Mhucasey's SPS obsession
- Thread starter mhucasey
- Start date
nemodan
New member
Nice Acro Matt.... Congrats for finding it !!!!.
When I was reading you "lab posting" I remember that I spent 30 years of my life working in labs doing solutions for my research work and due to that, now I want to buy all already made . It is like one of my friends here, he rather pay $500 to an accountant than doing by himself the taxes. I asked why ? ..... he answered me: because I spend the day in front of a computer (programer) the last thing I want to do at home is to be in front of one.
Congrats and,THANK YOU !!!! For shearing the details with pictures with your fellow reefers.
Best Daniel
When I was reading you "lab posting" I remember that I spent 30 years of my life working in labs doing solutions for my research work and due to that, now I want to buy all already made . It is like one of my friends here, he rather pay $500 to an accountant than doing by himself the taxes. I asked why ? ..... he answered me: because I spend the day in front of a computer (programer) the last thing I want to do at home is to be in front of one.
Congrats and,THANK YOU !!!! For shearing the details with pictures with your fellow reefers.
Best Daniel
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
In all seriousness, I have pretty much restricted my purchases to stores that I feel comfortable about because I know they diligently inspect and dip everything that comes in. I always have wrasses like leopards and yellow Coris wrasses to clean up some of the pests, and as an extra measure of protection I added Springeri Damsels which have a reputation for eating flatworms. I watch all the corals carefully and closely every day so if any signs turned up I would see it immediately.
Like fish, healthy corals seem to be able to resist pests and parasites much better, so I try to keep them healthy.
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Hello friend!!!!!!!
Matt, I want to be his friend, too!!
Gomezi?
Nice mini doc on the manganese.
Are you trying to outblue Bulent?
He was so friendly, I sent his picture to the wife and she demanded I take him home:dance: I wanted to make her happy too so I obliged!
I will do the same for zinc with the step by step, and then I may even combine some elements in the future for a custom MicroE replacement. I'm very excited to get down to this level of detail in reefkeeping, going back though some of the various disasters others have has it seems that low Zinc could be the cause.
I'd love to see a tank with cyano like crazy and burned tips on Acros and see if just adding Zinc and Manganese fixes the problem. I'm more and more confident that is what was happening in these tanks, depletion of the trace elements. When they are not adequately restored through water changes or supplements, they finally reach a tipping point. An Alk spike then is the killing blow.
Right now Bulent wins when it comes to blue:celeb3: Or, I should say we all win since we can view pictures of his stunning corals!! I have been looking for a truly light blue/electric blue staghorn for a while, passing up reds and pinks, and this coral fit the bill to a tee. It doesn't photograph well, but it's unbelievable blue!
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mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Ahh Daniel, I have 20+ years in Biotech, about 9 of that in Manufacturing, both upstream and downstream, and I have made more media and buffers than I could count. I hear where you are coming from, for the last 11 years I have been an Automation engineer and so when I get home I don't want to be on the computer for recreation. The internet holds little interest for me as entertainment - I read books instead...lots and lots of books:reading:
Making these small solutions is fun, however, especially with this new milligram scale. From my work experience I take with me my knowledge of proper technique and hope to pass along something useful. I have zero interest in selling these solutions or anything but knowing what I know now, I feel like buying ready made single element solutions is a rip-off.:hammer:
reefmutt
Active member
Our friend Markalot might fit this bill to a tee!
nemodan
New member
There we go....that's why you have a touch for all these.
I have a PhD in Biology of Reproduction and spent most of my life doing Fertility Research. Now I am in corporate and the lab and all my research are just nice memories.
You are correct, always we pay premium prices for these ready made solutions.
Best
Daniel
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
I don't think Daniel has the kind of issues that scream for trace elements, personally. I'm really not sure where his issues come from, its frustrating.
nemodan
New member
Agree 100%
I was also thinking if my 15% weekly WC will not be replenishing those Micro E elements.
I can not blame Reef Crystals, because my issues started with the AF salt, that's why I switched back. But neither I believe it was the AF salt. Something went out of balance during my 1st month transition to AF salt and the moment I have the 4 hours power outgage, that was reflected in a significant drop of temp and an alk peak, when the Alk was not yet stable with the new salt.
Daniel
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
I think his tank was lacking certain trace elements, but I think his water changes are straightening that out. I get nervous pushing someone toward a specific product, I prefer to provide the info and let them ask questions...
maxxII
Super Housemonkey!
Can I make a request that you guys post up a new thread detailing your homebrew supplements if/when you decide Zinc is an important & over looked element in SPS tanks?
Trying to wade through numerous threads,(yours, Matts, Perry's, Joe's, Bulent's, Sahin's, Wrangy's, Wazzle's, Biggles', any of the other Acro guru's I've forgotten to list but am subscribed to), to find specific information is a little frustrating. Especially when you're not really sure which thread the information was in to begin with.
Thanks....
Trying to wade through numerous threads,(yours, Matts, Perry's, Joe's, Bulent's, Sahin's, Wrangy's, Wazzle's, Biggles', any of the other Acro guru's I've forgotten to list but am subscribed to), to find specific information is a little frustrating. Especially when you're not really sure which thread the information was in to begin with.
Thanks....
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Sure, Ill start a thread once I've played around with the trace elements more. I have Zinc sulfate coming this week.
Very interesting note, I discontinued Micro E dosing early last week while waiting for the Manganese to arrive, kind of a clear-up to allow the trace elements to drop a bit.
I saw some diminished polyp extension and muted color in a couple pieces by Saturday, and made a note to keep an eye on those pieces. After making the Manganese solution early Saturday, I immediately dosed it double dose to catch the concentration up. Saturday night, the corals looked much the same. I dosed the normal daily Manganese dose. Sunday afternoon, the same for the corals so I dosed a half-dose of Micro E. A couple of hours later I saw PE on a few pieces and the color looked better.
Perhaps its coincidence but it seemed something other than Manganese was lacking, perhaps the Zinc. After doing some reading, it turns out Zinc has a little more of a safety margin when it comes to coral mortality so I will be interested to see What Zinc and Manganese alone will do.
Diesel3443
AEFW Distructor
Very curious on this as well
mhucasey
Acros & wieners, oh my!
Well, I'm pretty confident that Joe and I screwed up the math, but I figured out the handy dandy way to calculate how to make a supplement to dose a particular trace element.
1) You need the Molecular weight of whatever solid you will dissolve to get the ion you want. Easily found with google. For Manganese Chloride Heptahydrate that number is 197.905.
The find the molecular weight for the ion itself, in this case Manganese: 54.938.
You divide 54.938 by 197.905 then multiply by 100 to get the percentage of the total that is Manganese: 27.7597%
2) Now, using Triton's test result for someone who has zero Manganese, use the correction dose and the maintaining dose. Divide maintaining dose by correction dose, then multiply by 100 to get the percentage of the full concentration is to be dosed per day.
For example: 0.83/10 * 100 = 8.3% for Manganese
3) Multiply 8.3% by the setpoint to get the amount of Mn in Micrograms per L to add per day:
0.83 * 2ug = 0.166ug/L
4)Ok now to standardize to 100L system volume just multiply that amount by 100:
0.166 * 100 = 16.6ug needed for 100L for each dose each day
5) To make 100 doses with one mL each carrying a dose, multiply again by 100:
16.6 * 100 = 1660ug
Use an online calculator to convert micrograms to grams:
0.00166g
6) Here is the only tricky part. 0.00166g of Manganese is needed to make the 100mLs of solution. Since we are using MnCl2*4H20, only 27.7597% is Manganese, so the final thing to do is divide by the percentage Manganese from step 1:
0.00166/0.277597 = 0.0059798737g dissolved in 100mL water. Thats going to be hard to accurately measure.
I like dosing by drops with one drop for each 100L. If we assume 20drops/ml, I just take the result above and multiply by 20(since the solution will need to be 20X stronger):
0.0059798737g * 20 = 0.120g rounded. Add this to 100ml water and dose 1 drop per 100L per day.
I put these formulas into an Excel spreadsheet and i just need to plug in a few pieces of info to get a result for other elements. I remade the solution today as my first attempt was almost 4X too strong:uhoh3:
For Zinc, Triton's recommended daily dose is 10% of the setpoint and works out to 0.4ug/L per day. For my 100mL solution, I need 0.220g of ZnSO4.H2O.
1) You need the Molecular weight of whatever solid you will dissolve to get the ion you want. Easily found with google. For Manganese Chloride Heptahydrate that number is 197.905.
The find the molecular weight for the ion itself, in this case Manganese: 54.938.
You divide 54.938 by 197.905 then multiply by 100 to get the percentage of the total that is Manganese: 27.7597%
2) Now, using Triton's test result for someone who has zero Manganese, use the correction dose and the maintaining dose. Divide maintaining dose by correction dose, then multiply by 100 to get the percentage of the full concentration is to be dosed per day.
For example: 0.83/10 * 100 = 8.3% for Manganese
3) Multiply 8.3% by the setpoint to get the amount of Mn in Micrograms per L to add per day:
0.83 * 2ug = 0.166ug/L
4)Ok now to standardize to 100L system volume just multiply that amount by 100:
0.166 * 100 = 16.6ug needed for 100L for each dose each day
5) To make 100 doses with one mL each carrying a dose, multiply again by 100:
16.6 * 100 = 1660ug
Use an online calculator to convert micrograms to grams:
0.00166g
6) Here is the only tricky part. 0.00166g of Manganese is needed to make the 100mLs of solution. Since we are using MnCl2*4H20, only 27.7597% is Manganese, so the final thing to do is divide by the percentage Manganese from step 1:
0.00166/0.277597 = 0.0059798737g dissolved in 100mL water. Thats going to be hard to accurately measure.
I like dosing by drops with one drop for each 100L. If we assume 20drops/ml, I just take the result above and multiply by 20(since the solution will need to be 20X stronger):
0.0059798737g * 20 = 0.120g rounded. Add this to 100ml water and dose 1 drop per 100L per day.
I put these formulas into an Excel spreadsheet and i just need to plug in a few pieces of info to get a result for other elements. I remade the solution today as my first attempt was almost 4X too strong:uhoh3:
For Zinc, Triton's recommended daily dose is 10% of the setpoint and works out to 0.4ug/L per day. For my 100mL solution, I need 0.220g of ZnSO4.H2O.
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