1 year in and looking to improve

[reenact12321]

I ATO with a hydor 3 sensor switch and an aqualifter pump that is nice and slow. It runs fairly frequently because my return chamber is fairly small. I keep the source in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid (hole drilled for tubing and a hole drilled for pressure)

I had been feeding my coral once a week, coral frenzy and the tentacled corals I was giving meaty food every other week. I was not feeding the hammer meaty food, but I can start trying.

I'm going to leave the lights consistent for now, and next week I'm going to make a mesh lid to replace my glass one (BRS is out of their 3' kits so i was going to go with bird net and home depot method)

Thank you for the chemistry steps, they give me something concrete to follow and I have already started keeping a log book.

I may get a larger ATO bucket as I imagine my evaporation is going to go way up without the glass.

 

[jml1149]

That would be perfect for kalk if you're so inclined but I would highly recommend it. Remove the top, take measurements for a bit without changing anything else, and then you can calculate how much kalk per day you need.

Actually, while you're taking two weeks of alk measurements, it would be the perfect time to measure your evaporation losses as well. Home Depot sells 5g buckets with markings on them for like 8 bucks. It's what I use. Just fill it up to one of the top marked levels and see how long it lasts.

 

[reenact12321]

Sounds like a plan, I do want to wait to remove my glass until I have my net top. I have a sickening fear of a fish jumping into my overflow, I've never really had them jump, but that's how my luck trends.

 

[jml1149]

Yeah agree not worth the risk. You might consider just using screen mesh from HD though. It does cut down on some of the light, but I think it diffuses the harsh LED's as well. Just a thought.

 

[reenact12321]

I think I finally figured out why my trach is so upset, I walked by the tank this morning as the lights were coming on and my black midas blenny was nipping at it. I am very disappointed because I like that fish, but I can't have something destructive in there.

For now I'm going to cover the trachyphyllia to give it a break, and try fishing him out of there when I get back from my weekend travel.

 

[reenact12321]

UPDATE: 1 year in and looking to improve

UPDATE: 1 year in and looking to improve

So I am about 1 week in to a standard water change. I kept a log as was suggested, KH, temp and pH everyday, calcium twice (with the new test kits) my magnesium test kit just arrived so I haven't gotten a good test of that yet.

May 10 after 10% water change:
Salinity: 1.026
pH: 8.2
KH: 9.5
Calcium: 460
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: .03
Temp: 76

May 11
KH: 9
pH: 8.2
Temp: 77.8

May 12
KH: 8.25
pH 8.2
Temp: 79.8

May 13
KH 7.5
pH 8.2
Calcium: 390
Temp 78

May 14
KH 7.4
pH 8.0
Temp 77

May 15
(No readings, I was travelling)

May 16
KH 7
pH 8.0
Temp 77

Sounds like I need to start dosing my top off with Kalk

 

[Bent]

I don't think a alk of 7 is all that low. Where's the calcium and mag in those numbers?

 

[reenact12321]

I'll go do ca and mg, my new red sea kit for those just arrived.

 

[jml1149]

The problem is not the alk of 7 it's the sudden change from 9.5 to 7 that concerns me. Yes kalk is an ideal candidate here and you should see good improvement.

 

[jml1149]

Also 460 to 390 is not great. It's the change that's concerning. With kalk on my tank of you measure alk any point during the day it's going to be 8.5 +/- 0.25 which I think is ideal for me. Consistency is king.