solitude127
Proud user of IO Salt!
Confessions of a dirty pirate. lol. Stick with it bean. it'll get better.
Bean's 300 Gallon AGE Build
- Thread starter BeanMachine
- Start date
BeanMachine
Active member
We should start a new thread - "Confessions of a Dirty Pirate".
I did order two 300 watt heaters, to see if my tank dipping below 75 is stressing the corals. I'm ranging between 74.5 to 77. Depending on the day... so not 3 degrees in one day. May or may not be one of the problems but I'll mark that one off my list soon.
I've had my skimmer off several weeks now, still no change in Nitrate. My fuge has also been off in that time. 7.8 to 8 ph over a 24 hour period.
BeanMachine
Active member
Question for CalRX guys, the ph in my reactor is 7.5. 1 bubble or so per second. Broken effluent stream into the sump.
Is that low enough to melt my media?
What's weird is my tank was testing right at 7.5 for several months and when I added the acros. Solid.
So a couple weeks ago, once the acros smoked, I increased the bubble count, and slowed down the feed water from my manifold. Over the course of a couple weeks my alk slowly has crept up to 8.5. Its been 8.5 the last week or two now.
So at 7.5 ph inside the reactor has to be melting some of the media correct? I haven't done a water change during this time nor have I added any other alkalinity supplements.
I'm going to purchase a Kamoer Peristaltic pump once they are back in stock.
Is that low enough to melt my media?
What's weird is my tank was testing right at 7.5 for several months and when I added the acros. Solid.
So a couple weeks ago, once the acros smoked, I increased the bubble count, and slowed down the feed water from my manifold. Over the course of a couple weeks my alk slowly has crept up to 8.5. Its been 8.5 the last week or two now.
So at 7.5 ph inside the reactor has to be melting some of the media correct? I haven't done a water change during this time nor have I added any other alkalinity supplements.
I'm going to purchase a Kamoer Peristaltic pump once they are back in stock.
I ran it like how Cody is doing it now, If I'm guessing right. No drip on the effluent. Just a steady stream a little slower than RODI stream so it doesn't get clogged up and adjust co2 only based on tank consumption.
Been super hands off lately so have not even bother to change out probes. Below is my Apex screen shot. 3 pH probes. All of them showing wacky numbers and I'm pretty sure the flat line one is completely dead :lolspin:
BeanMachine
Active member
Thanks for the input everyone. What about melting the magnesium chips at 7.5?
I'll do that and report back.
I'll do that and report back.
BeanMachine
Active member
I use the same, but also a layer of the Re Mag. I am just curious really. I haven't noticed much fluctuation in the mag but I will have time to do some tests this weekend.
pga7602
Well-known member
How? Where's the mag coming from master?
ycnibrc
STAG HORN DOMINATE REEF
The reborn media contain everything alk,Cal, mag, trace element lol with water change and amino acid your sps will grow like gsp hahahaha
If you use the re mag then it's going to be melting much slower. You'd probably wouldn't need to refill that or just add a small amount next time and still achieve the same ratio
BeanMachine
Active member
Bean's 300 Gallon AGE Build
I closed the needle valve to slow the effluent line some. Ph in the cal reactor is 7.2. Tank Alk is 8.5 still and effluent Alk is 10. I'll test all week and see what happens.
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I closed the needle valve to slow the effluent line some. Ph in the cal reactor is 7.2. Tank Alk is 8.5 still and effluent Alk is 10. I'll test all week and see what happens.
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Cody I am running my reactor at about 6.4 I use a Masterflex peristaltic pump and I just boosted my drip rate as the alk was getting used up faster than I could add it. For the past several weeks I was battling to keep it above 7.6dkh. It takes a while and constant testing to get it right. Look up a thread "œthe official masterflex thread" lots of really good info there.
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SchnitzelReef
Active member
Bummer you lost all your acros. I always think any large fluctuations will make acros mad. 3° temp bounce sounds like a lot to me. My tank stays between 77.8-78.9, and corals don't seem to mind.
I would add a lot more fish and turn your skimmer back on. Always seems like my corals are happiest when my tank is full of fish and i feed heavy.
You said corals browned out, then died? How long were they alive for? What are you running for lights right now?
Whenever my tank ran really low on nutrients, my corals would get really pale, I never saw them brown out from low nutrients.
Also how long did it take for your alk to go from 7 to 8.5? Usually things happen much slower with a calcium reactor. I don't think 7 to 8.5 would really hurt anything, Just as long as it happened over a week or so. If it was overnight, than that's a diff story.
I always thought calcium reactor media didn't start melting until 7. I run reborn media and remag, and I still have to dose magnesium. I didnt think reborn had any more magnesium in it than caribsea or other brands, that's why they sell remag.
If you want some more tester frags, I can probably find you a few. Let me know. My corals are probably much healthier than Mikes. [emoji23][emoji23]. LOL. JK
I would add a lot more fish and turn your skimmer back on. Always seems like my corals are happiest when my tank is full of fish and i feed heavy.
You said corals browned out, then died? How long were they alive for? What are you running for lights right now?
Whenever my tank ran really low on nutrients, my corals would get really pale, I never saw them brown out from low nutrients.
Also how long did it take for your alk to go from 7 to 8.5? Usually things happen much slower with a calcium reactor. I don't think 7 to 8.5 would really hurt anything, Just as long as it happened over a week or so. If it was overnight, than that's a diff story.
I always thought calcium reactor media didn't start melting until 7. I run reborn media and remag, and I still have to dose magnesium. I didnt think reborn had any more magnesium in it than caribsea or other brands, that's why they sell remag.
If you want some more tester frags, I can probably find you a few. Let me know. My corals are probably much healthier than Mikes. [emoji23][emoji23]. LOL. JK
