What am I doing wrong??

[Daddy-o]

Everything is looking a little bit better. Found out that my calibration fluid was bad and my reef has been running at 1.028 or so. Bringing that down as we speak. I was working on the frag tank and had both arms in all the way up to my elbows and the tank decided to send a full 120 volts at me. Boom and then I heard the GFCI pop. I am also noticing a bit of stray voltage in my tanks. I think it is the cheap Ebay powerheads. there are 11 powerheads in the 4 tanks that are plumbed together. I just ordered a pair of Ice Cap 2k gyres and a pair of the 4k gyres. I may need one more pair. I am sure these will give better flow and happier corals, along with getting rid of some sources of 120 volts under water.
Cheers! Mark

 

[SeaDweller]

Everything is looking a little bit better. Found out that my calibration fluid was bad and my reef has been running at 1.028 or so. Bringing that down as we speak. I was working on the frag tank and had both arms in all the way up to my elbows and the tank decided to send a full 120 volts at me. Boom and then I heard the GFCI pop. I am also noticing a bit of stray voltage in my tanks. I think it is the cheap Ebay powerheads. there are 11 powerheads in the 4 tanks that are plumbed together. I just ordered a pair of Ice Cap 2k gyres and a pair of the 4k gyres. I may need one more pair. I am sure these will give better flow and happier corals, along with getting rid of some sources of 120 volts under water.
Cheers! Mark

Hope that’s just it.

I tire of those cheap Jebao junk. They push a ton of water but of the dozens I’ve had over the years, only 1 original RW15 survives. I have a few for back ups if I ever need to use bins, but just like any hobby, but once, cry once.

 

[Daddy-o]

Next up, I am going to send in an ICP test in the morning. This will be my first ICP so I am sure I will need help reading the results.
Cheers! Mark

 

[rusty hannon]

My Disney looks like this:

And I want it to look more like this

Is it lighting spectrum, nutrients or??
Cheers! Mark

It looks like algae from here and that would b a phosphate problem

 

[Daddy-o]

While my phosphate may be a bit high at .25, I have no green hair algae. Kind of hard to get an accurate reading with this Hanna Checker - It is really a piece of crap. my nitrates are at 15. As I get the DKH down, I am more comfortable bringing the nutrients down. I really think the gyres I will be getting will help with nutrients as it will help get more crud to remain in suspension and be skimmed out.
Cheers! Mark

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

It looks like algae from here and that would b a phosphate problem

Is that so?? What do you keep your po4 at and what do your Tenuis Acropora look like?

 

[Daddy-o]

The Home Wreckers (six in the pic.) all have polyp extension, although they could look better and more colorful. These are sharing the same water as the WD just different lighting (MarsAqua 300w LED)

 

[rusty hannon]

The Home Wreckers (six in the pic.) all have polyp extension, although they could look better and more colorful. These are sharing the same water as the WD just different lighting (MarsAqua 300w LED)

Beautiful

 

[Daddy-o]

Everything looks a little better each day.
- Got the salinity down to 1.026
- Started running 1/2 cup Phosguard (instead of GFO) and Phosphate has come down to .17 Still a ways to go to get it below .1 but it is headed in the right direction and I am going slow.
- Nitrates are still at 15 even though I have increased feeding (both fish and coral) I now feed the fish Mysis in the morning and Nori in the afternoon. Corals get Red Sea AB one night and the next ME amino acids and Oyster Feast.
- I increased flow by adding some IceCap Gyres. I would never buy these again as their controllers are crap. I currently have no control over speed/function but they are moving water -sometimes and sometimes they are off. I have over 8 hours and $650 invested in these Gyres and am at my wits end.
Cheers! Mark

 

[Daddy-o]

Got my ICP today:

 

[nereefpat]

Do you believe that kH value?

Does the alk of the water sample drop over the course of shipping/testing?

 

[Daddy-o]

Do you believe that kH value?

Does the alk of the water sample drop over the course of shipping/testing?

Yea, that is really low?

 

[Daddy-o]

I was at 12+ DKH (Red Sea Coral Pro) and Kalk. To bring my alk into a better range, I stopped kalk and started using Red Sea Blue Bucket. On the day that I collected my ICP water, my test showed alk 6-7.
I have ordered a new test kit for alk and Mixed up some kalk for my ATO @ with 2 tsp kalk per gallon of R/O

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I was at 12+ DKH (Red Sea Coral Pro) and Kalk. To bring my alk into a better range, I stopped kalk and started using Red Sea Blue Bucket. On the day that I collected my ICP water, my test showed alk 6-7.
I have ordered a new test kit for alk and Mixed up some kalk for my ATO @ with 2 tsp kalk per gallon of R/O

Dang
12 dKh? On purpose? Are you monitoring ph?

 

[Daddy-o]

Dang
12 dKh? On purpose? Are you monitoring ph?

Yup, Red Sea Coral Pro mixes at about 12dkh. I havent measured ph in over 2 years

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Yup, Red Sea Coral Pro mixes at about 12dkh. I havent measured ph in over 2 years

I bet running your high alk supplemented with kalk was redlining your ph. I supplement with kalk also but only half (at most) the recommended dose and it still manages to get over 8.5 with an alk of 7.5-8. Higher alk isn’t going to increase growth by much (if at all) but it will add stress to corals while simultaneously aggressively stripping the water. Keep it under 8 if you need to chase lower nutrients with gfo, phosguard etc.

 

[Daddy-o]

I bet running your high alk supplemented with kalk was redlining your ph. I supplement with kalk also but only half (at most) the recommended dose and it still manages to get over 8.5 with an alk of 7.5-8. Higher alk isn’t going to increase growth by much (if at all) but it will add stress to corals while simultaneously aggressively stripping the water. Keep it under 8 if you need to chase lower nutrients with gfo, phosguard etc.

High alk + kalk and dont forget my reefs are outside so plenty of clean air

 

[Daddy-o]

Ok, have my Alk at 7dkh. ICP showed my nitrate at 7 - so good there. Now it is time to attack the high phosphates (.26 today) I Have a small BRS reactor (holds about 1 1/2 cups) that I have run GFO in for over a year. Apparently it is not working. I have secured 6 liters of Phosguard and am going to run the crud out of it. Seachem says that is absorbs so quick that it is exhausted in 4-5 days. I am going to start changing it out every 3 days until I get my levels below .1 then reassess my usage. On the positive side, some of my other corals, like Poison Envy are really coloring up nicely.
Cheers! Mark

 

[Daddy-o]

Looking at it everyday it is hard to tell if it is actually looking better. Still not fuzzy

 

[Daddy-o]