Mattgsa 315 gallon build
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1ocean
2500 Club Member
they will help, even better if they are controlled by a temp probeYou might be right, I have my thermostat set to 75 but the house temp was 77 when i got home. So I ordered two of these. I don't know if they will make any difference on the tank but we are going to find out.
OP
OP
As of right now, I have no macro algae in the tank because I can't keep my nutrients up to save my life. I ordered some Ogo and put it in the tank, and within a week it melted away. Right now I'm dosing 200 ml's of supper saturated sodium nitrate solution a day, and I can't get my nitrates above 5. That with the skimmer turned off.
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OP
OP
I think the Iron came from the cheato grow I was dosing for a short period of time. Because when looking at the contents, they were all high on the ICP test. I also got my 7 inch filter cups to get rid of the filter socks.
I'm also frustrated because I lost a bottle A reagent for the trident. Those things are pricy and I can't believe I lost it.
I'm also frustrated because I lost a bottle A reagent for the trident. Those things are pricy and I can't believe I lost it.
OP
OP
Has anyone else noticed that when they change out their DI resin the the TDS shoot up to 60 + and then slowly comes back down. The TDS out of the membrane is still at 6. I wondering if I should rinse the resin before putting it in the system.
OP
OP
I also had the lights on aclamation mode for the two new Goni's however, my one good coral started to turn brown so I turned the lights back up. I also noticed the Goni's stretching out towards the light.
OP
OP
The tank was looking really good this weekend, dare I say the ugly stage is over. The corals that I thought were for sure dead are showing great signs of coming back. I think I'm going to buy some more corals here really soon. I'm in the mode for some milli's.
I usually burn off 20+ gallons for this reason
Smite
2500 Club Member
Looking good! Great pack of tangs you got there too
I’ll say that’s why I never used acclimation mode for new coral additions when I ran radions. I was worried about disturbing the existing pieces to adjust a couple new ones.
I’ll say that’s why I never used acclimation mode for new coral additions when I ran radions. I was worried about disturbing the existing pieces to adjust a couple new ones.
OP
OP
I took the output and put it down the drain. There was no way I was going to put 60+ TDS in my system.
OP
OP
I think you are right, I don't think I will do the acclimation mode again.
OP
OP
I'm struggling to keep my ALK in check. I checked the PH of my reactor effluent with my tank ph prob and it came up with 6.89. Now keep in mind I have not calibrated in a while. I need to order some more calibration solution. Today I upped the dose from the calcium reactor to 3600mls a day. I'm hoping I get a continuous duty dosing pump for my birthday here shortly.
I also thought I had dropped the dose on my nitrates down when they reached 10, however, they were at 20 today, and I checked and the dose had not been changed.
Other then that the corals continue to look better every day. I really think things are starting to turn around. I still have a few battles left to resolve but I'm confident I'm going to win.
I also thought I had dropped the dose on my nitrates down when they reached 10, however, they were at 20 today, and I checked and the dose had not been changed.
Other then that the corals continue to look better every day. I really think things are starting to turn around. I still have a few battles left to resolve but I'm confident I'm going to win.
Smite
2500 Club Member
Take into account that ph reading would probably be off even on a calibrated probe from the display. Calibration packets for display are usually 7 and 10 for our middle ground of 8. Calibrations for calcium reactors are 4 and 7 for 6.4-6.6 range.
Not saying it’s way off but could be. What media are you running?
Not saying it’s way off but could be. What media are you running?
OP
OP
Right now I'm using the 1 Gallon ARM Reactor Media - Extra Coarse - CaribSea. I'm also thinking about ordering a stand-alone ph prob, for example, a Milwaukee or something just for measuring the PH of the effluent. This is my first time using a calcium reactor so I'm still trying to get the hang of it.
OP
OP
I have been thinking about PH recently and I can up with an idea I just don't know if it will work. I tried dosing Kalk directly to the tank, however, it made very little difference, and when I upped enough to see a change of any significance, it dosed more than the amount evaporated.
I implement an automatic water change system. the reservoir is fed by my RODI system, so I was thinking of running the RODI through the Kalk reactor while filling the ATO and AW. Here are the problems that I think I will run into is that water can sit in the garage for some time before it is used, and I'm worried the PH will drop a lot in that time. The other problem is when would I do the string of the Kalk?
I was also watching an episode of Reef Therapy, and I think they would have you believe PH is not a number one should worry about. I don't know if I subscribe to that line of thought yet.
I implement an automatic water change system. the reservoir is fed by my RODI system, so I was thinking of running the RODI through the Kalk reactor while filling the ATO and AW. Here are the problems that I think I will run into is that water can sit in the garage for some time before it is used, and I'm worried the PH will drop a lot in that time. The other problem is when would I do the string of the Kalk?
I was also watching an episode of Reef Therapy, and I think they would have you believe PH is not a number one should worry about. I don't know if I subscribe to that line of thought yet.
OP
OP
I also ordered some Magnesium supplements for my reactor, I just don't know how much to put in. Since there is no real easy way for me to turn it off from work should I put too much in?
Smite
2500 Club Member
Well I have a little input for you on that media. I just switched from TLF coarse reborn to ARM Extra Coarse media. I found my effluent alkalinity was super low at 6.6 ph in my reactor. Once I dropped down to 6.4 - 6.45 ph in the reactor my media started to melt appropriately.
So maybe you're ph is too high in the reactor for that specific media? I calibrated my ph probe when I swapped media so I'm pretty confident in the reading of 6.4
We are dumping low ph and potentially small amounts un-used co2 from our effluent. Both those will pull down our display ph value. I feel like a co2 scrubber hooked in line of my skimmer gave me the biggest and most consistent bump in ph in the display.
I also had a small boost from the location of my effluent drip. You can burn more of that co2 and low ph of the effluent off by dripping in your refugium, plants love co2. If you don't run one of those then I would drip it in a section with or before your skimmer. You may have already tried that but it's something that help me.
I'd hold off on adding any magnesium media to the ARM media until you have it supplying the proper amount of alk for your tank. Once thats is correct you'll know you are melting your media correctly and if still coming up short on mag then I'd look at adding some. I only say this because I've noticed an increase in both calcium and magnesium since using the ARM media. I'm currently at 450 calcium and 1450 magnesium at an alkalinity level of 7.5 - 8.3 DKH.
Just my 2 cents, hopefully that made some sense and helps in some way.
As to the saturated solution, you want to minimize contact with air as much as possible. It will lose potency.
There are mixed opinions about the need/benefit of stirring. I run a stirrer to help with pH. I keep a good pH range now after a lot of trial/error on dosing amounts & timing. I dose 3.6 liters each 24 hr cycle via my APEX DOS. It pulls water from my ATO barrel and pushes it into the (full) stirrer which then overflows by gravity into the sump.
I could not run kalk alone and keep up with ALK consumption, but it cuts my 2-Part dosing by 1/2 thankfully. I was previously dosing 500ml a day of ESV which was painfully to keep up with.
If you are running an SPS tank, then I believe pH matters a great deal. Keeping my pH 8.2-8.4 has raised my ALK consumption measurably. I understand why many advise "most" reefers to ignore it. It can be tricky to set up kalk dosing reliably.
OP
OP
I run an ACR, I’m not sure how to lower the PH
GBRsouth
Valuable Member
Increasing the amount of CO2 reduces the pH.
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