New A.G.E. 40x28x22 Pic intense

Wow, you are the most humble and patient guy I have ever read about. Not to mention with crazy knowledge.. People should read this thread at least three times just to learn how to handle when things go south. And I wouldve gone totally ape$hit on this "professional maintenance" individual. He does not deserve to be near any aquariums.

You dont dose any carbon now? Can you share with us your trick to keep the tank free of PO4/NO3 besides the minimal GFO and regular waterchanges? (If you mentioned it in the past posts, my apologies. Somehow, I missed your thread BIG time.)

 

Thanks for the update BTowned. Looks like things are slowly but surely coming back!

 

Thanks!.....I did a few things that was different than originally planned for this tank. Originally, I had 13 fish, and started dosing vodka from the get go. Basically dosed up to 21 ml of vodka and added Prodibio every two weeks.

I had a problem where my sandbed became hard as cement in spots. So I rescaped the tank, and removed the sandbed. The tank continued to be carbon dosed. This was when the tank was looking it's best. I was running out of room, and removed many corals that grew too fast. I gave away big mini colonies to locals , of mainly birdsnest, staghorn, and digitata. ..When I came home that September day, and saw my vortechs blowing acro tissue around the tank, I hit an all time low in the hobby. I saw dead coral that I grew from tiny frags, as well as colonies totally white. When I finally decided to restart the tank at the first of the year I made major changes.

My ability to keep my tank algae free points to three major factors.

1. I decreased my bioload by more than 50% Fish I removed were coris wrasse, Emperor Angel, pair of B/W Clowns, Algae Blenny, flasher wrasse, Chromis.

2. I created an aquascape that had the rocks sit on 8-10 points. This made it almost impossible for sediment to accumulate under the rock work. This made sediment accumulate in the center of the tank, where it is easily vacuumed up.

3. Added GFO instead of dosing carbon

Even though I have what might be called a minimalist aquascape, I have a lot of additional rock in my sump....this rock is fed by the GFO reactor, so that rock section gets no detrius buildup.

IMO, currently there are many products that promote the over stocking of our tanks. I also feel that although a tank is cycled, that the biological filtration needs to multiply in sufficient numbers before more fish should be added.

I also think that its funny when people add tangs and algae blennies to a tank, to clear algae. The problem is that those fish add tremendous amounts to the bioload, so their effectiveness is really not as significant as you think. Perhaps letting a tank fully mature before stocking it with fish would be better than saying to just wait out the cycle.

 

Thanks man, it's a slow path back for sure....

 

Again, WOW! Thanks for taking time and put them in words! I will definitely follow you! You got yourself a big fan!!

Two things:
-There is no shortcut. Be patient.
-It's all about balance.

Wow, thanks a lot! You just made my day, sir.

 

You are very welcome, that's what these forums are for, learning from other's successes as well as mistakes.

 

Scored these via UPS this morning...
Frag Farmer Red Robin Stag

Rocky Mountain frags Raspberry Limeade Hyacinthus

Jared tossed in this bottlebrush for free...not a tiny frag

 

Those gems made me sigh.. beautiful.....

 

no worries, when they get bigger I am all about sharing...so you pay shipping, and I will send the goods!

 

I will take you up on that, seriously. Thank you in advance