My new numbers

[strout]

Mag. 920
Nitrates 15
dKH 8
Alk 2.86
Calcium 400


Mag. bought some stuff to raise this number today
from the LFS, I figure it will take two weeks to raise
this number, using the directions on the bottle.

Nitrates have dropped a bit, I got this (don't know the name)
grass looking stuff from the LFS today for my sump and
and went to Lowes and got a light for my sump, LFS man said it
should help a bit.

Calicum was at 495 two weeks ago, so that has dropped a bit.
I used the two part tonight and will check that number again tommrow
just to see what it did to the numbers.

A snail, I guess broke a piece off one of my new corals. $%&#@

 

[TRe]

ive never been very successful at getting my nitrates much lower than 15 id say 10 is the lowest lol so your good... if u show a pic of the macro algae i should be able to tell you what type it is, i prefer cheato since it doesnt go asexual

 

[strout]

I will get you a pic tommrow, I don't have much, my LFS didn't have much and gave me a small handful. Thats good to know about your natrate number. I see people post on line that their number is at 0, and I am like, how are they doing that with a tankful of fish.

 

[TRe]

i kno alot of people that claim zero nitrates too but what can i say, im not one of them! ... but honestly i dont do too much testing these days... a 30g water change a month if im lucky... but thats all guna change with the new setup!

 

[Lotus]

My nitrates generally run between 2 and 5ppm. It's one of those things where patience pays off. After about a year of the tank being set up, the nitrates dropped and stayed low.

 

[strout]

Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com I found this, and my LFS man said he would like me to give this a try (wants me to be the one doing the experimenting) he has read the article and has a pretty good grasp of whats going on and would keep me on the straight and narrow. It calls for the one test kit that I don't have yet, but they have it at the store, its a $30 kit so it will have to wait till next pay day. Anyway, do ya'll see any reason that I might not want to do this? I just have to keep my wife outa the Orange juice, lol.

 

[strout]

One more question for the day. I took all of my LR outa my sump to give this macro alge room to grow and the sump really needs cleaned out. There is this brown powderie stuff on the bottom and I thought about turning my return pump from the sump to the DT off and then just stirring up the water and seeing if my skimmer will clean this up, any better ideas?

 

[TRe]

i wouldnt dose vodka until you get a better skimmer... i kno plenty of local people that dose vodka with success but from what i understand you need a good skimmer to pull all the crap out!

 

[Lorna]

dosing vodka is okay but you definitely need a class a skimmer to handle the excess waste production. there are good and bad things about adding a carbon nutrient. You need to really read up on it and get a good grasp of the concept before you try it as there can be disaster if you don't do it exactly righ. Zeovite is another system using this sort of concept. Check out the vodka dosing threads on rc or elsewhere.

 

[Lotus]

I used Brightwell Reef BioFuel for a while. It works in a similar way to vodka. I was having issues with bryopsis and algae. I think it did help somewhat, and it was easier than the vodka dosing seems.

However, the thing that really helped was adding a phosphate reactor, I think.

Having macroalgae in your sump should help with the nitrates and phosphates. I've had it in my sump since I first got the tank, and I think it really helped with the overall health of the tank.

 

[strout]

Test results from today, New test kit Phosphate

Phosphate 0.5
Magnesium 1120 was 920 2wks ago 1000 last week
dKH 8.0
Alk 2.86
Calcium 430

Nitrates did this today with the good test kit
not the cheap dip sticks, I want it to be lower but it is what it is, 25
Maybe a new skimmer will bring this number down, what
do you think?

The Phosphate number is the first time I have done this test
and according to the chart, the reading below the one I have
says retards coral growth, that dosn't sound good. What do I need to do about this number?

 

[Lorna]

You should run a phosban reactor or some other type of phos remover in your sump.....they are inexpensive and seem to do the trick. That and running cheato or other macro in your sump along with a good skimmer should help immensely

 

[strout]

phosban reactor or some other type of phos remover Don't mean to sound stupid, lol. what are these. My LFS siad he sells some kind of stuff you put in a bag and put it in your sump and its, if I understand what he was telling me, its supposed to take the Phosphates out of the water, is this what you are talking about? I told him I was going to reasearch this before I bought, Which means I was going to ask here about it, lol.

 

[TRe]

a phosban reactor is pretty cheap... you can usually find one for about $40 new. the media that goes inside cost more (not quite but seems like it sometimes lol) you can use either a small powerhead or if your return is big enough you may be able to tap into it....

 

[strout]

Dual BRS GFO and Carbon Reactor - English

Is this what we are looking for, or something like it??

 

[Lorna]

yes that is what we are talking about....and I really like these ones....I may need to purchase this set up for my new tank..... I like the push fittings and they can be mounted like an r/o system

 

[strout]

Numbers are getting better, Mag. is now up to 1280, Phosphates have went from 0.50 to 0.25, 0.25 on my chart says that number retards coral growth, but at least its heading in the right direction. I will leave the Pura Phoslock in a few more days and check it again.

 

[Lorna]

heading in the right direction