reef buffer

You should wait for a while before testing your carbonate hardness after dosing the tank.

Yes, you can double the amount of the water to increase the resolution of the test. When you use another test tube, be sure to measure the amount of water very accurately (exactly 10 ml.)

Tomoko
 
Bryan, lol it wasn't you. But no worries. We all make mistakes, heck thats how most of us learn. The main reason why I brought it up was cause its a pretty common problem.. So many dump buffer in trying to keep their ph at 8.3 not realizing that they are driving the ALK way up.. Ph is not that big of deal. Your alk is much more important.. If your ph is 7.8 to 8.4 your fine.. Of course a steady 8.2-8.3 24/7 would be great. But trying to do this with buffer will do nothing but crash your tank;)

The best way I've found is to just write down all my levels when I test, Then I write down what I add if anything.. Your Alk will go down day by day same goes for your Calcium and magnesium. If you keep track of your test levels and what you added. You start to get an idea of how much you need to dose every week, day or what ever.. IE It takes about 4oz of 2part Recipe#2 every 3 days in my 180 system to keep my DKH around 10 and my CA around 430.. I still test my ALk about every other week just to make sure I"m staying where I want.. But since I have a pretty good idea of what my tank uses daily I really don't HAVE to test much at all to keep my levels up. The instructions on the bottle really mean nothing to you if you don't know what YOUR tank uses and exactly where your at before you dose.

I always wait till the next day to test for something after I dose it..

Will
 
Good advise, Will.

After awhile, you will find out that some parameters stay pretty much the same while another decline steadily over time. My calcium stays pretty stable while alkalinity declines fast. Magnesium gradually goes down as well. Mariner's tanks seem to be opposite of mine in this respect. He has to supplement calcium while I rely on calcium reactor and weak kalkwasser top off to supplement alkalinity.

Some people like to use 2 part system like commerical ones or Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley's DIY 2 part system. Some of us rely on a calcium reactor and a kalk reactor like H@rry and me. 8Ball and Beaslbob both seem to have converted to DIY 2 part system.

Tomoko
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10558050#post10558050 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tomoko Schum
Good advise, Will.

Some people like to use 2 part system like commerical ones or Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley's DIY 2 part system. Some of us rely on a calcium reactor and a kalk reactor like H@rry and me. 8Ball and Beaslbob both seem to have converted to DIY 2 part system.

Tomoko
Click to expand...

lol well sorta, I use Kalk Reactors on both systems.. I still have my CA reactor on my 180 and I dose 2 part:eek2:. I've been having problems with my Co2 Regulator so my CA reactor isn't much help at all.. Once I get around to getting a new one. I shouldn't have to dose 2part in the 180. My Kalk Reactors help a Ton.. I'm sure with out them I'd need twice as much 2 part. They are also why I use Recipe 2 and not one.. My ph is on the high side. It stays 8.3-8.4 pretty much 24/7. Infact I had to turn down the temp in my Equipment room a little when summer hit cause my evaporation was to much. This caused my top off to stop since it wont run if the ph is above 8.3.

Will
 
>>This caused my top off to stop since it wont run if the ph is above 8.3. <<

Automation has its own draw back...

I had to take my calcium reactor off line to repair my mag2 on it due to a leak from it. Then it started leaking again two months later. The second time I caught the leak a lot sooner. The darn mag drive pump is going to be pitched!

I got an Eheim pump to replace the mag 2. I am afraid that a slight calcium build-up in the impeller cavity caused Mag 2 to get hot and break the seal. A mag drive is not really meant for an external use. I wonder how an Eheim pump fare against a calcium loaded film around the impeller.

Will - What size tubing/pipe do you use for your eheim pumps? Do you use those in metric size?

Tomoko
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10558588#post10558588 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tomoko Schum
>>This caused my top off to stop since it wont run if the ph is above 8.3. <<

Automation has its own draw back...

Will - What size tubing/pipe do you use for your eheim pumps? Do you use those in metric size?

Tomoko
Click to expand...

Well the real kicker is this wasn't a issue before.. I use to have it setup to where if the Ph was +8.3 it would top off with FW..If the ph was -8.3 it ran the top off through the Kalk Stirrer. This kept the PH perfect and kept the sump level Dead on reguardless of evaporation. Doing it this way though didn't dose a Set amount of Kalk. So my Alk levels changed a little. Since the top off would sometimes use fresh and sometimes use Kalk. Now with the way it is now.. It uses nothing but kalk and my Evap stays about the same. So my ALK and CA levels are easy predict. I just had to keep the room at a decent temp so I didn't evap a crazy amount.

To tell you the truth I don't remember 100% I know my 1260 had a barbed fitting that came with it that would fit 1"spaflex.. Thats how my RT pump is on the 180. For my CA reacter and the seahorse I can't remember what I used. Thats the great part about a shop with a bunch of fittings.. I just dig through the differen't sized bins till something works.:) I know on my 92 I have standard pvc connected to a 1260. I think I had to modify one of the OEM fittings though..Sorry, Not much help am I?

Will
 
Well, thanks anyways. I guess I will torque up the collar over the tubing on the small built-in barb fitting and see what happens. Marine Depot website indicates that it comes with a 1/2 inch barb, but I got the pump from Premium Aquatics. I just hope that its spec uses US standard. My Eheim canister on the other hand came with its own tubing which does not seem to fit US standard fitting.

Tomoko
 
Tomoko,
I'm at 8.3 ph and 7.5 dkh, nothing added in two days, this was an end of day reading.

we will do an indoor/outdoor aeration test this weekend.

is 7.5 high enough, or should it aim for 8-9?
 
7.5 is okay although it is probably safer to bring it up to 8 - 10 considering the daily decrease and for the fact that Seachem's products give you a higher reading due to borate (the actual carbonate reading is lower that what a test kit says- 7.5 could actually be 6 in terms of carbonates.) Go ahead and dose again to bring the carbonate alkalinity up to 8-9 dkh range.

Tomoko
 
wilco.

OH...i finally notice...i always thought you were a professional INTERPRETER...

:)

i also wanted to take my 3 chromis home from my office tank, and put them in the tank where i've had the live rocks and live sand...which is prolly dead by now...would it be ok amm/ites/ates are all 0 to put in one chromis, or should i keep all three together?
 
If the tank has cycled and ready, yes. But if you think everything is dead in the tank, you need to start cycling it again. You don't need to use fish to cycle a tank. One small frozen/defrosted shrimp will do the job just as well. I'd rather not let the fish suffer. Have you been circulating the water in the tank after putting live rocks and live sand? What makes you think that things are dead in it?

Tomoko
 
it has been kept around 1.020, 8.0 ph and 7 dkh. i say around, because i havent been testing every week--more like every month, and i have only been making minor inputs...if something was low, i would add one dose, then test again next month. its also had circulation, kept at 78 (i want to put that heater in my display at work...so much better at keeping constant temp than my work heater--i think its a 300w stealth? heater, fully submersible with the red dial at the end) and we've been lighting it with (i think) 30w of pc each night (it doubles as my daughter's nightlight out in the hall!).

we fed it the tank for a little while--a piece of flake food every few days or so, but...i forgot. so it hasnt had anything added in quite some time.

how can i check to see where it is in the 'cycle' of life?
 
It seems to me that you left it well alone. Flake food is not necessary to keep the rocks and sand alive. As long as nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia is low, you can try one chromis in it and see. If you see ammonia level climbing in a few days, you know that the tank needs cycling because it's not processing ammonia. Is this the 75 gallon tank you talked about before?

Tomoko
 
Re: reef buffer

Let me tell you a SAD story!

Almost two years ago, I got concerned when my ph dropped below 8.0. I had only been in the hobby for a little over a year and lacked the experience to know not to panic (some here might say I still don't know much but :bum: )

I went to a LFS on the Beltway in Decatur and bought some Perfect PH 8.2. (This is before I had knew about CRA and Johnny). I read the instructions on the bottle and applied a little to the sump. I read the instructions again and concluded that if I emptied the entire contents into the sump that it would hold at 8.2 longer.

Well it sure worked as advertised. 8.2 dead balls on.

A few days later, I noticed that one of my Star Fish had started to MELT. A few days later, fish disappeared a all my Zoos and shrooms were gone.

I don't remember what the dk levels were but I don't think those levels have ever been recorded before.

It took over two weeks of daily 10% water changes to get the tank back to normal.

Since that time, I added a refugum with counter light cycles and have not added any buffer.

Last week I visited the home of one of the local members and discussed problems I have had with some SPS in my tank. He had two awesome tanks with SPS growing like weeds. His temps were higher than I was worried about and he said that his ph was less then 8.0. I ask him what he feed his corals to which he replied "fish Poop"

I have made several orders online with a store in NC and his water test at around 7.7 and relative high Nitrates and Nitrates but all of his stuff thrives in my tank.

Which brings me to the following question. Why is it that some tanks have "perfect" conditions and can't grow hair algae while others with loser parameters have to be fragged reguraly?

Goose


:bum:
 
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