Skipper, Hold Your Course
If there is one mistake that I see saltwater tank owners make more than any other (besides not knowing their tank personality) is that they choose a path for their tank, then switch.
Here’s an example.
A reef keeping friend of mine was battling bleaching SPS corals so decided he wanted to start dosing the Zeovit system. He tried it out for a week. He didn’t see any results, so he switched to doing heavy water changes. 2 weeks later…no results. Then he switched his lighting and waited 2 weeks…nothing. Then he heard about bio pellets and tried those. He started seeing some results after a week so then he decided he wanted to add back in the Zeovit system, etc…
Get the picture? He was constantly changing what he was doing with his tank.
When you choose a path for your tank, whether its your tank personality, carbon dosing, dosing 2 part solution, change of lighting or (fill in the blank for the path you’re headed on), the best thing you can do is stick to that path for at least 2 months.
Why?
Because:
- Changes take time to affect your tank so you won’t see immediate results.
- The more you change, the more you are throwing your tank for a loop and it doesn’t like that – it likes the same thing, every day, every time. More changes = more stress = not a happy tank
The only reason you should immediately change the path you are on is if you see negative results in your tank!
I.e: fish die off, corals bleaching or retracting, large algae growths, parameter (pH, ammonia/nitrite/nitrate) spikes.
Among ocean going vessels, there is a saying for this – “Skipper, hold your course”.
Hold your course, your tank will thank you.
Browse the Store! Questions?
what is your opinion bio pellets in a mixed tank.more specifically for reef sys.
do you have any pro or con on it r have you used them ??
I’m using biopellets now and I like them
I have a large AquaMaxx bio pellet reactor, and am getting ready to put it online, because my Nitrates are extremely high at about 80 ppm per my API NO3 test kit. I have lost several montipora’s, a maze brain, and a bird nest coral recently, and my female snowflake clown died from what appeared to be a complication when she was getting ready to lay eggs again. My question is which name brand of bio pellets appear to do the best job? I have used the NPX bio pellets with limited success, and also tried the AquaMaxx bio pellets with no sign of any benefit. I may have been tumbling them to fast, but I am not sure. My system consists of a Marineland 125 gallon reef tank with dual corner overflows, a 30 gallon Eshopps refugium/sump, with an Eshopps PSK-150 skimmer, 2 Marineland Maxi-Jett 1200 powerheads, a Reeflo Blowhole 2700 external return pump, an Aqua 25 watt UV sterilizer, and 2 Blue Star LED lights w/77x3watt per light. I am running a DSB my display and refugium with live rock and chaeto algae in my sump with a clamp light running a LED bulb at night. My fish stock consists of 1 Powder Blue Tang, 1 Orange Shoulder Tang (Juvenal), 1 Blue Tang (Dory), 1 Diamond Goby, 1 Snowflake Clown, 1 Yellow Pigmy Angel, 1 Blue Linkia Sea Star, 1 Mandarin, 7 Blue-Green Chromis, and 1 Royal Gromma Basslet. My CUC consists of a mixture of a dozen or more Trocus Snails and Turbo Snails as well as a dozen or more Red Leg Reef Hermit Crabs and Blue Leg Hermit Crabs. My corals consist of a colony of Red Mushrooms, Purple Mushrooms, Green Mushrooms, several colonies of Green Button Polyps, 4 colonies of Zoanthids, a Branching Hammer Coral, a large Frogspawn coral, 2 Richordias, a small Green Montipora, and a x-large Star Polyp (this coral has not extended fully in months). I also have a Red Gorgonia, but my Tangs keep nipping at it to the point they will probably end up killing it. I did have a lot of Bright Blue Sponge and Yellow Sponge that came in with my live rock, but quite a bit of it has died off over the past 2-3 months. I change about 12.5 gallons of water a week, but cannot get my nitrates down. I started dosing 4ml of Vodka 1.5 weeks ago, and it seems to have increased the production of my skimmer. What am I doing wrong! because I hate losing any form of life no matter how small. Sorry for the long post, but I know you need to see the entire picture of my tank. Do I have too many fish, or is it the Red Sea Coral Pro Salt Mix I am using to mix my own water? Please help me!