Twitterbait Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 did you try a reduced photo period... say 2-3 hours... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 ya..nadda. THings are looking up with sand, heavy feeidng and trace element supplement. STill not great but looking better. Im going to do several fairly large water changes this month also to try and replenish any lost trace. We shall see. This whole thing is weird. First four months of the tank, every growing like crazy. Since then nothing! Annoying to say the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitterbait Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Looks like your going sand so i will consider the BB a moot point from here on out. Peace out folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izzypop Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Drock59 you might try a new test frag. Anything new I added has responded well but the stuff existing is still coming back from shock. They are responding well and getting growth and PE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Krux Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 kieth, adding sand will indeed help alleviate algae issues as it will immediately start to bind up organophosphates which came in on your pukani. the only way to solve that binding long term is to remove sand as suggested above, similarly to weast's method where he constantly replaces the substrate... without removal, once the maximum uptake has been met, algae will once again proliferate in the tank. unfortunately, there are phosphates that our test kits do not test for, and there is no question really as to wether or not they exist, algae is phosphate limited, if there is truly 0 then none would grow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefhut Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Great stuff Shawn, Great job posting on this bb issue, I believe it will help alot of people. Drock59 I would ship you a frag if you cover shipping of 9.00 priority. It could be a test acro.LMK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 would stirring up the sand do any good or will it only help to remove? Also, when you remove it can you reuse it? Just another cost for the tank I dont want to fork over. shawn, i added several new frags. They are all doing well after three days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Krux Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 steve just gets a big sack of sand and replaces it a few cups at a time with his weekly water changes and vac'ing and that is on an 850 if you had 10 lbs in reserve it should last you quite some time. the main thing is that you need to have substrate available that isn't laden to fix the phosphate as it is introduced. in theory, when you started to see algae you could do a thorough cleaning and replace some then... as long as you are not using enough to form anoxic layers, you dont want to be dealing with hydrogen sulfide... we nuked one of steves red carpets that way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 this is why I hate sand beds...chemistry. Couldnt i just use some phosban instead of doing all of this? Im all about low maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Krux Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 theoretically, but for some, that isn't working. bb has only been sucessful for me when i was honestly doing real water changes like clockwork... when i slipped and didnt do them every sunday things fell off, when i went back to them, they picked up. i have been guilty of professing at times that i spend more time on my tank than i do, and when i miss a filter sock change, an alk test, or a water change, everyting hurts for a while. honestly, if sandbeds make things more user friendly they are a good way to go, they are a battery, and can store a lot. they give a lot of cushion where time may be at a premium. those bonsai tree guys that mist their trees every day for 80 years know about dedication, i just like to look at fish in a box. for me that means no sand and lots of salt buckets, but that is just me... not everyone is as lucky it seems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 krux, what kind of water changes are you doing? I mean percentages. I have been reading on whether large or small water changes are better....just curious what you do. I have been doing large water changes, but im not sure about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ahbrit Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 i do 50g a week at the moment ive not been the most successful though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Krux Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 i was doing 10 gallons on my 75currently i do 5 gallons on my 30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 update: I want polyp extension like this: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=814505 party seriously...I bought some Salifert Amino Acids and dosed this morning. I have to say in all honesty that I have more polyp extension. Perhaps my eyes are playing tricks on me, but im dead serious. Its just a matter of nutrients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cpreef Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 I have been having some of the same type of problems with my BB system. I have had two corals completely fade-out and I have had a little STN and decrease PE on two others. My macro algae is not growing well in my refugium. But I have been unsure of the cause. I have been traveling a lot which is never good news for my tanks because things do not get fed they way they should. I also had my co2 regulator break and I ended up with some big flucutations in my CA and Alk level until I replaced it. (It took me a while to realize that I could not get it to work) I can be a slow learner sometimes :>) In the meatime, other things are doing great! Old standby SPS are going and showing great color and growth. The anemones. clams, leathers and LPS are all growing. I started the new 300 gallon set-up in November. I did cook about 90% of my old rocks for about 6 weeks plus I added about 300 lbs of new LR that I cured. I do weekly water changes of 10% and I change filter socks twice a week. I was thinking of adding sand back into the refugium anyway and I am going to buy some uncured LR, cure it, and add it to the refugium. I prefer the look of sand in the tank but I hate the idea of adding sand to the display due to the increased risk of scatches. I will step up my feeding the next few weeks and see what happens. I wish I had answers, I just thought I would add my problems to your excellent thread and keep reading. Thanks, Connie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Izzypop, any updates from you and your testing? I have seen significant improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Thats awesome Dan. Glad to hear things are getting better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 ya, i am actually seeing new growth tips on my caps and lots of encrusting on all my corals. Its great. I have no idea if it was simply the feeding heavily or the additives. Im not going to change a thing now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izzypop Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 100% turn around. I have great growth and color now. My tank is great. I learned some great information throughout this mess. Sand, heavy feedings of all kinds of foods and that took care of it. I am glad your tank is doing good too. Proof is in da puddin!hungry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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