Worried about first corals

[OriginalUserName]

It may be against the grain but if you are just starting into corals I think it's a challenge to keep two tanks at the right levels in order to have a QT vs just focusing on one. IMO it's best to learn how to keep them alive first, and then focus on the finer points like pest prevention. Fish? Yeah, QT those dirty buggers.

 

[Shirak]

BRS had a video where they tested the Prime 16 par levels on several tank sizes. For an 18x18 tank with the light 10 inches from the surface, they recommended the following settings which are 80% of the largest tank they said it would work for. My tank is 20x20, but I left the setting the same for now.

UV - 116
Violet - 116
Royal - 88
Blue - 88
Green - 0
Red - 0
Moonlight - 0
White - 10

I am using a calibration fluid I purchased from BRS. I have calibrated it twice in the last 6 months.

Ok so the light is turned up so probably ok there. I would look to dose baking soda to get your alk to 8. Bump it .5dkh each day. Calculator in the reef chemistry forum and on BRS website to calculate dose. Mix with rodi and dump in.

Alternative.. don’t quarantine coral. There isn’t much need. Inspect for hitchhikers like aiptasia, dip if you do dips.. then into the display tank.

As for refractometer. A number of reefers myself included found commercial solution to be inaccurate. Easier and guaranteed correct to make your own. 3.65g table salt in 100ml(g) rodi water. I would also double check it at least monthly or right before mixing and testing new batch salt water for water change

More on salinity and refractometer in the chemistry forum.

 

[ngiovas]

I just wanted to post that my corals are doing much better. I slowly brought the alkalinity up and I have been feeding them reef roids twice a week. I turn off the filters and the power head and feed them with long acrylic tube. I wait about 10 minutes and then turn everything back on.

The only thing I need to figure out is how to keep my alkalinity steady. I noticed that with water changes / top off water it dips back down over time. Any suggestions of things I can do to keep it more stable, or do I just need to add baking soda after each water change?

 

[mboley]

I just wanted to post that my corals are doing much better. I slowly brought the alkalinity up and I have been feeding them reef roids twice a week. I turn off the filters and the power head and feed them with long acrylic tube. I wait about 10 minutes and then turn everything back on.

The only thing I need to figure out is how to keep my alkalinity steady. I noticed that with water changes / top off water it dips back down over time. Any suggestions of things I can do to keep it more stable, or do I just need to add baking soda after each water change?

I've been doing this off and on for 30 years and I've never owned a quarantine tank. There's really no need, especially for corals.

Now your going to transfer those corals to your main tank with different lighting, parameters, and flow. Another change the corals will have to adapt too.

 

[OriginalUserName]

I just wanted to post that my corals are doing much better. I slowly brought the alkalinity up and I have been feeding them reef roids twice a week. I turn off the filters and the power head and feed them with long acrylic tube. I wait about 10 minutes and then turn everything back on.

The only thing I need to figure out is how to keep my alkalinity steady. I noticed that with water changes / top off water it dips back down over time. Any suggestions of things I can do to keep it more stable, or do I just need to add baking soda after each water change?

It's down either automated dosing or manual between WCs to keep it stable. There are degrees of costs ranging from using kalk in an ATO, to using a cheap BRS style doser with baking soda, all the way up to a full dosing system with automated testing. If I was pressed for budget I'd get the $70 BRS doser on a digital timer and a jug of soda ash or sodium bicarb.

I dosed manually for a good while myself. It's not terrible to pour a little bit in your tank every morning or night.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I just wanted to post that my corals are doing much better. I slowly brought the alkalinity up and I have been feeding them reef roids twice a week. I turn off the filters and the power head and feed them with long acrylic tube. I wait about 10 minutes and then turn everything back on.

The only thing I need to figure out is how to keep my alkalinity steady. I noticed that with water changes / top off water it dips back down over time. Any suggestions of things I can do to keep it more stable, or do I just need to add baking soda after each water change?

Glad to hear your coral is doing better!
I agree you could just keep adding baking soda or you could get a doser to do it for you!

 

[Shirak]

I just wanted to post that my corals are doing much better. I slowly brought the alkalinity up and I have been feeding them reef roids twice a week. I turn off the filters and the power head and feed them with long acrylic tube. I wait about 10 minutes and then turn everything back on.

The only thing I need to figure out is how to keep my alkalinity steady. I noticed that with water changes / top off water it dips back down over time. Any suggestions of things I can do to keep it more stable, or do I just need to add baking soda after each water change?

Good responses already. What you decide will partly depend on how fast it is dropping, budget, space for more stuff, how often you want to test etc.

How fast is it dropping is the first question. It's important to get an average for how much your alk is dropping daily. You can do this by taking measurements each day for a week and finding an average or test at the beginning of the week and again at the end and find the difference and divide by the number of days.

Once you have the daily alk consumption you can figure out how to supply. It could be as simple as the measured amount of baking soda in a little RODI each morning or ATO water dosed with the correct amount of baking soda if you know your daily ATO usage too.