Absolutely amazing and beautiful Dawn, it was worth the wait!!!!! Thank you and good morning. What a the blue and red coral? Those colors are unique and awesome together.Here are the promised pics. I used an orange filter (that I won in a contest here at R2R) since the tank is just starting its light phase.
Smart, if it’s not broken don’t fix it. A long time ago I began ignoring it unless I started seeing problems occurring.
Some of you know that I have struggled to program my Jecod DP-2 dosing pump because I am not very techy.
I had it set up on my kitchen counter dispensing water into jars so I can double check what it does. I felt like I was not getting what I wanted. Today I watched a few more videos on YouTube. When I felt like I finally understood how to program it, I looked at the records of the last 6 days of what it dispensed and compared that to how it was programmed. NEWS FLASH, it did do what I programmed it to do! I just didn't know that is what I programmed it to do!
So today, I simplified the programming to dose 4ml 2Xs a day (1am and 1pm) everyday, both pumps. If it does that for the next several days I will move it to the aquarium and All For Reef. If my parameters stay consistent then I will be ready for our 10 day motorcycle roadtrip the 23rd of Aug.
as I know they do that sometimes but I am not sure.
Sounds like everything is moving into the right direction Bev, well done!Since last week's water change there are things to celebrate and things to watch carefully.
UNDER THE CELEBRATE CATEGORY:
1. I believe the doser worked well dosing All For Reef. My doser has 2 pumps but I only use one to dose AFR. The other is set up to dose plain tap water into a small jar. That way I know that particular pump is working and since I set up both pumps exactly the same, I can assume that the one dosing AFR is also working. I will know definitively after 1pm since I switched the pumps this morning.
2. I am seeing little dots of coraline algae on the back wall of the tank. I have not had coraline algae for years, probably when I stopped keeping seahorses and switched to regular IO from Reef Crystals.
3. The SPS are looking very good in terms of color and they are encrusting or have growth rings.
4. As usual the fish look good and are acting well adjusted.
5. I had added PhosGuard last week in the top basket of the canister filter and PO4 came down to .45 Hannah Checker or .5 Salifert. Last week I think it was over .8.
UNDER THE KEEP WATCH CATEGORY:
1. There are uglies on the sandbed again. They are not too bad first thing in the morning with just blue lights. Then they get really bad as the lights are just starting to ramp up mid morning but at peak daylight there are white clean holes in the uglies. If I had to guess I would think a light loving organism is outcompeting the uglies. So for that reason I am going to do nothing and see what happens.
2. The toadstool is somewhat retracted this week. It might just be a leather thing
3. I have been using a Fritz alkalinity test but I ordered a new Salifert to compare. Very concerning was that they were vastly different. Fritz has been reading Alk at 8.5 (this morning at 8) but Salifert read Alk at 11.8 which is much higher than I would like. Which should I trust? My lfs had recommended Fritz but I am leaning towards Salifert being more reliable as I have used them many times in the past to test other parameters. As you can see, things are ok but not optimal.
Thanks Kevin, in general its good news. And I am Dawn but you are so popular and watch almost everyone's thread that runaway fingers on names is bound to happen.
Oh crap, I got it right in my build thread. I think I’m just going to start calling everyone Sparky!
Its ok, I will take Sparky over Loser or Deadbeat!
Thanks Sparky!
Hi Dawn, tank looks great. Have you tried using a Hanna Alk checker? I like it because it's quick to use and you can get a standard set to test it for accuracy and be reasonably sure that it's reading things correctly. Like most things I'm sure it's not perfect but I've found it to be pretty consistent.Since last week's water change there are things to celebrate and things to watch carefully.
UNDER THE CELEBRATE CATEGORY:
1. I believe the doser worked well dosing All For Reef. My doser has 2 pumps but I only use one to dose AFR. The other is set up to dose plain tap water into a small jar. That way I know that particular pump is working and since I set up both pumps exactly the same, I can assume that the one dosing AFR is also working. I will know definitively after 1pm since I switched the pumps this morning.
2. I am seeing little dots of coraline algae on the back wall of the tank. I have not had coraline algae for years, probably when I stopped keeping seahorses and switched to regular IO from Reef Crystals.
3. The SPS are looking very good in terms of color and they are encrusting or have growth rings.
4. As usual the fish look good and are acting well adjusted.
5. I had added PhosGuard last week in the top basket of the canister filter and PO4 came down to .45 Hannah Checker or .5 Salifert. Last week I think it was over .8.
UNDER THE KEEP WATCH CATEGORY:
1. There are uglies on the sandbed again. They are not too bad first thing in the morning with just blue lights. Then they get really bad as the lights are just starting to ramp up mid morning but at peak daylight there are white clean holes in the uglies. If I had to guess I would think a light loving organism is outcompeting the uglies. So for that reason I am going to do nothing and see what happens.
2. The toadstool is somewhat retracted this week. It might just be a leather thing
3. I have been using a Fritz alkalinity test but I ordered a new Salifert to compare. Very concerning was that they were vastly different. Fritz has been reading Alk at 8.5 (this morning at 8) but Salifert read Alk at 11.8 which is much higher than I would like. Which should I trust? My lfs had recommended Fritz but I am leaning towards Salifert being more reliable as I have used them many times in the past to test other parameters. As you can see, things are ok but not optimal.
My father-in-law calls everyone Smiley when he can't remember their name. Is it bad if I've been married to his daughter for 25 years and dated for 7 before that and he still occasionally calls me Smiley?
So that’s the green light for me to call you Smiley Tim?My father-in-law calls everyone Smiley when he can't remember their name. Is it bad if I've been married to his daughter for 25 years and dated for 7 before that and he still occasionally calls me Smiley?
I have not ever tried Hannah Checker Alk test. I like quick and easy, especially for Alk because that is a parameter that I watch more often.
It's quick and easy. Takes longer to clean the cuvette afterwards than the test takes. Total time to draw the 10ml of tank water, draw the reagent and run the test is about a minute tops. Just another option if you're not sure about the other ones. I like that I don't have to read a color change and guess the reading and that they make the check sets so you can be reasonably sure it's accurate within its stated range.
