700 gallon tank, or how i spent my daughters inheritance

[Reefski's]

wow, less than 0.01. my nitrates are high though, about 20ppm.

weird that it would start up now. maybe the high PO4 or fluctuating levels somehow inhibited it.

the foxface seems uninterested in it.

somebody should invent the underwater Dremel so that you could just go in and slice off the piece of rock you don't want in the tank anymore.

Carl

 

[Western_reefer]

Its starting to look better!! Keep up the good work!!

 

[MSX-Jeff]

FWIW, if it is bryopsis NOTHING (that I know of) will eat it! I have heard reports that dosing LARGE quantities of Kent Tech-M will kill it.

 

[Reefski's]

it does look like bryopsis to me too. there are 3 or 4 patches. i have no idea where it came from. i haven't seen any in this tank before or on any of the additions. it is on rocks that have been in the tank over a year. weird.

revenge of the phosphate gods.

stay tuned.

Carl

 

[bigfalcon36]

Tech M will crush it...but your system is so huge that it would be difficult to reach the levels you need to nuke it. Have you tried a ROWA-Phos or Phosban? It's only a band aid, but it may help get the levels down to where the stuff dies off and helps you get your hands around the issue.

 

[Reefski's]

what is Tech M? is it a magnesium supplement? i have mgso4 and mgcl i can and am dosing. mg tested at 1251ppm

potassium is low, 300ppm, and i am going to be raising that up.

I have tried gfo but had alk problems that may or may not have been related. i may try it again although with the top off water issue fixed my levels are staying fairly low, 0.08ppm. i still have 25 pounds of gfo and a fluidized bed reactor to put it in.

the turf scubber ver 3.0 is starting to work although i am awaiting a better screen for it too.

nitrates are not as high as i thought. they are only 7.5ppm with AWT service. i need another test kit, mine was ancient. still not perfect but not as bad as i thought.

Carl

 

[melev]

Tech-M is a Kent product, and apparently it is the only one that seems to nuke Bryopsis. Everyone tried other magnesium supplements with zero results, and no-one knows what is in Tech-M. Kent reported it is Mg and water.

I'm surprised they haven't bottled it up and labeled it Byropsis Killer yet. :lol:

 

[kinlayan]

hmm so MgCL and mg so4 mixture wont kill bryopsis? only tech m is that right , also i hear you have to pump the mg up to over 1500?

You have to pull out that bryopsis as it is one of toughest most resilient algae i have sen when it spreads even in low nutrient enviroments

 

[Reefski's]

steve-thank you so much.

steve helped hook me up with aquariumwatertesting.com
Ammonia (NH3-4) ........................Good ......................................... 0.006
Nitrite (NO2)................................Good ......................................... 0.017
Nitrate (NO3)...............................Good .............................................7.5
Phosphate (PO4) ..........................Good ........................................... 0.09
Silica (SiO2-3) .............................Good .............................................0.3
Potassium (K) ...............................Low............................................. 302
Calcium (Ca)................................Good ............................................ 401
Boron (B) ....................................Good .............................................5.2
Molybdenum (Mo).........................Good .............................................0.1
Strontium (Sr) .............................Good .............................................7.8
Magnesium (Mg) ..........................Good .......................................... 1251
Iodine (I¯)....................................Low............................................ 0.02
Copper (Cu++) ............................Good ........................................... 0.00
Alkalinity (meq/L).........................Good ........................................... 4.31

looks pretty good, not perfect.

nitrate is lower than my tests indicated which was like 25ppm

my tests also read a little higher for mg and ca.

i'm surprised they don't give pH


Carl

 

[Ed Reef]

Looks like you need to be getting some Zeo KB Strong to bring up your K levels

 

[melev]

Carl, if that is the Magnesium level, that would help explain your montipora losses. I had the same problem a couple of years ago. Once I kept it between 1300 and 1400ppm, they healed up and turned into some very pretty pieces.

Phosphates are nearly .1ppm, so that's still needing to come down.

Alk is a tad high at 12 dKH. The target range of 8 to 11 is 2.86 meq/L - 3.89 meq/L

It's always nice to compare those numbers against our own kits from time to time to see how the parameters measure up.

They can't measure pH because that number drops the longer the water sits. With shipping and temperature swings, the number would be quite low by the time they could test it. Oxygen brings it up, but aerating it wouldn't match your tank's oxygen level. That is why you measure that yourself with a calibrated probe, usually with a meter or controller.

 

[MrPike]

Some methods for nitrate testing can be interfered with by chloride and give a low reading. I wonder what methods AWT uses. Also, I wouldn't put much stock in their potassium reading.

 

[Reefski's]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15385161#post15385161 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MrPike
Some methods for nitrate testing can be interfered with by chloride and give a low reading. I wonder what methods AWT uses. Also, I wouldn't put much stock in their potassium reading.

wouldn't they know about the nitrate being affected by salt water with some tests. i know my hanna c200 can't accurately measure in saltwater.

why don't you trust their salt water reading?

Carl

 

[volcom69]

I read through alot of your thread here, and i must say things are turning around for the better, but it all takes time for good things to happen when things wernt right. Keep up the good work it will pay off for you.

So Mark are you saying that under 1300 ppm of Mag your monties faded in color. Mine right now is about 1260-1290 and my monties seem pretty good, but maybe ill try to raise it alittle. Also you guys were talking about his PH, were you talking about it being low, because my ph is always low. I live in a new house, and i have tried everything that every article said, and even with running kalk if my windows are closed my ph is 7.7-7.9, and i still get great growth and color. So i stoped worring about it and open windows when i can to get it above 8, but i worry more about keeping alk steady then the ph being high, just my 2 cents. Keep up the good work Carl things are turning around.

 

[melev]

volcom69 - Yes, keeping the Mg level up seems to really make the different for Montipora sp. in my tank. I like to keep it near 1400ppm.

Regarding pH, that isn't a number I worry about, although I do keep track of it as I check on the tank daily. I know there are some beautiful reefs that peak at 7.9 each day, so if your numbers are about the same and the tank looks good, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Are you using a test kit, or a pH meter of some kind?

 

[volcom69]

Hey Mark, im using my Reef keeper controller which reads my ph for me, i do calibrate the probe every month though. I just find it amazing though how many people worry about low PH. There are some tanks in italy/places like that i have see that run there ph at 7.6-7.8. I even asked one guy on another forum site why he runs his ph so low, and he told me guys over here dont run theres over 8. So i think the whole ph things is confusing to me, you have guys who say you better run it over 8, then you have peoples tanks who never even reach 8 and there tanks are beautiful. So i just worry about keeping a steady alk then anything else, i do however run a higher alk 8-9 since my ph is lower.

 

[melev]

That sounds like the best plan to me. If your numbers are steady & consistent and the tank is doing well, don't mess with it trying to reach a magic number. :thumbsup:

 

[crsandoval]

How are the peppermint shrimp doing? Also, are the snails mowing thru? I just spent the afternoon brushing the LR and netting all of it out.

 

[Plankt0s]

Last night I was reading this thread and I quickly clicked through the four pages since the split and then all of my internets spilled out from somewhere. While my internets were out I didnt have any cable either but at least I had these four pages in my cache so I spent the time to read all of the posts. I remember checking out this thread when it was beginning and thinking...Wow, this tank is going to be awesome. Im sorry to hear that you have been having trouble but I'm happy to see that everything seems to be working out. Good luck!

 

[HMOOB]

Hi Carl,

Sorry to hear about the problems your tank are having. The anemone and monti cap frag I got from you are doing very well. You have healthy corals, I'm sure they'll all bounce right back.

Here's them: