uberlink
Active Member
My 28 gallon tank is fairly new--started in November, cycled for about four or five weeks before I started adding live stock in January.
I currently have two false percula clowns, a brittle star, a cleaner shrimp, and about ten astrea snails and ten blue-leg hermits. In addition, I've got six or eight colonies of zoos, a colt coral, some green mushrooms, some green ricordeas, and a toadstool leather.
My water levels all seem pretty good, though there is some room for improvement:
Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite: undetectable
Ph: hard to read (Aquarium Pharm test), but over 8--maybe 8.2?
Calcium: over 600ppm (a remnant of my beginnings with Oceanic salt)
KH: 8dkh
Salinity: Hard to keep stable in this small system, but 1.025 to 1.027 (refractometer)
Phosphates: Just got this test, and they're around .5ppm
Temp: 79.5
I have 130w of PC lighting, an Aqua C Remora skimmer, and a small h.o.t. refugium with night-lighting and chaeto. Also, about 30-35 pounds of live rock.
The past few weeks, things just don't seem to be flourishing like they were in the beginning. One of my clowns has been losing some of her color, my toadstool has been shedding every couple of days, and some of my zoos are slightly bleaching. A few days ago, I made some home-made food for the fish using the Fenner recipe--they love it, but no improvement in the fish's color.
My brittle and shrimp are in great health, as are all the countless pods, bristleworms, feather dusters, and mini-stars that populate my rock.
What are your thoughts? Could fluctuations in salinity cause all this? How about the phosphates? What impact can they have on the health of my critters, beyond promoting algae growth? (I've just gotten some phosban, and am running that.)
Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
I currently have two false percula clowns, a brittle star, a cleaner shrimp, and about ten astrea snails and ten blue-leg hermits. In addition, I've got six or eight colonies of zoos, a colt coral, some green mushrooms, some green ricordeas, and a toadstool leather.
My water levels all seem pretty good, though there is some room for improvement:
Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite: undetectable
Ph: hard to read (Aquarium Pharm test), but over 8--maybe 8.2?
Calcium: over 600ppm (a remnant of my beginnings with Oceanic salt)
KH: 8dkh
Salinity: Hard to keep stable in this small system, but 1.025 to 1.027 (refractometer)
Phosphates: Just got this test, and they're around .5ppm
Temp: 79.5
I have 130w of PC lighting, an Aqua C Remora skimmer, and a small h.o.t. refugium with night-lighting and chaeto. Also, about 30-35 pounds of live rock.
The past few weeks, things just don't seem to be flourishing like they were in the beginning. One of my clowns has been losing some of her color, my toadstool has been shedding every couple of days, and some of my zoos are slightly bleaching. A few days ago, I made some home-made food for the fish using the Fenner recipe--they love it, but no improvement in the fish's color.
My brittle and shrimp are in great health, as are all the countless pods, bristleworms, feather dusters, and mini-stars that populate my rock.
What are your thoughts? Could fluctuations in salinity cause all this? How about the phosphates? What impact can they have on the health of my critters, beyond promoting algae growth? (I've just gotten some phosban, and am running that.)
Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
