As many know I have had my L4 for a while now. My algae in the DT is very under control. I get a thin layer on the glass and that's about it. Here is my thoughts on starting this thread. I tested my water a few weeks ago and the test reads 0 nitrates(Red Sea pro) and about .09 phosphates. I then had my SPS tank crash from a plumbing leak and a ATO that turned it into a fresh water tank. So I moved everything into the 180g LPS DT. The new setup has a timer on the ATO to only run 5 minutes max every hour with a aqualifter. I built a tall rock island in the center of the aquarium and put the distressed SPS in the upper half of the lower light aquarium. Two weeks latter after getting the ALK and CA to start stabilizing the corals are looking better then ever. I ordered more Leds but now I don't now if I should add more light yet. The corals have darker color then in the old heavy lit T5 System. Should I leave it and watch them for browning or something or what? The other thought to throw out there is.(back to the testing comment) I tested today and my No3 tests 0 and the po4 was down to .012 the only thing that i did was I started adding a little bit of Red Sea A & B a couple times a week. My thought was it might help the low No3 by adding some amino's...So far I'm loving the results! I still test 0 no3 but the colors are so dark that I don't dare add more. Maybe I do need more light and amino's? Or maybe leave well enough alone? So at this point I'm running, Skimmer L4 Scrubber 2/3 cup Rox8 in a reactor change ever few weeks Red Sea A B a couple times a week
I have a smaller tank (LPS & softies), marineland 93g cube. I run 2 kessil 150's , and dose ~30ml of Ca & Alk daily. My Alk is 179ppm and Ca is 420 ppm, and believe it or not it's holding steady with a Mg level of 960 -1000 ppm (too low). At any rate, my point is.....all tanks are different, and the "status quo" has been found wrong many times. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Personally, I'd keep a eye on things. And, I'd dose daily, depending on your "coral load". (I highly recommend the Randy-Holms-Farley recipe...super cheap!!!) *I just jacked-up my Mg today, and I'll be testing tomorrow....again. I'm new to the ATS, and I won't even tell you what my NO3 & PO4 is (I'm too ashamed). Good luck with your project of recovering SPS!!!
I too use the 2 part method with a couple of dosing pumps. I buy Baking Soda from the grocery store and get the Calcium from Bulk Reef Supply. I agree that it is pretty simple and low cost . Sounds good on the Lighting and I think that I will watch out for browning of the corals. If so I'll slowly add more leds. Maybe I will find out that we really don't need that many Leds? With testing N03 and P04 I'm trying to get SPS to grow for me for once. And I read that they do best with low .01-.03 P03 and low but measurable N03. So I'm trying to balance that with adding Amino's a couple times a week. So far it did bring the phosphates down but still measure zero nitrates. So I may just stay with this as the corals look really good.
