Ph woes

[AlexR]

Levels are important but stability is everything!

Now I wish some would slow down...

Absolutely.
It takes a while to get the calcium reactor dialed in correctly. I need to check on it almost daily.
But since adding the calcium reactor my Calcium and Alk did go up and has been pretty stable.

My calcium test may have been off by 10-20. I'll need to do another test when I get back.
For now I'm just monitoring my tank remotely issuing the controller data.

 

[AlexR]

So far I'm very happy with the radions.
I've been using the coral labs ab+ setting from 9am to 7pm.
Corals are really opening up nicely. Much better then when they were in the store.

I have orange bam bam zoas that looked almost dead in the LFS. In my tank they have fully opened and look amazing. Just not noticing any new polyps.

 

[Uncle99]

So far I’m very happy with the radions.
I’ve been using the coral labs ab+ setting from 9am to 7pm.
Corals are really opening up nicely. Much better then when they were in the store.

I have orange bam bam zoas that looked almost dead in the LFS. In my tank they have fully opened and look amazing. Just not noticing any new polyps.

I waited about 4 months for some sunny D's, in that time nothing additional.
In the last 4 months 4 polyps now 10.....

It's all about expectations....I now look at growth only every three months or so provided the coral looks healthy.

Shoot for the most stable environment you can make......your going to be real happy.

If I had to pick the most important I would pick:
Light....set and forget
Temp....max 1 degree variance
Alk.....there's not much if this in the water so it can change fast.
Salinity.....ATO is the best!

 

[AlexR]

I waited about 4 months for some sunny D's, in that time nothing additional.
In the last 4 months 4 polyps now 10.....

It's all about expectations....I now look at growth only every three months or so provided the coral looks healthy.

Shoot for the most stable environment you can make......your going to be real happy.

If I had to pick the most important I would pick:
Light....set and forget
Temp....max 1 degree variance
Alk.....there's not much if this in the water so it can change fast.
Salinity.....ATO is the best!

A lot of the stability has to do with water volume as well. I have a total of 175g water volume. So I do have just a little room to play.

My temp can variate 3° a day and there is not much I can do about it. Although it usually variates at the same time daily. From 78° to 81° then back down to 78°.

 

[mattgumaer]

So far I'm very happy with the radions.
I've been using the coral labs ab+ setting from 9am to 7pm.
Corals are really opening up nicely. Much better then when they were in the store.

I have orange bam bam zoas that looked almost dead in the LFS. In my tank they have fully opened and look amazing. Just not noticing any new polyps.

FWIW, I run 5 Radion XR30 pros, 3 over a 180 and 2 over a 60 cube (24x24x24). I supplemented the 3 over my 180 with 4 5-foot T5s. Personally, I would not run Radions without either: 1) using more than the recommended number of fixtures (like my running 2 XR30s over my 60 cube) or 2) supplementing with T5s. It has been my experience that it is difficult (impossible?) to get good, even light distribution with just one fixture for every 2 feet of tank space. But, maybe its just me.......Also, mine are gen 2 and gen 3 pros so maybe things work a little different with gen 4s.

Matt

 

[AlexR]

FWIW, I run 5 Radion XR30 pros, 3 over a 180 and 2 over a 60 cube (24x24x24). I supplemented the 3 over my 180 with 4 5-foot T5s. Personally, I would not run Radions without either: 1) using more than the recommended number of fixtures (like my running 2 XR30s over my 60 cube) or 2) supplementing with T5s. It has been my experience that it is difficult (impossible?) to get good, even light distribution with just one fixture for every 2 feet of tank space. But, maybe its just me.......Also, mine are gen 2 and gen 3 pros so maybe things work a little different with gen 4s.



Matt

I have run PAR tests and it comes out perfectly for the types of corals I am keeping. I don't see any need to supplement yet.
G4 radions are absolutely different.

 

[AlexR]

I added a fan that turns on at 80° and off at 78° water temps.
My PH did go up slightly.

 

[mattgumaer]

I have run PAR tests and it comes out perfectly for the types of corals I am keeping. I don't see any need to supplement yet.
G4 radions are absolutely different.

Makes me jealous. I had good LPS, softies and 'easy' sps but struggled with acros with just 3 gen 2 radion pros over my 180. Bought a par meter and was shocked at how different the lighting levels were in areas of the tank that looked the same to my eye. Much more success after supplementing with T5s.

But, back to the original topic, Bulk Reef Supply just posted a 'BRS Investigates' video on the subject of Ph and growth so, that might be worth watching (I haven't yet).

Matt

 

[AlexR]

Makes me jealous. I had good LPS, softies and 'easy' sps but struggled with acros with just 3 gen 2 radion pros over my 180. Bought a par meter and was shocked at how different the lighting levels were in areas of the tank that looked the same to my eye. Much more success after supplementing with T5s.



But, back to the original topic, Bulk Reef Supply just posted a 'BRS Investigates' video on the subject of Ph and growth so, that might be worth watching (I haven't yet).



Matt

Watching it now. Thanks!!

https://youtu.be/guDySmm99b4

 

[AlexR]

Based on the videos a PH of 8.3 increases growth exponentially compared to a ph of 7.8.
So yea it makes a difference.

 

[AlexR]

I am seeing steady improvement since adding a fan. Thanks for the tip!!

 

[AlexR]

Looks like it's peaking at 8.15ph. I won't mess with it too much but will try to get it up to 8.3ph.

 

[hkgar]

Based on the videos a PH of 8.3 increases growth exponentially compared to a ph of 7.8.
So yea it makes a difference.

Not ssure I want more growth. My tank (180) is using about 5 dKH Alk daily and I run my CA reactor at 120 ml/min with reactor ph of about 6.5

 

[AlexR]

Not ssure I want more growth. My tank (180) is using about 5 dKH Alk daily and I run my CA reactor at 120 ml/min with reactor ph of about 6.5

I'm not that stocked yet. I'll be happy when I can say I'm not sure I want more growth in my tank.

 

[AlexR]

Just wanted to update my old post.
I found my issue to be a bad temp sensor which was allowing stray current into my tank causing the PH probe to read incorrectly.
Now my PH goes from 7.75 to about 8.1.
Depending on if windows are open and if I have people I'm the house. Highest it's went is to 8.3 when no one is home and windows are open with fans on.

Growth has been consistent either way.
I have a hammer which I bought with 7 heads. It now has 14 heads after 5 months.
Same type of growth for a frogspawn. Bought it with 2 heads and now has 6 heads after 5 months.
All my montis are growing on rock and healthy.

I'm extremely happy with my tank.

 

[Sk8r]

Doing fine!