted it for, I’m not disappointed in the $30 investment. It seems to lightly skim the organics; but with almost no algae in the tank and the seagrass just holding on, maybe there isn’t much for it to skim. I think I will follow your advice here too, and see how things go without it for awhile.

I was originally planning a stock setup and have the 40W Current compact fluorescent fixture with a SunPaq Dual Daylight 6700°K/10000°K 40W bulb. While I feel that this is enough light to sustain this variety of seagrass, I’m almost sure that it would benefit from more light. I actually have two 32W CustomSeaLife Super Nova SmartLite Retrofits sitting idle; so I’m kind of tempted to mount those instead.


Thanks, I’ve been thinking about that too. I just need to start monitoring my levels before I make some of these changes. This is a pretty big change from how I’ve kept previous successful reefs, so I want to move a little cautiously as a venture to the ‘Dark Side’.

With other livestock in the tank, I only plan on dosing CO2 during the day (when the plants can utilize it). In theory, this should actually help stabilize pH during the day. But I suppose that you are right; I really need to keep monitoring the levels.

I really need to spend some more time on this tank. I’m so use to the bulletproof reefs (which require almost no monitoring) that I’ve setup in the past. It’s quite interesting, as this lagoon (the seagrass specifically) seems to require more specific attention than any of my other tanks. It kind of reminds me of the old SimCity games that were kind of hard to get started, but then take off once you figure out what everything wants.

I’ve significantly increased the food supply of the tank. So far the only noticeable effects are a fat Clown Goby and the growth of a red Gracilaria macro that had become quite invasive in my 40 gallon tank (prior to the introduction of an Emerald crab). A trace of the macro must have been on one of the coral frags and started growing in one of the Blasto colonies. Knowing what it did to my 40 gallon tank, I decided to remove the colony to spare my 10 gallon of this potential nuisance.

Tonight I removed my skimmer from my lagoon. In addition, I exchanged the Maxi-Jet for a Micro-Jet. Unfortunately the suction cups let go, and it disrupted the sand bed. With the consistency of the sand bed it quickly became quite a mess. Luckily, I was there and the powerhead was aimed at the bed for less than a minute (I’m not sure what the tank would have looked like if it ran like that overnight). At least for the meantime, I have decided to remove it (significantly reducing the flow). We’ll what happens now.

Bad news, my Clown Goby jumped. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but it must have gotten spooked by one of the shrimp. I’m not sure if I will replace him yet.

However, I decided to dust off my two 32W CustomSeaLife Super Nova Retrofit kits. I made a crude hood for them and put in a 50/50 SmartLite and a 10K bulb. This should brighten the tank up a bit:

The seagrass is looking pretty sad, so I’m making a last ditch effort to save it. The new lights are on and I just setup the CO2 system. I should have done it a long time ago, but it was hard to find the time.

For a diffuser, I used an Aqua-Tech 10-20 (120gph) HOB filter from Wal-Mart. I drilled a hole towards the bottom of the intake tube for the airline tubing elbow:


I secured the CO2 resistant airline tubing with a couple of cable ties:


Finally I attached the Red Sea Turbo CO2 Bio-System (with check valve), T-connector, and CO2 Solenoid:


I will also install a bubble counter in the near future. The flow is actually pretty good with the two HOBs. Here it is, running:

In order to monitor the CO2 production I installed a bubble counter:



For comparison purposes, I thought it would be good to take a full tank shot to document any progress:



There are still some signs of life, and I’m still hopeful that the seagrass can recover:

CO2 Update:
I’ve plugged my CO2 solenoid into the same timer that my lights are on (power closes the solenoid forcing all of the gas through the HOB filter). Ideally, CO2 production should be cut prior to the lights going out (giving the tank a little time to reduce the CO2 level before the lights go out and photosynthesis stops). Another timer just for the solenoid would be good; however, a second timer (on a shorter cycle) for the 50/50 bulb and solenoid should solve two issues. Although for now, I’m leaving all three on one timer.

The Red Sea Turbo CO2 Bio-System is basically just a one liter bottle; and I feel that a homemade setup would be just as effective. Although the cap has an O-ring to help seal it, a clip to hang it, and an airline connector. I’m not sure if the bottle has a different pressure rating than a soda container (which is also engineered to handle pressure), but it looks like a pretty ordinary bottle to me. Even so, the cost for the unit is not that bad.

The CO2 (yeast fermentation) reactor mix for the system is composed two dry components that get mixed with one liter of warm tap water. It’s nice that everything is pre-measured; but at more than $5 for a month’s production of CO2, it might be worth mixing your own (1/3 teaspoon of yeast, 1 cup of sugar, a splash of apple juice, and 1 liter of warm de-chlorinated tap water).

Via the bubble counter, I can see the system is just starting to produce gas. I expect increased CO2 production as the yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) continues to ferment the sugar.

I saw this in the [Stock] WarEagleNR88, Macro Algae Reef Tank thread:
I actually had three Penguin BIO-Wheel 150 HOB filters go bad during this contest and gave up. I kind of wish I would have tried another model. Maybe I’ll replace one of my current HOBs with another Bio-Wheel.

Anyway, along the same lines, I added bio-media to one of my HOB filters:





Not much CO2 production yet, but I’m making carbonated water in the bubble counter:



I'm going to spend some time next week testing my parameters. I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't been testing anything but salinity.

how did the penguins go bad? the motor died?

maybe you could also try the magnum (wheel-only) setup, basically a powerhead and hang the wheels on back. i know this from my fw brother.

check the po4, bio-limiter. no/low po4, you'll have little to no macro/grass growth.

Yeah 3 bad motors.

I was hoping the increased amount of food would increase the PO4 level. But like I said, I really have to start testing my parameters. I’m even considering dosing NO3 if indicated.

hmmm, this sounds kind of odd but hopefully you will get it figured out. sorry i cant be of more help

Thanks travisurfer!

I ran my first nitrate test today. I’m sure that everyone can imagine how it came out. That’s right…nothing. So I searched the Web for sources of KNO3 (potassium nitrate). Then I drove around searching for saltpeter at the local pharmacies; however, no luck.

I heard that stump removers use potassium nitrate so I picked up some Spectracide Stump Remover from Lowe’s (100% potassium nitrate). I was a little freaked out about adding something called ‘Spectracide Stump Remover’ to my lagoon and I’m still not sure how much to dose, but I added a bit tonight anyway.

have you thought about fertilizers? miracle-gro has copper in it so that's no good but maybe a similar product. maybe a farm fertilizer like ammonium nitrate? or maybe peat moss?

altho peat might screw up the pH too much. maybe you can check some of the planted tank forums or fw natural softener/acidifiers (i thought that was the actual main purpose of peat).

Thanks tinyreef, I have thought about using fertilizers designed for other applications. While there are a few threads on the Web about suitable fertilizers for marine setups, there are very few prepared products specifically designed for the planted marine aquarium. As you indicated, while the freshwater world has a number of tried and true products, many of these are just not suitable for marine applications.

As for dosing potassium and nitrate (via KNO3), I’m reading that an eighth of a teaspoon (a bit more than 0.8 grams) should raise the nitrate level (of 10 gallons of water) about 10ppm. However, with feeding prepared foods, I’m not anticipating low phosphate readings (but that wouldn’t be the first time that this tank has surprised me). I will perform a phosphate test to see if I should possibly be adding KH2P04 as well.

The addition of nitrates seems to have triggered the growth of some red sheeting Gracilaria macro algae on another Blasto frag:


I fragged the piece, putting the one with the algae back in my 40 gallon tank (where my Emerald Crab keeps everything neat and clean):


The fan worms and corals are doing fine:


I found the healthiest colony of seagrass stuck to the filter intake this morning. However, it doesn’t seem to have been damaged. It’s still too early to tell if the lights, CO2, and/or KNO3 are doing any good:

Well, I was wrong…no phosphates either. I’ve ordered some monopotassium phosphate from Greg Watson. So until I receive it, I’m going to try more prepared foods. Does anybody know a better way to increase the phosphate level?

have you tried fertilizer sticks? i think they come in different concentrations for nitrogen/nitrate, phosphorus/phosphate, and potassium/maybe potassium po4 or other compounds, (N-P-K).

again, not sure how reef safe they are but they shouldn't need to contain copper.

Thanks tiny, I’ll check into it and see what I can find tomorrow. I’m thinking that this is why the seagrass has been having such a hard time. Wow, test kits can actually determine why things are having problems…who’d have thunk it?

Here's the clownfish that I moved to my 40 gallon:

He is doing very well and can hold his own with the big guys.

Since I moved my clownfish and my Yellow Clown Goby jumped, my lagoon has been fishless. So I thought that I’d replace him with a young pair. They show no aggression toward each other and sometimes hang out side by side. Here’s one of them; you can see that they aren't much bigger than the airline tubing:


The seagrass appears to have a couple of new growth areas. I’m watching it closely as there isn’t much room for error in its current state:

I checked a few out, but I’m too much of a chicken to use them. Many contain copper, so that’s an easy elimination; however, there are typically a number of other ingredients which I’m not that sure of (and managing amounts to dose would be more difficult).

So I picked up some Seachem Flourish Phosphorus (P2O5). I will try this until I get my KH2PO4 from Greg Watson. Seachem’s Flourish line of products are marketed as a freshwater additives; does anybody know of a reason that I shouldn’t use Flourish Phosphorus in saltwater?

I’m kind of bummed about the lack of CO2 production. I’m using the pre-measured reactor mixture, but I’m thinking about rinsing it out and mixing my own. Sometimes I can watch it for a couple of minutes without any bubbles at all.

drink lotsa of soda and burp over the tank.

jk

have you looked around planted forums and such for fertilizer suggestions? the flourish sounds like a good idea though. i thought there was a thread on that product here somewhere, in fact.

Not sure if this will work in a SW tank, but in my 29g FW planted tank I pour a .75L bottle of Perrier in my tank 2x a month. As noted on this water site:

http://www.aquamaestro.com/nitrates.asp
The truth is that the still water of Perrier - aggressively infused with CO2 bubbles - is an undesirable chemistry of unusual acidity (pH of 5.46), and a shocking level of Nitrates; the best thing you can say is that it's low in Sodium.

As I don't put any CO2 in my tank otherwise this seems to provide a sufficient amount of CO2 and Nitrates for my plants. Like I said not sure if it will work in a SW environment but it may work for a last ditch effort. Good luck!

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback.


I’ve searched the planted forums a bit, but I haven’t had the time to be too thorough. However, I have read that Flourish Excel does nasty things to saltwater critters (although I haven't heard anything about Flourish Phosphorus).


I was pleasantly surprised that I got my fertilizers from Greg Watson today:



Good idea. So I went to the store and searched for a bottle, but apparently, it’s not that popular anymore (as the two stores that I went to didn’t have any). However, since I was mostly interested in the CO2 (as I already had a source of nitrates), I picked up some sparkling water instead:


Then I added about 250mL of it to my tank. Very soon afterward, the red Blasto started to close up. Since it doesn’t contain any other ingredients besides carbonated water, I was a little puzzled by this reaction. Then it hit me, the pH must be off. So I quickly tested it; and sure enough, it wouldn’t register on my marine pH test kit (which goes as low as 7.8). So I changed out about 25% of the water and tried again. The reading was now about 7.8, and the Blasto seemed to be less stressed. Apparently, 250mL is just too much for a 10 gallon tank; however, it still might be worth considering in smaller amounts.


I also picked up the ingredients for the new yeast fermentation mixture. The system should dose the CO2 in a more controlled manner. Hopefully, this mixture will produce more CO2 than the one that came with the reactor.

just read up on this...think a lagoon tank is a pretty sweet idea...the tank looked pretty good when you first got the sea grass....i hope you can figure out the problems and make a full comeback

Thanks avalanche1201. I basically knew that nutrients would be important, but I thought a bit of overfeeding would suffice. However, dosing nutrients seems to be very important (at least with a light bio-load). I hope my recent efforts start to pay off; they seem to be helping a bit. This is what they look like today:



I’ve gotten used to not having to test my reefs as the results haven’t changed in years. However, the seagrass doesn’t look like it will survive in a nutrient poor environment, so dosing KNO3 (potassium nitrate) and KH2PO4 (monopotassium phosphate) seems to be helping.

Now that I’m testing more often, I’m finding that rummaging through the test kit boxes is a major pain. I decided to organize my kits to make testing a little easier:



My last test results were:
• Nitrates: 30
• Phosphates: 0.5
• pH: 8.0

Since the nutrients were over twice what I’d prefer, I did another 25% water change for the sake of my other livestock. I eventually hope to keep nitrates around 10 and phosphates closer to 0.1.

I hope it all goes well, I am too thinking of a seagrass & seahorse tank, they look really nice when stocked. Any ideas of stocking?

will a FW Co2 reactor work? Yeast ones seem to do well though

Thanks Uploadead. As you can see by my thread, I’m no expert and am learning as I go. However, I’d recommend stocking seagrass, like and Shoal grass (Halodule wrightii) and Star grass (Halophila engelmannii), that don’t require really deep sand beds. You will want to stick to hardy corals (and fish) that can tolerate nutrient rich water like zoanthids and mushrooms, but there are a number of other corals that could also be kept.

You will also find that many seagrass tanks include various macro algae; however, they can have very different growth rates, while competing for the same nutrients. I've been also wanting to try keeping a few gorgonians someday (check out Rene’s neat little gorgonian contest tank).

I haven’t researched keeping seahorses, so I can’t give you much info to go on there. Although I have heard that some tank bred seahorses can survive on frozen foods (like mysis), which would take a lot of work out of raising live foods for them. I’m sure that there are threads on this site that will point you in the right direction.

I think that a typical CO2 bottle system, that’s common in freshwater setups, should work well (and would probably be much more manageable than a yeast reactor). You will still need to shut down CO2 delivery at night, plus monitor pH and KH (in addition to NO3 and PO4).

My sand bed had a trace of cyanobacteria; however it was limited and was easily siphoned off during water changes - bringing nutrient levels back down to my target levels:
• Nitrates: 10mg/L (Seachem test kit)
• Posphates: 0.1mg/L (Seachem test kit)
• pH: 8.1 (Seachem test kit)

Seagrass growth still seems to be quite modest, but there are signs of new growth:


Other livestock is looking good:


One of my new Clown Gobies:

10 Gallon Star Grass Lagoon
January 31, 2007

Last month’s summary showed that the seagrass has been in a state of slow decline; but since I see it everyday, I didn’t really notice how bad it was until I posted the comparison pictures. It was long overdue, but I finally tested the water to find that there were no detectable nitrates or phosphates. I had incorrectly been assuming that some overfeeding would be enough to maintain minimal levels of each.

To make conditions more favorable, I upgraded the lights with two 32W CustomSeaLife Super Nova Retrofit Kits. I’m using a 50/50 SmartLite along with a 10K bulb.

On the 18th, I also installed a yeast reactor to provide CO2 for the seagrass. I’m currently a little disappointed with the poor production, so I’ve also been adding some carbonated water (Canada Dry Sparkling Water) during the light cycle. I learned that small amounts must be used to avoid notable pH shifts.

To increase nitrate production, I added bio-media to one of the HOB filters, but I also ordered some KNO3 (potassium nitrate) and KH2PO4 (monopotassium phosphate) from Greg Watson. I’ve been dosing nitrates since the 20th and phosphates since the 23rd. I brought up the nutrient levels a little too high, as the seagrass was in dire need of some new growth; however, I have since brought them back down to my target levels through larger partial water changes. I’m currently targeting nitrates at 10mg/L and phosphates at 0.1mg/L.

Unfortunately, my Clown Goby jumped, so I have replaced him with two juveniles; they get along great and are primarily eating pods right now (as they have not yet taken to prepared foods). I have also replaced the skimmer and powerhead with the CO2 system’s HOB filter (the tank’s flow is still a little more than 25 times turnover). I feel that removing the pump has improved the look of the tank.

October 31st:


November 30th:


December 31st:


January 31st:


January 31st (Shrimp with eggs):

preggy shrimp eh....is it easy to take care of the offspring?

It might be possible, but the gobies will be more than happy to take care of them. I consider it good food for the tank.

I haven't performed any water changes since Wednesday; and yesterday I had dosed 1/16th of teaspoon of nitrates (but didn’t run any tests). Today my test results were:
• Nitrates: 2 (Seachem test kit)
• Phosphates: Undetectable (Seachem test kit)
• pH: 8.1 (Seachem test kit)

So I added 1/8th of a teaspoon of nitrates and 1/32nd of a teaspoon of phosphate. I’m surprised by the nutrient uptake of this tank and am convinced that my seagrass would have died if I hadn’t started to add nutrients. I see more signs of growth, but nothing that remarkable yet.

WOW...those little plants are bad@ss nitrate absorbers! I suspect your DSB is helping with the nitrate reduction as well though. Most of us would kill for a system that efficient! I'm definately going to have to consider a seagrass refugium when (if) I set up a larger system.

Reef Gator, thanks again for the chemistry help on the other thread. I’ve been watching the pH when dosing KH2PO4 (monopotassium phosphate); and it appears that the small amounts that I’m using don’t dramatically drop pH.

I agree that the sand bed is likely helping to reduce the nitrate level. It would be interesting to setup a control tank with a similar sand bed to see how much nitrate the bed removes from the water. I’ve also noticed that the seagrass roots are currently very short; I wonder if that’s because the sand bed isn’t that rich in nutrients yet.

However, I’m thinking the same thing about the refugium. If nothing else, it would probably be a lot more interesting than a typical Chaeto fuge. In addition, once the biomass increases, I feel that the plants will add a lot to the nutrient export.

No problem . Gives me something interesting to do at work.


Good to hear. Keep up the good work. I can't wait to see this thing take off.

My Cerith snails still occasionally dig up the seagrass as they move about the sand bed. I had to take another colony of seagrass off of the filter intake again today, so I moved one of the larger Ceriths to my 40 gallon tank.

I’ve been trying to narrow down just how much I need to dose on a daily basis. As part of this effort, I am trying to understand just how dosing raises the nutrient levels.

Today’s test results before dosing:
• Nitrate: 5
• Phosphate: undetectable
• pH: 8.1

I dosed 1/8th of a teaspoon of KNO3 (potassium nitrate), maybe 1/64th of a teaspoon of KH2PO4 (monopotassium phosphate), and a few ounces of carbonated water.

Results after dosing:
• Nitrate: 15
• Phosphate: 0.5
• pH: 8.0

I’m finding that only a very small amount of KH2PO4 is needed to increase phosphate from undetectable levels to target levels. I’ll post my test results tomorrow to help document the actual nutrient export.

Lately, a little cyanobacteria has been accumulating on the sand bed (which I’m pretty sure is due to the added nutrients and CO2). I’ve been able siphon it off very easily, but I was concerned that it might cover some the new seagrass leaves; so I dosed Boyd Chemi-Clean to protect the delicate leaves.

I’m still dosing ESV B-Ionic Calcium and B-Ionic Magnesium a few times a week. In addition, I’m dosing a very small amount of Kent Super Chelated Iron once a week. This is very unusual for me as I have typically advocated no dosing. Eventually I feel that I’ll be able to dose just KNO3 and KH2PO4 (which seems to be unavoidable).

Seabass,

You may find it easier to dose small amounts of phosphate (and be more consistent with your doses) if you make up a "stock solution". For example, dissolve 1 teaspoon of KH2PO4 in 2 liters of RO/DI. An empty 2L of your carbonated water should work great for this. Then instead of trying to measure 1/64 teaspoon you could just add a measured number of drops of your stock solution. 20 drops from an eyedropper is about 1mL, equivalent to 1/1000 of a teaspoon of solid. Potassium phosphate is very stable in pure water. You should be able to use a bottle for a year or more. You could do the same for your nitrate solution, but you seem to be having more luck controlling the dosage of nitrate.

Awesome, that’s exactly what I should be doing! I would have been fighting that for some time, and I really didn’t like the idea of having phosphates too high (even if they came down relatively quickly). It’s good to know that both would be stable in distilled water. Plus, it’s even something that I could make easy for a tank sitter to dose (via a daily top off mixture). Thanks again Reef Gator!

I’m sure that nitrate and phosphate reduction varies from day to day, as some feedings are heavier than others. Today’s test results:
• Nitrate: 10 (down from 15 yesterday)
• Phosphate: 0.25 (down from 0.5 yesterday)
• pH: 8.1


‘In my own experience with the grass tank I’m finding that the addition of B vitamins - thiamine, nictoinic acid, biotin and B12 - are all important to the growth of stargrass in particular.’ - Sarah Lardizabal, the SeaNursery

Since I’m not finding a product that contains the ingredients that Sarah lists, I’m considering adding vitamins and amino acids in the form of Seachem Reef Plus.