Scrubbing too much..help?

Heloo Guys:


I started with algae scrubbing two months ago, however I changed lots of things on my scrubber and I can say it really started working well 2 weeks ago, I optimized the size, the flow, the light and the power consumption, the mesh (or net) is very near the light source, leds are dimmerized and I got very little consumption and great algae growing, and when I say great I mean GREAT!

My TANK is:
180L net water
2 small damsel fishes and 1 medium Zebrasoma Flavescens
Like 10 small coral frags, 2 LPS and the rest all sps.
NO3 = 0.2 (Salifert)
PO4 = 0.00 (Hanna)
Salt = 1.025
Kh = 7.5 very stable (Hanna)
Calcium = 415 Stable (Salifert)
Skimmer Deltec AF600 = Rated for 700L modified with a Red Dragon pump for more air intake


Scrubber:
Mesh = 16x20cm (one sided, but it gets full of algae on both because of the proximity to the light source)
Water pumping = 700L/h
17 hours light (660nm osram, 660nm Cree, full spect. and 430nm Semiled leds)


My tank was always 0.2 Nitrates and 0 Phosphates, and corals were good, I started feeding a lot since I turned on my scrubber, and NO3 and PO4 never went up.
Exactly 2 weeks ago, when I fixed/optimized it, the few algae growing in the display went away, but color on some corals faded away too, a few days back I almost lost my monti CAP, it was completely white and no PE, so I turned off my skimmer and the scrubber for 2 days and now it seeeeems like the cap is going back to life..very slowly, at least I can see PE now, zoas don't grow at all, and my only LPS favites started to bleaching on one side and lost the red color, Acros are doing fantastic!


I believe the scrubber is too much for my tank, it is growing too much algae (I harvest it once a week and take like half cup of strong green and brown algae), I am feeding a LOT, however my NO3 were always stucked in 0.2, after these 3 days of no skimm nor scrubbing (and keep the heavy feeding) the NO3 went up to 0.5 ppm.


I want to tune this up, and be able to use the scrubber, able to have a display free of algae and have the coral colors back, the question is:

-Should I cut some hours to the scrubber light?
-Should I leave it like that and start dosing NO3? (like Potassium Nitrate?)
-Should I buy more fish and leave the scrubber like it is today?

May be some one of you had this issue/problem before and can help me or guide me where to start?


Thank you guys in advance!

Welcome from Argentina.

I always recommend much more feeding, so you can have as much food particles in the water as real reefs. But really should be continuous liquid feeding, especially at night. If you can't do that, then a lot of clean up crew to break up the bigger food particles into small ones works great. Then just feeds as much as you can.

More fish too, which will need more feeding.

ok..thank you SantaMonica.

And is it ok if I modify the photoperiod of the scrubber?
I was thinking of lowering that to 10 hours...is that ok?

That will work too, in a different way. Will be less food particles in the water, and less SPS growth.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SantaMonica

But really should be continuous liquid feeding, especially at night.

---

Got some examples of this? What liquid coral products do you think are good? Should they be setup on a doser?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MulletBoy

Got some examples of this? What liquid coral products do you think are good? Should they be setup on a doser?

---

Same question here, what is the best to dose to SPS and LPS corals?
I am actually feeding 3-4 times a week small quantities of:

-Reed Roids
-Coral Frenzy
..These two mixed with 2-3 drops of Reef Booster


Do you think I can add something else to my mix? may be Vitamins or AA?

Since most tanks have some type of food particle remover (skimmer, socks, etc), the only time the corals really get any food is during the hour that you feed. So you should dose continuously. Or at the very least, all night, when corals do the most feeding. Food particles should be visible floating in the water at all times. Just like a real reef. That is more important than what you feed.

My preference is for no food particle remover at all. And lot of clean up crew, even in the sump, to break up big settled particles into small ones. Just like a real reef.

As for LPS, they inflate to pull in and concentrate food particles inside them, so they don't need as many particles in the water. It's the SPS that don't inflate, that need all the particles.

So you can experiment with different foods, once you have figured out how to keep the particles in the water.

Ok, I started dosing more coral food at night, every night...and changed the scrubber photoperiod from 17 hours to 12, from 10pm to 10am.

Let's see what happens.



Thank you SantaMonica.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SantaMonica

...

So you can experiment with different foods, once you have figured out how to keep the particles in the water.

---

I also found that it can be a good idea to stop the main pump, dose coral food, leave the corals eating for 10-15 minutes and then turn the pump back ON...again let's see what happens and how corals react to this new feeding scheme.

Lots of circulation is best, for feeding, as long as the food particles stay in the water.