Dirt-simple chemistry MUST-knows for tank health

[Dadekster]

ABC's of reefing, very nice.

 

[godsdoc]

Great write up.
I always have to remind myself to go back to the basics it seems like after a while I start cutting corners and not keeping up on all the maintenance.

 

[nebelk]

great info. I have been just using kalk in my top-off, but may need to rethink things.

 

[Fredrick]

My water

My water

I always use carbi-sea purified is this a good brand for fish and also the other wonderful inverts and plants

 

[markaren]

Thank You.

 

[mastersonr]

wow, what a great post. I just came across this and it really helps explains things. I've had FO tanks forever but just upgraded to a bigger tank and I'm getting ready to start adding some soft corals. I can't tell you how helpful this is!

 

[grizbear]

Great write-up. Always good to have the basics to review in print as we too often get complacent or worse lazy.
Thanks!!

 

[grizbear]

Great write-up. Always good to have the basics to review in print as we too often get complacent or worse lazy.
Thanks!!

 

[cichlidsrcool]

tank info

tank info

thanks for the info will keep it handy lots of good stuff in the post

 

[johnnyatc]

Great information!!! Appreciate you taking the time to write that all down.

 

[Mark SF]

Good info thanks for taking the time.

I read in Coral magazine that the phosphates eventually with absorb into the substrate and the live rock. They recommend after a few years to actually remove the substrate and replace it section by section. It was also recommended to replace live rock as well because of this issue, based on a similar method of a little at a time.

I believe it was in the January edition, free for me on my iPad. Titled "Old Tank Syndrome"

Mark

 

[bobdale]

Down and dirty post. I read it about a year ago and enjoyed hitting it again.

 

[ppark]

excellent write up. thanks for taking the time.

 

[cnguyenl]

nice!

 

[tonyf]

The second reading is your Calcium level. It should be between 420 and 500. Below that---your snails' shells start dissolving. And your fish's bone and muscle suffer.

Sk8r, Natural sea water calcium concentration is between 380ppm and 420ppm depending on who you're reading ... I had no idea that my snails and fish were at risk through keeping my calcium levels in the range 400-450ppm. Do you have a source for these claims, please ? Randy "suggest that aquarists maintain a calcium level between about 380 and 450 ppm." [source: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php ]

 

[RxMike]

Parameters

Parameters

Hello
I have a mixed reef. I am primarily SPS, but do have some LPS. I have lots of fish. I use tropic Marin Reef Pro and here are my parameters. I also run a calcium reactor.
Salinity 1.025
Ph 8.1
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite=0.2
Nitrate =0.5
Phosphate 0.5 ( Just switched from BRS GFO to Rowaphos yesterday)
Ca= 470
Alk = 11
Mag 1100

I am working on getting my phos down, I hope that the Rowaphos does a better job than the BRS GFO.

How do I go about getting my Alk down, I realize I need to work on getting my mag up to 1300
Overal my parameters are pretty good.

 

[kupadupapupa]

Thanks for this

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Tapatalk 2

 

[Sk8r]

Regarding snails: if you start getting much lower, you'll find holes in your snail shells. Clams and corals, snails, aragonite, all dissolve as the water balance gets wonkier. If you want stony corals to grow, keep the calcium at 420. If you don't have stony coral you can go lower, but keeping it at that level keeps it 'available' on call, and a feeding stony can take down an amazing amount of calcium in a single day, enough that it will stress other creatures in the tank and cause problems. Mg/cal/alk exist in a balance. If you keep the mg up and keep providing calcium at 420, the system will stay bulletproof for months.

 

[Sk8r]

In my experience, re GFO, it just works, and I use Phosban when I need it. These others are good, too.
It may take several months, and some GFO media changes to get a bad load sopped up. Don't overdo. Many creatures besides algae rely on a little.

 

[ezhoops]

"And the reason not to use conditioned tapwater? City water grows plants. Algae. A lot of it. The conditioners don't remove phosphate."

Just to be clear. RO water is ok. Your saying don't use tap water and then buy conditioners to fix it?