My sig line, qv, has a decent set of numbers that will grow euphyllias under a 10000k light.
People ask if it has to be EXACTLY those numbers: no: there's wiggle room, and higher is ok---up a point or two. Mg can go considerably higher, up to 1450, etc, with no problem if you like pink (coralline can run amok.)
There are a few you DON'T want: ammonia should be zero, phosphate should be very low (not zero, as you want some algae in your fuge, which feeds the copepods which feed the...well, the circle of life needs a little). One big difference between the oceans and our tanks (well, outside of tides, big currents, and the sun and moon and all that water)---is how much nitrate we say is ok. The ocean if tested just doesn't have nitrate. We know corals don't like it, and we know fish can survive fairly high levels of it, as in clear up to 100, when corals really want it down to .2 and surely want it under 20. But since fish do fare well in an ocean, we can figure if you can knock that nitrate down, down, down even in your FOWLR, your fish may be happier for it---especially since nitrate is a pathway to ammonia, which fish do NOT survive. So track those things, and do your best. Tank-keeping is a learning curve, so don't be embarrassed by your initial numbers: ask around---somebody may have a suggestion you haven't tried.
Of course a good salt level is essential: salinity is not constant in the ocean: rain, storms, runoff from rivers, currents, etc---but fish can vote with their fins and move. Corals can spit out all their water, shrivel and wait for something more comfy. But in general---since we have limited space in the tanks, pick a nice salinity and hold it. I keep mine at 1.024 or 5, because evaporation, even with an ATO (autotopoff) can push it up a bit, and I'd rather stay in the favored zone, which stops at 1.026---and mind those O's and decimals!!! Your reef salt mix will turn out a 1.024 salinity at half a cup a gallon. Get measuring implements from the kitchen, create a couple of reliable proper sized buckets, and that way you won't have to count cups and lose your count midway. DO use your refractometer.
THE parameter many novice FOWLRs don't track and absolutely should --- is alkalinity. DKH Alkalinity buffer can correct a problem to a nice 8.3. Though 7.9 is not bad and 9 is not bad. Just be sure it's somewhere in that ballpark, because when water alkalinity sinks toward acid, down in the 6's, fish get peevish, cranky, sick, and prone to skin problems, not excluding parasites. PH is related to alkalinity, but it naturally bounces all over the map: keep your alkalinity ok, under ordinary circumstances, and that's all you need to do for your ph.
The Golden Three for a stony reef are alkalinity (8.3) and calcium (420 or higher) and 1300 (or higher) magnesium. If they're out of whack, your stony corals and clams will not be able to grow skeleton/shell. If they're not in synch, first raise magnesium: that's the 'lock' on the set. If it's not up, the other two can't rise and hold. So mg first, then alk, then cal. You need tests for all three, and supplements for all three. But if you want them just to hold steady without constant dosing of calcium---just put kalk into your topoff, and that cheap lime (calcium) dose will hold everything steady day to day until the magnesium runs out. If you have a very large packed reef, this won't be enough to feed them all, but a calcium reactor can do it. The supplement bottle is only for setting them right to start the kalk flow, because kalk alone can't 'set' it, only 'maintain' it once set. Got it?
Anyway, in our attempt to be an ocean, you can't supply millions of gallons of spare water, but you CAN stop a bad trend before it becomes a bad situation simply by keeping a logbook, paying attention to the rise and fall of these elements, and simply dose, say, more mg, before it runs out and lets the whole golden 3 collapse. SO as the ocean supplies more 'stuff' before it runs out---that becomes YOUR job. Dose into a trend, don't wait until it's a deficiency, and keep records so you can remember the last numbers.
That's how a little tank imitates a whole lot of water.
People ask if it has to be EXACTLY those numbers: no: there's wiggle room, and higher is ok---up a point or two. Mg can go considerably higher, up to 1450, etc, with no problem if you like pink (coralline can run amok.)
There are a few you DON'T want: ammonia should be zero, phosphate should be very low (not zero, as you want some algae in your fuge, which feeds the copepods which feed the...well, the circle of life needs a little). One big difference between the oceans and our tanks (well, outside of tides, big currents, and the sun and moon and all that water)---is how much nitrate we say is ok. The ocean if tested just doesn't have nitrate. We know corals don't like it, and we know fish can survive fairly high levels of it, as in clear up to 100, when corals really want it down to .2 and surely want it under 20. But since fish do fare well in an ocean, we can figure if you can knock that nitrate down, down, down even in your FOWLR, your fish may be happier for it---especially since nitrate is a pathway to ammonia, which fish do NOT survive. So track those things, and do your best. Tank-keeping is a learning curve, so don't be embarrassed by your initial numbers: ask around---somebody may have a suggestion you haven't tried.
Of course a good salt level is essential: salinity is not constant in the ocean: rain, storms, runoff from rivers, currents, etc---but fish can vote with their fins and move. Corals can spit out all their water, shrivel and wait for something more comfy. But in general---since we have limited space in the tanks, pick a nice salinity and hold it. I keep mine at 1.024 or 5, because evaporation, even with an ATO (autotopoff) can push it up a bit, and I'd rather stay in the favored zone, which stops at 1.026---and mind those O's and decimals!!! Your reef salt mix will turn out a 1.024 salinity at half a cup a gallon. Get measuring implements from the kitchen, create a couple of reliable proper sized buckets, and that way you won't have to count cups and lose your count midway. DO use your refractometer.
THE parameter many novice FOWLRs don't track and absolutely should --- is alkalinity. DKH Alkalinity buffer can correct a problem to a nice 8.3. Though 7.9 is not bad and 9 is not bad. Just be sure it's somewhere in that ballpark, because when water alkalinity sinks toward acid, down in the 6's, fish get peevish, cranky, sick, and prone to skin problems, not excluding parasites. PH is related to alkalinity, but it naturally bounces all over the map: keep your alkalinity ok, under ordinary circumstances, and that's all you need to do for your ph.
The Golden Three for a stony reef are alkalinity (8.3) and calcium (420 or higher) and 1300 (or higher) magnesium. If they're out of whack, your stony corals and clams will not be able to grow skeleton/shell. If they're not in synch, first raise magnesium: that's the 'lock' on the set. If it's not up, the other two can't rise and hold. So mg first, then alk, then cal. You need tests for all three, and supplements for all three. But if you want them just to hold steady without constant dosing of calcium---just put kalk into your topoff, and that cheap lime (calcium) dose will hold everything steady day to day until the magnesium runs out. If you have a very large packed reef, this won't be enough to feed them all, but a calcium reactor can do it. The supplement bottle is only for setting them right to start the kalk flow, because kalk alone can't 'set' it, only 'maintain' it once set. Got it?
Anyway, in our attempt to be an ocean, you can't supply millions of gallons of spare water, but you CAN stop a bad trend before it becomes a bad situation simply by keeping a logbook, paying attention to the rise and fall of these elements, and simply dose, say, more mg, before it runs out and lets the whole golden 3 collapse. SO as the ocean supplies more 'stuff' before it runs out---that becomes YOUR job. Dose into a trend, don't wait until it's a deficiency, and keep records so you can remember the last numbers.
That's how a little tank imitates a whole lot of water.
it sounds so zen, like a yoga mantra "you must beee the ocean, ommm "
