I have for 6-7 months tried to keep SPS with scrubber only now. Please look at my post in the design forum for more information and detail since start.
The total setup is:
Filtration
Deltec skimmer rated for 1000 liters heavy stock
ATS with 6x39w T5HO (3 on each side)
Flow and rough plastic canvas as recommended
Light
8x39w T5HO
480w LED 2:1 White(14000 kelvin 25000 kelvin Blue)
This is evenly divided on the tank lenght.
Flow
4x 6105 Tunze Stream 2-12k w/controller
1x Tunze Wavebox
Rock/Sand
About 70kg mixed dryrock/highquality liverock
About 5-7cm sand bottom (2m*60cm)
The story
I started this tank in end july 2010 with RO/DI water, some water from my old tank, fish from my old tank and rock from my old tank. After a few weeks the scrubber started growing yellow/greenish, but in spite of this I got a massive outbreak of green hair algae. It took the better part of 3-4 months before I had lights off for 3-4 days while running GAC And skimming to get rid of the algae. After that everything looked fine. Since startup I've had undetectable n and p levels, probably due to all the algae.
I have since startup had fish, 10 or so, which has been fed 5-10 cubes worth of pellets flakes frozen food variants. Originally I maintained my KH and CA with a dosing pump and Randy's 2 part. This was replaced with a Calc reactor a month and a week ago and keeps the level spot on. (dKH 11ish CA 520 without any precipitation). The pH has been 8.4-8.3 since start.
I have since December received both SPS (Acropora, Montipora, Stylopora, Porites), 3-4 LPS and some soft corals. The first to go was the two soft corals. They just melted away. Now, a month or so ago my LPS started shrinking and loosing it's coloration. I also lost a H.Crispa (Anemone) a few weeks ago. MY SPS are loosing tissue, or was up till last week when I increased Iodine from undetectable to 0.06. (I have not dosed this at all).
I dose:
Iron- Don't really know how much to dose. The scrubber is growing decently green, so I take this a good sign.
CA/MG/KH from the reactor
2-3 weeks between each 15% water change.
(Last week I bought amino acid and trace minerals from fauna marine which I will try to dose)
I feed:
Currently very little.
2x a day Ocean nutrition Prime Reef Flakes 1,5 teaspoon
2x a day Ocean Nutrition Spirulina Flakes 1,5 teaspoon
1 Sheet of Nori (25cm*25cm)
The Problem
I have some brown algae type on rocks, some green on my rocks, and film on my glass every day, even when I feed so little and run my skimmer. I do not currently run GAC. My SPS won't grow much, and there is no good coloration or poly extention (due to one of my angels). I used to have good PE during night, but now it's simply just gone. I have lost several SPS due to tissue necrosis, both RTN and STN, with some SDR inbetween. Even if the fish was the cause for nipping, it would not explain the Anemone death by disease. I just recently got some zoas back, but I've lost 3-4 rather pretty colonies of those also.
Don't know how to troubleshoot this anymore. Water parameters seems "perfect". I should have sufficient light, more than decent flow so I really don't know what else to try anymore. Suggestions would be welcome. Attached is picture of problems.
I changed the light tubes on my scrubber 3 weeks ago, but there has not been much change in the growth. I do have some detritus on some of the rocks, which seems to feed the algae, but this is inconclusive as there is not really that much. and there can be detritus without algae, and algae without detritus.