Finally figured out my issue?

brettinteriors

brettinteriors

New member
After a month or so of issues with my green Slimer I think I figured it out. I feel like a newbie here. Damn sg. As it goes I dropped my refract about 3 months ago and broke it. Not a huge deal I thought. In the year of this tank I have never had fluctuation of sg. I have always tested my change water and got lax on my tank. I have checked it but after a year of exact numbers I have become complacent. I got another refract and thought I might as well calibrate it. I have misplaced my calibration solution so I thought well my tank is always 35ppt so I will just use that. !!!!! It read between 1.021 and 1.022. Thinking it was wrong I used ro/di to zero it out. Same. It is possible it isn't calibrated right but I doubt it. All of my parameters are rock solid thanks to a carefully calibrated doser and I have been trying to figure out why my Slimer hasn't looked right. All my other acros look ok but something just has been telling me something is wrong. I have messed with flow, light and everything else I can think of. Then it hit me. Since I started solid carbon dosing my skim ate levels have steadily risen. Hence in the past my salt loss was minimal and was always replaces by water changes. In the last three months without my refract my sg has slowly declined. I will top off with salt water and slowly bring it up. I just can't believe after 4 years of dedicated reefing i made a big folly like this. So simply. Complacency kills
 
I am not sure I follow here... by carbon dosing/carbon reactor.... your Sg has gone down? I keep mine at 1.023-1.025 (i like to really be between 1.024 and 1.025... I read SPS like it a lil higher)
 
Yeah, I'd didn't occur to me either. Carbon/vinegar dosing causes the skimmer to skim a lot more. For me it is like 5x more than prior. The water that is lost in skim ate is replaced via ato freshwater. Before carbon dosing my sg never fell enough to matter. Water changes were enough to compensate for any loss. I use 1.026 change water and prior to this I have never had my tank test below 1.025. I still need to verify my readings and I have 35ppt calibration solution on order to be sure. I use Hanna checker for most of my parameters and keep a graphed chart of my test. I cannot believe I neglected a basic param like sg. My Alk stayes between 7.798 and 7.988 with 25ml dosed daily. My calcium use generally runs about 50 ml daily and my vinegar is up to 50 ml. All this technical data and I blanked on it.

Lesson learned


lostmyz said:
I am not sure I follow here... by carbon dosing/carbon reactor.... your Sg has gone down? I keep mine at 1.023-1.025 (i like to really be between 1.024 and 1.025... I read SPS like it a lil higher)
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
ur using the bubble magus and the BRS recipe 1 for dosing right? I jut started my dosing. How do you like it? How many readings did it take u to figure out ur consumption of alk and calcium daily?
 
4468897b-4500-3ac5.jpg
I use recipe one. Sodium carbonate. I have been using it for almost a year and my use has varied a lot. When I had a coralline explosion my Alk and calcium use exploded. I would start by testing and waiting a few days without dosing. Then you can figure out you average daily usage. I love the calculator on brs and I do t know how I could reef without it. :)

All IMHO

When dosing it becomes evident how each parameter effects the other. Raising your Alk past 10 will start lowering your calcium and it will appear you daily use is more than it is. Getting you calcium too high will start to lower you Alk. When not dosing vinegar I shot for a Dkh of 9, now I shoot for a high 7. When I have a good feel for the tank I test once a week and make adjustments.

I highly recommend a smart phone or iPad reef ap to track and graph.
I use aquaplanner

This is the doser I use. http://www.reefshops.com/marine-color-dosing-pump-mcd-3-m.html?sl=EN

lostmyz said:
ur using the bubble magus and the BRS recipe 1 for dosing right? I jut started my dosing. How do you like it? How many readings did it take u to figure out ur consumption of alk and calcium daily?
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Awesome! I figured out my problem too! 800 calcium!!!! Stressing my **** out like no other... controlling it now and everything is exploding too!!!

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2
 
Nope it was 9 solid it would drop occasionally to 7 but never below. But my pH I could never get above 7.8-8.0 ever!

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2
 
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