Who Doesn't Love Peninsulas? 40BR BB Mixed Reef - LED/T5 Hybrid
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ChouDawg
Community Member
Thanks!
More details in the original post...I've been looking around locally for a throw away ATI Purple Plus or KZ Fiji Purple to test out but no luck yet. I'm hoping it'll help bring out the reds and oranges more running one along with my other ATI Coral Plus
I did some research/reading today and found this awesome calculator that basically spells it very well and even has options for various supplements. I think I'm going to be going with the ESV B-Ionic line, I used it in my first nano tank a few years back but without all this knowledge on precision dosing. Glad to see a fellow San Diegan as well, I'm guessing you're on SDR too?
imustbenuts
Active Member
I haven't been on the forums in a while. Baking soda is least expensive to increase to correct level. Then can start B-ionic from there. Take readings every other day to gauge uptake. You'll probably want to incorporate dosing pumps at some point. Looks like you a lot of coral. Dosing by hand will be frustrating in larger system.
ChouDawg
Community Member
I'll try to grab a picture and post it up soon
I've been weighing a few different options for getting my levels in check before I decide on a dosing regiment. Currently on hand I have Kent Kalkwasser, Baking Soda and RSCP salt mix of course not all at once to try and balance out my levels. I think I am going to start using Kalkwasser in my ATO which should help keep my pH up, as well as bring up my Alk/CA. No complaints at all on the return pump, I've had it since December. It fires up every time and is dead silent, much more so than my Mag 7 I had before. Output wise I would say it's a bit "overrated" but I have quite a few splits off the return so that could be why as well. I have the DC-6000 (1585 GPH) maxed out on my system and am sure it's not pushing twice as much as the Mag 7 in the same configuration.
larcomak11
New Member
tank looks awesome! that nem coloration is stunning
imustbenuts
Active Member
Thanks!
More details in the original post...I've been looking around locally for a throw away ATI Purple Plus or KZ Fiji Purple to test out but no luck yet. I'm hoping it'll help bring out the reds and oranges more running one along with my other ATI Coral Plus
I did some research/reading today and found this awesome calculator that basically spells it very well and even has options for various supplements. I think I'm going to be going with the ESV B-Ionic line, I used it in my first nano tank a few years back but without all this knowledge on precision dosing. Glad to see a fellow San Diegan as well, I'm guessing you're on SDR too?
What do you mean by throw away ATI purple plus or KZ Fiji purple. Your wanting one that someone is replacing with new? I went to Aquatics warehouse and purchased a t5 for test. They said if I didn't like it I could bring it back. They sell giesemann. You can try Aqua SD. They have ATI.
imustbenuts
Active Member
You want to get the numbers where you want them before starting kalk. Your calcium isn't too bad but the kh needs to come up. Use baking soda first. The arm and hammer from the grocery store is fine to use. Search baking soda to raise alkalinity. Be careful with kalk it can raise ph too quickly if you use too much. Your LPS will not like that all.
ChouDawg
Community Member
Thanks! I'm very glad this one doesn't move like the mother I got it from that got Vortech shredded :wacko:
Ya I just want one someone doesn't want or is replacing so I can try out the color first then I'll buy one.
No Kalk yet, I did look into baking soda which I will probably try tonight. I did a 5 gallon water change last night with RSCP and another one just now. I ran test on the fresh mixed RSCP and got the following numbers:
pH: 8.3
Ca: 475
Mg: 1480
Alk: 11.8
I'm letting it mix with my tank water now then I will run a test on my tank and decide what to do depending on where it's at...to be continued..
I'm glad you are, here are some more fish pictures from last Friday!
McCosker Wrasse
Clownin' Around
ChouDawg
Community Member
Alright so here are my numbers about an hour after a water change, shortly after lights out with increase since 6 days ago.
pH: 8.1 (+0.2)
Ca: 435 ppm (+30)
Mg: 1460 ppm (+220)
Alk: 5.3 dKh (+0.7)
Looks like Alk is still low, I'm planning to dose Baking Soda in my ATO tomorrow...I read I should not increase my Alk by more than 1.5 dKh/24hour is this correct? If so I plan to only raise it to 6.8 dKh over a 24 hour drip. Once I get my Alk stable I can monitor my levels in a week and see if water changes will maintain my levels or if I need to start dosing.
pH: 8.1 (+0.2)
Ca: 435 ppm (+30)
Mg: 1460 ppm (+220)
Alk: 5.3 dKh (+0.7)
Looks like Alk is still low, I'm planning to dose Baking Soda in my ATO tomorrow...I read I should not increase my Alk by more than 1.5 dKh/24hour is this correct? If so I plan to only raise it to 6.8 dKh over a 24 hour drip. Once I get my Alk stable I can monitor my levels in a week and see if water changes will maintain my levels or if I need to start dosing.
ethridge78
Valuable Member
tank is looking good
imustbenuts
Active Member
Correct! You don't want to change any parameters too quickly. Based on the amount of Hard coral you have, water changes won't be able to keep up with the uptake of your coral. The Red Sea coral pro numbers looked good. Is there a reason you're dosing the soda through the ATO? After the dkh reaches 8-10 you could start the kalk in the ATO. Just start slow and monitor the PH after delivery. Bulk reef supply has great info and calculators. They also explain the use of kalk on BRS TV through you tube. Great info videos.
tanks looks really beautiful and you take some very nice pictures!
ChouDawg
Community Member
Thanks for the kind words all, still definitely a work in progress but the tank is 6 months old today! Still a lot of maturing to do but I'm glad I've made it this far without too many catastrophes.
Here ya go, just a plain old 20 gallon long with three chambers, the skimmer chamber has an over/under baffle the refugium is a single over wall. My RKL unit is mounted to the top frame of my stand with screws and I ran all my wires up / behind the 2x4 stand frame to help keep the sump tangle/mess free. The second MP10 I have just plugged in right now and haven't yet figured out a good way to add in a shelf of some sort to hold my ATO reservoir...my sump pretty much took up all my stand space.
I wanted to not drop my pH or spike my alkalinity too quickly at once so I just let my ATO take care of it, it took about 8-10 hours for it to dose the 1/4 gallon, which I repeated twice.
Parameters Update
After dosing 8g of Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) over two days, I tested my parameters on Sunday (4/20/2014) at 10:30AM and obtained the following readings. These readings are about 60 hours from my last water test on (04/17/2014) at 11:30PM.
pH: 8.3 (+0.2)
Ca: 395 ppm (-40)
Mg: 1340 ppm (-120)
Alk: 9.4 dKh (+4.1)
My alkalinity is finally up to a good range, the calcium drop was expected with a combination of coral uptake and the raising of the alkalinity. I'm also very happy that my pH is finally in a good range as well, no doubt also due to the rise in alkalinity and my window I leave cracked open now.
Tomorrow I plan to do a 5g water change, after which I will test my parameters and plan to start dosing Kalkwasser to raise or maintain my Ca/Alk. Hopefully I can maintain levels with just Kalk until my SPS start to really take off at which point I may need to move over to a 2-3 part dosing method.
imustbenuts
Active Member
Thanks for the kind words all, still definitely a work in progress but the tank is 6 months old today! Still a lot of maturing to do but I'm glad I've made it this far without too many catastrophes.
Here ya go, just a plain old 20 gallon long with three chambers, the skimmer chamber has an over/under baffle the refugium is a single over wall. My RKL unit is mounted to the top frame of my stand with screws and I ran all my wires up / behind the 2x4 stand frame to help keep the sump tangle/mess free. The second MP10 I have just plugged in right now and haven't yet figured out a good way to add in a shelf of some sort to hold my ATO reservoir...my sump pretty much took up all my stand space.
I wanted to not drop my pH or spike my alkalinity too quickly at once so I just let my ATO take care of it, it took about 8-10 hours for it to dose the 1/4 gallon, which I repeated twice.
Parameters Update
After dosing 8g of Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) over two days, I tested my parameters on Sunday (4/20/2014) at 10:30AM and obtained the following readings. These readings are about 60 hours from my last water test on (04/17/2014) at 11:30PM.
pH: 8.3 (+0.2)
Ca: 395 ppm (-40)
Mg: 1340 ppm (-120)
Alk: 9.4 dKh (+4.1)
My alkalinity is finally up to a good range, the calcium drop was expected with a combination of coral uptake and the raising of the alkalinity. I'm also very happy that my pH is finally in a good range as well, no doubt also due to the rise in alkalinity and my window I leave cracked open now.
Tomorrow I plan to do a 5g water change, after which I will test my parameters and plan to start dosing Kalkwasser to raise or maintain my Ca/Alk. Hopefully I can maintain levels with just Kalk until my SPS start to really take off at which point I may need to move over to a 2-3 part dosing method.
Looks great! My only other recommendation would be to do your testing at the same time of day. Your numbers will swing throughout the day and night. Enjoy!
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