TeenyReef's 10g Fusion - ATO Disaster

[SouthFlorida_Tron]

Acans are lit. ?

[ninjamyst]

sorry to hear about the tank issues. temperature and salinity are stable too?

[teenyreef]

sorry to hear about the tank issues. temperature and salinity are stable too?

Yes, they've been pretty much rock solid. This seem to be more of a slowly growing problem.

 

The one other thing I found out is that PO4 in my frag tank also shot up to .15 this week. The only common thing I can think of is that I put my freebie packs of Chemipure Blue in both tanks, but not in the IM40, where phosphates have been stable. I know Chemipure Blue uses ion-exchange resins, which aren't supposed to dump phosphates into the tank when exhausted, but it sure seems as if something like that has happened.

 

I'm going to toss the CPB during today's water change and put in good carbon, and continue dosing PhosphateRx. I'll be checking PO4 every other day to make sure it doesn't drop back down too quickly.

 

I'm on the fence about whether to start using GFO again. When it gets exhausted, PO4 can rise very quickly and I don't like when that happens. But when I change it every couple weeks that doesn't happen.

Acans are lit.

Thanks! Lowering the light levels helped a lot, but I think getting nitrates and phosphates low seem to help with the coloring too. I feed them a two or three times a week which has always helped them grow well.

[ninjamyst]

I use Chemipure Blue in the 12 gallon too. I bought like 20 packets during a sale once. Once I use them up though, I will run just carbon + phosguard. I am not a big fan of Chemipure Blue.

[teenyreef]

I have a big bottle of Phosguard but I'm paranoid about aluminum leaching rumors.

I cleaned out the back chambers, they were pretty nasty even though they were cleaned a month ago.

 

I also got rid of the bag of brightwell Xport-no3 because it was just collecting detritus.

[YaBoyLaj]

man have i missed a lot! Tank looks amazing, i want to grab one of those acans of the screen... but i cant do that so, i'll just stay jealous

[teenyreef]

man have i missed a lot! Tank looks amazing, i want to grab one of those acans of the screen... but i cant do that so, i'll just stay jealous

Thanks! With all the sps struggles it's nice to look at the acans and see that they are steadily improving

[YaBoyLaj]

Thanks! With all the sps struggles it's nice to look at the acans and see that they are steadily improving

Haha, I will probably never touch SPS, if anything it would be a monti cap, but I'm sure they'll pull through and the acans look amazing for sure

[hinnenkm]

Those acans are BEAUTIFUL as always! Sorry your tank isn't running as you'd like it to be. It's always difficult when there are those little things/hidden issues that come up... hope it gets figured out and back on track

[Marc.The.Shark]

Teeny, check this out for the algae issues. Some pretty lofty claims, but also some people that have shared good experiences with this product. If this really works as they say, its a game changer....

 

http://www.reef2reef.com/threads/vibrant-liquid-aquarium-cleaner-discussion-thread.271428/

[vlangel]

The tank is still struggling a bit, with Not Quite Right syndrome in full effect. The gha has slowed down a bit but I'm still scrubbing the back wall and many places on the rocks every few days to keep it knocked back.

 

The acros are doing poorly, losing color, turning pale, and receding. I took off the smaller frags and moved them to the IM40 in hopes that they will recover. The two chalice corals are having the same problem - pale spots and receding.

 

Water quality is quite good, with nitrates between 1 and 3, and phosphates at about .03 or less most days. But I've had to significantly reduce my dosing level of two part to keep alk stable, so clearly the corals are growing much more slowly.

 

I've looked for pests but haven't spotted any. I think the gha is an indication of some kind of underlying water quality issue, though.

Sorry to hear that the sps aren't quite up to par. That can surely be frustrating, especially when you can quite pinpoint the problem.

 

I admire you and the other folks who keep sps because they are so sentitive to so many things. Hopefully you will turn them around soon.

[Slowtwitch]

Sorry to hear that the sps aren't quite up to par. That can surely be frustrating, especially when you can quite pinpoint the problem.

 

I admire you and the other folks who keep sps because they are so sentitive to so many things. Hopefully you will turn them around soon.

Easier to keep sps than ponies I think.

[Nano sapiens]

The tank is still struggling a bit, with Not Quite Right syndrome in full effect. The gha has slowed down a bit but I'm still scrubbing the back wall and many places on the rocks every few days to keep it knocked back.

 

The acros are doing poorly, losing color, turning pale, and receding. I took off the smaller frags and moved them to the IM40 in hopes that they will recover. The two chalice corals are having the same problem - pale spots and receding.

 

Water quality is quite good, with nitrates between 1 and 3, and phosphates at about .03 or less most days. But I've had to significantly reduce my dosing level of two part to keep alk stable, so clearly the corals are growing much more slowly.

 

I've looked for pests but haven't spotted any. I think the gha is an indication of some kind of underlying water quality issue, though.

 

Agreed, sounds like an out-of-balance situation with C-N-P. Just running a bit of GAC (or even none at all if your water stays clear) and nothing else while aggressively going after detritus regularly should help the situation and keep N03 and PO4 in check. Will take time, though, to rebalance...

[xAyanex]

Wow your tank is so beautiful. What an inspiration!

[vlangel]

Easier to keep sps than ponies I think.

Ponies have their challenges but simple water changes can keep ponies happy and healthy without any testing, or dosing. So if you choose coral that are happy with just water changes, (which is why I have mushrooms and cabbage leather) its not complicated. I am pretty sure that I am not enough od a detail person to keep sps.

[reefernanoman]

The tank is still struggling a bit, with Not Quite Right syndrome in full effect. The gha has slowed down a bit but I'm still scrubbing the back wall and many places on the rocks every few days to keep it knocked back.

 

The acros are doing poorly, losing color, turning pale, and receding. I took off the smaller frags and moved them to the IM40 in hopes that they will recover. The two chalice corals are having the same problem - pale spots and receding.

 

Water quality is quite good, with nitrates between 1 and 3, and phosphates at about .03 or less most days. But I've had to significantly reduce my dosing level of two part to keep alk stable, so clearly the corals are growing much more slowly.

 

I've looked for pests but haven't spotted any. I think the gha is an indication of some kind of underlying water quality issue, though.

Oh no! How often do you feed? I only feed once every other day (so that the YWMG and clownfish don't starve). I'm currently using CPBN and it will be replaced with the BRS ROX 0.8 carbon and probably a little bit of GFO. I also pulled anything out of my Fusion 10G that is not an SPS and that has helped my corals too. Good luck with your issues bud.

[teenyreef]

Haha, I will probably never touch SPS, if anything it would be a monti cap, but I'm sure they'll pull through and the acans look amazing for sure

Montis are probably some of the easiest SPS to keep. Stable parameters and light are all they really want. I've had them thrive even with high nitrates and phosphates.

 

Plus you can get frags super cheap from those of us that have them already, since we have to trim them all the time anyway

Those acans are BEAUTIFUL as always! Sorry your tank isn't running as you'd like it to be. It's always difficult when there are those little things/hidden issues that come up... hope it gets figured out and back on track

Thank you! It's all part of what keeps this hobby so interesting. It's kind of like golf or bowling, everything goes perfectly for a short period of time, and you spend all the rest of your time trying to figure out what you did to make it work so well

Teeny, check this out for the algae issues. Some pretty lofty claims, but also some people that have shared good experiences with this product. If this really works as they say, its a game changer....

 

http://www.reef2reef.com/threads/vibrant-liquid-aquarium-cleaner-discussion-thread.271428/

I read that thread, it's really interesting. I'm waiting to hear more from real world users - I can't tell what makes it different from other bacterial supplements, and most of the success claims seem to come from the vendor.

 

I've also heard all the resellers are sold out, so the word of mouth seems to be working out for them!

Sorry to hear that the sps aren't quite up to par. That can surely be frustrating, especially when you can quite pinpoint the problem.

 

I admire you and the other folks who keep sps because they are so sentitive to so many things. Hopefully you will turn them around soon.

Yes, it can be quite frustrating, but I think at least in this case it's not so much that the sps are being too sensitive, I think it's more about my tank just getting out of balance. SPS are like the canary in the coal mine that give an early alert that something's going wrong and things are heading in the wrong direction.

Easier to keep sps than ponies I think.

Exactly! My hat's off to Dawn, she's way more advanced than me

Oh no! How often do you feed? I only feed once every other day (so that the YWMG and clownfish don't starve). I'm currently using CPBN and it will be replaced with the BRS ROX 0.8 carbon and probably a little bit of GFO. I also pulled anything out of my Fusion 10G that is not an SPS and that has helped my corals too. Good luck with your issues bud.

Thanks! I've cut back since the problems started. I feed every day, but I only feed frozen every other day, and coral food is only every four or five days.

[teenyreef]

Wow your tank is so beautiful. What an inspiration!

Thank you! I just caught up on your thread and I'm following along now

[teenyreef]

 

Agreed, sounds like an out-of-balance situation with C-N-P. Just running a bit of GAC (or even none at all if your water stays clear) and nothing else while aggressively going after detritus regularly should help the situation and keep N03 and PO4 in check. Will take time, though, to rebalance...

Yep, exactly. On Saturday, I did a two gallon WC and switched back to carbon and GFO, and put in an extra drop of PhosphateRX. I did another two gallon water change on Sunday night.

 

Of course now my phosphates are at zero

 

I'll hold off on any more PhosphateRX and recheck in the middle of the week.

 

There have been a huge number of changes in this tank since SPS last grew really well. So it's very hard to say whether there's a single cause or if it's just been a combination of factors. But I need to get the fundamentals right again, and then I can see what else needs to change.

[teenyreef]

I forgot to mention it in the last update, but alk finally dropped over the past few days. So that's a good sign.

 

I'm still brushing off gha with a toothbrush but it seems to be slowing down just a bit. I'm going to keep up on it and work really hard at keeping all the chambers and the sand clean.

[Felicia]

Woah! Your acans are looking stunning! I love the varieties of colors!

[Marc.The.Shark]

I read that thread, it's really interesting. I'm waiting to hear more from real world users - I can't tell what makes it different from other bacterial supplements, and most of the success claims seem to come from the vendor.

 

I've also heard all the resellers are sold out, so the word of mouth seems to be working out for them!

 

Yeah. It piqued my interest because of all the bacterial supplements I have used of late battling the white slime (Dr Tims ReFresh & Waste Away, MB7, some BioSpira I had laying around). The one side effect of all these is I have absolutely no algae in my tank right now & haven't cleaned my glass in a month. I've been trying to feed heavier & supplement some amino's as well cause PO4 was/is pretty low (not zero) & nitrates are quite low as well. Like you, I'm trying to find the balance now. But maybe they've figured out a way to combine a bunch of different strains....would have saved me some cash! Lol. I'm watching too, the claims are hefty!

[teenyreef]

Yeah. It piqued my interest because of all the bacterial supplements I have used of late battling the white slime (Dr Tims ReFresh & Waste Away, MB7, some BioSpira I had laying around). The one side effect of all these is I have absolutely no algae in my tank right now & haven't cleaned my glass in a month. I've been trying to feed heavier & supplement some amino's as well cause PO4 was/is pretty low (not zero) & nitrates are quite low as well. Like you, I'm trying to find the balance now. But maybe they've figured out a way to combine a bunch of different strains....would have saved me some cash! Lol. I'm watching too, the claims are hefty!

It would be awesome if it actually works as advertised

[teenyreef]

Woah! Your acans are looking stunning! I love the varieties of colors!

Thanks Felicia!

 

 

Update: as of last night, phosphates were still at zero, and the acans started shriveling up. Coincidence? I don't think so. I fed them frozen food last night, and tonight I fed them reef roids with the pumps off. I could see some tentacles out later on, so I think they'll be OK.

 

Even though I always try to go slow and carefully, I did too much at once in a panicked reaction to the high phosphates and the algae outbreak.

 

I'm going to continue daily feeding of reef roids and frozen until phosphates get back above zero, and then resume PhosphateRX.

 

In Joe Yaiullo's MACNA talk, he says that he uses Lanthanum Chloride (PhosphateRX) for the bulk of his phosphate removal, but he also uses GFO to supplement it because he believes it also helps remove other potentially harmful contaminants.

 

If you haven't seen his talk yet, you really should. It's very funny and informative.

 

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/video/view/principles-of-diligent-reefkeeping-by-joe-yaiullo-macna-2016/

[teenyreef]

It's amazing how quickly things can deteriorate in a tank without really noticing it. I've found it's really helpful to go back and look at old pictures. Sometimes I'm struck my how much things have grown, other times by how much things have declined.

 

I've known that the acros haven't been doing well in the tank for months now. But here are some "reverse progress" shots of the acro on the very top of the rocks.

 

Last week:

20161028-untitled-006-Edit.jpg by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

August:

20160808-untitled-037-Edit.jpg by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

Late May:

Acro Island by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

Early May:

Acro Survivor by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

It's very frustrating to see how well it was doing before, but since it's hard to kill it's also a good indicator of how well this tank supports the pickier SPS varieties. If I see it coloring up after getting the tank back in balance, that will tell me it's time to try bringing back a few test acros.