Winter Tank Alert: Short Brisbane Days Are Slowing Your Reef Down

Worth a look now: The short Brisbane winter days change how your tank behaves. Corals and fish slow down, uneaten food lingers, and low light shifts which nuisance algae turn up. A few small tweaks now keep water quality steady through the cold months.

With less daylight and cooler water, fish eat less and metabolise slower. Feed at the same warm-weather rate and the extra food breaks down into nitrate and phosphate, which is often what feeds a winter brown diatom film on the sand and glass. Corals also pull nutrients more slowly, so parameters can drift if you keep dosing on autopilot.

Winter adjustments that help

• Feed a little less and remove anything uneaten. Slower fish do not need full portions.
• Recheck nitrate and phosphate. Winter drift is common, so test rather than assume.
• Ease back dosing if growth has slowed, and watch alkalinity uptake drop.
• Keep glass and sand clean while diatoms are around, and make sure flow has not dropped off.

If you are due to refresh test kits or need a phosphate remover, the test kits and reactors collections have what you need to stay ahead of a winter nutrient creep.