Need Advice: Nothing is Growing!

[Tangerine Speedo]

This is my thoughts. Since we run closed systems, the bacteria and Biome are always in competition with other strains/versions. Only the strong survive. The Bacteria in a tank that is one year old is different than a tank three years old. So if you get your rock from a existing system or LFS, you will only have the Biome that is existing in that system at that time. The ocean isn’t a closed system. Biome is more expansive because it can find it's own niche. One needs to "feed" their Biome by introduction. This can be from NSW, ocean sand or rock, even coral from other systems. You then also have to feed the system with Phyto, pods and rotifers. You need to feed the things that feed corals.

 

[bakbay]

I agree with this hence I turned off everything to let things reset vs over killing/exporting. I’ve been feeding PNS every other day, along with RS AB+.

 

[Jimbo327]

If you have biobricks from another mature system, I would definitely move it over since you have higher nutrients and the bricks will help process. Just don't take too much that it'll affect your frag tank balance.

As far as Trident, have you taken it apart and cleaned the cuvette? If you have not, use a Q-tip and clean the cuvette. I doubt your ABC reagents are that far off unless you mixed it incorrectly.

 

[bakbay]

If you have biobricks from another mature system, I would definitely move it over since you have higher nutrients and the bricks will help process. Just don't take too much that it'll affect your frag tank balance.

As far as Trident, have you taken it apart and cleaned the cuvette? If you have not, use a Q-tip and clean the cuvette. I doubt your ABC reagents are that far off unless you mixed it incorrectly.

I have 3 biobricks and a boatload of rocks in the sump so moving one should not hurt. I’m after biome more than for nitrate control.

Good point - I’ve cleaned the lines but have not cleaned the cuvette in a year(?). I’ve done it before in my other Trident though. I’ll try it and let you know. Thanks!

 

[Dutch_Roots]

The stupid Trident is behaving erratically again - Trident NP is actually good.

Since I changed to ABC Reagent, things are grossly off compared to Hanna. Currently, I’m at 9dKH (per Hanna, tested multiple times & compared to other tanks) but Alk is showing over 14dKH!

I’m tempted to go back to those 6mos reagents when I’m done with this ABC batch. Currently, I’m taking whatever dKH value is reported and subtract by 4-5! lol

Anyone has the same problem?

View attachment 131314

Do you calibrate with the provided solution or your Hanna readings? The solution they provide I always found to be off but when I calibrate to the Hanna testers the results stay pretty consistent.

 

[wishntoboutside]

I may consider replacing your orp depending on how it old it is. One cs not calibrate these. Depending on how much ozone your are tuning it could be consuming all of your trace elements and not allowing your corals to do so.
just a thought

 

[bakbay]

Just re-tested after cleaning the curvette.
Hanna: 9.7
Trident: 13.4
Likely I’ve screwed up with the mixing, the result has always been off by 4dKH! Ugh — it’s ok, I’ll just learn to cope with it. I overshot my manual dosing in attempt to get to 9dKH. I’ve turned off the CaRx — it should settle down to 9dKh in a few days.

@Dutch_Roots - I always recalibrated with Hanna, not their bottle. Thanks

 

[bakbay]

I may consider replacing your orp depending on how it old it is. One cs not calibrate these. Depending on how much ozone your are tuning it could be consuming all of your trace elements and not allowing your corals to do so.
just a thought

I bought the Milwaukee ORP probe a year ago — believe they last longer than pH probes? Anyway, not sure how one can re-calibrate it though.

Ozone has been turned off for a week now. I was only running at 30%. Here is my range with/without Ozone running.

 

[thresher]

With all that tech, surprised you dont get an audible houston we have a problem feature.

 

[drexel]

I do water changes for ionic balance, not nutrient control (although, they can help with nutrients with limited success). Also, when you change things, it may take weeks or months before you start to see the results, nothing is instant with our systems (and most quick changes aren't good). I agree that adding new biome could help. Adding siporax or polyp lab's genesis blocks will help reduce NO3 over time. 0.1 - 0.2 PO4 is fine and I don't consider 0.2 super high (especially in home aquaria), but NO3 should be in balance with PO4 when possible.
I'm actually looking for more ocean rock (not from the Gulf) to add some more diversity to my tank (which is full of Aussie and Soloman rock). The other thing that helps is biomass from the corals themselves. Unless you're changing your carbon blocks frequently, chloramines will get through eventually. Matrikx Chloraguard is your best bet for fighting them.

 

[bakbay]

With all that tech, surprised you dont get an audible houston we have a problem feature.

Hmmm .. great idea! Perhaps mount a web cam and based on growth rate (or lack thereof), send the feed to an AI-enabled bot, which is already connected to the Apex’s REST API….

OR: just relax and things will grow a year from now…

 

[bakbay]

Today’s params —

Alk: 9.5dKH (yes, I know about the grossly reported values. I need to recheck CA to get a baseline. Last time it was nearly 300 off. I never bother checking CA nowadays)
NO3: 38ppm
PO4: 0.16ppm

N&P values are pretty close to Hanna.

 

[Jimbo327]

So you dosing 5ml per day, and I see 4 big costco bottles of vodka....where is it all going? Hmmmm....

 

[bakbay]

So you dosing 5ml per day, and I see 4 big costco bottles of vodka....where is it all going? Hmmmm....

lol - you crack me up dude! They are for my other 3 tanks! Carbon dosing all the way…ha

I’m dosing 20mL of vodka and PhosphatE. Both nutrients are already coming down. NO3 will take a week/two to get down to sub 10ppm using vodka. However, the PhosphatE stuff works pretty darn fast! I should be able to hit sub 0.10ppm in a few more days. I was at ~10ppm NO3 and ~0.10ppm PO4 before and honestly didn’t see any growth either.

It’s entirely possible that my Calcium and Magnesium are low since I haven’t tested them in awhile. I’m still waiting for ICP results, which is the most annoying part.

 

[bakbay]

As an update - the vodka is doing a great job knocking down nitrates. We went from 38ppm to 29ppm in one day. PO4 is reduced slightly from 0.16ppm to 0.15ppm. Both are trending down so we’re on track.

Separately, Alk went from 9.7dKH to 9.1dKH so the plan is to keep it stabilized at this point.

 

[drexel]

Go slow, there’s no need to rush things.


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[bakbay]

Alk tuning - going to land alk at 9dKH

Go slow, there’s no need to rush things.


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oh I am - well, I’m trying. We should not exceed PO4 drop by 0.5ppm/day so I’m good in that camp.

You’re right on nitrate though. We should not exceed 5ppm/day and it’s more than I was expecting actually. Will see how tomorrow goes and will adjust accordingly.

 

[Timb]

keep tank temp between 77-79F
SG 1.0265
Ph 8.2-8.5
dose some trace elements
turn on White lights too 4-6 hrs

 

[bakbay]

keep tank temp between 77-79F
SG 1.0265
Ph 8.2-8.5
dose some trace elements
turn on White lights too 4-6 hrs

Assume all those are in check, what else should I try?

 

[drexel]

What are you feeding the tank? Maybe dose some live phyto at night along with other particulate foods?