Mhucasey's SPS obsession

[mhucasey]

Flametip and superman mille look sick they should be some nice additions!

After catching up on a few pages I think you're pushing me over the edge to finally start dosing Coral A,B,E,V. You still dose Coral B correct?

They are pretty awesome colonies, I'm excited to see them in person! I dose Coral B sporadically, its great for clearing the water and helps with Cyano, but without Cyano in the tank its not been needed much.

 

[mhucasey]

This is a tricky and poorly understood issue, Matt.
I've had it here and there from time to time.
Mostly after dosing magnesium against bryopsis.
My mag sits around 1470 and I have not dosed any in over a year..
What about strontium?
Might it be playing a role? It's a big building block. What's your level? Are you dosing?

I think turning down the ca reactor a touch and dosing some kh is a good first step..

It's frustrating to me, especially since the Magnesium levels have stayed pegged at 1500 for so long. I hope I can reduce the level with some water changes. I dose a small amount of Strontium(2 drops every two to three days) as most of the required Strontium is supplied by the Calcium reactor. My understanding is that the Strontium test is a waste of time.

I'm hoping that bringing the levels back into balance will solve the problem. I've had bursts of growth here and there but its been slower lately. I think once this bubbling issue is corrected the corals will grow like crazy.

 

[mhucasey]

That's odd your calcium is that high with such low alkalinity especially with somewhat high magnesium. I had issues with this and ultimately what fixed my problem was an accidental overdose of my two part alkalinity to 16+ dkh. I let it fall naturally and now my tank runs around 9dkh, 450 Ca and 1450 Mg.

Yes, I agree. Im not sure why KH is being consumed so strongly in comparison to Calcium. It feels weird to add KH 2-part while using a CaRX, but I've started to do that to get a handle on the issue.

 

[w3bbo]

Do you think its anything to do with Coral B dosing?

 

[mhucasey]

Do you think its anything to do with Coral B dosing?

No, I don't think so. Coral B is just fluidized calcium carbonate powder, its essentially inert as far as water chemistry is involved.

 

[spkennyva]

There are some long term tanks that use this method and the zeolite reactor was a bit of a pain. You layer zeolites first, then the AF Carbon which is large pellets, then I put a piece of mesh on top of the carbon. P- is on top of the mesh and the flow keeps the P- fluidized. After changeout you just ramp up the flow over a few days, but then it's pretty much set and forget. Dump the whole thing every 4 weeks and refill. Debora was using 300ml each for her 90 gallon tank with huge success.

So the zeolite is tightly sandwiched and does not get tumbled or disturbed at all? This seems very different than the classical way to use zeolites. What are your thought on how they work in this configuration?

Thanks in advance.

 

[mhucasey]

So the zeolite is tightly sandwiched and does not get tumbled or disturbed at all? This seems very different than the classical way to use zeolites. What are your thought on how they work in this configuration?

Thanks in advance.

In this case I think the Zeolites don't shed bacteria the same, but the bacteria that are shed are not skimmable anyway. AF doesn't require you to pump the stones in the little I have read from them.

When I would pump the zeolite reactor with the stones, the skimmer foam head would fully collapse for quite a while. I tried running the zeolite reactor without pumping for a week and saw no real difference in phosphate reduction performance. I just know that Debora's long term results with this method are hard to beat and it makes things a lot easier.

 

[Piper27]

It's frustrating to me, especially since the Magnesium levels have stayed pegged at 1500 for so long. I hope I can reduce the level with some water changes. I dose a small amount of Strontium(2 drops every two to three days) as most of the required Strontium is supplied by the Calcium reactor. My understanding is that the Strontium test is a waste of time.

I'm hoping that bringing the levels back into balance will solve the problem. I've had bursts of growth here and there but its been slower lately. I think once this bubbling issue is corrected the corals will grow like crazy.

Whenever I see bubbly growth tips and soft tips on the skeleton it's because my big three dosing got messed up. To get things back to normal I let the higher values fall back to correct numbers and keep dosing the ones that are low. Normally I turn off the calcium reactor and dose bionic since it's an easy 1 to 1 dosing program and has other elements in it similar to using a calcium reactor. At least that's what I was told. Once the levels are right I start using two parts and a magnesium on a doser and wait til the consumption rises and growth becomes steady again. Then I will turn my calcium reactor back on. I also stop dosing strontium during this time only because it's not a must and could be contributing to the funny growth tips.
Maybe you were adding uneven parts of two part on top of the calcium reactor. I have never had to dose on top of a calcium reactor except rarely to adjust a falling parameter.

I agree with reefmutt and have had the same experience. I noticed it a few weeks ago and have started my doser to even things out. I had started dosing AF strontium but stopped because it was the only new thing I had started when the growth happened. Calcium was a tad high from uneven two part though. A thread a while back seemed to have a number of us noticing this is the way to fix the bubbles on new growth and even worse.

Side note, maybe you missed it but I was wondering if you had any of the "dragon" acros from aqua SD? They had some nice ones this year.

 

[Piper27]

In this case I think the Zeolites don't shed bacteria the same, but the bacteria that are shed are not skimmable anyway. AF doesn't require you to pump the stones in the little I have read from them.

When I would pump the zeolite reactor with the stones, the skimmer foam head would fully collapse for quite a while. I tried running the zeolite reactor without pumping for a week and saw no real difference in phosphate reduction performance. I just know that Debora's long term results with this method are hard to beat and it makes things a lot easier.

I am really curious as to why you don't need to shake the stones. I thought that was the point, in order to grow more bacteria and feed the tank when it's shooken. I wonder what the stones are doing when not disturbed. I thought zeolites had small ammonia absorption and mostly were a house for bacteria growth. I would like to know more about them, I haven't studied much. And I love the color Debora gets on acros. I wonder how much stones play a roll in that.

 

[mhucasey]

Whenever I see bubbly growth tips and soft tips on the skeleton it's because my big three dosing got messed up. To get things back to normal I let the higher values fall back to correct numbers and keep dosing the ones that are low. Normally I turn off the calcium reactor and dose bionic since it's an easy 1 to 1 dosing program and has other elements in it similar to using a calcium reactor. At least that's what I was told. Once the levels are right I start using two parts and a magnesium on a doser and wait til the consumption rises and growth becomes steady again. Then I will turn my calcium reactor back on. I also stop dosing strontium during this time only because it's not a must and could be contributing to the funny growth tips.
Maybe you were adding uneven parts of two part on top of the calcium reactor. I have never had to dose on top of a calcium reactor except rarely to adjust a falling parameter.

I agree with reefmutt and have had the same experience. I noticed it a few weeks ago and have started my doser to even things out. I had started dosing AF strontium but stopped because it was the only new thing I had started when the growth happened. Calcium was a tad high from uneven two part though. A thread a while back seemed to have a number of us noticing this is the way to fix the bubbles on new growth and even worse.

Side note, maybe you missed it but I was wondering if you had any of the "dragon" acros from aqua SD? They had some nice ones this year.

I was dosing uneven amounts of 2-part prior to changing to Aquaforest in December of last year. To correct the imbalance I changed about 125 gallons of water in 3 days and at the same time I switched over to using a Calcium reactor. I have not dosed any other Calcium or Alkalinity supplements since then - Calcium reactor only. Last night I added about 100ml Alk solution to hopefully help balance the numbers a bit.

I have quite a few dragon acros from ASD I have the Queen Dragon, Yellow Dragon, Rainbow, Aqua and a purple variety

 

[mhucasey]

I am really curious as to why you don't need to shake the stones. I thought that was the point, in order to grow more bacteria and feed the tank when it's shooken. I wonder what the stones are doing when not disturbed. I thought zeolites had small ammonia absorption and mostly were a house for bacteria growth. I would like to know more about them, I haven't studied much. And I love the color Debora gets on acros. I wonder how much stones play a roll in that.

I'm not sure how necessary the shaking is, I'm evaluating it by running the combo. So far its working well. Bacteria grow on the stones, but they aren't getting clogged up or anything. I have some theories on how this combo is working together but Ill need to run it longer to confirm some things.

One reason I tried it was that it has very little variability - while shaking the stones is inherently variable(how often you shake, reactor flow, how hard you shake) and that makes the results variable as well. Debora's method is easily repeatable and she has had ridiculous success with it.

 

[RBKKREEF]

Hi Matt! I'm sure you will get things back the way you like them. But just some food for thought, scripps water 2 weeks ago when I picked some up. KH 6.7 Ca 400 Mg 1380. Hope all is well!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Piper27]

I was dosing uneven amounts of 2-part prior to changing to Aquaforest in December of last year. To correct the imbalance I changed about 125 gallons of water in 3 days and at the same time I switched over to using a Calcium reactor. I have not dosed any other Calcium or Alkalinity supplements since then - Calcium reactor only. Last night I added about 100ml Alk solution to hopefully help balance the numbers a bit.

I have quite a few dragon acros from ASD I have the Queen Dragon, Yellow Dragon, Rainbow, Aqua and a purple variety

I'm not sure how necessary the shaking is, I'm evaluating it by running the combo. So far its working well. Bacteria grow on the stones, but they aren't getting clogged up or anything. I have some theories on how this combo is working together but Ill need to run it longer to confirm some things.

One reason I tried it was that it has very little variability - while shaking the stones is inherently variable(how often you shake, reactor flow, how hard you shake) and that makes the results variable as well. Debora's method is easily repeatable and she has had ridiculous success with it.

Sounds like you should get through the bubbles OK. My growth is picking back up and no new bubbles on any tips, I did catch it very early this time which helped. I hope their zeo mix works well, if it does I will be trying it. Let us know if it helps give that nice light pastel coloration similar to zeovit and deboras tank.

Please post some pictures of all the dragons!!!!

 

[Oldude]

Please post some pictures of all the dragons!!!!

Yeah what he said!

 

[wheelman76]

Questions for Kevin...
I did some tests last night on the big three:
Ca: 470
Mg: 1510
KH: 6.7
:mad2:
The imbalance in these elements continues, even though I am using a Calcium reactor and not dosing Magnesium. The result is bubbling at the tips of many corals and reduced growth overall. I added some Alkalinity part of the two part to bring it up some to 7.3, and it seemed to lower the Calcium levels to 450. I've waited for the magnesium level to drop with no success.
To combat the bubbling(calcite formation in the tips), I could use some help.
I will perform some water changing to attempt to reduce Magnesium.
Should I reduce the lighting duration?
Am I on the right track with bumping up the Alkalinity?
Are there other actions I should take?

Matt could you please explain more what you mean by "bubbling at the tips" ?
I've noticed that some of my Acros have damaged tips lately , not like typical ALK burn , but more like soft tips that seem to crumble easier. Thinking back my calcium doser stopped working a couple weeks ago and calcium dropped a fair bit. When I brought it back up I raised it a little to high , so I would say I've definately had an imbalance of the big three over the last few weeks. I've never heard about this bubbling or calcite formation at the tips before. Any chance you could post a picture of what this bubbling looks like?

 

[Piper27]

I was dosing uneven amounts of 2-part prior to changing to Aquaforest in December of last year. To correct the imbalance I changed about 125 gallons of water in 3 days and at the same time I switched over to using a Calcium reactor. I have not dosed any other Calcium or Alkalinity supplements since then - Calcium reactor only. Last night I added about 100ml Alk solution to hopefully help balance the numbers a bit.

I have quite a few dragon acros from ASD I have the Queen Dragon, Yellow Dragon, Rainbow, Aqua and a purple variety

A good thread on this issue for anyone interested.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2481844

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Yes, I agree. Im not sure why KH is being consumed so strongly in comparison to Calcium. It feels weird to add KH 2-part while using a CaRX, but I've started to do that to get a handle on the issue.

Hi Matt,

In my opinion, drop in KH may have something to do with bacteria consuming it. This usually happens in carbon limited set ups in which bacteria consumes the carbon in the water column, thereby reducing alkalinity. I do not know if it applies to you, but please investigate whether or not you are somewhat boosting bacteria population without meeting their carbon needs.

Cheers

Bulent

 

[Big E]

On the imbalance--

I would stop dosing the Strontium as corals have the ability to use it in place of calcium.................this may be why you see some spurts but not consistent growth.

I'm no chemist, but in layman terms, the Strontium ions can bind and negate or take the place of the calcium ion connection and that's why you have an over abundance of calcium.

High Mg can also do the same thing.....leaving an abundance of calcium in relation to alk, but Mg doesn't get used up nowhere near as fast and exasperates the issue.

I'm sure your calcium reactor is providing plenty of Mg and Sr on it's own.

I'd eliminate the dosing of coral B as it contains carbonates and calcium too.

 

[biggles]

Do AF give any specific recommendations in regards to those running a calcium reactor with their products Matt ?

It is always prudent to REDUCE dosing of stuff when in doubt rather than to start adding other stuff for unknown water problems mate, Big E is offering wise advice imo.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Hi Matt,

Have a look at this article written by Randy if you have spare time. It explains the point made by Ed.