Hey guys, yeah it's bloody hot still 41 at 7pm but 23 in here so who cares........ until tomorrow :facepalm:
When i ramble i just talk out loud so i don't mean to sound like a know it all wanker but i likely come across that way to some, i'm just telling you the way i do it and why but that doesn't mean i know any of it's true - the bit about bello wearing lipstick is however a fact. :smokin:
Today i'm rambling about nutrients etc and not alk and calcium because all you have to do with those is keep them somewhere near NSW levels unless you're using a zeo or other similar reef keeping method in which case your levels might be quite different. Stability in whatever levels you keep with alk, cal and Mg really is important so just work on that and for example if you have alk at 8.0 and calcium wants to stay at 430 even though you keep trying to lower it perhaps it's there because for your water conditions that's balanced so leave it alone unless it's way out of whack to where it should be.
So i see lots of talk about water lately with lots of differing opinions as usual, you'd think we would be a bit better at this by now and able to say to new guys - do this and keep things at this level and Bob's your uncle you'll have a tank full of colorful corals - clearly this isn't the case and bloody LED's are being argued about when we still can't figure out the water bit :crazy1:
Rather than continuing the endless bloody cycle of back and forth about what should be where despite the clear examples of lots of different levels of this and that being present in successful SPS tanks i'll take a new tack - cause i'm a rebel as you know..........
Treat your water like a balancing act in which altering certain things requires consideration as to the the reef as a whole. If you are on a tightrope with a balancing pole and i add 10 pounds to one end of the pole things are out of whack. The obvious thing to do is balance the pole with something that counter balances the 10 pounds - note i didn't say add 10 pounds to the other side because you can add two 5 pound 'things' to offset the 10 pounds and 'balance will be restored. Your nutrients are just like the pole and regardless of increasing the weight on one side such as feeding you will be balanced if you use enough 'weight' in say GFO and skimming to offset it. Obviously it's more complicated than that but this is the aim - to load up the ends of your water balancing pole with as much weight as possible whilst not overloading the reef which is carrying it.
On one side is everything nutritionally valuable to our corals and on the other side is a myriad of ways of counterbalancing the weight of nutrients we are adding daily. The more you add artificially through foods for the fish and corals the more life you don't normally notice is also being fed and lots of these things release all manner of things into your water and the more food the greater micro life population can be sustained and it just goes on and on. I don't use socks because i treat the water like a rich soup of nutritious food constantly circulating throughout my entire water column.
I keep my phos and nitrates at zero on a Hanna but you all know i feed very heavily every day. I use GFO, skimming and high quality live rock to offset fallout from the nutrients going in. I know there are trace levels that i can't detect of phos and nitrates in the water because i have to clean the front glass of a brown dust of algae every 2-3 days. My pumps have a light growth of brown hair algae at all times in the high flow outlet areas only. In any small areas where the stupid big trochus snails can't reach i see small amounts of light green algae. This algae is using phos and nitrates to live but my readings say zero.
The pic below shows you exactly what i mean about the brown color and type of algae i associate with being 'balanced' or in the sweet spot if you like. the same stuff grows on the glass, not the green variety you see in the early months of algae cycles your reef goes through.
Now if i wanted to run my phos at say 0.05 all i have to do is up the food until it rises and then add just enough filtration weight to the other side to not remove it but just maintain it. All sorts of factors come into play including your clean up crew numbers, the alk level you run etc but the point is i don't believe there is a easy and foolproof set of readings you can give any reefer unless they understand the importance of balancing the water and how very complicated even a simple Berlin run tank is when it comes to success with corals.
So many frustrated reefers, especially SPS keepers wonder why getting great colors is so hard and whilst the proportion of great displays is higher now than it was years ago it's still pretty ordinary overall considering the money most in the hobby drop trying to achieve a stunning display.
I don't think tanks mature as much as the reefer does in his husbandry techniques and understanding of what is actually going on in his entire mini ecosystem. The exact numbers aren't important as much as realising that you should spend as much time looking at what's crawling around your tank, rocks and sump as you do at your corals. The more you see down low the brighter the colors will be when you look up - all you need to do is balance the pole and what is being carried won't topple. :beer:
That was really long and i'm rambled out - reading back it's not as clear as i wanted and i do indeed come across as a know it all wanker - it's too hot to write imo fifty times........:beer:
Nearly forgot Sahin, i like skimmate about half as dark as coke so a bit like tea i guess. I don't clean the neck for 3-4 weeks and as it gets more gunk lining it the skimmate darkens so it's like an auto adjuster giving you dryer and dryer skimmate. Once i'm not happy with the volume i clean the cup and the whole process begins again. Skimmate collected on the last few days is at least twice as dark as the stuff after cleaning. Atm i get 150ml a day and when it drops to about 100ml or 2/3 it's time to clean - takes 3-4 weeks. How's that for skimmate detail lol.
Good move on dropping the socks mate, a small amount of detritus doesn't cause any problems whatsoever as i've always been a lazy dirty reefer so concentrate on the bloody display rather than some picture perfect sump. You won't care what it looks like soon because you'll be too busy looking at your colors with a dopey grin on your face.
I'm sorry to hear about the migraines mate
I had a friend who got them and she had to be driven home as she couldn't see and vomited with the pain so i know how bad they are. I won't stop being your friend like i did with her because i don't have to drive you home and you'll never vomit in my car...........
Hope you feel better soon mate.
