Reef Discussion
Going back over this thread and a quick look at your TJ, I'd be easing back on the reef roids, any liquids you're feeding in this tank. Without a protein skimmer you're not exporting nutrients at anywhere near the rate that systems with them will do - it's quite possible to have a system without a protein skimmer, but it always comes as a balancing act in regard to dealing with nutrient levels (remember not everything can be quantified by a test kit!).
A few posts point to high enough nitrates - something you really don't want to be seeing, but in an immature system you are, so that basically tells you that your system hasn't matured enough to deal with the amount of waste in the system yet. In larger systems things like a little nitrate aren't such a worry - the sheer water volume, quantity of live rock, bacteria and other support systems are far greater to deal with it. In a little system that hasn't matured you really don't have all of those things on your side, and parameters can swing wildly a lot faster than they do with a larger system.
Elevated nitrates, a bit of phosphate and other proteins you aren't exporting, and you've got algae food. Algae growth is a normal part of system maturity - and occurs when there are elevated levels of nutrients and nothing competing for them. Typically this happens after the nitrogen cycle gets through (which is when people get carried away with stocking tanks).
So... you really need to focus more on dealing with the causes of your issues than adding more things to the system that just treat symptoms - nutrients, nitrates & phosphate. The easiest way you'll do this is a) keep up with the water changes b) cut right back on the reefroids and other supplements that are basically adding all 3 of those problems into your tank c) if necessary, keep on with the rowa to help get the phosphate down as it's really a long term issue to really rid your tank.
I don't recall seeing if you have fish in this system yet (but I'll assume so) - I'd also suggest looking at how much you're feeding them (and how often) and determine if the quantity and frequency is really necessary for the specific fish you have. Excess foods and fish waste (fish seem to eat food if it's there) all add to these problems as well.
A few posts point to high enough nitrates - something you really don't want to be seeing, but in an immature system you are, so that basically tells you that your system hasn't matured enough to deal with the amount of waste in the system yet. In larger systems things like a little nitrate aren't such a worry - the sheer water volume, quantity of live rock, bacteria and other support systems are far greater to deal with it. In a little system that hasn't matured you really don't have all of those things on your side, and parameters can swing wildly a lot faster than they do with a larger system.
Elevated nitrates, a bit of phosphate and other proteins you aren't exporting, and you've got algae food. Algae growth is a normal part of system maturity - and occurs when there are elevated levels of nutrients and nothing competing for them. Typically this happens after the nitrogen cycle gets through (which is when people get carried away with stocking tanks).
So... you really need to focus more on dealing with the causes of your issues than adding more things to the system that just treat symptoms - nutrients, nitrates & phosphate. The easiest way you'll do this is a) keep up with the water changes b) cut right back on the reefroids and other supplements that are basically adding all 3 of those problems into your tank c) if necessary, keep on with the rowa to help get the phosphate down as it's really a long term issue to really rid your tank.
I don't recall seeing if you have fish in this system yet (but I'll assume so) - I'd also suggest looking at how much you're feeding them (and how often) and determine if the quantity and frequency is really necessary for the specific fish you have. Excess foods and fish waste (fish seem to eat food if it's there) all add to these problems as well.
Thanks alot for the information, i will cut back on feeding my corals until i sort out the problem.
Is once a week too much or do i feed them every fourtnight?
And yes i have a bi coloured blenny and feed him every two days with a small amount of brine shrimp, as they also feed on algae. Also only feed my CBS 3 spectrum pellets a day and he will eat it all.
Do i still add my bio-Trac suppliment or stop that too?
I do a water change every four days i dont really want to do them any more than that.
I will keep doing that and get some rowa phos. I will also cut down the lighting by and hour or so.
Im thinking of setting up my other nano to cure some dead rock in to temperarily replace this current rock with alot of algae on it. Once i cure the rock i will swap rocks from tank to tank and then re-swap once the algae has very much disapered on the old rock. Do you think this is ok?
Also its hard to clean my substrate due to lack of room between glass and my rock so i cant get in there to clean it.
Appreciate your help.
Is once a week too much or do i feed them every fourtnight?
And yes i have a bi coloured blenny and feed him every two days with a small amount of brine shrimp, as they also feed on algae. Also only feed my CBS 3 spectrum pellets a day and he will eat it all.
Do i still add my bio-Trac suppliment or stop that too?
I do a water change every four days i dont really want to do them any more than that.
I will keep doing that and get some rowa phos. I will also cut down the lighting by and hour or so.
Im thinking of setting up my other nano to cure some dead rock in to temperarily replace this current rock with alot of algae on it. Once i cure the rock i will swap rocks from tank to tank and then re-swap once the algae has very much disapered on the old rock. Do you think this is ok?
Also its hard to clean my substrate due to lack of room between glass and my rock so i cant get in there to clean it.
Appreciate your help.
Coral feeding is one of those things - there are plenty of people who don't bother at all and have success. There are others who if they didn't, their corals seem to suffer - really goes back to the things you can't really test for in a system.
I'd perhaps drop back to fortnightly for a while. Blenny should be OK - though perhaps if you have some dry foods, you could try to move him across to that rather than brine shrimp.. the vegetable component of their diet seems to be more important than meats, and dried foods tend to be a little more veggie focussed. Failing that, you might want to look at how you're feeding the brine shrimp.. if it's frozen, there's a fair chance that the water they're frozen in is high in phosphate - some people do some weird and wonderful things to get rid of that water to reduce the phosphates they're dumping in the tank.
You feed your CBS? They tend to be cleaners, so they'll go picking for scraps. Maybe ease back to 2 pallets and let is graze - remember the more you feed, the more waste they produce. The most waste, the higher the toxins!
I'm not familiar with what bio-trac is, but if it's a supplement it's a good candidate for you to stop using it. Depending on what's in it, and what it does, there may be repercussions of just stopping its use (good or bad, I don't know - someone who knows what's in it might be able to shed some light on this?). As a rule, if it offers to be a wonder supplement, chances are you really don't need it! There are good supplements (things that help balance calc, alk and magnesium) and there are bad supplements (like algaecides) and stuff that you really needed to use before live stock went in (bacteria boosters).
Might pull in @chimaera to this thread as he's a nano guru who might be able to share his experience - I haven't had a nano for years, but he might be able to provide some useful nano-specific tips (as these do vary a bit compared to big tanks!).
I'd perhaps drop back to fortnightly for a while. Blenny should be OK - though perhaps if you have some dry foods, you could try to move him across to that rather than brine shrimp.. the vegetable component of their diet seems to be more important than meats, and dried foods tend to be a little more veggie focussed. Failing that, you might want to look at how you're feeding the brine shrimp.. if it's frozen, there's a fair chance that the water they're frozen in is high in phosphate - some people do some weird and wonderful things to get rid of that water to reduce the phosphates they're dumping in the tank.
You feed your CBS? They tend to be cleaners, so they'll go picking for scraps. Maybe ease back to 2 pallets and let is graze - remember the more you feed, the more waste they produce. The most waste, the higher the toxins!
I'm not familiar with what bio-trac is, but if it's a supplement it's a good candidate for you to stop using it. Depending on what's in it, and what it does, there may be repercussions of just stopping its use (good or bad, I don't know - someone who knows what's in it might be able to shed some light on this?). As a rule, if it offers to be a wonder supplement, chances are you really don't need it! There are good supplements (things that help balance calc, alk and magnesium) and there are bad supplements (like algaecides) and stuff that you really needed to use before live stock went in (bacteria boosters).
Might pull in @chimaera to this thread as he's a nano guru who might be able to share his experience - I haven't had a nano for years, but he might be able to provide some useful nano-specific tips (as these do vary a bit compared to big tanks!).
It is frozen brine shrimp i feed at the moment. Oh really, i will see how my CBS goes with 2 pellets a day from on.
Bio-Trac just replenishes your trace elements thats all it just says its got natural chemicals in it too.
I didn't use bacteria booster i just let my tank cycle for over a month then started to ad bits and peices.
Ohk hope chim will have ideas aswell.
Appreciate it Darren.
Bio-Trac just replenishes your trace elements thats all it just says its got natural chemicals in it too.
I didn't use bacteria booster i just let my tank cycle for over a month then started to ad bits and peices.
Ohk hope chim will have ideas aswell.
Appreciate it Darren.
Perhaps thaw the brine shrimp out on some paper towel so it absorbs the water they were frozen in - might help reduce the amount of gunk you're throwing in there for the moment. Once it's back on track, it probably won't be such an issue.
Bio-trac - unless you have things absorbing those trace elements (ie certain corals), you're likely to find that your water changes are going to replace most of those trace elements. If you supplement trace elements you're not absorbing, you're basically building up higher than natural levels of elements than appear in nature. When you get a system well stocked with corals, do less frequent water changes, and protein skim the hell out of the system, then you start really using up all of the stuff that trace element supplements give back. There obviously some exceptions to this, but for the most part, you risk adding elements at a rate that far exceeds your systems ability to use them... ergo.. you wind up overdosing. You can't test for most of what you're adding, so you really don't know if you're doing something that is beneficial or detrimental.
This kind of stuff has its uses so I'm not suggesting it's bad stuff - a lot of people need to replenish trace elements and its quite beneficial to do so.
With your particular set of problems in a system that can't export excesses of anything out of it by any other method than a water change, I'd be giving that stuff a break until the system is balanced and things are running smoothly, then you can slowly start to introduce this stuff!
