jabberwock
2500 Club Member
I accidentally got the Phosphorus tester, but there is a conversion formula.
Avoiding the ugly stage?!?
- Thread starter tzoa
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That is the best option for a reef tank the ulr phosphate can read 0 even thought you have .01-.02 ppm PO4, Hanna makes a conversion chart.
Exotrezy
Active Member
Pretty sure it got dried out because it was out of the tank for a little but like under a week. The guy had coral and his tanked looked pretty good. Thanks for the advice! When should I add copepods?It uses both.
You are getting diatoms because the tank is still young and it is normal and all us dry rock tank people go through this.
it is normallllllllllllWe can take one look at your rock and know its normal
The rock is very baron, when you say an old tank was it WET? like alive in a tank for a long period? or removed and dried out?
It doesn't look like a rock from a thriving reef, it looks like it was dried out or it is base rock.
Live sand will also still cause diatoms.
You can add bottled copepods.
Exotrezy
Active Member
What should the phosphate and alk be at?
when there is something for them to eat
So if that brown dusting continues, add them. Their numbers will stabilize to the available food.If you add corals, you will naturally bring some in, you don't have to buy them. It is just a quick way to add a bunch at once.
Exotrezy
Active Member
I did buy 2 coral, and an anemone.when there is something for them to eat
If you add corals, you will naturally bring some in, you don't have to buy them. It is just a quick way to add a bunch at once.
Alk- 8-12 dkh; phosphate - this is a hot topic but imo a good level is 0.08-0.16. Some reefers have phos at .30 and beautiful thriving reefs. The idea is to keep your number steady if possible. Swings cause the problems. In the first 5 months I found it very hard to keep nutrients steady. When your tank matures, this will get easier to do.
What coral do you have? Keep soft coral until you learn more.
Exotrezy
Active Member
Alright
Exotrezy
Active Member
1 hammer with 2 heads, 1 candy cane coral, and a bubble tip anemone. The guy threw in the candy cane coral for free so I guess I didn't really buy it. And I also bought a lavender mushroom but he was going to bring it to me and hasn't yet.
jabberwock
2500 Club Member
How much was the mushroom you have not received yet?
Exotrezy
Active Member
He gave me total $40 for everything
Exotrezy
Active Member
I am getting 1 blue leg hermit crab, 1 red leg hermit crab, 2 nassarius snails, 1 mexican turbo snail, 2 bumblebee snails, and 1 trochus snail. Is that good?This is not a true explanation because I have had situations there my Si has rise to very high concentrations without creating any diatom bloom. But it have been in tanks with measurable PO4 concentrations - not in a new tank with no/low PO4. Si concentrations in a normal reef tank is around 100 - 200 µg/L because of leaks from stones. I have had around 17 000 µg/L Si without any diatom bloom. ICP from Triton Lab
IMO - its a myth that diatom blooms is driven by Si concentrations in the tank water - they are instead - IMO - driven by low PO4 concentrations that outcompetes other organisms for space because the others not get enough of P in order to grow fast. When it is measurable PO4 in the water - the green algae will outcompete the diatoms for space because higher growth-rate.
But they are not difficult to be rid of - snails, urchins, hermits and Bristletooth tangs are good diatom predators.
About time and size of the CUC. As early and many as possible is my answer as soon as you switch the light on. If you wait until you see some algae - you've already lost the battle. Golden rule - if you switch on the light - introduce a sufficiently large and varied CUC - do not wait. There is food - even if you can´t spot it.
Sincerely Lasse
When I had my RODI water lab checked it showed moderate levels of silicates. That's an indicator that my DI filter needed to be changed. After doing this my level was 0.
Exotrezy
Active Member
I bought the DI brand new in October from BRS and I haven't used it too much. Just to fill up my tank and top if off a couple times. Since I had to a fallow. I am getting 1 blue leg hermit crab, 1 red leg hermit crab, 2 nassarius snails, 1 mexican turbo snail, 2 bumblebee snails, and 1 trochus snail. Is that good?
Exotrezy
Active Member
Where can I get it checked? Should I get a checker?
Exotrezy
Active Member
Do I need to get cerith snails? Same with nerite? I wrote what I am getting in a different reply, please check. Along with the clean up crew, all I have to do is do my maintainence and check my phosphate and alk. Do I need to check silicates as well?
No, don’t bother testing silicates. It’s not something normally done.
For corals:
Alk
Ca
Mg
PO4
Nitrate
Of your list, the only two snails that eat algae are the turbo and trochus. I would not bother with bumblebee snails unless you have a specific reason to add them.
Lasse
10K Club member
Everything you ask for is in this article. To add 1 or 2 snails to a tank that already shows signs of a diatom monoculture is a joke. You need at least 10 - probably more. These algae double their biomass in less than 24 hours. If you have 1 gr one day - you will have 2 gr next day and so on. You need to have organisms that at least eat the offspring's every day and if you want to se the population decrease you need more grazers. Hermit needs to be more too. People in general is very afraid to add CUC when they do not see any algae - but believe me - they are there in exact that moment you turn the light on. The sooner you introduce CUC, the smaller number you need of them. Let us say that you have a population of diatoms of 1 gr totally - to keep that population in number - you need grazers that eat their daily production of 1 gr. If you wait one day and get a population of 2 gr (base population + produced offspring) - you need a grazer population that eat at least 2 gr/day. Normally you need no CUC before you start the light - but I never start the light before I had introduce at least some CUC. This means that I can start with a smaller number - if I see that growth rate outnumber grazing rate - I go down with or switch of the light and introduce more CUC. For me - that´s the only reason why I would wait some week befor coral introduction - I want to see that my CUC does its job and have a disen light regime.
In the start I have - if possible - the daylength as I would have later on - only play with the intensity.
IMO - if some succeed with only using blue light - its because they run it in low intensity - not because blue photons not will be harvest by algae. I prefer white light.
Sincerely Lasse
In the start I have - if possible - the daylength as I would have later on - only play with the intensity.
IMO - if some succeed with only using blue light - its because they run it in low intensity - not because blue photons not will be harvest by algae. I prefer white light.
Sincerely Lasse
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DebFerreira
New Member
If you are thinking of a diamond watchman goby you should wait until your tank is mature. They spend all their time sifting the sand for detritus. They will take a little pelleted food if it floats right in front of them, but that is not their main food source. A diamond watchman goby might starve to death in a new tank. I absolutely love mine though in my older tank.
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