dino experiment

[sneeyatch]

So I performed another experiment with peroxide yesterday and this evening... I heard you can use it as a dip in certain instances that will wipe out pretty much anything it comes in contact with. Lots of people are using it to dip their frag plugs that are overgrowing with unwanted algae, etc.

Anyway, I have a small patch of bryopsis growing that I want gone before it turns into an issue, so I filled up a syringe with peroxide, turned off my pumps (except my return) and proceeded to inject the bryopsis. That was yesterday. This evening when I got home from work, I have bleached out patches of bryopsis where it was injected. Needless to say I did it again tonight - never exceeding the recommended dosage for the system. I more or less concentrated it in one area and am pleased with the results.

I wonder what this stuff will do with aiptasia, bubble algae, etc. So far, it's dino's, cyano, possibly marine velvet, bryopsis...

 

[t4zalews]

I read about that as well. It be sweet if peroxide works well against aiptasia.

I have dino's showing back up on my sandbed. I need to pick up some pickling lime and raise my Ph. How quickly does the Ph drop after you dose pickling lime?

 

[twon8]

I read about that as well. It be sweet if peroxide works well against aiptasia.

I have dino's showing back up on my sandbed. I need to pick up some pickling lime and raise my Ph. How quickly does the Ph drop after you dose pickling lime?

The ph goes up, quickly, and as soon as you put it into the sump/tank, sump preferred.

I'd mix up a teaspoon in a cup of fresh water and dose as much as needed to get your ph up to 8.6. Twice a day is what worked for me.

 

[t4zalews]

The ph goes up, quickly, and as soon as you put it into the sump/tank, sump preferred.

I'd mix up a teaspoon in a cup of fresh water and dose as much as needed to get your ph up to 8.6. Twice a day is what worked for me.

so the Ph doesnt fall quickly I take it? It raises alkalinity I believe? Could I set up my doser to dose it instead of my alk to keep my Ph levels high...i could control it with my apex.

 

[t4zalews]

Side note..Im going to continue to dose peroxide because it has rose my ORP to very high levels which I find beneficial. My tank is stabling out at around 380.

 

[jkopp36]

so the Ph doesnt fall quickly I take it? It raises alkalinity I believe? Could I set up my doser to dose it instead of my alk to keep my Ph levels high...i could control it with my apex.

Ever since I started dosing kalk to help with the dinos I have been able to stop dosing my 2-part since it does more than keep up. It will depend on your needs and evap rate though. I had to put more fans on my sump to help with evaporation so I could up the kalk dosing to keep the pH up. I still struggle getting it over 8.3 but the H2O2 has pretty much wiped the dinos out and everything is looking a LOT better. Now, on to battling this neon green cyano although even it is subsiding now.

Keep a close eye on your alk. Kalk dosing can raise it rapidly and we know how much SPS like stable alk.

 

[t4zalews]

yea..well most of my sps died because I wasnt paying attention to my salinity, it dipped down to 1.019 and is now at 1.023 and rising.

When mixing the mrs. wages solution, do I have to wait for the solution to settle, or can I just mix and pour? Of course, I will be adding slowly to raise my Ph. How quickly does the alk raise? I'm planning on using a 1 tsp per gallon (I'll be mixing in a gallon jug)

 

[sneeyatch]

pH, calcium and alkalinity rising will only be able to be seen by testing. Depending on the size and demands of your system, it could vary. Test and keep track.

Yes - mix the Mrs. Wages and let it settle, then use the clear water from that container to drip into your system. My recommendation would be to read up on this before you start going in that direction if you're not familiar with it:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php

 

[jmsalt1]

yea..well most of my sps died because I wasnt paying attention to my salinity, it dipped down to 1.019 and is now at 1.023 and rising.

When mixing the mrs. wages solution, do I have to wait for the solution to settle, or can I just mix and pour? Of course, I will be adding slowly to raise my Ph. How quickly does the alk raise? I'm planning on using a 1 tsp per gallon (I'll be mixing in a gallon jug)

Do you have a TDS meter on your ro/di unit? What type of ro/di system are you running? Just trying to help get to the source of your issues. I apologize if you covered this previously in the thread.

 

[t4zalews]

Do you have a TDS meter on your ro/di unit? What type of ro/di system are you running? Just trying to help get to the source of your issues. I apologize if you covered this previously in the thread.

Ever since the tank began I've been using RO/DI water. I have a spectrapure 90 gpd, the micron filter is still whitish and the carbon block is about 4 months old. I just recently changed the DI resin. My water reads 0 tds coming out of the DI unit. I use color changing DI resin, so when it gets pretty brown I change it out. I change out the micron filter when it turns yellow in color and I change the carbon block filter about every 8 months. I have pretty clean water here so the filters last pretty long

 

[t4zalews]

I guess I can give a quick back story. I started in 2007. From the original set up..I've had to move the tank 3 times. Started getting dinos literally just about the time I got my gig anemone. Before that I had occasional had bouts with diatoms, but they were just diatoms not dinos. My tank was really booming, everything was looking great and then the dino swarm came and since yesterday I have 3 of my original SPS pieces, but they are very drab right now and not growing. All clams and fish seem uneffected by the whole situation. My gig has lost some color but I take that due to the lack of light I've been giving the tank lately. I originally bought an orp probe for use with ozone, but then after not being comfortable running ozone I began dosing peroxide. My normal ORP in the tank was around 300. My tank now runs a normal ORP of 375-390. So I believe I have really sucked out a lot of organics from my water which is good. Looking at the tank yesterday, I kneeled down and saw bubbles coming from the rocks again. Which is why I'm going to have to try elevated Ph.

 

[jmsalt1]

+1 on elevated pH. I think you have a controller from what I remember earlier in the thread. Make sure the pH probe is recently calibrated. If you have a Hanna, I would use that to double check the reading. I am guessing you will be able to monitor pH 24/7 so that will benefit you. Go slow with the Kalk. and use a doser to add it slowly (opposite your photo period which shouldn't be tought given how much you have shortened that). If you are currently using other sources for CA / alk. you will need to adjust that regiment to accomodate for the CA / alk. you are getting from dosing Kalk. Might be a good time to check you MG level as well if you have not done that lately. I'm guessing you have thought of this as well.

 

[t4zalews]

Yea, I have an apex unit, and I just recently calibrated the ph probe (which by the way for the apex is really weird because it doesnt calibrate to 7 and 10, you just wait til the numbers stablize, even if its not on 700 or 1000.) I'm currently dosing cal/alk with dosing pumps. I'll just seize that dosing and mix up some kalk and dose that. I havent' checked my mag in a while...so that was a good reminder. I'll just set the dosing pump to go on when the Ph is below 8.39 and stop when it hits 8.43. Would that be a good range knowing that it might swing a little when it stops

 

[twon8]

I would aim higher than that, at least 8.5. You can dose the slurry soon after mixing it, you don't have to use a dosing pump. I've had my ph go above 9 for short periods with no ill effect.

 

[t4zalews]

I would aim higher than that, at least 8.5. You can dose the slurry soon after mixing it, you don't have to use a dosing pump. I've had my ph go above 9 for short periods with no ill effect.

From my understanding, I need it to stay about 8.4? how long is a short period for above 9, like 30 sec or 20 min?

 

[jkopp36]

I'm with twon. Try to keep it at 8.5 minimum. I don't know if I'd go all the way to 9 but I wouldn't be a bit afraid of 8.7-8.8. I could not get mine that high without my alk getting too high. I was dosing via a BRS 50ml/min pump 4 times an hour for 3 minutes 20 seconds each time. I rigged a 6.5g bucket up as a kalk container/stirrer that I used a pump to stir 4 times per day. It wasn't quite a slurry but was more than clear kalk saturated water.

 

[jkopp36]

Also, I made it sound like I am no longer dosing the kalk but I am and will continue to do so indefinitely regardless of my dino situation. Just wanted to be clear.

 

[twon8]

From my understanding, I need it to stay about 8.4? how long is a short period for above 9, like 30 sec or 20 min?

the ph probe was in the sump, and it would stay above 9 for 20 minutes or more. I have a pretty low flow sump so it takes a while to mix in fully with the tank.

A few years ago i had 5 gallons of kalkwater dumped into my 90 due to user error and it clouded the tank and got ph above 10, but after the dust settled there was no damage.

Just mix up a teaspoon of kalk with a cup of water and add about 30-50 ml at a time until you see your ph get up and stay up.

 

[twon8]

Yea, I have an apex unit, and I just recently calibrated the ph probe (which by the way for the apex is really weird because it doesnt calibrate to 7 and 10, you just wait til the numbers stablize, even if its not on 700 or 1000.) I'm currently dosing cal/alk with dosing pumps. I'll just seize that dosing and mix up some kalk and dose that. I havent' checked my mag in a while...so that was a good reminder. I'll just set the dosing pump to go on when the Ph is below 8.39 and stop when it hits 8.43. Would that be a good range knowing that it might swing a little when it stops

What are you using for top off? I would use the kalk water for all my top off, that alone might be enough to keep your ph up, depending upon your evaporation rate. A fan aimed at a water surface with increase evap allowing you to add more kalk per day. But in the meantime I would hand dose a cloudy kalk water twice a day.

 

[t4zalews]

Currently I just use RODI for my top off. I have dosing pumps for alk and calcium. I just keep a 5g bucket of fresh RODI for my osmolator.