Did a 5gal water change on my 30 gal with RO.. yesterday morning ...

PH 8.1
CAL Low res 0.4 x2= 0.8 == 460 ppm Right ??
ALK Low Res 0.6 x 2 = 0.12 == 14.1 DKH
Nirate 25 test are from Salifert..
How do i get my coraline to start growing . I have Purpleup , B-Ionic 2 parts .. and other additives..
I'm using Instan Ocean salt . salinty is 1.026

Tank been running for 4 months now. with about 26lbs of Live rock, 3 inches of Live sand. T 5's 6 lamp with dawn to dusk effect.
I have a leather coral, green star polyps, Xenia's , red star carpet, zoanthids, ricordea.. all opening and growing..

what do i do from here ???

Thanks all

Janey

well, assuming you are reading the test results right... (specifically Ca and Alk, cause im not sure which brand your using)

do nothing...
continue with weekly or bi weekly water changed until your Ca and Alk drop a bit more.

you want your Ca about 350-425 (IMO) and alk between 9-12 dKH
your nitrates really high, so that needs to be addressed. are you feeding too much? what type of filtration are you using...

the sand bed is a little shallow, but im not going to blame everything on that.

water changes will help reduce the nitrates, but you need to figure out why they are so high after 4 months

HI Rob
I have a cprbak2 , I put a bag of carbon in it. yesteday to get better clear water . I have a built in Refug, with about 1 in of live sand with Cheato, and culpra I spelled it wrong i think . LOL
And also i have a Hydor prime canister filter ( Prime 10 ) with a bag Kent marine Nitrate Sponge ) that i just put in .. I don't know why i still have high nitrate . I have 0 phosphate , 0 silcate too. i used the SALIFERT test kit .

well, it looks like you have most things in order...
make sure you are not using any BIO media in the canister, that WILL cause nitrate issues.

and yes for the test kits, if they are salifert, you are reading them right.

the skimmer isn't really a good skimmer from what i have heard, but i have never used one, so i cant speak from experience.

just keep going with the water changes and reduce your feeding amount of frequency and see if the levels start to drop.

NO bio media , i was thinking of geting the Aqua C remora with a mag 3 what do u think ?
Or which skimmer should i get for my 30 gal ?

the remora is a good skimmer, if you CAN go that way, i would...

How about this one Deltec MCE600
a freind bought this one and he says it works great. Its expensive but if it does the job . I'lll try to get it.

i am not familiar with this unit...
but i do know that many people really like the remora (many people here and else where)

your nitrates really high, so that needs to be addressed.


yups that is pretty high. but for a tank full of softies its not to bad, lower is better. if you decide to go sps or lps your nitrates need to be under 5 for corals to grow properly.

janey do you have and undergravel filter? if so that might be causing the nitrates

No undergravel filter just live sand.

janey

what do i do from here ???

IMHO, your letting your brain run ahead of your tank. You have everything under control except your Nitrates. The tank has only been up 4 months, it's 30 gals, you have a fairly heavy bio-load for a new small tank and you want your coraline to grow faster. My advise is to STOP and enjoy what you have. You are trying to rush things, expecting faster results than Mother Nature can provide. Slow down, it will happen. I'd say your only concern at this point is to get your Nitrates down. Your 3" sand bed is barely adequate to provide the anarobic conditions needed to promote anarobic bacteria to establish a sufficient enough population to reduce your Nitrates. Think about another inch of gravel. It's generally accepted that a 4" minimum depth of sand is needed for a DSB to function properly. I generally go with 5" depth minimum, more in larger/deeper tanks.

Remember this: The only thing that happens fast in a reef tank is disaster. Be patient, let the system mature.

Oh by the way, if you don't have any coraline growing stop adding the PurpleUp. It isn't coraline algae in a bottle and won't start the process.

And one more thing, what "other additives" are you adding?

Amphibious is absolutely right. I think he hit the nail on the head here. Heavy bio-load and little to not enough anaerobic activity, so until you can fix that, water changes are the only thing that I can think of that will help.

Purple-Up is worthless if your water parameters are out of whack (I have doubts about it's effectiveness even when they are correct).

My tank has been going to 8 months now. I didn't see any coraline growth until around 6 months and that was only after I'd tackled nitrate and phosphate issues. They can both impede calcification in corals and coraline algae.

Thanks, Jimm. I should have mentioned the water changes. :)

About additives: I'm a firm believer in the philosophy, the less you add to your aquarium the better off you will be. Just because a manufacturer puts out a product and your LFS stocks it, does not make it necessary or even beneficial to your aquarium. Their intentions may be honorable but both the manufacturer and the LFS are in business to make money. That is their sole purpose for being in business! That money comes from your pocketbook and mine. Stop buying additives and other products that are useless or of questionable quality or benefit.

If you can't test for it, how much is present in the water, how much is too much and why should I add X amount per gallon, per week. Don't fall into the, "I've got to add it because there's a pretty picture of Nemo on the package and the instructions say I need it", crowd.

This is an expensive hobby, probably the most expensive you will be involved with. Use your money wisely. Another bit of sage advise I like is a takeoff of an old saying, "A foolish reefer and his money are soon departed". Truer words were never spoken. I don't want anyone to be a foolish reefer.

It's no secret that I am in the online retail reef business. The last thing I ever want to be accused of is taking money from fellow reefers for useless products. That's why we only offer a limited number of products. If we don't use it, we don't sell it.