First tank, slowly learning after many (expensive) mistakes.

[Tatumj96]

Maybe I'll expand on my tanks journey from an empty box of glass to where it is today at another point in time, but for now I'd just like to give general details about it for reference when I ask for help.

-TANK: Deep Blue Professional 45G frag tank with ugly plastic braces, Bare Bottom, no live rock (Except one piece that has a GSP colony on it and a little rubble in the sump to use for pod refuge and future frags). Instead, I have 2 West Mariculture Bonsai and 5 caves. (Didn't want to risk hitchhikers after an early attempt in this tank led to a horrible fire bristleworm infestation before it crashed)
-SUMP: HOB overflow, I think it's an Eshopps PF-300, that flows into a cheap 10G aquarium I bought a sump baffle kit for. I run a filter sock, SCA-301 Skimmer, an airstone, some matrix, denitrate, phosguard, rox 0.8 carbon, cobalt aquatics total reef, and MarinePure ceramic biocubes.
-EQUIPMENT: AquaForest Salt Mix, AutoAqua smart automatic water change/top off, 2 Hydor Koralia Evo 1150 power heads, a heater; don't remember which, Current USA Orbit Marine 48" light, 2 24w coral compulsion par38 bulbs, Green Killing Machine UV sterilizer, Liquagen 7 stage 150 GPD RO/DI unit.
-LIVESTOCK: 2 Ocellaris Clownfish, 2 Royal Grammas, 1 Yellow tailed Blue Damsel, 1 Spotted Mandarin, 3 Peppermint shrimp, plus snails and hermits
-CORALS: 1 Medium Kenya Tree, several large frags of zoas, medium GSP colony. (I love softies)
-MISC: All of this sits on some ugly heavy duty shelving I bought from a hardware store. Does the job, but I'm moving apartments soon and I'm thinking it's a good opportunity to upgrade to a cabinet if I find a good deal. Also hoping to upgrade to a 20 gallon or a large plastic bin as a larger sump, and looking to replace my filter socks with a roller mat.

Pictures to come later. If anybody has questions, let me know!

 

[Tatumj96]

pH - ~8.4
Magnesium - ~1440ppm
Calcium - 440-480ppm
KH - 17 dKH
Phosphate - <0.25ppm
Nitrate - 40-80ppm

I have recently gotten better this past month about measuring and dosing. I've always had pH issues (7.4-7.8), but never did more than try to increase oxygenation and add buffer or 2 part in their recommended dosage. I have had an API ReefMaster kit for awhile, so I started to actually track my pH, Ca, Alk, and Phosphate.

I noticed that my Ca was at about 360ppm, but my Alk was at about 4 dKH, super low! So I started to dose just the Alk part of my two part. It went up slowly, to about a 5 or 6 dKH after very heavy dosing, and the pH was still low as well. I did some research and saw that Mg may be limiting my alkalinity, so decided I would get a test kit and magnesium supplements. I had run out of 2 part, so I added the recommended dose of some powdered pH 8.3 buffer that I had and went to bed.

This morning I got up and went to buy a Red Sea Magnesium Pro test kit and Seachem Reef Advantage Magnesium. I got home and got to work testing my water. To my surprise, the magnesium levels weren't low. They were even a little elevated. So I broke out the reef master kit and checked everything again. Like magic, overnight, my pH and Alk jumped! I double checked everything, and it was right.

There was no precipitation event when I was dosing the past couple weeks, unless it was delayed and I was out of the house. And I've used that powdered buffer before in the recommended dose but it didn't do much either. But I guess using it after a heavy dosing regimen of the 2 part was enough to kick start something.

I slightly panicked at first with such a large jump in Alk, but I didn't see precipitation, the fish and coral all seemed fine, and I know this has happened to others with no real negatives. So I'm relaxing now, just gonna keep track of the Alk as it goes down. Maybe my low pH woes are gone for good!

And yes, I'm working on the nitrates.
P.S. Anybody wanna buy some magnesium supplements?

 

[KevinC]

1) don’t use api test kit they sucks
2) high alk have delay effect on corals, it’s just a matter of time
3) I think you should do a large water change to lower everything ASAP

 

[Tatumj96]

1) don’t use api test kit they sucks
2) high alk have delay effect on corals, it’s just a matter of time
3) I think you should do a large water change to lower everything ASAP

Yeah, I'm gonna get better testing equipment. I've been wanting Hannah forever, but they didn't have a nitrate colorimeter. Now that they released one, I'm saving up for it

Hopefully the corals will be okay. They seem happier so far, they're probably enjoying the proper pH way more than the old low pH haha. I did some pretty heavy vinegar dosing, dKH is down 3 points in 8 or 9 hours. I'm not gonna do a WC unless something else falls outta spec

 

[Tatumj96]

A few shots I took while playing with my new phone camera lens filters. Plus my new tank stand I'll be moving my tank to Saturday.

 

[Tatumj96]

Also got in a speed tester from SR Aquaristik and a headlamp with a dimmable red LED for night viewing.

 

[Tatumj96]

Salinity - 34 ppt
pH - 8.2
Magnesium - 1300 ppm
Calcium - 360 ppm
Alkalinity - 12.5 dKH
Phosphate - 0.5 ppm
Nitrate - 20 ppm

Wanna bump up salinity to 35, still working on nitrates and phosphates. I've been going mostly water change free, but recently decided to go back to water changes. Unfortunately, a shipping error caused a 3 week delay for my salt, but should be here tomorrow. Trying a an anhydrous salt, Seachem vibrant sea. I had switched from red sea coral pro salt to Aquaforest for coloration, but didn't like dealing with the lower alkalinity and pH. Not running an ultra low nutrient system, so the cons outweighed the benefits. I'm a big fan of Seachem additives, and almost exclusively use them. So hopefully the salt works for me!

I've used my new mini stir plate and vials with my new red sea test kits. My tests are now very, very reliably stable. I can test the same parameter 3 times back to back and get the same reading each time. No more API test kits for me. I do want to get Hannah instruments in the future, but doing the titrations by hand are very fun. Still need the red sea calcium kit, and want to get iodine as well. Also bought some new reeflowers 2 part, excited to try that soon.