melev

I just got back from MACNA late last night, but walked in on a semi messy situation. It took me about 30 minutes to get everything squared away, and I was really glad I didn't extend my trip by even a day. As you know from my previous blog, I concluded that I badly overdosed Prodibio and caused issues with some corals in the process. I also worked hard to get things back on track before it was time to fly to Denver.

At the show, I explained what I had observed to the president of Prodibio since I knew he'd be in attendance as he is every year. He showed sincere concern and gave it considerable thought overnight, seeking me out the next day to discuss this further. Prodibio's BioDigest and Bioptim can not be overdosed in a reef tank, however when used in conjunction with biopellets, new factors come into play. That additional carbon source will feed the bacteria to far greater levels, resulting in the situation I've been observing these past few weeks - maybe as long as two months. It wasn't like I saw something the next day; no, this was a gradual decline that I couldn't put my finger on. I burned through 1000ml of biopellets in very little time, which correlates with the pudding-like stuff exported by the protein skimmer.

I'm sad to report that those corals I was already worried about look worse now that I'm back. The hardest hit seem to be SPS (most visibly is the big birdsnest). LPS (acans, duncans, chalices, trumpet, etc), Montipora, zoanthids, and the gorgonians look okay, but are seemingly less vibrant. When I look at my tank, it's just not healthy and when I see pictures posted by other people of their tanks it makes me a little sad that mine aren't similarly colorful and beautiful.

Knowing what went wrong is key to turning the situation around. Whatever ends up dying will make room for new pieces, but it just seems like yet another big step backwards in the timeline of this reef that started way back in 2011. Yes, things can and will go wrong but I really expected to be much further along by 2014. I need a good run for a while to pick up some momentum. All water parameters were dead on last Wednesday, and I'll make sure with weekly testing that they stay there. This is just going to have to run its course and I'll work with what remains. I'll continue dosing at the correct dosage. After all, I've been using this product for years without a problem and as I stated before, it was my own fault for adding too much per session by not noting the difference / package information.

Ugh.

I'm looking forward to happier blogs. Seriously.