55 gallon SPS reef- new additions (12/18/14)

I feed my SPS Oyster Feast once a week. I don't have any before and afters, but I can tell you they don't hate it! I use a turkey baster and target each coral individually. Make sure you turn your skimmer off for an hour after using any kind of liquid coral food, otherwise they can go nuts skimming and basically make it pointless to use the product.

 

Fantastic! Thanks for the tips.

 

"On the other side of this issue are those reef aquaria without fish. Because phosphorus is required for growing tissue, it is mandatory that some phosphorus source be available to corals and invertebrates growing in a reef aquarium. Finding a source is trivial if fish are in the aquarium, but in aquaria without fish, reefkeepers must somehow add phosphorus. The solution to this problem is easy: either add fish food, even though there are no fish, or add a source of phosphorus such as a plant fertilizer (and if the fertilizer does not contain nitrogen, a source of that may be needed as well)."

-Randy Holmes-Farley

 

After a Google search, this seems to be a problem others have had. Seems like I am starving the coral and as such, their increasing their number of photosynthetic symbiots, turning them brown.

Looks like I have several options:

1) Take my GFO offline

2) Add a coral food

3) Add phosphate as a fertilizer (per Randy Holmes-Farley above)

4) Add fish (tried this, they die)

 

Has anyone tried Korallen-Zucht ZEOvit Pohl's Xtra? Would it work?

 

No expert here at all especially with SPS but I am knowledgeable about nutrients I think your easiest fix is to feed the corals well. If you don't see an improvement with that, then I'd take the GFO offline. However, I'd definitely be reluctant to do that long term with so much light on the tank.....

 

I wonder if Seachem Flourish Phosphorus Aquarium Plant Food 250 ml would work? I use it on my planted tank.

1.875 ml would raise my water by .025 ppm bringing it to .028 ppm. My only concern is that it's inorganic phopshate. My readings lead me to believe I need organic phosphate.

 

That's just so tedious lol. Broadcast feeding is easy, target is a pain, ime.

 

Well I am back to dosing amino acids. I crushed up some pellets into fine particles and mixed it with tank water, amino acids and selcon.

What are the thoughts on that as an additive?

 

I get a lot of detritus build up in my return section. I wonder if stirring that up once a week will help?