How did my thread fall to page two?? Sheesh, gotta keep up on this. All going well (lies) and getting bored (riiight).

So, day off, wife is doing 16hr shift, got a 5yo helper, figure I'll play with the tank.
List for the day

Change out bulbs to brand new brighter bulbs.
50% water change
Clean skimmer
Add 15# of new sand
Attempt #7 of removing dead fish
Add new carbon
Add some fozdown
Add some expired zeo potions

What could possibly go wrong here?? lol

ETA: Gotta get a refill on CO2.

New week, will post a pic today when lights come on. Tested water today, all good.

Alk - 10.5 dKh
Ca - 410ppm
NO3 - < 1.0ppm
PO4 - 0.43ppm

Alright, PO4 maybe not so good, but the result of 3 dead anthias that couldn't get removed. 50% water change today should help that.

Glad things are on the mend buddy , now how about those pics :)

In an hour, time change and all that :)

Yeah I just got out of bed so I'm hoping to use this as an excuse but I haven't done the math yet lol still per coffee

You running any po4 remover now? Or still carbon dosing?

I've got fozdown, which I hadn't needed pre-anthias, but I'll start it up again to get the numbers down.

Oh, while you're here, what's your thoughts on the required ratio of N:P for carbon dosing? I think that with my limited NO3, it's not going to do what it's meant to all that well

If you Push the carbon dosing there may come a time where it will be a limiting factor , this usually only plays a role for peoplle trying to get to zeros for both nitorgen and phosphourous and started quite high , the numbers dont ratio well for a person who has high numbers of each , often no3 is zero befor po4. there doesn't need to be a constant supply of nitrogen and bacteria will use nitrogen when it's available be it always available or as it becomes available and they will even store it for later use , hence the reason we carbon dose even after getting zeros so bacteria never stop doing their jobs they just may stop doing it as fast on paper as we would like.

If you feel though like your at a stall then adding a bigger nitrogen source will get you over that hurdle , so be it adding fish , over feeding or adding nitrates directly (potassium nitrate) to name a few . the same can be said for phosphates both of these can be manipulated by you to act in your favor.

So if no3 is nil , then you have to ask your self do you want to go the slow route for bacteria to consume in ratio c : n : p or if you want to step in and do two things one is add a larger nitrogen source and the other is to lower the po4 for quicker end result (zeros)

Fwiw you may always have to run po4 removers from time to time , most do as we all overstock , change our imports and exports , get lazy etc. and po4 is in everything organic we add :)

So yes once you hit zero you should continue on dosing as the bacteria use the nitrogen when and as it's available , if your still trying to lower numbers than you may have to change the ratio of what's available to suit your needs or give it some help chemically :)

I'm used to the 180, I used nothing ever for PO4 and always read 0ppm. I haven't been dosing, but may start again once get the big ass water change done, I want to dilute the PO4 in half anyway. I feed too much already, but probably need more fish :)

It's a funny how it works sometimes but I think your tank will get there you just have to find the right combination of tools and numbers to work with , if nitrates are nil and phosphates are high you have an idea of where to start you just need to find out what will work best long term. If the systems animals are healthy and the system is healthy then you have time to slowly resolve it :)

My PO4 was 0.04ppm before the 3 anthias died in the rocks, so I feel a couple 50% water changes will bring them back to where I can better manage them. Everything is fine in the tank, so no rush.

Anthias is something I've had the worst of luck with , between jumping and dropping dead overnight I just gave up , even the dispars I don't have much luck with. Love the colors and how they swim around but yeah no go :(

Ya, no more for me either.

Those were going to be the next additions to my tank. Can you recommend something instead?

Lots of people have luck with them, so don't just give up because i don't :) For, I'm getting a school of Vanderbilt Chromis, hopefully easier to keep.
However, Anthias do like room, and keeping more than one might end up with one anyway in a tank your size.

Also, my bad luck is with Lyretails, maybe because they're easy? I had a school of Bartletts that did quite well for a year before I killed them.

Brad I've also had horrible experiences with Anthias as well, The only Anthias I can keep alive is the Sunburst. Others just seem to slowly disappear, perhaps I am not feeding enough.....

Quick question, how much pozdown are you dosing and how are you dosing it? (ie, ato?) Thanks!

when I need it, I just add 1 drop per 10g into the overflow. Works well. If you were going to use it full time, Tim suggests adding to your top off water. I can't do that since my top off is directly plumbed into the house.

Gotcha, Thanks!
I'm currently sitting at around 0.03 po4 as well like you, just wanted to play with ULNS and see if some pieces would change. Tim gets amazing colors, however he is under halides so that's not fair :razz:

I might have a spare 400w setup here :)

Ok, here's the pic as promised. surprisingly, I actually have a good camera. Just can't work it - lol

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps6swyuxc8.jpg

Holy crap... a picture! I'd better look outside and see if pigs are flying too!

Seriously though, looks good!

Thanks.
I actually get anxious when it's time to take pics, they never come out the way I like or really show the tank as it is. But, it's required to track progress, so I take a couple here and there.
Maybe I'll bribe Wayne into getting some macro shots one day. :)

Looks good Brad.

Someday I will have such a colourful tank again

Looks awesome I truly have tank envy

excellent tank and picture skills

Thanks guys. But the pic could be so much better, I'll keep working in it :)

Pic is def enough dude !

Growth is coming along very nicely and color is good enough to see on my end, even with my aging eyes

Keep up with whatever you're doing and you're on your way to a TOTM :lol:

Maybe it's all the fodder/death feeding the corals :razz:

I'm gonna chalk up your success to MHs, and a lack of number-chasing

lol :) I think much of my troubles with this tank was listening to popular practices and thinking maybe I was just too stuck in my ways. I tried the dry rock thing, and the QT thing, and nothing worked out well.
I've reverted back to my reckless ways and so far, things are turning around. Just did a water change and hung out looking down on the corals, and was really happy with the color, PE and growth.
I need to get PO4 back in line, but once there, hopefully everything sprouts up!

Ok, right, I have a tank journal. Hmm, updates.

As most know, currently wrestling with a pair of Moorish Idols. Added a baby Majestic to QT, wouldn't eat and lost it. I've also added 5 Talbot's Damsels, really neat little fish with lots of color. I'll try to kill them one day, but not today.
Added a UV unit today, was given it and figured why not. Playing with the Tunze scraper magnet thingy lots lately, cool little toy.
Things are growing, nutrients are dropping, tank life returning to what it once was. Overall pretty happy.
I can't get Kien to come to my house for pics, so no fancy macros, just the same old FTS, a little older.

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...ps1qx5reok.jpg

Colors are looking awesome, and I see the cleaner pair are still around :wink:

Ya, really happy with the color, very vibrant and solid, just the way they used to be :)
The cleaners have been a pair for about 2 years, and so far haven't attempted jumping, so I expect them to be around a while. Now that I just typed that, going to go check the floor. BRB

Looking very nice. What is the pink/red coral 2/3s up on the left hand side?

There's 3 pinks in a row there, but you probably mean the largest at the top? That's a red planet "frag"

Oh, and I found a cool little mantis lurking around, maroon with white dots. Cute little guy :)

I like those damsels and those Idols look wicked in there. I'm looking forward to your "How do I get my Moorish Idols to stop eating all my corals" thread. :lol:

At least they'll be eating, lol :D

Ya, thanks for that :) So far there's no interest in corals or clams, and the original one I had was in a SPS tank for over a year and "hardly" nipped at all. Not enough to do any damage anyways. They have a reasonable track record for reefs, so pretty safe gamble.