My 900 gallon "dream" is coming to life!!

-Logzor · May 2, 2016

Reef_Hobbyist said:
Hi and thanks for your suggestions. I appreciate the input.

I do agree with you about continuing to use Kalk in my ATO. I see no reason to replace it. I have been supplementing that by dosing a Sodium Carbonate (Soda Ash) solution using a dosing pump. I dose it evenly over 24 hours each day to mitigate any pH spikes.

I have a Kalk stirrer of sorts... Well not really but I have a 55 gallon ATO reservoir of RODI with Kalk. I periodically turn on a power head in bottom of the container to mix it up and max out the concentration. I shut off the dosing pump and leave it off until the solution settles out again. I try to keep it fully concentrated with a little extra Kalk on the bottom.

ALK is so important and I have been chasing it on this system for quite a while. At first I was fooled by a faulty reagent mix for my Hanna checker and spent about 2 weeks going crazy tying to figure out what was wrong with my system until I read about the issue they were having with their reagents going bad. I bought a new bottle and everything was fine until the same thing happened with that bottle as well. The newer reagent bottles do not have the foil top and they seem to be fine (so far). I also use other ALK test kits now to give me some peace of mind.

But I will get there and figure out how much to dose to keep things in harmony. Then I plan to add a lot more corals so it will be a gradual process to increase ALK to match the need.

Thanks again!!

Getting Alkalinity balanced can be really tricky prior to having any real demand from corals. Once you have things growing it will be more consistent an easier to track.

In regarding to measuring, I honestly decided to go back to the regular Salifert test in lieu of the Hanna. The regent for Hanna was getting expensive and the Salifert test is pretty quick! Plus Salifert comes with a standard you can check against.

One word of concern regarding your current setup for ATO and kalk mixing. Be very careful that your ATO never pulls kalk slurry into your aquarium. Install safe guards so this can never accidentally happen. It will nuke your corals and you will be sad. This happened to me in my QT tank. I was added kalk not thinking my Tunze ATO pump was sitting on the bottom of my reservoir. The next day the water was totally white because the ATO pump (covered in kalk sediment) pulled in kalk sediment and lost several corals.

Reef_Hobbyist · May 2, 2016

-Logzor said:
Getting Alkalinity balanced can be really tricky prior to having any real demand from corals. Once you have things growing it will be more consistent an easier to track.

In regarding to measuring, I honestly decided to go back to the regular Salifert test in lieu of the Hanna. The regent for Hanna was getting expensive and the Salifert test is pretty quick! Plus Salifert comes with a standard you can check against.

One word of concern regarding your current setup for ATO and kalk mixing. Be very careful that your ATO never pulls kalk slurry into your aquarium. Install safe guards so this can never accidentally happen. It will nuke your corals and you will be sad. This happened to me in my QT tank. I was added kalk not thinking my Tunze ATO pump was sitting on the bottom of my reservoir. It pulled it kalk sediment and lost several corals.

I hear you loud and clear on that and that is one of the concerns I have about the stirrers and what could potentially go wrong!!

By the way, I had an exchange with Randy regarding using a conductivity probe to measure the concentration of the Kalk solution much like measuring salinity. I haven't tried it yet but it is an interesting idea. It would give some peace of mind on the topic of knowing and maintaining the Kalk concentration in the ATO reservoir. Randy's testing of his own Kalk solution reservoir seems to indicate that the concentration is maintained quite well over time with no additional mixing and just a loose fitting lid on a Brute can.

-Logzor · May 2, 2016

Reef_Hobbyist said:
I hear you loud and clear on that and that is one of the concerns I have about the stirrers and what could potentially go wrong!!

By the way, I had an exchange with Randy regarding using a conductivity probe to measure the concentration of the Kalk solution much like measuring salinity. I haven't tried it yet but it is an interesting idea. It would give some peace of mind on the topic of knowing and maintaining the Kalk concentration in the ATO reservoir. Randy's testing of his own Kalk solution reservoir seems to indicate that the concentration is maintained quite well over time with no additional mixing and just a loose fitting lid on a Brute can.

I have used my salinity conductivity probe to measure my kalk concentration in my ATO. What I found is that it takes a lot of kalk stirred in really well to hit the concentration he suggested. I ended up with a ton of kalk at the bottom of my ATO. Plus in the winter time and the temperature of my ATO water is cold, I think there is an adjustment you have to account for with the probe readings. This is why I'm looking at getting a nice kalk stirrer so I don't have to mess with it.

Anyways, that method definitely works, but I felt like I was using A LOT of kalk.

Reef_Hobbyist · May 2, 2016

Did you leave the probe in over a period of time and if so, did you see a concentration change?

Also, have you tried adding vinegar to increase the concentration?

-Logzor · May 2, 2016

Reef_Hobbyist said:
Did you leave the probe in over a period of time and if so, did you see a concentration change?

Also, have you tried adding vinegar to increase the concentration?

My probe is battery powered so I didn't leave it in long term, but they do have a ac adapter available for the pinpoint probe that I have. Also haven't tried adding vinegar.

ZoaReefer · May 24, 2016

Bump!
This would be the size of my dream tank, too! Like a little ocean.

Reef_Hobbyist · May 24, 2016

ZoaReefer said:
Bump!
This would be the size of my dream tank, too! Like a little ocean.

There are pros and cons with all systems including massive ones. My experience with an extremely large system is that the biggest con is the cost. The biggest pro is the stability of the system. There is so much water that it is very stable and my fish and corals seem to appreciate that. Temp, salinity, pH, nutrient levels, etc. all take a long time to change (yes, like a little ocean).

Even with so much volume, I do still watch over the water parameters very carefully and dose slowly. I make very gradual changes (the large volume helps me with that as well).

When I first started out, phosphate was on the high side and I had all of the typical nuisance algae that most people experience setting up a new system. I used some GFO but I didn't overreact to it. I just let it run its course. To this day I just don't change things. I don't put my hands in the tank. I just leave it alone and watch mother nature take care of itself. However, I do think I benefit from the large volume and not sure this strategy would work effectively on small tank.

A large system is certainly not for everyone. For me it has turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. I am fully automated and enjoying a minimal amount of maintenance time and effort.

In fact, I would actually like to add corals more quickly but I am reluctant to tinker with it now that I have had such a good run!

That day may come when I have to change strategies but until then, I am a happy reefer

ZoaReefer · Jun 17, 2016

Bump!
Any new livestock or news?
How about some pics?

Reef_Hobbyist · Jun 17, 2016

ZoaReefer said:
Bump!
Any new livestock or news?
How about some pics?

Hey there.... and yes thanks for asking. I am acclimating about 30 pieces of new corals (sitting on the sand bed) and plan to "decorate" tomorrow morning. I will post some pics of the tank when I am done.

Lionfish Lair · Jun 17, 2016

This is a sweet build!

bubbaque · Jun 17, 2016

Any new FTS?

Reef_Hobbyist · Jun 17, 2016

Lionfish Lair said:
This is a sweet build!

Thanks!! It was about a year ago that I first started planning the build.

dbl · Jun 17, 2016

Can't wait to see your new additions. Sounds like a great day you have planned for tomorrow!

Reef_Hobbyist · Jun 18, 2016

dbl said:
Can't wait to see your new additions. Sounds like a great day you have planned for tomorrow!

OK here are a few cell phone shots. Blurry and a lot of glare during the day. Will take some more tomorrow.

Corals were placed about an hour ago so everything is still a little stressed out. Should look better tonight and tomorrow.

I still need to tinker with a few placements (don't we all feel like we always have to move things around??)