-
******* To read about the changes to the marketplace click here
My tank looks ugly
- Thread starter danielm5
- Start date
OP
OP
I measured the parameters today with API tests kits (take this as approximate):
This is how the sand looks everyday before cleaning:
- PH: 8 or 8.1
- Alk: 7 dKH
- CA: 340 ppm
- PO4: 0.5 ppm
- NO3: 10ppm
This is how the sand looks everyday before cleaning:
Looking good! ** ref to prev post after you cleaned.
Things happen. Don’t give up. Coral looks healthy. I had a brief spell of what looked like dino in my 3g. I ended up removing half of sand and added a power head. . I do think feeding pods phyto and biodiversity in general make my tank look healthier. Lots of good advice with this group. No harsh criticism. And people speak from what they know not what they read. Met a couple nice reefers here. Glad to be in this hobby.
Things happen. Don’t give up. Coral looks healthy. I had a brief spell of what looked like dino in my 3g. I ended up removing half of sand and added a power head. . I do think feeding pods phyto and biodiversity in general make my tank look healthier. Lots of good advice with this group. No harsh criticism. And people speak from what they know not what they read. Met a couple nice reefers here. Glad to be in this hobby.
Last edited:
OP
OP
I've been considering growing phyto. Is that a common thing to do? or do most people just buy it?
Some people on here do it if you look back on some older posts and YouTube has lots of info.
I’ve purchased it live from Animal Instincts in Fall River. Live only. Made the mistake before of using Seachem phyto to spot feed corals. It killed them. I didn’t read the bottle says not to do that. And contains a preservative, citric acid ouch.
The first step is to get yourself better test kits to remove the guess work.
@afboundguy would be your guy, he culture many strands and also sells them.
@Mixed Reefer has it as well in Peabody
@TPhan @danielm5 I sell T-iso, Tetraselmis, Nannochloropsis, Thalassiosira weissfloggii, Pheaodactylum tricornutum, Chaetoceros calcitrans, and Rhodomonas Salina. I have plenty of all of them except the Rhod and Thal strands right now. Thal, Pheaod and Chea are all silicate strands and need silicates to culture
You can buy phyto or culture your own. Culturing is a bit of work depending on what strain you use as some are much more finicky and prone to crashing so sterilization process is crucial. You need fresh saltwater, fertilizer, air and light.
If you’re going to dose phyto long term it’s worth culturing your own. It’s a simple process any reefer can do it. Pm me and I’ll give you some tips. Just like @afboundguy did learning the process. If you’re going to culture, for starters find a good source of live phyto. There’s a lot of on line sources. You’ll find some good uncontaminated starter cultures there. If you need a recommendation pm me. Try starting with the nano. This is common in the hobby and the easiest Most reefers wont need all those other fancy named phytoplanktons such as Thalassiosira weissfloggii, Pheaodactylum tricornutum, Chaetoceros calcitrans, and Rhodomonas Salina. unless they’re using for a specific purpose. Look them up. You’ll see the benefits of each and then you’ll see if it right for your application. I feel most of these are overkill for the average reefer and definitely more challenging to culture. I know hatcheries use a lot of these varieties for example clams. I use three strands to culture copepods with great success. Anyway my point is the common reefer will find nano is sufficient for what they’re trying to do. When I look at your tank I would be careful dropping phosphate. Definitely raise calcium. I would dose nano daily, microbacter 7 daily and Siphon the sand and blast your rocks daily. Change out mechanical filtration such as socks also daily. Get that stuff out. Check your light spectrum also. Anyway hope I helped. GL
Couldn't agree more with this! Nanno is a great way to get your feet dirty and I probably don't need all 7 strands and I am a little crazy. It's all @Mixed Reefer fault as he got me back into the phyto journey I just took it way overboard and actually enjoy it!
Last edited:
OP
OP
Thank you for your advice both on the phyto, and for keeping my tank healthy. I'll look into both and most likely ask more questions.
OP
OP
@Mixed Reefer I love the idea of growing my own phyto. I looked at the different variants and I've think nanno could be great for a beginner like me as you said. However, I wonder if growing too much becomes a problem since my 15 gal tank won't need that much. Would be viable grow some (let's say 1 quart or something), keep it in the fridge for a few weeks, and later grow some more from that? I mean, instead of continuously grow more, grow some amount only when I'm running low?
You could do that, but there’s some things to know. First is you need to be sanitary in every step or you will lose the culture rather quickly. Anytime you’re interacting with that culture you’re at risk of contamination. Phyto is very sensitive in my opinion. Also being in the refrigerator will keep it longer but you’ll need to shake that refrigerated culture often or it will smother itself and die. You’ll see separation starting as a sign of this. Personally, I would keep a culture bubbling at all times and keep back up and refrigerator.Sometimes phyto is work. If you’re going to try culturing I would have two cultures going at all times. That way if one crashes you’ll have a back up to start again. Culturing phyto isn’t for everyone. In your situation a 15 gallon tank you need to weigh it out and see if right for your application or purchase from another reefer. If you do go with culturing your own phyto maybe use the extra phyto to grow some pod cultures. It’s basically similar in process but the benefit would be live food for your fish.
OP
OP
My tank is looking much better after a thorough cleaning:
My calcium measurements from my API kit seems off, thus I don't really know right now its value. Just as a precaution, I did a big water change to hopefully bring levels back to normal. I'll look into getting some new calcium test.
I've been dosing microbacter clean (I don't have 7 now) and phyto daily at night and using a turkey baster to blow the rockwork and sand in the morning. I've also reduced the white light while keeping the blue (only two controls my light has).
I'm quite happy the tank seems to be improving. Thank you everyone who provided me advice.
My calcium measurements from my API kit seems off, thus I don't really know right now its value. Just as a precaution, I did a big water change to hopefully bring levels back to normal. I'll look into getting some new calcium test.
I've been dosing microbacter clean (I don't have 7 now) and phyto daily at night and using a turkey baster to blow the rockwork and sand in the morning. I've also reduced the white light while keeping the blue (only two controls my light has).
I'm quite happy the tank seems to be improving. Thank you everyone who provided me advice.
