My Reef Tank Looks Terrible... Here's Why

[@kwajrod]

What's the name of the green plating(and it appears to be branching too) coral in the center? I think you called it a montipora something-or-other.

[@NanoTankReefer]

That's a montipora hirsuta buddy

[@ASBsweet]

Cracking video mate, you can still see the awesomeness beyond the ming though lol....... Looking forward to the next update and the end results 👍

[@MogsysAquarium]

Can't wait to see the results mate, I am struggling myself but have had some great advice on what to do so going to get that implemented for my SPS, mine always look Good when the po4 is higher in the 0.08 range and nitrates 5-10 ppm, never get algae but colours look great, now since taking out my brown tang the nitrates have plummeted to 1 ppm and are not going up, regardless of what I'm doing, but we will get there in the end mate , great video 👍

[@MACNTOSFAM]

i don’t touch my nano which is a year and 4 months old often. i do a water change every weeks/ month. for the sps coloration, people have mentioned high nitrates also can be a culprit.

[@ReefDork]

What's the coral at 1:12 and where did you get it? You can put 7 days of ab+ on a doser - it lasts a week out of the fridge so just top it up every weekend...

[@NanoTankReefer]

Picked it up about a year ago from my LFS. It was a £20 mille frag that's turned into a stunner. I have a few frags on the rack if you ever want . Not a bad shout on the AB+

[@ReefDork]

@@NanoTankReefer might take you up on that, it's lovely. Where are you based?

[@NanoTankReefer]

I'm based in Rugby, I assume your down south as I think your LFS' are reefdreams and The Ocean Project. I'm planning a trip down to the ocean project in a month or 2. Maybe I can meet you down there at some point?

[@ReefDork]

@@NanoTankReefer Cool. I'll message you on Insta...

[@NanoTankReefer]

Spot on mate 👌

[@TwoScottishReefers]

Nice tank mate. I would say a phosphate level of 0.02 is far too low for Acro's. I have had the best success with SPS in both colours and growth when my phosphate was around 0.08 to 0.12. Yeah, I did get some algae growth on the back wall of the tank but not on the rocks. Growth was amazing.

[@paulukreefer5012]

Really interesting project. Would love to know how your general parameters react to the lack of dabbling. Love the knicks 🙌 have you thought about a little bit of a acropower for aminos?

[@NanoTankReefer]

I think not cleaning the glass is probably a bit overkill. It's actually having a negative effect one trying to increase po4 levels. I'll continue my no hands in the tank for a while but I may give up on the glass cleaning strike. Uptake of elements is up around 5% so I assume the tank is benefitting from me not tampering all the time. Acropower is something I've looked into previously but I'll probably go with easyreefs as I have it knocking about not being used

[@rudra7615]

Why did you stop lanthanum chloride? Also, timor wrasse, it isn't the same as a tail spot wrasse is it?

[@NanoTankReefer]

I haven't stopped lanthanum just cut down the dose to increase po4. Both wrasse are a species called halichoeres but the Timor is halichoeres timorensis, the tail spot is halichoeres melanurus. I've had a melanurus wrasse before, great fish and didn't touch my snails.

[@settsreef4164]

Tris what are you doing to my fav tank!!! I will have to give this a go myself. Always putting my hands in my tank. Keep telling myself not to, do i listen to myself.....no!!

[@NanoTankReefer]

You and me both mate, I'm terrible for it 🙈

[@ethaneckstein281]

Tanks always look AMAZING when you leave them to naturally get “dirty” for months and then do a good cleaning

[@NanoTankReefer]

I can't wait to give it a good clean, I haven't seen the tank through the glass clearly in 3 weeks now 😂

[@MikeLemming]

Looks great!

[@alexvids9232]

Pod heaven. I don't clean anything but the front panel.

[@cezar050681]

The coral growth is maybe due to triton method?

[@NanoTankReefer]

I would say it's certainly a contributing factor. Overall that tank is the most stable it's ever been which is helping with growth

[@bombercountybiker2990]

Try running a Stanley blade down your pikachu . You might find it stimulates growth and it will branch out 👍

[@bombercountybiker2990]

Also, I’m like you with coral food. One thing I did find worked really well on a doser is quantum bio-enhance. I have had massive success with it 👍

[@NanoTankReefer]

I've been tempted to disrupt the Pikachu to try and stimulate growth. Now it's growing I'll leave it be. I've heard a few people using bio enhance say it's good. I'll do a little research when I'm ready to start dosing. I'm hoping an increase in nutrients should do the trick 🤞

[@thomasdenhaese7518]

What is the big green coral called

[@R4NG3R887]

Really curious about the result of your science project 😜 maybe you can buy a sandsifting goby instead of the snale graveyard? 🤔

[@NanoTankReefer]

I'll keep you posted. Not a bad shout, maybe the goby could bury the snail shells for me. Saves me taking them out every other day

[@crtinkering7323]

@@NanoTankReefer I'm finding that nassarus snails (not sure if that's spelled correctly) always die on me not sure why??

[@NanoTankReefer]

Nassarius snails only really feed on left over food an not algae. It may be that there isn't any excess food for them to feed off. I only have 1 or 2 nassarius in my tank as I try not to overfeed

[@tylerjaax4917]

Mandarin is looking skinny… does it eat frozen or get a chance to capture food with other fish?

[@NanoTankReefer]

He eats pellet food. I have recently changed pellet food though 🤔

[@alexl.9317]

Got myself an yellow eyed kole -> yellow corris wrase went into sand. 1 week later still in the sand. Getting worried...

[@NanoTankReefer]

I've had a wrasse hide in the sand for about 3 weeks before. I wouldn't give up hope just yet

[@coldlogic800]

This is currently a coral dominated ecosystem. Adding low level phosphates will not cause algae to develop super powers and suddenly be able to out metabolize those big colonies.

[@NanoTankReefer]

You would think so, but every time I increase nutrients even slightly I have an outbreak of algae on my rocks. It doesn't help that my CUC keeps getting picked off one by one by the Timor wrasse

[@Botzz28]

I might have to shut down my tank. So sad. I have had this brownish longgggg hair algae on the rocks that will no go away. My last resort is just leaving it alone and not touching it like your doing. It’s not looking too good tho. This sucks

[@NanoTankReefer]

Never give up buddy, you'll get through it. It's not entirely recommend but I've used fluconazole to clear a tank of algae before. It does the trick but you have to keep a very close eye on the tank and nutrients if you choose to go down that path. It may clear the algae out but it won't eradicate the underlying issue that's causing the algae to grow

[@Botzz28]

@@NanoTankReefer that’s why I don’t want to use fluconazole. I have had this algae since July it will not go away I never seen such a thing man. It looks like long green hair algae mixed with Dino’s. I have tried everything under the sun it will no go away. I been holding on for months but there’s a point where you jus gotta take the L I guess. I clicked on your video because I am going to try the same thing I will leave the tank completely alone for a few months and if nothing changes I’m tearing it down.

[@rrrreefer9721]

What's the name of the red coral next to the Pikachu

[@NanoTankReefer]

That's a red planet buddy

[@rrrreefer9721]

@@NanoTankReefer thank you

[@garrycole9187]

I only clean my glass every few months, the bacterial life on the glass keeps things stable, I only clean the front too just because I want to see everything better.

[@stevemunn367]

It still looks great from the top down 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@NanoTankReefer]

Not so much from the front though 😂 cheers mate, I'm pretty happy with it top down 😎

[@azhari06]

your messy tank looks better than mine.

[@NanoTankReefer]

🤣🤣

[@TheTrevor40]

Why not just get some longs or another tool to pull out the shells rather than your hand?

[@NanoTankReefer]

I've been meaning to pick up some long tongs, I had some stainless steel ones way back but they just ended up rusting. I'll get myself a decent pair

[@ReefSYS]

I may give this a go.

[@NanoTankReefer]

I think not cleaning the glass is a little overkill but keeping my hands out is certainly having a beneficial effect on the tank. Daily uptake of elements is up so I can only assume growth has increased

[@bopeep7806]

It looks amazing from the top, i see why your keeping your hands out, but not cleaning the glass is abit extreme whats the point in having such a stunning opti clear glass aquarium you can’t see through properly lol !! But i repeat stunning from the top get the glass cleaned !!

[@NanoTankReefer]

I agree, it's more of training myself to break the habit and not put my hands in. If I clean the class I will notice something and put my hands in to sort it. Not cleaning the glass isn't something I'll do again, I don't even want to look at the tank as it is 😂😂