Bonaire Diver
Reefing newb
Just want to say hello and looking forward to the forum. I've had a saltwater tank for about 10yrs but I am no means an expert. I have gone through up and down phases - really intensely into it and then periods of not so much. I've had great success at times and then sometimes not so much. Have learned a lot over the years and must be in an upswing phase as I am focusing a lot on my tank again. I've tried keeping lots of different livestock and varieties of corals with most success at FOWLR. This time around planning to upgrade lighting and attempt some corals again.
Running a 36g bow front with ~40-50 lbs of live rock bought from Tampa Bay Live Rock years ago. Have lots of mushrooms, sponge, coralline algae, two clowns.
After months of not doing water changes - one of my down phases - I got a red coris wrasse and a springer dottyback. This got me back into an up phase again and after doing 4 - 15% water changes over the course of about 2 weeks, tested my tank water and naturally the nitrates and phosphates are through the roof. No surprise here.
I have a good RO/DI unit and know my TDS levels are nil.
Tested my change water as a baseline and got the following results.
Test Kits = New Red Sea Pro
Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
Salinity = 35ppm
Nitrates = 0ppm
Phosphate = 0ppm
Magnesium = 1480
Alkalinity = 11.2dKH
Calcium = 465ppm
Will continue with water changes and testing and dose with Red Sea NO3:PO4-X until tank levels reach appropriate levels and have stabilized for a month or so. Then will start looking at some new corals to add.
Cheers to all
Bonaire Diver
Running a 36g bow front with ~40-50 lbs of live rock bought from Tampa Bay Live Rock years ago. Have lots of mushrooms, sponge, coralline algae, two clowns.
After months of not doing water changes - one of my down phases - I got a red coris wrasse and a springer dottyback. This got me back into an up phase again and after doing 4 - 15% water changes over the course of about 2 weeks, tested my tank water and naturally the nitrates and phosphates are through the roof. No surprise here.
I have a good RO/DI unit and know my TDS levels are nil.
Tested my change water as a baseline and got the following results.
Test Kits = New Red Sea Pro
Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
Salinity = 35ppm
Nitrates = 0ppm
Phosphate = 0ppm
Magnesium = 1480
Alkalinity = 11.2dKH
Calcium = 465ppm
Will continue with water changes and testing and dose with Red Sea NO3:PO4-X until tank levels reach appropriate levels and have stabilized for a month or so. Then will start looking at some new corals to add.
Cheers to all
Bonaire Diver
