SuncrestReef

I started my mixed reef tank in early 2018. My tank showed amazing coral growth and colors through mid 2020. But around July 2020 I started seeing some STN problems on a couple SPS corals. My water tests showed I had higher Nitrate and Phosphate levels than I wanted, around 16 ppm NO3 and 0.15 PO4. I tried tuning my skimmer to remove more nutrients. Over the next couple of months the problem started spreading to additional colonies, and by October the situation really deteriorated. PO4 had increased to 0.25 ppm. Whole colonies were dying in a matter of days. I sent in water samples for ICP analysis and there was no sign of metals or other contaminants. There has been no fluctuation in temperature, salinity, pH, alkalinity, calcium, or other major parameters. I’m pretty sure it’s just the high NO3 and PO4. In addition to large water changes, I increased my GFO usage and started dosing Lanthium Chloride to reduce the PO4. I have it down to about 0.10 ppm PO4 now and am continuing to slowly reduce it, but I continue to lose more corals. I’ve lost large birdsnest colonies, monti’s, lobo’s, goni’s, scoli’s, plate corals, and nearly every acropoa in my tank. Only my mushrooms and zoas continue to thrive. I haven’t posted any photos from my tank for many months because things are looking so bad. At this point, I’m feeling defeated after 5 months of significant losses. I pride myself on providing Apex automation advice to other reefers, and for a long time I was having great success with my tank, but I’m now at a point where I don’t really know what went wrong. Could the slightly high PO4 and NO3 really have that this bad of an impact on so many types of corals? I’ve read of other tanks having much higher PO4 & NO3 levels than mine and still surviving. I’m not giving up, but just not sure what else to do at this point other than starting over. I’m not asking for sympathy, but seeking advice. I probably should have reached out for help sooner.

On the Eighth Day of Giving my reef club gave to @Trailermann ... a $100 gift certificate to the sponsoring LFS of your choice! Congratulations! @Emerald525 will coordinate with you on your choice of LFS. The next drawing is tomorrow at 5:00pm.

On the Seventh Day of Giving my reef club gave to @fpd4308 ... a $50 gift certificate to the sponsoring LFS of your choice! Congratulations! @Emerald525 will coordinate with you on your choice of LFS. The next drawing is tomorrow at 5:00pm.

We're 1/2 way through the Twelve Days. The prizes only get better from here on out! Good luck, everyone. Check back tomorrow at 5:00pm for the next winner!!!

The entry deadline was November 30, 2020 at 11:59:59pm in this thread: Sorry you missed out.

I keep this website open in a separate browser tab leading up to prize announcement time: https://www.time.gov/

On the Sixth Day of Giving my reef club gave to @half-astronaut ... a Red Sea Foundation Pro test kit! Congratulations! Your prize is available at Cuttlefish & Corals. The next drawing is tomorrow at 5:00pm.

What can I say...the random number generator works in mysterious ways. For the record, each person who entered was assigned a number in the order of their entries. 1 to 55. I then use Google's Random Number Generator each day to select a number between 1 and 55 for the day's winner.

On the Fifth Day of Giving my reef club gave to @Manny Tavan ... a Hanna Alkalinity checker! Congratulations! Your prize is available at Cuttlefish & Corals. The next drawing is tomorrow at 5:00pm.

It should be fine for you. I have two XF230's on my Reefer XL 425 (88 gal display, 4 ft tank). And as Shaywood said, you can dial it down if it's too strong.

On the Fourth Day of Giving my reef club gave to @Its_cchan ... a refractometer! Congratulations! Your prize is available at Cuttlefish & Corals. The next drawing is tomorrow at 5:00pm.

Wow, looks great! Glad you found us here.

I love my Flipper! This is a good deal for someone.

On the Third Day of Giving my reef club gave to @sroberts ... a $25 gift certificate to the sponsoring LFS of your choice! Congratulations! @Emerald525 will coordinate with you on your choice of LFS. The next drawing is tomorrow at 5:00pm.

On the Second Day of Giving my reef club gave to @spectra ... Epoxy Putty! Congratulations! Your prize is available at Cuttlefish & Corals. The next drawing is tomorrow at 5:00pm.

I have always loved these tables. There are so many YouTube videos of people making them, but I've never done it or known anyone personally who has. Nice work! What are the dimensions?

Wow, that's beautiful. Nice frag.

Glad it's going to good use! Just so everyone is clear on the rules, even if you win a prize, you are still in the running for each additional day's drawings. Good luck, everyone!!!

Beautiful nem!

On the First Day of Giving my reef club gave to @Willapa ... Joes Juice! Congratulations! Your prize is available at Cuttlefish & Corals. The next drawing is tomorrow at 5:00pm.

Excellent! Glad it worked for you.

My wife gave me a sheet of postage stamps with fish and corals on them: I never knew the post office sold these. They’re only valid for postcards, but could be a fun gift idea for the reefers in your life. 😊

On the Twelve Days of Giving, my reef club gave to me.... 1. Joes Juice - @Willapa 2. Epoxy Putty - @spectra 3. $25 gift certificate - @sroberts 4. Refractometer - @Its_cchan 5. Alkalinity checker - @Manny Tavan 6. Red Sea test kit - @half-astronaut 7. $50 gift certificate - @fpd4308 8. $100 gift certificate - @Trailermann 9. Milwaukee refractometer - @Micah 10. Nero 5 powerhead - @NateDawg 11. VorTech MP40 - @susp1cious 12. Neptune Trident - @CoralReefTankers Congratulations!!!

The programming looks fine. My only thought is that the EB8 uses solid-state switches for outlets 1-3 and 5-7, which can sometimes have problems turning off low-power devices. Outlets 4 and 8 use mechanical relays which do not have that limitation. Try moving the plug to outlet 4 or 8, and setting it with the same programming to see if that resolves the problem.

Please post the programming from that output.