- Joined
- Apr 3, 2020
- Messages
- 126
- Reaction score
- 78
My reef is about 5 months old. First reef tank so there's been a lot of learning. I've had an issue for at least 2 months now where most of my LPS have receded and stay deflated. A couple have died from polyp bailout. I'm very diligent about testing and dosing and doing everything best I can, but with my best efforts to keep parameters stable I haven't had any luck getting the coral to improve.
Finally I realized from reading a lot that my phosphate could be the main issue. I have a Hanna ULR and it's read 0.00 on every test for the last 2 months. I've had some cyano and some algae so I figured there was enough phosphate to be ok, but now I think not.
I used new CaribSea Aragonite Special Grade and I'm thinking after some reading that it's taking up all the phosphate, hurting the coral. I've turned off my skimmer, took out the filter floss, no more GFO, and just letting the system go for a bit. But even after 2 weeks phosphate is still 0.0. Nitrate at 5-10.
I have some Seachem Flourish and started dosing that at .5mL per 20 gallons the last 2 days. I bought PE Mysis and Oyster Feast to help add phosphate. I'm feeding a bit more and adding in flake food. I also got another fish in QT to raise bio load a bit (5 fish in 34g).
My concern is that there is so much capacity in the Aragonite to bind phosphate that I could still be far away from getting measurable phosphate.
I'm looking for input on how to handle this. Do I dose, and if so what, how much, and got often? Do I need to quickly get all the phosphate capacity bound up or slowly? I prefer doing things naturally but maybe this is an exception. Do I leave my skimmer off or run it? Or is there something else I should consider?
Salinity 34ppm
Alk 9-10
Ca 425-450
Mg 1350-1400
Nitrate 5-10
Temp 78F
pH 7.8-8.0
Finally I realized from reading a lot that my phosphate could be the main issue. I have a Hanna ULR and it's read 0.00 on every test for the last 2 months. I've had some cyano and some algae so I figured there was enough phosphate to be ok, but now I think not.
I used new CaribSea Aragonite Special Grade and I'm thinking after some reading that it's taking up all the phosphate, hurting the coral. I've turned off my skimmer, took out the filter floss, no more GFO, and just letting the system go for a bit. But even after 2 weeks phosphate is still 0.0. Nitrate at 5-10.
I have some Seachem Flourish and started dosing that at .5mL per 20 gallons the last 2 days. I bought PE Mysis and Oyster Feast to help add phosphate. I'm feeding a bit more and adding in flake food. I also got another fish in QT to raise bio load a bit (5 fish in 34g).
My concern is that there is so much capacity in the Aragonite to bind phosphate that I could still be far away from getting measurable phosphate.
I'm looking for input on how to handle this. Do I dose, and if so what, how much, and got often? Do I need to quickly get all the phosphate capacity bound up or slowly? I prefer doing things naturally but maybe this is an exception. Do I leave my skimmer off or run it? Or is there something else I should consider?
Salinity 34ppm
Alk 9-10
Ca 425-450
Mg 1350-1400
Nitrate 5-10
Temp 78F
pH 7.8-8.0