questions on sps

[luv4qt1004]

redoing my sps tank and had couple questions on phosphates. my hanna colorimeter reads .17. i know people want 0 reading on them but that is if you want ULNS? should i try to get my phosphate to 0?

another question. i am running a calcium reactor and when i tested with elos, my alk was at 7 dkh, calcium was at 450. should i raise my alk a little bit to roughly 8 dkh?

last but not least, my itemp probe on my rkl reads 74. should i raise my heater up to have the water at 78ish?

I want a simple tank. weekly water changes, gfo/carbon reactor, good skimming.

 

[RynosReef]

Your phospates are definitely to high. 0 is a good target but 0.03 or under is fine too. 0.17 will either completely brown out or kill sps. With ca at 450 I would bump up your alk to the 8-9 range. Always make changes to alk very slowly. Also what's your magnesium level at? And many ppl have differing opinions on temp. But 74 is a bit on the low side of the scale, and could slow the metabolism /growth of corals. I would bump it up personally. Also make sure your s.g. alk, temp ect aren't going through big swings throughout the day, months ect.

 

[Reefer1225]

1. Phosphate - Hard to get to 0. I aim for .04 or below.
2. Calcium - 450 is good
3. Alk - Some people maintain tanks at 7, which is closer to NSW I heard. I have problems with my SPS if it goes that low. I aim for 8-9 dkh. I think the key and most important thing is stability with Alk. Alk Swings causes issues.
4. Temp - 74 seems low. I range from 78-80.

Good Luck. I am sure more experienced folks will chime in.

 

[luv4qt1004]

perfect. if i raise my alk up with a buffer like b ionics, will the calcium reactor account for the stability of the calcium and alk?

for the phosphate what do you guys do? water changes? carbon/gfo reactor, chaeto? trying to stay away from vodka, zeo, etc.

 

[RynosReef]

Well it's really up to you what method you use. Each has it's benefits and drawbacks. I personally think that starting out with natural methods is the best way, and then if later your phosphates are still too high try the other methods. Natural methods include decent sized water changes each week, reasonable fish feeding and not overstocking, and running chaeto in a refugium. Next I'd try gfo or carbon dosing. Carbon (not dosing type, but the black stuff )isn't known to lower po4. Search phosphate in reefkeeping magazine. There's a few articles that go into lots of detail on phosphates.

 

[MammothReefer]

redoing my sps tank and had couple questions on phosphates. my hanna colorimeter reads .17. i know people want 0 reading on them but that is if you want ULNS? should i try to get my phosphate to 0?

another question. i am running a calcium reactor and when i tested with elos, my alk was at 7 dkh, calcium was at 450. should i raise my alk a little bit to roughly 8 dkh?

last but not least, my itemp probe on my rkl reads 74. should i raise my heater up to have the water at 78ish?

I want a simple tank. weekly water changes, gfo/carbon reactor, good skimming.

I'd shoot for less then .1 at first then shoot for less an average of under .05. I range from .02 - .07. Seems to work ok for me, if it gets much higher then that I have issues. As far as alk. with an Elos kit 7-8 is fine. It will test around 9-10 with a Salifert on Hanna kit since Elos test lower. I keep my water around 76-77. 74 seems a tad low.