Looking for deeper colors.

[Science/G]

OP it looks like your potassium is low. Dosing it up to 410+/- made a visible difference in the color of my SPS.

Ph stability throughout the entire day as mentioned above, has been something I'm focusing on as of late. The way that I'm going to attack this variable is with a small algae scrubber, run at night for a bit.

 

[bobnicaragua]

Don't mean to Hijack this thread, but I think the OP is on the right track now after the ICP test.

Regarding your idea, doesn't dosing it all at night reduce your overall PH during the day (presumably when most of the coral growth and activity is happening)?

How did only dosing at night effect your 24hr ALK numbers? I'd imagine the ALK would be more stable with consistent dosing over 24hrs.

PH is up during the day due to photosynthesis. The night time kalkwasser keeps it from dropping much overnight. I also run a refugium, which helps with night time PH.

My acros had a very positive response to dosing kalkwasser over night, instead of continuously. They colored up more, and my 2 part intake increased and has continued to increase faster than before.

Try it, it’s low hanging fruit.

 

[IPT]

PH is up during the day due to photosynthesis. The night time kalkwasser keeps it from dropping much overnight. I also run a refugium, which helps with night time PH.

My acros had a very positive response to dosing kalkwasser over night, instead of continuously. They colored up more, and my 2 part intake increased and has continued to increase faster than before.

Try it, it’s low hanging fruit.

I'm tempted. How often do you test Alk? Do you get an ALK drop during the day now without dosing at daytime? I'd imagine the daily dosing offset coral consumption which now wouldn't be meet until the nightly dose.

 

[bobnicaragua]

I'm tempted. How often do you test Alk? Do you now get a drop during the day without daily dosing, and presumably more consumption from coral growth?

I dose 2 part during the day and kalk at night. My tank is full of acros, so there is a lot on uptake.

You can absolutely dose kalk at night and it will have a positive impact. Any alk change during the day won’t bother your corals.

I test alk about every 10 days and make small adjustments to 2 part. I also do monthly IPT tests.

 

[Sharkattackmack]

Thanks everyone for posting in here and getting my brain thinking. I've been slammed at work these last few weeks but figured I'd give you guys an update this weekend.

Im going to start addressing one thing at a time. I don't want to play too much as the corals are pretty happy at this time. I finally have detectable levels of phos which is nice to see and I hope that gives some corals a little extra nutrients.

I did change my lighting a little bit. I pulled more whites out and adjusted the intensity slightly.

As for my pH, I've been debating doing the kalk at night but with work I haven't been able to calculate my evap and figure out how much to dose. My house has a hrv unit and the wife keeps a few large plants indoors so I'm hoping the pH is fairly good. For keeping it consistent I am kind of screwed as I don't have a large enough back compartment for a fuge or skimmer.

To address the aluminum, I think it's my marine pure balls. I've read they leach it out and brings me to another problem as I like having all that back there for beneficial bacteria. I'm debating on ordering the brightwell aquatics blocks and hopefully can rid of that with some water changes.

I've also considered pulling the MP balls in th back and adding a refugium but that would probably mean me needing to get another fish to poop more so I'm keeping the nutrients in the water that it would pull out. I've always wanted a Mandarin so this could be my chance with a fuge in the back for the pods to really take off.

Tomorrow I'll be heading to my lfs to pick up some more acropower, phosphate reagents, and possibly pick up some more zoa's.

Here are some photos I took this weekend of the tank.