frags ?

I have seen that, actually. I would like to see more studies done, however, since it points in the extreme opposite direction of many other studies of unhealthy, nutrient-laden reefs before anything definitive can be said.

Edit: There is also the ongoing hypothesis that coral mucus is one of the largest contributors of DOCs on a reef. if that holds true, then it would make sense for healthier areas to have a higher DOC anyway, due to the corals that are thriving. Maybe other things need to be examined...
 
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Wow. There's so much to post that I don't know which should be first. Today I'll cover max inputs that's I've been able to achieve.

I've been experimenting with how much I can feed my 90g, with only my 144 square inch turf screen doing the filtering. I'd add more food for a few days, then the Salifert N test would start showing a tiny bit of pink (about a .2 reading). Then I'd cut the food in half, until the reading went clear (zero N measured). Interestingly, P never increased. Ever. Only N. So after a few tries, here's the max I've been able feed the tank while just barely getting an N increase:


Max Feeding:

Liquid Life Marine Plankton with Cyclopeeze: 3 pumps a day
Liquid Life Bio Plankton (live phyto): 2 pumps a day
Frozone mysis: 2 cubes a day, unwashed, thawed in 4 oz tap water.
Silversides: 1 per week (for the eel)


Tank:

90 Display, BB
20 Sump
150 pounds LR
60 inches fish
40 corals, all softie and lps
6000 gph circulation
Carbon now used once a month for allelpathics


I'm now settling in on a lesser amount:

1 pump phyto
1-2 pumps plankton
2 cubes mysis, unwashed, thawed in 4 oz tap water.
Silversides: 1 per week (for the eel)
 
SantaMonica said:
Nice hypothesis; I wish I were in the line of work where I could spend time persuing it :)
Click to expand...

Me too :(. I'm primarily a vertebrate zoologist/marine biologist, dappling in coral reef ecology, basically. In the end, nobody really knows right now, I guess. As always, there are many ways to skin a...err... scrape algae :).

Nice figures. Turf beds and filters always had a large N & P processing capacity.
 
dixienut said:
you guys arn't helping ha ha i'm still confused as to what to do...???
Click to expand...

Well, do some research on the many ways of filtering a tank. We just mentioned two of them. In the end, make your decision based upon that. FWIW, whether it is a good or bad thing, most tanks go with protein skimmers. Also, again FWIW, there is tons of conflicting data and opinions out there, each of them being pretty well qualified.
 
Amphiprion said:
I hesitate to recommend anything unless you can provide concrete numbers.
Click to expand...

well been gone a while so here's the stats before a water change, that has been a couple months in the waiting..
still don't have the skimmer on it yet,..
ph either 8.4-8.8 similer colors
phos.. looks like 0.0 but not sure api tests the color is almost clear, lighter than the first color on card, but any ideas? the vile is the second one in the row
amm. 0
nitrite 0
nitrate looks like 5.0 or 10 color similar

100_0871.jpg

nitrate color in tube isn't darker than 2nd 2 but different ways you turn it it looks like the 4th one, but it really isn't but still stumped
100_0873.jpg


i have lots of caulerpa algea, just pulled out tons,
also cheata ball in corner and in fudge
100_0870.jpg

100_0875.jpg

just a newby in salt but i think the stats arn't bad for not have ing a water change in a good while.? any comments about whats with the api tests?
just using well water only,
also the only aglea is on glass kind and on rocks some but a few hairs of dark green hairs on one of the turbos and a few of about 10 clumps of tiny ones here and there on the rocks,..
also all my tanks survived a left over ike storm here in pa the put power out for 19 hours and no generator, i was lucky,.. and nervouse..
comments welcome
 
I agree those tests can be difficult to read, and not very precise. Thier are several on the market, although a bit pricey, that can make things a bit easier. What is your test and water change schedule? Why so long between changes? Consistant tests will give you a clear picture of the condition of your system. That large amount of algae is a sign of excess nitrates, phosphates, and perhaps a long photo period. Adding a good amount of live rock to your system could help you build up your biological filtration, as well as create a more diverse and balanced system. Make sure your water is turning over at least ten times an hour, making sure to direct flow to any dead spots you may have. Good water, light, and flow are very important when keeping corals. With the right light and water, you will have a large selection of easy corals to choose from. When in your lfs, find out the names of those you like and go home and google them. You will get a list of all the corals requirements. Many need little more than the before mentioned conditions.
 
been overdue due to recent truck driving job, been out of area alot, and usually takes a week to get back in time to go out again, but i ended that lease to them, going out on my own athority now ..
so as not to short change my kids and family

with salt i've been keeping up the salt same as the fresh tanks everyother week about 10g wc, in a 30 long

really don't have bad algea i planted the other to help keep tank water good. as in nature. and to help with oxygen, no dead spots, but lighting sometimes gets upset, as i need timers
 
I would recommend increasing the amount of live rock in your tank as well. Ideally, you would want a minimum of 30 lbs of live rock, with 40 - 45 lbs being much better. Considering the cost of nice live rock these days, you could slowly add in pieces of suitable dry base (dead) rock to help build up the amount of rock for the beneficial bacteria to populate. It's definitely advisable to include several pieces of nicer / premium live rock to help populate your tank with a good community of microfauna.

I would strongly recommend using RO/DI water since you are wanting to add corals. There are chemicals that can be in well water (or municipal tap water) which are far worse than nitrate and phosphate. In terms of a reef aquarium, metals in one of them. Metals build up in a tank over time, eventually reaching levels that are toxic to invertebrates and corals.

As for coral suggestions, there's many that should do well with your current lighting set-up. As long as you keep a reasonably good maintenance schedule (water changes, keeping water parameters in check, and replacing light bulbs on a regular basis), many soft corals and several LPS corals would be fine in your tank. Some of the ones you may want to look into include mushrooms, zoanthids, palythoa, leathers (toadstool leathers, tree leathers, etc.), hammer, frogspawn, candy cane, green star polyps, etc. I would stay away from open and closed brain corals, as well as SPS corals for the time being -- Acropora, Montipora, Stylophora, Pocillopora, etc. If you're curious about what they look like, a Google image search should provide plenty of results for you.
 
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