Brand New 8 gallon bio cube

living_tribunal · Dec 12, 2019

sebaseau said:
well , when you do your mix , depending on the type of salt , i'Ve herd ionic balnces can take place over the next 24 hours. I like to keep mine sitting a while with an air pump. but again thats me I would just never do the wc right away though

I don’t typically have time to wait. I don’t rely on hearsay either.

Studies show that most salt mixes are fine almost instantly.

I run two powerheads in the brute while I heat it up. Usually takes about an hour or two until I add to the tank.

anon9896 · Dec 12, 2019

oh okay

sfin52 · Dec 12, 2019

@living_tribunal what salt mix do you use

living_tribunal · Dec 12, 2019

sfin52 said:
@living_tribunal what salt mix do you use

Reef crystals

sfin52 · Dec 12, 2019

living_tribunal said:
Reef crystals

That's what Im using. I'm thinking of switching because of alk being so high.

SashimiTurtle · Dec 12, 2019

living_tribunal said:
I don’t typically have time to wait. I don’t rely on hearsay either.

Studies show that most salt mixes are fine almost instantly.

I run two powerheads in the brute while I heat it up. Usually takes about an hour or two until I add to the tank.

I like to make mine one day, mix salt the next, then change water on the 3rd day... my water is really cold out the tap right now, so it takes a while to get up to temp with the heaters in the Brute. I like to mix the salt at tank temp, and then circulate for a day to ensure thorough agitation has occurred.

I know that the salt is ready the instant the water turns clear, it's just what I like to do. In emergency cases, heat n eat... that's why I'd like a mixing station.

sfin52 · Dec 12, 2019

Robin Haselden said:
I like to make mine one day, mix salt the next, then change water on the 3rd day... my water is really cold out the tap right now, so it takes a while to get up to temp with the heaters in the Brute. I like to mix the salt at tank temp, and then circulate for a day to ensure thorough agitation has occurred.

I know that the salt is ready the instant the water turns clear, it's just what I like to do. In emergency cases, heat n eat... that's why I'd like a mixing station.

I make five gallons at a time. My brute, 32 gal, is in the basement in the same room as the furnace. So my water stays close to 68. Make five gallon heat it in the morning. When I get home quick and simple.

sfin52 · Dec 12, 2019

Suggestions on cheap alt to rc or io

living_tribunal · Dec 12, 2019

sfin52 said:
That's what Im using. I'm thinking of switching because of alk being so high.

I like it because your able to get back to your target when you do a wc. If alk was 9 then I’d always be chasing alk every wc.

This may change if I start dosing but there are just too many horror stories of when people change salt.

sfin52 · Dec 12, 2019

living_tribunal said:
I like it because your able to get back to your target when you do a wc. If alk was 9 then I’d always be chasing alk every wc.

This may change if I start dosing but there are just too many horror stories of when people change salt.

Is io that far off rc? It does have a slightly lower alk

living_tribunal · Dec 12, 2019

sfin52 said:
Is io that far off rc? It does have a slightly lower alk

I think there’s a pretty large delta between the two. Rc has very high levels.

I think io is like 8 or 9 or something like that.

SashimiTurtle · Dec 12, 2019

living_tribunal said:
I like it because your able to get back to your target when you do a wc. If alk was 9 then I’d always be chasing alk every wc.

This may change if I start dosing but there are just too many horror stories of when people change salt.

Switched from Red Sea Blue Bucket to Brightwell Neomarine with no change in the tank at all. Probably will be changing salt again here in a few months. Whenever this bucket of Brightwell I just opened runs out.

That, or setting up a filter system to run new mixed salt thru to remove the clay.

living_tribunal · Dec 12, 2019

Robin Haselden said:
Switched from Red Sea Blue Bucket to Brightwell Neomarine with no change in the tank at all. Probably will be changing salt again here in a few months. Whenever this bucket of Brightwell I just opened runs out.

That, or setting up a filter system to run new mixed salt thru to remove the clay.

Your tolerance of risk is greater than mine sir!

I’ll have to figure out how to make reef crystals work or do water changes scarcely.

Dosing will be a whole new challenge for me, I’ve been nervous about it since starting.

I just had no clue that it would be on the second month of having the display up.

I guess it’s a good sign if anything! Means the corals are happy and growing and also that stupid purple helix works.

Have I ever shared the pics of my first “display” a month after dosing purple helix? That stuff is insane.

JoshH · Dec 12, 2019

SashimiTurtle · Dec 12, 2019

living_tribunal said:
Your tolerance of risk is greater than mine sir!

Blue Bucket mixes at 420 8.0 and 1350
Neomarine mixes at 420 8.0 and 1350

Same same, slightly less clay in Neomarine tho...

Dosing doesnt have to be all that complicated, but I reccomend getting a dosing pump. Skip the Jebao, its junk. Get a wifi one. I have the Coralbox. It makes life so much easier, and it will dose the exact same amount at the exact same time every day. Even if the dogs poop all over the house.

Test, wait a few days and test again. See how much the tank drops. BRS has a handy calculator for their 2 part if you are using it. I have ATI Pro right now... not dosing currently but I was before I let the tank go. I just set it to 1ml, tested to see if it dropped the next day, and then bumped up by another ml until I saw the tank start to go up. When it got to where I wanted it I backed off. Went to testing weekly. If it held, I was good. If it fluctuated I adjusted the dose and then tested the following week. I think I was dosing 4.5ml a day of the ATI Pro part 1 and 2(I dose equally by all consumption, Ca will ironically ballance out if dosed equally) in concentrated form.