Alkalinity/Calcium Daily drop with no livestock

Jeff Miotke · Apr 4, 2017

GoVols said:
Then most likely the AF ProBio method got it going and cyano is one tuff booger once it gets going.
Were you dosing the Pro Bio-S with the NP Pro too?
Pro Bio-S is bacteria and NP Pro is carbon that fuels the bacteria.

Yes sure was.

GoVols · Apr 4, 2017

Jeff Miotke said:
Yes sure was.

Welcome to cyano.

My filter socks do the same thing with cyano.

Can you post some close up pictures (With your blues off) so we can see what you see to make sure it's not Dino's or something else.

Brew12 · Apr 4, 2017

Jeff Miotke said:
Hahah... seems like Whenever i reach out its mission impossible as i only ask for help as a last resort deal.

The brown slimy socks have been that way since the start. Just thought that was normal.

If I use mesh socks I can go over a week without cleaning them (not good for nitrates but they don't clog). If I use the felt socks I can go 4 to 6 days without them overflowing.

GoVols · Apr 4, 2017

Brew12 said:
If I use mesh socks I can go over a week without cleaning them (not good for nitrates but they don't clog). If I use the felt socks I can go 4 to 6 days without them overflowing.

Good point and same here unless I have cyano, then my mesh needs to be cleaned more often.

lol, I don't run felt anymore.

Brew12 · Apr 4, 2017

#reefsquad

Anyone have experience with growing too much bacteria in a new tank from using probiotics and carbon dosing? Specifically, how long does it take for the bacteria growth to stop being accelerated?

Any recommendations on what can be done at this point?

anit77 · Apr 4, 2017

Jeff, it is definitely much too soon to throw in the towel. Try to remember back when you started fresh water. I'm sure you had some points in time in the beginning where you wanted to quit but look at the things you've done. Yes, the learning curve is a little bigger with SW but once you get past this you'll be on the right track. It was a pleasure meeting you at the Seachem tour in February and after that I looked you up online and I must say I was blown away. I had heard of and saw planted tanks before but I had never seen anything up to your caliber. Truly astonishing! I really hope you don't mind but I'm going to out you here.

For those of you that don't know who Jeff is, he's one of the top names in the Planted Tank world. If you get a chance look him up. He really has an eye for scapes, as you can tell. This link has a little sampling of some of the tanks he's created. I don't want to derail this thread and I'm hoping between here and ARC he can get pointed in the right direction. Here is a link to his build thread over at ARC. Hopefully it will help get a full picture so the right advice can be given. I'm going to refrain from giving anymore advice myself and leave it to the true pros and hope to learn something along the way too.

GoVols · Apr 4, 2017

@anit77
Thank you for your above

post.

Brew12 · Apr 4, 2017

anit77 said:
Jeff, it is definitely much too soon to throw in the towel. Try to remember back when you started fresh water. I'm sure you had some points in time in the beginning where you wanted to quit but look at the things you've done. Yes, the learning curve is a little bigger with SW but once you get past this you'll be on the right track. It was a pleasure meeting you at the Seachem tour in February and after that I looked you up online and I must say I was blown away. I had heard of and saw planted tanks before but I had never seen anything up to your caliber. Truly astonishing! I really hope you don't mind but I'm going to out you here.

For those of you that don't know who Jeff is, he's one of the top names in the Planted Tank world. If you get a chance look him up. He really has an eye for scapes, as you can tell. This link has a little sampling of some of the tanks he's created. I don't want to derail this thread and I'm hoping between here and ARC he can get pointed in the right direction. Here is a link to his build thread over at ARC. Hopefully it will help get a full picture so the right advice can be given. I'm going to refrain from giving anymore advice myself and leave it to the true pros and hope to learn something along the way too.

Wow.. just wow. Those tanks look amazing! I can't wait to see what you can do with salt water!

Please share the possibility of this being caused by bacteria with ARC and see if they can come up with any ideas.

My gut feel is to run GAC and not do any water changes for a few weeks. Keep dosing alk and calc to maintain your desired parameters and see if you can reach an equilibrium. Sure wish someone with more experience would chime in.

GoVols · Apr 4, 2017

@Anirban @120reefkeeper
Can you please, help with @Brew12 Post #65

Thanks, Freddie

Jeff Miotke · Apr 4, 2017

Brew12 said:
Wow.. just wow. Those tanks look amazing! I can't wait to see what you can do with salt water!

Please share the possibility of this being caused by bacteria with ARC and see if they can come up with any ideas.

My gut feel is to run GAC and not do any water changes for a few weeks. Keep dosing alk and calc to maintain your desired parameters and see if you can reach an equilibrium. Sure wish someone with more experience would chime in.

Thanks. I have about 1 cup of gac now that i changed a couple weeks ago. Should i up it? I shutdown the auto water changes.

Just did a nitrate and phosphate test.

No3 is 0.25 with redsea. Just barely a touch of pink color.
Po4 is 0.0 as always.

I feed like 40 pellets of ocean nutrition formula2 at a time for the 8 fish two to three times per day plus a cube of brine shrimp or mysis soaked with .5ml selcon. This is heavy right?

So this bacteria is stripping the no3 and po4 from the water...which is probably the cause of the coral not doing so well? My frag tank did not have any probiotics or carbon dosing. So it makes sense to me.

Maybe the stuff growing on the rocks now is a sign that the bacteria is running out of what it needs?

Jeff Miotke · Apr 4, 2017

anit77 said:
Jeff, it is definitely much too soon to throw in the towel. Try to remember back when you started fresh water. I'm sure you had some points in time in the beginning where you wanted to quit but look at the things you've done. Yes, the learning curve is a little bigger with SW but once you get past this you'll be on the right track. It was a pleasure meeting you at the Seachem tour in February and after that I looked you up online and I must say I was blown away. I had heard of and saw planted tanks before but I had never seen anything up to your caliber. Truly astonishing! I really hope you don't mind but I'm going to out you here.

For those of you that don't know who Jeff is, he's one of the top names in the Planted Tank world. If you get a chance look him up. He really has an eye for scapes, as you can tell. This link has a little sampling of some of the tanks he's created. I don't want to derail this thread and I'm hoping between here and ARC he can get pointed in the right direction. Here is a link to his build thread over at ARC. Hopefully it will help get a full picture so the right advice can be given. I'm going to refrain from giving anymore advice myself and leave it to the true pros and hope to learn something along the way too.

Thanks for the encouragement Adam.

Brew12 · Apr 4, 2017

Jeff Miotke said:
Thanks. I have about 1 cup of gac now that i changed a couple weeks ago. Should i up it? I shutdown the auto water changes.

Just did a nitrate and phosphate test.

No3 is 0.25 with redsea. Just barely a touch of pink color.
Po4 is 0.0 as always.

I feed like 40 pellets of ocean nutrition formula2 at a time for the 8 fish two to three times per day plus a cube of brine shrimp or mysis soaked with .5ml selcon. This is heavy right?

So this bacteria is stripping the no3 and po4 from the water...which is probably the cause of the coral not doing so well? My frag tank did not have any probiotics or carbon dosing. So it makes sense to me.

Maybe the stuff growing on the rocks now is a sign that the bacteria is running out of what it needs?

Heavy feeding is really relative to your fish and filtration. I would say it sounds heavy to me. I also think that the stuff growing on rocks is a good sign. As @GoVols mentioned earlier, algae can consume nitrates and phosphates making them test a little lower than they actually are. It does sound like you are heading in the right direction. Just wish I were more confident in a recommendation on how to reduce whatever is fueling your bacteria. GAC is the only thing I can think of.

If you have Zoa's or other soft corals in your frag tank you can try in your DT that actually might help. They may actually feed on the bacteria in the water. Pull them if they start looking bad but I think it is worth putting them in for at least a few days.

Anirban · Apr 4, 2017

Brew12 said:
#reefsquad

Anyone have experience with growing too much bacteria in a new tank from using probiotics and carbon dosing? Specifically, how long does it take for the bacteria growth to stop being accelerated?

Any recommendations on what can be done at this point?

What probiotics you dose and how much? What is the carbon source you are dosing and how much? What is your tank size?

GoVols · Apr 4, 2017

Anirban said:
What probiotics you dose and how much? What is the carbon source you are dosing and how much? What is your tank size?

Thank God you came and (lol) don't kill me.

Brew12 · Apr 4, 2017

Anirban said:
What probiotics you dose and how much? What is the carbon source you are dosing and how much? What is your tank size?

He has a Redsea reefer 525 and he stopped dosing probiotics and carbon back in November but he is still seeing slimy bacteria in his filter socks and has very high alk and calc consumption even though he has no corals and minimal coralline algae.

GoVols · Apr 4, 2017

Brew12 said:
He has a Redsea reefer 525 and he stopped dosing probiotics and carbon back in November but he is still seeing slimy bacteria in his filter socks and has very high alk and calc consumption even though he has no corals and minimal coralline algae.

@Anirban
You can start at OP's post #49