first saltwater aquarium, weird 15g setup, many questions

[griss]

What PAR meter did you get?

 

[skipper03]

What PAR meter did you get?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7GRLQC4

 

[griss]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7GRLQC4

Interesting. I’ve heard “off brand” need adjustment to their readings but that’s way above my head. @oreo57 thoughts?

 

[skipper03]

i got more test kits in! current readings:
kh: 6.7dKH
calcium: 355ppm
magnesium: 1320ppm

the rest:
ph: 8
phosphate: 0.25ppm-ish
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: 5ppm

looks like i should start dosing that all-for-reef stuff. i actually have it already!
but that would bring the magnesium up as well, hm....
(i'm not adding corals any time soon, but i think even the cuc would benefit from different conditions, no?)

 

[griss]

Not bad readings. You could dose Alk to get that up, then switch to AFR.

Ca is a little low.

 

[skipper03]

so should i get both calcium and alk additives, and when those get to a good level switch to afr?

 

[griss]

so should i get both calcium and alk additives, and when those get to a good level switch to afr?

To preface, I’ve never used AFR but, that’s what I’d do.

 

[Reefing102]

Tank is looking good! AFR is mainly used to maintain Alk, it’s not often used to raise it. It’s odd though that it’s that low with nothing huge being a user of it.

I’m curious which salt you used? Also, given the smaller size of the tanks, I wonder if you have any locals who could just give you a bit of 2-part additives to balance it out and see if it’s actually being used or if your salt is low.

 

[griss]

Just remember, when increasing Alk you only want to increase by 1 dkh per 24 hours.

 

[oreo57]

Interesting. I’ve heard “off brand” need adjustment to their readings but that’s way above my head. @oreo57 thoughts?

Besides the "usual" in air vs in water reading adjustments?
Best to just search for reviews of the model one wants to buy and see the "latest" head to head against an Apogee.

I'm not sure that lot to lot variation won't pretty much skew any correction factors found especially since many are based on a sample of 1.

They probably work better as a comparison meter than an absolute value meter.
You know like at 100% my new light turns out x par and now after 10 years y par or the par difference between sand and surface is 5x less.
Or now due to shading par is 2x less.

 

[skipper03]

the new inverts have arrived!

this one seems to have molted in transit!

i turned the powerhead and lights off while floating them. it feels like a good idea to keep them off for a while after introducing them, too

 

[skipper03]

Best to just search for reviews of the model one wants to buy and see the "latest" head to head against an Apogee.

yeah, i have a review screenshotted that says to multiply by 1.17 to get readings comparable to apogee, since for some reason they have more opaque sensors.

 

[skipper03]

wow everyone is immediately active

 

[skipper03]

woah i didn't notice that my anemone moved overnight!
i guess he hates the new lights, sorry dude

 

[skipper03]

Hey, we're back! I was trying to access the site a bit ago and it said it was unavailable, then I looked online and found posts from 2009 saying that the database was destroyed. Scary stuff!

 

[skipper03]

Tank is looking good! AFR is mainly used to maintain Alk, it’s not often used to raise it. It’s odd though that it’s that low with nothing huge being a user of it.

I’m curious which salt you used? Also, given the smaller size of the tanks, I wonder if you have any locals who could just give you a bit of 2-part additives to balance it out and see if it’s actually being used or if your salt is low.

i measured my salinity and found it lower than previous, at about 1.0247sg, but that's not *that* low. i'm not sure how it got lower, though. maybe i topped off too much, somehow.

also this is my first time using these test kits (salifert), so it's possible that i'm just doing something wrong.

the salt i'm using is the plain instant ocean one

 

[skipper03]

my chiton died
it got flipped on its back and one of the snails got to it

also one of the snails died, also due to getting flipped.

these were both yesterday, and there have been no incidents since.

 

[skipper03]

i did get a surprise baby hermit crab

 

[griss]

Hey, we're back! I was trying to access the site a bit ago and it said it was unavailable, then I looked online and found posts from 2009 saying that the database was destroyed. Scary stuff!

We’ve been having some attack issues. The owner is working with our hosting company to fix things.

 

[griss]

i measured my salinity and found it lower than previous, at about 1.0247sg, but that's not *that* low. i'm not sure how it got lower, though. maybe i topped off too much, somehow.

also this is my first time using these test kits (salifert), so it's possible that i'm just doing something wrong.

the salt i'm using is the plain instant ocean one

How are you measuring salinity again?

FWIW I use regular IO with no issues.