What would these numbers make you think?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sounding good!

 

[ultimatemj]

Ok, this morning ALK is 138ppm (7.7dKH), CAL is 410ppm, and MAG is 1250ppm. PH is somewhere between 8.2 and 8.3

Should I: A) Do another dose of baking soda to brink ALK into the mid 8dKH range? or B) let the saturated Kalk do the rest (since it seems things are balanced again)?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'd leave it to the kalkwasser now.

 

[ultimatemj]

Well, the numbers are "good"

Salinity is ~35ppm
P04 is under 0.05...it read zero on the Hanna but there is algae growing in the DT.
N03 is less than 0.025 on the RedSeaPro tester
MAG is 1300
CAL is ~420
ALK is around 8dKh

But now the inhabitants are not :sad: I have LPS stress...a couple of chalices began STN, Acans are fading, Blastos are not inflated and I lost a frogspawn and a Duncan! Duncans are like the hardiest coral I've ever kept! I increased feeding and am doing some reef roid spot feeding, but not really seeing any response.

Feels like a crash coming on :scared:, but (strangely) the couple of SPS are growing. Softies (mostly zoas) are growing and the fish are happy.

Only other thing worth noting is that I have been doing 10% WC weekly and each time I mix up the fresh mix I'm finding what looks like aluminum chips in the bottom of the bucket...

Confused! :frusty:Any thoughts???

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What salt mix has these chips?

It could be that nutrients are too low, but it might also be something else entirely.

 

[ultimatemj]

Aquavitro Salinity. Vendor support said 'normal to see some precip'...think they used the word 'ionic'.

I've doubled my feeding.

Weird thing is nitrates never climb, but once the GFO is exhausted or removed P04 climbs fairly quickly.

Oh yea, the ATS is producing now....

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If the solids in the salt look metallic, it is not normal.

 

[ultimatemj]

Thanks for that...bought a container of Red Sea Pro during my lunch hour!

 

[ultimatemj]

Well, here's what is in the bottom of a 5gal bucket of the old mix...its way more metallic shiny in person.

The new RSP is mixing up clean...but my system ALK is 8 and the RSP is mixing up at 12!


Doing some math to figure out a WC schedule that will turn over the old water ASAP without too much of an ALK swing...

Thoughts? Too fast, too slow or goldilocks? :bigsmile:

 

[GreatWhiteTang]

I would say ur low. Alk is why things aren't happy in the first place regardless of. The impurities of the salt, I would. Just do. Normal wc regime. With new salt and dose for. Alk in between. To. Raise just alk.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

His alkalinity looks to be between 8.4 and 10.44 dKH. That isn't low.

 

[ultimatemj]

Strange...3 days in a row I changed 10g of 11+ALK water and on day 4 the system ALK was 7.5dKH!?!?! Changed 10g more and it measured 8.1dKH.

It's like the more I give it the more it wants...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Strange...3 days in a row I changed 10g of 11+ALK water and on day 4 the system ALK was 7.5dKH!?!?! Changed 10g more and it measured 8.1dKH.

It's like the more I give it the more it wants...

That's exactly how it works. The higher the alkalinity, the higher the demand for it every day.

Also, water changes bring in relatively little alk unless they are big ones every day.

 

[ultimatemj]

Well, the numbers "look good" but GHA is now taking over in the DT

The GHA is growing way faster in the tank than in the scrubber!

P04 measured 3 times 0.00, 0.01, & 0.00 on Hanna.
N03 below 0.025 on RedSea Pro kit.
Ammonia 0
ALK in the 8s

Either the rock is full of P04 or I'm just not doing a good enough job keeping detritus off of it...

After months of battling (and winning?) to be able to stop using GFO, now I'm losing ground to GHA??? Doesn't make sense to me...

I've decided to use an algaecide (dimethyliminoethylene dichloride, ethoxylate) before the GHA smothers any corals.

2 Doses in and:
Good news is the GHA in the tank is beginning to weaken to the point it can be plucked (previously it was like trying to tear fishing line).
Bad news is the algaecide has completely wiped the HOG clean of any growth. I harvested what was its weekly growth, it came completely out, and now there is *no sign* of regrowth. Bright white growth plate again~

Hopefully the GHA in the DT also gives way, I'll get the rocks cleaned up, and then I'll stop the algeacide and get the ATS going again.

The frustrating thing is I feel like things were "under control" until I took the GFO offline (and got a P04 spike from the rocks?). Granted, I was starving my fish and corals (lost a few) to get/keep the nutrients down. With negligible P04 & N03 being measured for many months I'm thinking I need to up my feeding...but I'm worried that's just going to further fuel the algae.