A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

My tank is doing well. I found out what my issue was last Fall. I had a chunk of calcium stuck in my return plumbing. After I replumbed the tank everything has been back to normal or better atm.
 
Kung said:
I like your coloration, a lot. I have a few questions, though.

Do you get decent growth with just 20k bulbs?

Would you say that the photo accurately depicts the tank? Sometimes photos don't look exactly like what we see.

I run 10k and I am not happy. I was thinking of getting some t-5 supplimentation for my two 400 watt 10k, but if you are getting growth and color with those radiums then I may reconsider.
Click to expand...

First let me say my tank is not perfect and I dont know everything. I am still learning too. I was away from the hobby for a few years and many things changed during this time but the basics are still the same. My tank is very basic in regards to set up. I use equipment that I feel is necessary to have a successful reef tank. With the proper setup anyone can have a wonderful SPS tank. But it does take some knowledge, time, and money.


There is more to growth than just bulbs IMO.
I have used many different Kelvins bulbs over the years from Iwasaki 6500k to 20k radiums and bulbs in between. The ballast you use also has a huge impact of the bulb. I prefer the color the radiums produce over any other bulb out there.

IMO PO4 is biggest growth deterrent for SPS. In regards to PO4 I feel anything over .03-.04 is to much. I use the Hanna meter to test PO4 and my tank usually stays around .02-.03. If I test PO4 and it reads .04 I stop feeding the fish for a day or two and then only feed every other day, with just small amount. Once PO4 returns to .02 I up the feeding a little bit. I choose foods that are very low in phosphorus which helps a great deal with PO4 build up. I also have to give much credit to to RC members, especially members that frequent the Chemistry forum on RC. I read a bunch. Did I mention I read a bunch! And I know enough now to know who to listen to.


I dont feel my pics do my tank justice. The tank is much much brighter than the pics I take. The colors are alot brighter but they are still not where I want them.


I am always willing to help anyone with reef keeping. It is something I have always enjoyed. But sometimes it is frustrating when people ask for help or advice then do something complete opposite.


If there is something you want to know just ask. I will do my best to help.
 
Orr2003 said:
IMO PO4 is biggest growth deterrent for SPS. In regards to PO4 I feel anything over .03-.04 is to much. I use the Hanna meter to test PO4 and my tank usually stays around .02-.03. If I test PO4 and it reads .04 I stop feeding the fish for a day or two and then only feed every other day, with just small amount. Once PO4 returns to .02 I up the feeding a little bit.
Click to expand...

This post got me to search some on the Hanna meter and someone is suggesting that the manufacture is claiming it has a +/- 0.04 error. Have you seen anything about that?
 
carb850 said:
This post got me to search some on the Hanna meter and someone is suggesting that the manufacture is claiming it has a +/- 0.04 error. Have you seen anything about that?
Click to expand...

The accuracy of the Hanna meter is +/-0.04mg/L +/-4% of reading.

This is Hanna Specifications.

No one I have talked to can agree whether this means +/-0.04 of the final reading or does it mean +/-4% of the final reading. These are two completely different accuracies.

For example if my final test results with the Hanna were:

.10 and I had an accuracy of +/-0.04 then I would be in this range
( .06 - .14 )

But if I had a final test result with the hanna of:

.10 and I had an accuracy of 4% of reading then I would be in this range
( .096 - .104 )



I have never sent an email to hanna for an explanation and I havent read of anyone getting an explanation from them.
So this is what I did/do to test my hanna.

I test distilled water which is zero PO4. This should test 0.00 on my Hanna. I also test my RO/DI water straight from the DI line of my unit. This should also read 0.00

With that said I have never gotten my hanna to read 0.00
It has always read .01 when testing both these samples.

This is plenty accurate for me. And it is possible that both the distilled and my RO/DI has a little bit of PO4. THe distilled water could have a little bit of PO4 leached out from the plastic jug it is stored in and my RO/DI is probably not perfect.

I read all the time about how the hanna is not accurate and I just dont agree. For my purposes it is absolutely a great tool for measuring phosphates.
It will outperform any and I mean any hobby test kit I have used. And I have used a few. I recommend the Hanna HI 93713 Phosphate Low Range ISM.
 
That sound way more accurate than my 'yeah I have a bunch of algae growing so I must have PO4' method. :)

I would like to get this tool myself but the funds are not available at the moment. Do you recommend any particular PO4 test kit while I save for the meter?
 
Oh, I know that there is more to a reef than lights. I also know that I have allowed my reef to get pretty bad and I am trying to undo it.

I might get a hanna meter. That's a cool tool, for sure.

Thanks for the info. Funds probably won't allow any sudden changes, but I at least know where I am trying to head.
 
Orr2003 said:
I was away from the hobby for a few years and many things changed during this time but the basics are still the same. My tank is very basic in regards to set up. I use equipment that I feel is necessary to have a successful reef tank. With the proper setup anyone can have a wonderful SPS tank. But it does take some knowledge, time, and money.


I also have to give much credit to to RC members, especially members that frequent the Chemistry forum on RC. I read a bunch. Did I mention I read a bunch! And I know enough now to know who to listen to.
Click to expand...
qft
 
HitmanHoos said:
What foods do you use?
Click to expand...

I feed Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef Flakes, Formula One Flakes, Formula Two Flakes, Brine Shrimp Plus Flakes. These are all low Phosphorus low Ash content.

Cyclop eeze frozen and wafer

Occasionally I feed a cube of frozen Brine or Mysis but these are high in PO4


You want to look at the ingredients and if the first ingredient is whole fish meal or bone meal you dont really want it IMO.
 
http://web.archive.org/web/20010720071031/http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/data/foods.asp


RHF calculated the phosphorus to protein ratio and came up with this

Formula Two...........................176
Formula One.............................69
Frozen Brine Shrimp................232
Frozen Plankton/Krill...............182
Golden Pearls..........................273
Lancefish.................................244
Nori..........................................221
Plankton Gold Flakes...............169
Prime Reef.................................69
Saltwater Staple......................500
Silversides...............................952
Tahitian Blend..........................318
 
Wow, great info. I'm like hitman usually feeding my fish either frozen brine or frozen mysis with just the occasional flake.
 
I remember Dr. Ron's study but I missed or forgot Randy's input.
I use to feed Vibragro back in the day but I've never fed flakes. Might have to look into a couple brands again.

carb850 said:
Wow, great info. I'm like hitman usually feeding my fish either frozen brine or frozen mysis with just the occasional flake.
Click to expand...
If you thaw in a fine mesh strainer and rinse with RO water it should cut the amount of PO4.
 
coralreefer said:
I remember Dr. Ron's study but I missed or forgot Randy's input.
I use to feed Vibragro back in the day but I've never fed flakes. Might have to look into a couple brands again.


If you thaw in a fine mesh strainer and rinse with RO water it should cut the amount of PO4.
Click to expand...


Yes it is always wise to rinse frozen brine and mysis. However I dont do it since I dont feed that much of it.
 
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