What's 3?
First rule of KH Automation Club is we don't talk about 3
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What's 3?
Wow I feel like I’m listening to the voice in my head reading your post manI think the older I get, the less I care about futzing around with electronic devices. So it really has to make my life easier and it really has to be a good value.
I'm past the point of just wanting cool new toys. I'd rather keep things as simple as possible. Or it has to really add value in some way.
This is why I'm wondering what is so enticing about hardware like kh director, alkatronic, etc.
Explain it to me like I'm 5!
My feelings about Alk in general:
1. It's the easiest thing to test for. I use a hanna checker. From start to finish it probably takes me ~60 seconds. So NOT having to check it is not really doing me much of a favor.
2. Alk is so easy to keep stable once your tank is cruising. I'm less than 6 months in on the new tank and I test Alk around once per week and it's stable. Will eventually go longer.
3. A standard doser is so easy.
4. There are so many other elements to worry about... why so concerned with just Alk? If there is a sudden increase in Alk uptake, well then the same is probably true for calcium. Seems like there is no a bigger chance of things going out of balance.
So what am I missing? Why are these things so enticing?
I'm really curious and wondering if i *should* be wanting one or if it doesn't fit my style of reefing.
I spend 6 weeks out of every 10 weeks travelling overseas for business.I think the older I get, the less I care about futzing around with electronic devices. So it really has to make my life easier and it really has to be a good value.
I'm past the point of just wanting cool new toys. I'd rather keep things as simple as possible. Or it has to really add value in some way.
This is why I'm wondering what is so enticing about hardware like kh director, alkatronic, etc.
Explain it to me like I'm 5!
My feelings about Alk in general:
1. It's the easiest thing to test for. I use a hanna checker. From start to finish it probably takes me ~60 seconds. So NOT having to check it is not really doing me much of a favor.
2. Alk is so easy to keep stable once your tank is cruising. I'm less than 6 months in on the new tank and I test Alk around once per week and it's stable. Will eventually go longer.
3. A standard doser is so easy.
4. There are so many other elements to worry about... why so concerned with just Alk? If there is a sudden increase in Alk uptake, well then the same is probably true for calcium. Seems like there is no a bigger chance of things going out of balance.
So what am I missing? Why are these things so enticing?
I'm really curious and wondering if i *should* be wanting one or if it doesn't fit my style of reefing.
I wonder if that was just trolling or an actual qI think the older I get, the less I care about futzing around with electronic devices. So it really has to make my life easier and it really has to be a good value.
I'm past the point of just wanting cool new toys. I'd rather keep things as simple as possible. Or it has to really add value in some way.
This is why I'm wondering what is so enticing about hardware like kh director, alkatronic, etc.
Explain it to me like I'm 5!
My feelings about Alk in general:
1. It's the easiest thing to test for. I use a hanna checker. From start to finish it probably takes me ~60 seconds. So NOT having to check it is not really doing me much of a favor.
2. Alk is so easy to keep stable once your tank is cruising. I'm less than 6 months in on the new tank and I test Alk around once per week and it's stable. Will eventually go longer.
3. A standard doser is so easy.
4. There are so many other elements to worry about... why so concerned with just Alk? If there is a sudden increase in Alk uptake, well then the same is probably true for calcium. Seems like there is no a bigger chance of things going out of balance.
So what am I missing? Why are these things so enticing?
I'm really curious and wondering if i *should* be wanting one or if it doesn't fit my style of reefing.
Im puzzled by this too! I use the same sera KH test i have for years in freshwater & it takes literally seconds.no cleaning/calibrating probes or huge expense.but its not as shiny or visually impressive as a £700 KH tester i guess.i can see how one would be helpful if you take extended hollidays/work away etc having said all that.I think the older I get, the less I care about futzing around with electronic devices. So it really has to make my life easier and it really has to be a good value.
I'm past the point of just wanting cool new toys. I'd rather keep things as simple as possible. Or it has to really add value in some way.
This is why I'm wondering what is so enticing about hardware like kh director, alkatronic, etc.
Explain it to me like I'm 5!
My feelings about Alk in general:
1. It's the easiest thing to test for. I use a hanna checker. From start to finish it probably takes me ~60 seconds. So NOT having to check it is not really doing me much of a favor.
2. Alk is so easy to keep stable once your tank is cruising. I'm less than 6 months in on the new tank and I test Alk around once per week and it's stable. Will eventually go longer.
3. A standard doser is so easy.
4. There are so many other elements to worry about... why so concerned with just Alk? If there is a sudden increase in Alk uptake, well then the same is probably true for calcium. Seems like there is no a bigger chance of things going out of balance.
So what am I missing? Why are these things so enticing?
I'm really curious and wondering if i *should* be wanting one or if it doesn't fit my style of reefing.
Or..., if you're not a top level reef master and can use some help understanding what is going on with your stony corals. Plain and simple- if consumption slows, something is wrong. Question is how long does it take to realize... I think the people with this perspective haven't used one for a month or more. Or sit at home all day testing and fiddling with their tankIm puzzled by this too! I use the same sera KH test i have for years in freshwater & it takes literally seconds.no cleaning/calibrating probes or huge expense.but its not as shiny or visually impressive as a £700 KH tester i guess.i can see how one would be helpful if you take extended hollidays/work away etc having said all that.
Now i would think just the opposite. The more mature my system gets, the less I need to test simply because everything has already been dialed in over the years. There is less swings with a mature system then there is with a newer system .The more mature your tank is, the more value it will bring. I use a carx, so I won’t ever need it.
Poor choice of words. Replace mature with developed.Now i would think just the opposite. The more mature my system gets, the less I need to test simply because everything has already been dialed in over the years. There is less swings with a mature system then there is with a newer system .
I guess you don't know me. lolI wonder if that was just trolling or an actual q
I dunno... i do sit at home (work from home) but my current tank is only 5-6 months old and my alk testing is down to around 5-8 days now. Unless I need to make an adjustment, then I'll check again in a couple days.Or sit at home all day testing and fiddling with their tank
CaRx is definitely my fav way to go on bigger tanks or where you have the room for the extra equipment.I've been around long enough I've tried most all of the aquarium methods and used most of the bleeding edge hardware. You tend to figure out what works and what doesn't along with what hardware/companies to trust. At the same time, it's made me more skeptical and untrusting of a lot of these companies. I've looked at all the KH/automated testing gadgets at one time or the other but never bit. I'm also not really into the whole dosing thing where they milk you forever for overpriced additives and problematic doser hardware. Sure, I may manually add some strontium, iodine etc. but for the most part my CaRx handles calcium, alk and magnesium(additional media). Sure, the reactor, CO2 controller and tank, media and a PH control have an initial cost but minimal maintenance costs. For trace and everything else there's the old mainstay of changing water. I'm fairly close to full automation but nowhere close to trusting anyone's automated testing or salinity probe to actually control anything in the tank. I'd love to throw the Hanna, Salifert and Redsea tests in the garbage for a fully automated and reliable one solution tester but we aren't there yet. There's ICMP but that's really an occasional deep analysis and probably not something you want to do weekly.
And I'm not saying anything is wrong with that.. but if you were to test it every hour, everyday, and graph it-it would open your eyes to how the ph and lighting, what time you dose(or every other change to the tank) effect consumption. How much having a couple people over will lower ph, then consumption. All about ironing out the graph for stability. But, I agree with the other guys saying they don't trust it enough to let it control dosing.I dunno... i do sit at home (work from home) but my current tank is only 5-6 months old and my alk testing is down to around 5-8 days now. Unless I need to make an adjustment, then I'll check again in a couple days.
Yeah I can see how it would shift throughout the day, but how much do you typically see over 24 hours? I have no clue.And I'm not saying anything is wrong with that.. but if you were to test it every hour, everyday, and graph it-it would open your eyes to how the ph and lighting, what time you dose(or every other change to the tank) effect consumption. How much having a couple people over will lower ph, then consumption. All about ironing out the graph for stability. But, I agree with the other guys saying they don't trust it enough to let it control dosing.
huh?Fan boys?
You ever have a acro stn? Ever heard that whatever caused it likely happened a couple weeks before you can visually notice a problem exists? What if you could know something is wrong that day... it doesn't tell you what is wrong, just that the corals don't like something- waaay before they start losing flesh. Disclaimer: I kind of suck at reef keeping- I'm no coral whisperer. It just helped me get in tune with the corals and tank as a whole.Yeah I can see how it would shift throughout the day, but how much do you typically see over 24 hours? I have no clue.
So my first question... let's say that right now I tested Alk to be 8.2. And a week ago I tested Alk and it was also 8.2.
How much do you think it might be shifting over a 24 hour period?
And second question... how much of an affect is that shift having on my coral?
Before these kH devices existed, I don't think anyone ever tested daily, let alone multiple times per day. We would have thought that was proposterous. So I'm curious how much it actually helps if you were testing that much ANY making corrections along the way. Also, you'd think that if it dropped slightly and then corrected, you'd be too high later in the day???
But to answer your question... I probably shift .2 throughout the day. No clue how much that matters to corals, before I used to dose most alk at night for ph boost, had .7 swing throughout the day. But it would test the same at a given time. I don't correct based off one day of lower consumption, I check that everything is running properly(flow,aeration, room co2, lights etc). If it continues to decline for 2 or 3 days I will back off doser until I get consumption to climb for 2 or 3 days then adjust again. Calcium reactors were much more popular back when they didn't test that often, right? I've only been at it for like 7 or 8 yearsYeah I can see how it would shift throughout the day, but how much do you typically see over 24 hours? I have no clue.
So my first question... let's say that right now I tested Alk to be 8.2. And a week ago I tested Alk and it was also 8.2.
How much do you think it might be shifting over a 24 hour period?
And second question... how much of an affect is that shift having on my coral?
Before these kH devices existed, I don't think anyone ever tested daily, let alone multiple times per day. We would have thought that was proposterous. So I'm curious how much it actually helps if you were testing that much AND making corrections along the way. Also, you'd think that if it dropped slightly and then corrected, you'd be too high later in the day???