salt mixes and halimeda

[SubmarinR]

for those of you into salt who also have healthy halimeda growing... what salt mix do you use?
I am considering the different brands and the fact that there may be some correlation..<?> esp those in the same geographic areas where water parameters alone may not have anythng to do w it

just a quick poll.. i may actually set this question up on our club website soon too.. (as soon as the host fixes the problems which are keeping me from uploading files)
;-)P

joe


Oklahoma City Aquarium Association
www.okcaa.aquariumsociety.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OK-AquariumAssociation/

 

[Plantbrain]

I use Red Sea. It's cheap and that's good since it's less to do water changes. Doing water changes frequently and adding a little Ca goes a very very long way. But you can get the techy equipment and spend your dollar there if you want. You spend a fair amount of "Fiddling" time with all that and a simple water change is a no brainer. It becomes more reasonable/cheaper to dose and try to do fewer changes as the tank size becomes larger. 50 gal and less you can do 50-70% water changes every week or two. But a 100-180gal?
I've used Reef Crystals as well.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[SubmarinR]

salt mix and calcium additions

salt mix and calcium additions

thanks for the feedback Tom
so what type of calcium are u using and in what amounts?
450-500 ppm calcium seems to be the most common level to maintain so far...
what are yours? do you even test ;-)P
im gonna have to start at least untiil i can get a nice solid routine down
tia

joe

 

[Plantbrain]

For the neophyte, the person with a problem, the obsessive, the person testing a theory, a kit is good.

I use the Lamott series and also have an Orion ion meter.
But I'm not quite right I have the school's lab also which has everything.

I add some Kalk 1-2x a week(Calcium hydroxide). I've been changing the water about 60% every two weeks lately. My levels have been about 460ppm and have not dropped much. I have CaCl2 but have not use it. I also can get very fine ground CaCO3 aragonite powder and I might use this in the future.
Heck, it's what makes up these things. Let them do the rest.

Damn Halimeda is coming up in places I don't want it. I'll let it grow in and work around it. I might get some H. discoidea when I go down to the keys next and replace some other species.

I can dose without using kits very accurately. You know that from the FW plant forums and the estimative index+water changes.
SW folks hate doing water changes and larger ones are seldom ever done(Needs to be pre mixed). The main reason is economic. But the skimmers, dosing of pricy brand name stuff, kalk reactors and pumps, CO2 etc would more than pay for this.

You can dose to prevent deficicencies and do water changes to prevent build up. It's pretty simple. New folks can get right in there with a very simple routine without much up front cost. It's how we did it in the "olden days" back in the 1970's.

Testing the NO3, PO4, alkalinity and Ca are the main concerns I have. These are the key players here. But I have not gotten around to it. You know, I have research work to do beside this I've worked out some neat methods that will work well for seagrass periphtyon. The FW Vals have similar shape and surface area.

Traces, some of the others are guessed at based upon FW plants. I think some refinement is needed with SW but less than I thought.
Maybe I'll get off my duff and work on it. Hitting good Ca levels is not too bad and using the CaCO3 will take care of both Ca and alkalinity. PO4 and NO3 are the two I need to test carefully to find relative uptake rates.
I think the ranges are narrower in SW for good growth without the nusiance algae coming in. It might be narrow for just one nutrient, say PO4. Maybe iron. I need to work on NO3, PO4 before I touch traces(iron) and you know why. Alright enough talk and _speculation_

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[SubmarinR]

thanks again Tom,
i agree on the expensive equipm.. i don't do the skimmer myself.. just weekly water chnge (25%) and some dosing (calcium/traces) biweekly w/ DTs and simple filtration and deep deep sand beds and live rock
and at this point only 95w PC 50/50 lighting 11 hrs daily
joe

 

[Plantbrain]

I use a Skilter so I can use it on smaller tanks 40gal or less, other wise I'll go for Back Pak etc. But if you have a leung style setup, why bother?
Plants do all the work and do it better IMO/IME and many others.
DBS have always been a good idea IMO, FW or SW.
Adding some traces like iron would likely be a good idea or even a layer of onyx sand etc deep on the bottom layer.
I may rip my substrate up and do that or freeze ice cube slurries and push these deep into the bottom.
I think the algae will get enough from this source and I can pass on the water column dosing.

I have noit liked the general response of the water column trace dosings. I have seem little effect from the KNO3 as far as nusiance algae and the same for the KH2PO4.
It seems that iron(or one of the traces) limitation is a key component so far. I do not see this same pattern in FW systems though. I'd figured it'd be NO3 or PO4 but I have not seen this so far. Plant do well with it.
I may switch to the substrate dosing for the traces and then PO4, Ca, NO3 2x a week for the water column.

Seems like that would be a good routine. I am concerned about DOC levels building up from all the plant growth, the plants are "leaky". I suppose some chemi pure/carbon would remove it so folks could go 2 or more weeks before a water change. I think the DOC level might cause some of the nusiance algae folks see.
I need to play around and think about it more and test.

Regards,
Tom Barr