Jennystyyle’s Red Sea Nano Max G2 Journal
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jennystyyle
Member
It's going good. I have been working on a few things on it. So far, inhabitants are
1 royal gramma
2 astrea snails
2 colinista snails
It is going through a bit of the uglies, being the tank is just 2 months old. I have some green hair algae, but it looks like it is losing its color and dying off.
I have been testing daily to develop my consistency on testing with the marine master. I've finally gotten pretty good, especially with the very sensitive calcium test. My salinity is still on the low side, and working on bringing it up. PH is still low and magnesium is high and I need to get them figured out. This morning results are:
Salinity: 33.7
temperature 78.7
ammonia 0.08ppm
nitrite 0.018ppm
nitrate 15.9ppm
phosphate 0.02ppm
calcium 425
Ph 7.7
alk 8.3
magnesium 1530
Soon, I may add a hammer and some zoanthids.
1 royal gramma
2 astrea snails
2 colinista snails
It is going through a bit of the uglies, being the tank is just 2 months old. I have some green hair algae, but it looks like it is losing its color and dying off.
I have been testing daily to develop my consistency on testing with the marine master. I've finally gotten pretty good, especially with the very sensitive calcium test. My salinity is still on the low side, and working on bringing it up. PH is still low and magnesium is high and I need to get them figured out. This morning results are:
Salinity: 33.7
temperature 78.7
ammonia 0.08ppm
nitrite 0.018ppm
nitrate 15.9ppm
phosphate 0.02ppm
calcium 425
Ph 7.7
alk 8.3
magnesium 1530
Soon, I may add a hammer and some zoanthids.
Low pH is typically caused by CO2 in our homes thanks to great seals on windows and doors.
A lot of people run and airline from the outside to the air intake on their skimmer. I can't do this because the tank is on one end of the house and the neighbor on that side has a pest control company that sprays and sometimes fogs their yard for insects. I don't want to risk introducing pesticide into my tank.
Since I can't run the airline, I've found dripping kalkwasser has helped my low pH. I get down to about 8.0 in the middle of the night and 8.2 during the day.
A lot of people run and airline from the outside to the air intake on their skimmer. I can't do this because the tank is on one end of the house and the neighbor on that side has a pest control company that sprays and sometimes fogs their yard for insects. I don't want to risk introducing pesticide into my tank.
Since I can't run the airline, I've found dripping kalkwasser has helped my low pH. I get down to about 8.0 in the middle of the night and 8.2 during the day.
jennystyyle
Member
I tried running the skimmer for 24 hours. It brought it up 0.1. I also tested with lights on, it also brings it up about 0.1. Thus for day would be 7.9 which is closer.
Stupid me just doesn’t like the additional noise from skimmer
Stupid me just doesn’t like the additional noise from skimmer
I get the noise part.
The thing is, in your home, people, pets, etc. produce CO2. Modern homes with good windows and weather stripping trap the CO2 inside the home. So, the home has a higher level of CO2 than the outside air. Therefore, if you're running the skimmer using air from inside the home, there is likely a build up of CO2 in that air that will suppress the pH. That's why a lot of people connect tubing to the skimmer air intake and put the other end outside...to get fresh (less CO2) air into the system thus increasing pH. That said, some have had success doing this, others have had minimal/moderate success and others have not seen a difference.
Three options to help increase pH.
1. Introduce outside air through the skimmer air intake. Pros - Free and cheap to do. Cons - May not work, potential for pesticides and other chemicals used by you or neighbors to be introduced into the tank.
2. Drip kalkwasser. Pros - Relatively inexpensive if done manually. Cons - Can get costly if you automate (dosing pump) and may not help.
3. CO2 scrubber. Pros - Many have reported good success with this. Cons - Can be costly and you have to replace the media.
The thing is, in your home, people, pets, etc. produce CO2. Modern homes with good windows and weather stripping trap the CO2 inside the home. So, the home has a higher level of CO2 than the outside air. Therefore, if you're running the skimmer using air from inside the home, there is likely a build up of CO2 in that air that will suppress the pH. That's why a lot of people connect tubing to the skimmer air intake and put the other end outside...to get fresh (less CO2) air into the system thus increasing pH. That said, some have had success doing this, others have had minimal/moderate success and others have not seen a difference.
Three options to help increase pH.
1. Introduce outside air through the skimmer air intake. Pros - Free and cheap to do. Cons - May not work, potential for pesticides and other chemicals used by you or neighbors to be introduced into the tank.
2. Drip kalkwasser. Pros - Relatively inexpensive if done manually. Cons - Can get costly if you automate (dosing pump) and may not help.
3. CO2 scrubber. Pros - Many have reported good success with this. Cons - Can be costly and you have to replace the media.
not something my wife and I have to worry about in our 80yr old home lol
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