Can elevated pH have major effects on how fast our corals grow? | BRStv Investigates

[Bugger]

I'm dosing with a neptune dos that adds no3 and PO4 to the tank every 10 min. I have checked levels through the day and they are stable (I was concerned about the difference between night and day). When I first started dosing I was doing it by hand in the morning and evening and since I needed about 20-30 ppm for no3 and 3-4 ppm for PO4 I was having to raise the levels high then let the tank use it up. This was causing algae issues and my corals didn't like it. Since I put it on the dos everything looks great and my levels are consistent

Why do you want phosphate and nitrate so high

 

[lbacha]

Why do you want phosphate and nitrate so high

I don't want it tht high but that is how much Phosphate and nitrate my tank consumes each day's above what is created by normal biological processes.

By dosing that amount I keep my levels at 2-3ppm nitrate and .03-.05 ppm Phosphate

I test with a nyos nitrate kit and Hanna low range Phosphate

I have a nano tank that is about 20g total with a 5g cheato fuge so I use a lot of nutrients in comparison to some systems that have smaller fuges

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I don't want it tht high but that is how much Phosphate and nitrate my tank consumes each day's above what is created by normal biological processes.

By dosing that amount I keep my levels at 2-3ppm nitrate and .03-.05 ppm Phosphate

I test with a nyos nitrate kit and Hanna low range Phosphate

I have a nano tank that is about 20g total with a 5g cheato fuge so I use a lot of nutrients in comparison to some systems that have smaller fuges

Is it correct that you are claiming to add 3 to 4 ppm of phosphate each day to maintain 0.04 ppm? If so, that is likely binding to rock surfaces rather than being used biologically.

 

[lbacha]

Is it correct that you are claiming to add 3 to 4 ppm of phosphate each day to maintain 0.04 ppm? If so, that is likely binding to rock surfaces rather than being used biologically.

My bad I meant to say .03-.04, phosphates are less of an issue than nitrates but I did bottom them out when I started dosing no3 so I had to add a little bit every day

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ok, got it. [emoji3]

 

[lbacha]

Ok, got it. [emoji3]

Yeah I think my solution is like 1/8 tsp of nh2po4 to 1250ml of rodi and I dose 18ml a day

My kno3 is 5 tsp to 1250ml and I dose 27ml a day

I really struggled when I tried a mixed solution of both of them much easier to dose separately

 

[agalofre]

I do have aquestion about the parameters of the aquariums Randy. Wich levels of Calcium, alkalinity and Magnesium are you aming for? Do you want to mantain the same levels in all the aquariums or you will change the levels in diferent tanks to view the differences?
Thank you Randy

 

[Cory]

Is part 2 available?

 

[randyBRS]

Is part 2 available?

Not quite yet, but it's on the way soon!

 

[hart24601]

Very excited! Now start selling Jim's/Randy 2 part with sodium hydroxide and calcium with mag in it! From a safety perspective is the sodium hydroxide any more dangerous than kalk Randy?

 

[vanpire]

Does anyone have a link to part 2 of this study?

 

[topjimmy]

Very excited! Now start selling Jim's/Randy 2 part with sodium hydroxide and calcium with mag in it! From a safety perspective is the sodium hydroxide any more dangerous than kalk Randy?

Much more.

 

[Wrasse-cal]

Not quite yet, but it's on the way soon!

What’s the ETA on part 2? Inquiring minds want to know...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Much more.

But safety-wise to humans, it is the same as the drain opening product Draino Granules.

 

[topjimmy]

But safety-wise to humans, it is the same as the drain opening product Draino Granules.

True. But still a lot more caustic than kalkwasser. You have to consider the level of competency and the margin for error.

I mean we're talking about a society that has to put warning labels to no submerge a hair dryer..... [emoji16]

 

[randyBRS]

What’s the ETA on part 2? Inquiring minds want to know...

Aaron just got the water running in the side-by-side testing tanks to get this test underway. Almost ready to launch the initial testing, followed by a few months of collecting results.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

I’d suggest at least monitoring N and P. If growth becomes limited by N or P, or worse yet, the high pH and low nutrients might even give burnt tips just like high alk and low nutrients do, wed want to know if it was low nutrients that played a role.

I just added a scrubber on my tank and got a rise of .4 in ph. Even with higher nutrient levels I will got burnt corals and not just tips but some of the older corals that weren't growing much had burned spots on their branches too. I was warned about it but didn't think it would be too bad with the nutrients I have in the tank. I was wrong, hopefully things recover. For anyone adding a scrubber I would not go big right off the bat.

 

[JDowns]

Going to be great to see a test that focuses on the actual growth rates. As an aside in my scrubber testing, my daily average pH went from ~8.15 to ~8.40 and my dosing went from 2800ml KALK - 20ml ALK/CA to 2800ml KALK - 55ml ALK/CA in two months. Nitrates are drifting lower from 20-25 to 10 -15 and Phosphates are still hovering in the 0.1. Growth has been the best I've had since setting up the tank, but I would contribute most of that to getting rid of GFO and Pellets and the constant battle of bottoming out nutrients causing Dinos and Cyano and as a result a much healthier system. I switched to bacteria dosing that is probably accounting for the drop in nitrates.

Edit: Phosphates should have read 0.1 not 1.0. Haven't had my full cup of coffee yet.