Hows your water flow? I assume it's fairly strong to keep deitrus suspended
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I would rather do water changes then dose. I always notice my corals open up allot more after water changes. I think both methods work. Maybe not stop water changes just reduce to monthly or less. Just a thought.
Thank you Elder! I still always suggest water changes to any new members I run across locally when starting a new tank. Unless you go the route of the reactors I use, then I think no water changes can really get you in trouble and that's not what I really want to spread to new hobbyist. Once a person feels comfortable being able to monitor nutrient levels and foundation elements, that's where I think the next step can be taken to remove water changes entirely and employ reactors instead to remove the need for water changes.Tank looks great and not having the grind of water changes is nice and your results are hard to deny.
I some times wonder how much the industry pushes water changes as a constant flow of income. If the hobby in general cut down on water changes most LFS and sites would feel it instantly as the foot traffic or online traffic would slow. Most hobbyist walk into a LFS or order from a site end up with more then what they originally set out to buy i.e. salt.
I have no clue if this is even a factor on how much water changes are pushed... I have done water changes every 2-3 weeks and will keep doing this as it has worked for me.
Just wanted to share what I was thinking about while reading this post.
Yes, strong enough for my acros but can't really quantify it. Detritus, at least my personal opinion, is not the devil if you have ways of dealing with nutrients. I've never removed any detritus over the years from my sump in this tank or the last tank with no water changes. I'll end up with often a 1" layer of detritus in my sump over time. It is actually somewhat beneficial in many ways such as a source of calcium carbonate, reef "snow", and gives scavengers and filter feeders a food source.Hows your water flow? I assume it's fairly strong to keep deitrus suspended
I would rather do water changes then dose. I always notice my corals open up allot more after water changes. I think both methods work. Maybe not stop water changes just reduce to monthly or less. Just a thought.
The only thing he's dosing, iirc, is amino acids. CaRx is doing most of the work and that's automatic.
Nutrient reduction is not why I do water changes.
Your method does not account for accumulation of undesirable organics that may be toxic or yellowing, and expensive ICP testing tells you if some things are accumulating or depleting, but does nothing about it. Regular water changes help limit problems from these issues without the expense of testing and the lack of even knowing what to do about some of them if you find accumulations (which are not at all unusual if you read the ICP reports posted online).
Thank you Randy for looking it over. Until it causes issues with the livestock, I'll consider it a non-issue. When it does cause an issue, I'll be happy to share with the community so we can all add to our collective knowledge of how these off-based major ion ratios can possibly affect livestock.I don't know if it is hurting anything or not, but your major ions are skewed quite a bit from NSW (elevated calcium, magnesium and potassium at the expense of sodium; low sulfate and presumably elevated chloride) and water changes might have reduced that.
industry pushes water changes as a constant flow of income
Hi Reeftang, I do not. I just run an extra large skimmer, biipellets, gfo, and activated carbon.FarmerTy do you run a refugium?
wow thats nice to hear because i thought that my issue is that i dont have place for a fuge to grow cheato. so i see it can be done without it. Currently im carbon dosing (redsea NOPOX)and also dosing the regular stuff cal, alk, mag, but i cant seem to grow any sps what can be the problem?Hi Reeftang, I do not. I just run an extra large skimmer, biipellets, gfo, and activated carbon.
How old is your system? What are your parameters? Specifically salinity, Ca, Alk, Mg, NO3, PO4, temp.wow thats nice to hear because i thought that my issue is that i dont have place for a fuge to grow cheato. so i see it can be done without it. Currently im carbon dosing (redsea NOPOX)and also dosing the regular stuff cal, alk, mag, but i cant seem to grow any sps what can be the problem?
So my system is about a year old.How old is your system? What are your parameters? Specifically salinity, Ca, Alk, Mg, NO3, PO4, temp.
What is your lighting? What is currently thriving in your tank?
So my system is about a year old.
water parameters:
salinity: 1.023
Cal: 490
Alk: 10
Mg: 1360
NO3: 10-15
PO4: 0.08
temp: 78 - 80
Lighting: Ocean Revive Arctic T247
What is currently thriving in your tank? mostly zoanthus, lether tree, but every time i introduce sps or any stony coral they will die.
What percentsges are you running on your lights? How high above the water? For how long?Here are my thoughts:
-reduce your alk to below 8.0 dKh. When carbon dosing, you'll get alk burn from having it above 8.0 dKh. This may be the singular reason why stony corals (LPS and acros) aren't surviving your tank.
-salinity can increase a bit to 1.025-1.026
Interesting that you're saying that because i do have burned tips on the sps. I was under the impression that the reason you might get burned tips when carbon dosing is because your tank is untra low nutrient but in my case my nutrients are not that low are they?Here are my thoughts:
-reduce your alk to below 8.0 dKh. When carbon dosing, you'll get alk burn from having it above 8.0 dKh. This may be the singular reason why stony corals (LPS and acros) aren't surviving your tank.
-salinity can increase a bit to 1.025-1.026
The lights are 15.5" above eater level.What percentsges are you running on your lights? How high above the water? For how long?