Skipped last weekends 50% water change because my nitrates and phosphates bottomed out after adding a fleece roller, feeding less, removing a clownfish, and adding a bag of copepods
My nitrates and phosphates are still bottomed out.
Over the week, I've done the following since I last posted the issue.
- Skipped Water Change
- Slightly increased feedings
- Lowered Speed of Fleece roller
- Reintroduced Clownfish from QT
- Stopped cleaning rear wall algae
I also tested Calcium and Magnesium, and those have dropped to critically low levels which I assume is due to skipping the water change. Ammonia and Nitrite 0.
Should I go ahead with my normal 50% water change to at least bring the calcium and magnesium back up a bit?
Day 30.
Only 3 fish, but lots of easy corals, copepods, some inverts and live rock. Plus a steady dosing routine of nitrification bacteria.
The "ugly" stage lasted less than a 4 days and I think I am most happiest with the growth of that patch of macroalgae which I am sure is ripping out the Nitrate and phosphate but is wiping out the pest algae.
The goni isn't thriving but a drop of manganese seems to be assisting now, and I should probably try and get the peppermint shrimp out now they took care of the aiptasia but are now free to harass the BTA. Which the Clowns are not impressed by.
Hey guys, im a month in with my first nano (80l) and hitting a bit of trouble which id love some advice on.
Currently no fish, but added 4 trochus snails 10 days ago to start getting some life in there once cycle was complete.
My LFS recommended adding 2 bags of copepods and 2ml of phytoplankton once a week whilst we don't have fish to (i think) speed up algae growth.
For the last 5/6 days the water has looked a bit cloudy and nitrates have dropped from 18 to around 2 or 3. Chat GPT is saying it could be a bacterial bloom.
Continued in comments...
15 days up and running, the chromis are still alive! Ammonia and Nitrite are 0 and Nitrate is at 15. This weekend, I added a bunch of macro algae and a tank background. The rocks and some of the sand are beginning to turn orange/brown. In 2 more weeks I hope to add some snails and copepods.
I feel like I am coming out the other side of of double Dino's (Ostreopsis and prorocentrum). Took about 2 weeks (luckily). Small UV for Ostreopsis. Silicate dosing for Protocentrum. Plus dosing neophos and neo nitro with micro after 7, copepods and live phyto.
This is a New venture for me. Its 8:30am. Thanks to the Algae Barn. I'm going to try to grow my own Phytoplankton and Copepods. I set up my station in my pantry. Wish me luck.🙂
Doing a water change today and noticing my rock losing some of the coraline color and getting some more algae. Do u suggest introducing copepods or adding more cuc? For the cuc I have 3 trochus (lost 2), 5 cerith, 4 dwarf hermits, a cleaner shrimp and emerald crab
Skipped last weekends 50% water change because my nitrates and phosphates bottomed out after adding a fleece roller, feeding less, removing a clownfish, and adding a bag of copepods
My nitrates and phosphates are still bottomed out.
Over the week, I've done the following since I last posted the issue.
- Skipped Water Change
- Slightly increased feedings
- Lowered Speed of Fleece roller
- Reintroduced Clownfish from QT
- Stopped cleaning rear wall algae
I also tested Calcium and Magnesium, and those have dropped to critically low levels which I assume is due to skipping the water change. Ammonia and Nitrite 0.
Should I go ahead with my normal 50% water change to at least bring the calcium and magnesium back up a bit?
How often do you add copepods to your tank? I have a 175g display with a 30g sump. I have a mandarin, yellow coris wrasse and clownfish that prob pick at my pods but I don’t think I have anyone else in my tank that eats them. Really prob only the mandarin and maybe the wrasse. My tank was moderately stocked before I added them and I’ve added prob 7ish bottles (mix of algaebarn and ocean nutrition) over the last three months my tanks been up and running with fish. Could I get away with every other month at this point?
Just waiting for nature to take it’s place. Had a diatom bloom a week ago blacked out my tank for 3 days (didn’t turn on lights) algae cleared up dusted the rocks off and did a water change. During the 3day blackout Copepods Breed like crazy they were all over the glass !
Day eight of the nitrogen cycle. I had a bunch of black plastic around the tank, but I removed it because it was atrocious. Once the tank is cycled, I’ll add copepods and macroalgae. A couple weeks after that, I’ll add the first clowns.