Tony Jacot
New Member
Hello all! Im new to the forums and new to reefing so any thoughts or ideas on my nano reef would be greatly appreciated!!
My first nano reef 1 year in
- Thread starter Tony Jacot
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Tony Jacot
New Member
A bit more info on my tank..Its a 29gallon biocube with stock cf's. I've added a aquticlife 115 skimmer about a month ago. I do 5 gallon wc's weekly with premixed salinity salt water from the lfs. Filtration is also stock with the corallife activated carbon filter and bioballs underneath..I just picked up a Hydor 425gph circulation pump as well...Ive noticed my ph is sticking around 7.9 for some reason and would like that to jump up a bit but all other parameters seem to be in check. Last time i checked my calcium it was a bit low at 390 also.
geridoc
Well-Known Member
Tony - the tank looks good. You can't be doing much wrong, but I do have a couple of suggestions. Your low pH may be due to the bioballs, which provide a highly aerobic site for ammonium conversion into nitrates, and produce a little acidity, which can lower the pH. You have plenty of live rock, so I would gradually remove the bioballs. Is that sps glued to the back wall of the tank? If so, the pH problem probably reflects low alkalinity, which probably goes along with low calcium. Get kits to measure alk and calcium, and use additives to bring the levels up. Don't try to guess, measure, then correct.
Tony Jacot
New Member
Thanks for the reply #geridoc!! yes i had suggested to the LFS that i wanted to remove the bioballs for better filtration and they pursuaded me to keep them for some odd reason and so i stuck with them. That is a small frag of gsp glued on the back wall so i could get the back wall matted up. Was that a bad idea? And yes your correct, i need to get the Cal/alk test kit. I did turn off the skimmer for a few days after mounting the frags cause it was working overtime. Could that of lowered the ph due to gas exchanges? my current salinity is 1.026 also but thats off a bobber refractometer. Thanks again for the reply!
chris flaherty
New Member
hi to all i am a new reefer i started up a 32 gal nano 4 weeks ago.i put a pair of clowns in thursday.when should i do a water change . and how much water do i do thank you
Tony Jacot
New Member
chris- I would go ahead and do the water change now to release some of those nitrates and then do 10% water changes weekly.
Tony Jacot
New Member
ya it didnt take very long for the coraline alge to start spreading. It started on the back wall at first and then just went wild after that.
Tony Jacot
New Member
The hydor is fairly new (1 week) as my coralife circulation pump broke where you adjust it. It seems to be just fine so far..much more movement than before and it attaches with a magnet. With a little bit of time finding the sweet spot for the pump all the corals seem to be getting plenty of flow but not too much...Its all about the placement of corals and or pump
geridoc
Well-Known Member
You are doing fine with the gsp on the back wall. I had a 40 gallon breeder for about 7 years with a gorgeous back wall covered 100% with gsp - it makes a beautiful waving background for everything else in the tank.