Reef Discussion

[ChrisVG]

Just wondering because I'm using 'nutra sea, live rock and sponge food'

 

[Dr. Schell]

Live phytoplankton, live rotifers and AcroPower (manufactured by TwoLittleFishes).

 

[Mantis Dundee]

Red Sea No3Pox4 or whatever it called. Feeds your bacteria and your skimmer starts producing more. I have been on 0 Nitrates for a while so just use to control occasional bit of phosphate periodically. I did use Aqua Medics Antired for a Cyano out break a few months back which worked well and followed instructions to the letter and had no negative impact on any corals.
Coral food, I tend to mix up a bit of reef roids with a frozen cube of rotifers. Suck em up in a syringe, turn off wavemakers, target at my corals with syringe. I let that sit for 10 minutes or so then crank wave makers. Just don't over do amount or frequency or you will have cyano and bubble algae all over your rocks. I do it once, sometimes twice a week. I try to do it day before I plan to do a water change.

 

[ChrisVG]

Thanks people's.

 

[Ian G]

• Tuesday - Kent Zooplex (half dose) distributed in water column by slowly pouring in near a powerhead. All pumps left running to circulate through entire system.
• Friday - Newly hatched Brine Shrimp distributed in water column. All pumps turned of for 30 minutes then restarted to circulate remainder through entire system. Sometimes I will also target feed frags that I'm growing out as well with this.
• Sunday - 100% Reefsafe Amno Acids & Reefroids (left to soak together in a cup of tank water for two hours). Target feed all corals with either a turkey baster or a 3ml pipette dropper. Sun coral fed after dark by using a coke bottle with the bottom cut out to keep the food around the coral and stop other critters getting it. On Sundays the tank gets two feeds. In the morning a mix of defrosted, finely blended, home made marine mix is fed to the fish. In the evening I do the coral feed as above.
• Mondays I do a water change of anywhere from 10% to 30% depending on how the tank is looking and do not feed the tank anything at all.
• Wednesdays I do not feed the tank at all.

Note my branching red tree sponge is thriving under this regime and has doubled it's size in 6 months, it's now about 4" tall. It's in a semi lit back corner of the tank directly UNDER the powerhead, so it gets flow from water being drawn in to the powerhead but gets none of the strong flow coming out of the powerhead directly. I'm about to try gorgonians in the same situation. Fingers crossed.

I am thinking about trying some coral "colour up" type products. Anyone have thoughts on these?

 

[ChrisVG]

I am using a phos pad in my sump to control phosphates. And am, nitrate, nitrite, ph are all great. Almost all zeros.

 

[aussieant32]

I don't like to use products for algea or phosphate issues, I prefer to eliminate the cause of the problem rather than mask it.

I add tropic marin phyton and zooton every 2 days. I don't target feed my coral, they get enough in the water stream, I take the approach of there being no turkey basters in the ocean.. :P

I used to use amino acids but I am beginning to rethink it with some research I was put onto, not confident enough at the moment to talk about it but it is pretty interesting stuff

 

[OSCAR85]

redsea no3po4 for nitrate... doesnt work on phos very well. rowaphos for phosphate keeps levels very low and works for long periods without releasing phos back into water.