Step-by-step account of my first reef (with lots of pics)
- Thread starter Dudester
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Cprowler
Premium Member
:lol:
It was a very good game, it must be a great day in TEXAS today.
The World Junior Hockey Championships are like our Bowl Games and they are in Vancouver this year. They are the future NHL stars similar to College Football. Tonight is the gold metal game Canada Vs. Russia, so don't jump all over me if I make a mistake on a post after the game.
It was a very good game, it must be a great day in TEXAS today.
The World Junior Hockey Championships are like our Bowl Games and they are in Vancouver this year. They are the future NHL stars similar to College Football. Tonight is the gold metal game Canada Vs. Russia, so don't jump all over me if I make a mistake on a post after the game.
Hi Dudester, congratulations on college Championship it was an awesome game, hope to see Vince in a Dolphins uniform someday!
Also wanted to THANK YOU for this wonderful thread ( yes I read each and every post) as I am just starting a 55gal salt water reef venture myself, tank was previously fw, but I have two children with sw tanks and they surprised me in early Nov and converted my tank to sw.
I have already made about a million mistakes/ assumtions and your thread has help me to realize that I need lots more patience
and lots and lots of more knowledge.
I am starting a new job today and don't yet know my future schedule, but sometime soon will start a thread discribing all equipment and goals for tank.
Again thanks a million to you and all thread contributors,
Luis
Also wanted to THANK YOU for this wonderful thread ( yes I read each and every post) as I am just starting a 55gal salt water reef venture myself, tank was previously fw, but I have two children with sw tanks and they surprised me in early Nov and converted my tank to sw.
I have already made about a million mistakes/ assumtions and your thread has help me to realize that I need lots more patience
and lots and lots of more knowledge.
I am starting a new job today and don't yet know my future schedule, but sometime soon will start a thread discribing all equipment and goals for tank.
Again thanks a million to you and all thread contributors,
Luis
Dudester
Premium Member
Hey Luis
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>
Glad you were able to stomach 9 pages of this thread. Like so many have learned the hard way, patience is the key, and with that and the information here on RC I'm sure your 55 will turn out well. Give us a link to your thread once it's up and running.
Bruce and Cprowler - It was indeed an awesome game, not just because the Longhorns won, but it was close from beginning to end. The horns got some fortunate breaks but a win's a win! And Cprowler, breathe before you post :lol:!
As far as my tank, I was too busy watching football to take the pictures I promised, so I'll clean the coralline algae off the glass and get some shots tonight.
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>
Glad you were able to stomach 9 pages of this thread. Like so many have learned the hard way, patience is the key, and with that and the information here on RC I'm sure your 55 will turn out well. Give us a link to your thread once it's up and running.
Bruce and Cprowler - It was indeed an awesome game, not just because the Longhorns won, but it was close from beginning to end. The horns got some fortunate breaks but a win's a win! And Cprowler, breathe before you post :lol:!
As far as my tank, I was too busy watching football to take the pictures I promised, so I'll clean the coralline algae off the glass and get some shots tonight.
Dudester
Premium Member
One of the things I've tried to do is to be prepared for untoward events. I have back-up impellers for both of my Mag pumps, and I try to keep extra items on hand in case of failure. I recently did a survey of my supplies and I lacked a few important items, so I placed an order with MarineDepot.
I just checked on-line and my order was delivered today. Here's what I got:
another MaxiJet 1200 to mix saltwater
2 gallons of B-Ionic
Turbo Calcium
Two Little Fishies Peter Wilkens Kalkwassar
800 micron filter media bag (for carbon)
AquaLifter pump and 2 prefilters
Salifert test kits
Phoenix 250W 14000K DE Phoenix bulb
My PinPoint pH monitor will arrive tomorrow in a separate shipment, and I've ordered Two Little Fishies activated carbon as well. Next week I will receive another 2 DI resins and 2 sediment prefilters from AquaFX for my RO/DI unit (one of my DI resins is already completely "red" indicating that it's exhausted).
During my survey I realized I didn't have a back-up MH bulb, so that's why I ordered this one. I went with the Phoenix due to the positive buzz on RC about this bulb, and my current bulb (XM 15000K) looks a little too blue, actually purple, for my taste.
Oh yeah, does anyone have any input regarding my questions I asked recently about my poor macro growth and about my clumpy sand?
I just checked on-line and my order was delivered today. Here's what I got:
another MaxiJet 1200 to mix saltwater
2 gallons of B-Ionic
Turbo Calcium
Two Little Fishies Peter Wilkens Kalkwassar
800 micron filter media bag (for carbon)
AquaLifter pump and 2 prefilters
Salifert test kits
Phoenix 250W 14000K DE Phoenix bulb
My PinPoint pH monitor will arrive tomorrow in a separate shipment, and I've ordered Two Little Fishies activated carbon as well. Next week I will receive another 2 DI resins and 2 sediment prefilters from AquaFX for my RO/DI unit (one of my DI resins is already completely "red" indicating that it's exhausted).
During my survey I realized I didn't have a back-up MH bulb, so that's why I ordered this one. I went with the Phoenix due to the positive buzz on RC about this bulb, and my current bulb (XM 15000K) looks a little too blue, actually purple, for my taste.
Oh yeah, does anyone have any input regarding my questions I asked recently about my poor macro growth and about my clumpy sand?
Salty in training
Premium Member
Nice tank!!!!!! I pays to do your research before getting started. It looks like you acquired some really nice rock. You'll be scraping the glass sooner then you think.
I would like to see a pic of those monti's I gave you. Just give them lots of TLC and they will grow very fast. If they do, you might be fraggin sooner then you think.
I just started on your thread but since it is 9 pages long give me a day or two to get through it.
The next time you come over bring some bone cutters, cause I know you have them, and I'll frag some of those acros for you.
Great job. I am looking forward to looking at your tank in person.
TH
I would like to see a pic of those monti's I gave you. Just give them lots of TLC and they will grow very fast. If they do, you might be fraggin sooner then you think.
I just started on your thread but since it is 9 pages long give me a day or two to get through it.
The next time you come over bring some bone cutters, cause I know you have them, and I'll frag some of those acros for you.
Great job. I am looking forward to looking at your tank in person.
TH
I can't help on your algae problem, but I have a couple of questions.
I went to Houston today with the wife to the Chinatown area on Bellaire. I found a nice LFS just a couple blocks away. They had quite a selection of SW fish, and more corals than I have ever seen in any LFS. I got to talk to the Vietnamese owner for quite awhile when the wife was in the market. We discussed my little tank and he asked if I was dosing calcium. I said no, as I have no corals yet. He said I should still dose calcium and other trace elements, beyond what's in the salt during water changes, to keep the live rock healthy and to encourage coraline algae growth. Does this sound right? If so, I guess I need to get a calcium testing kit. Any recommendations on a good test kit for Ca?
Mike, what do the nitrates run in your tank? Mine tend to hover around 20 ppm before my bi-weekly WC. Am I correct in thinking that's too high for me to start trying to keep some beginner corals? How far should I try to get them down? I think my problem is partly no refugium, which I'm working on, and detrius in the sandbed. As Bax noted, the Arag-alive crushed coral substrate in my tank is pretty coarse. I can see pieces of detrius in there, but can't seem to siphon much out without getting a whole lot of the substrate with it. I'm guessing I'm going to have to do something about this before I can keep any corals.
In the goody bag from today's trip were 5 lb of real live sand from that LFS in Houston, a Corallife 18W PC light fixture to put over the modified AC 500 filter now a 'fuge, and a LED moonlight strip. The sand is already in the AC500, and it's flowing just fine. I have about 2 in of sand in the bottom, and it threw out a bunch of silt that clouded the tank for awhile, but it cleared up in about an hour. Now I need some LR rubble and cheato. I hope to get those next trip to Austin.
Man, I'm still pumped over that game! I'm not a real big college football fan, but that was just one heck of a game. (Where I went to college, we didn't even have a football team. But we were ECAC Division I hockey champs one year! )
I went to Houston today with the wife to the Chinatown area on Bellaire. I found a nice LFS just a couple blocks away. They had quite a selection of SW fish, and more corals than I have ever seen in any LFS. I got to talk to the Vietnamese owner for quite awhile when the wife was in the market. We discussed my little tank and he asked if I was dosing calcium. I said no, as I have no corals yet. He said I should still dose calcium and other trace elements, beyond what's in the salt during water changes, to keep the live rock healthy and to encourage coraline algae growth. Does this sound right? If so, I guess I need to get a calcium testing kit. Any recommendations on a good test kit for Ca?
Mike, what do the nitrates run in your tank? Mine tend to hover around 20 ppm before my bi-weekly WC. Am I correct in thinking that's too high for me to start trying to keep some beginner corals? How far should I try to get them down? I think my problem is partly no refugium, which I'm working on, and detrius in the sandbed. As Bax noted, the Arag-alive crushed coral substrate in my tank is pretty coarse. I can see pieces of detrius in there, but can't seem to siphon much out without getting a whole lot of the substrate with it. I'm guessing I'm going to have to do something about this before I can keep any corals.
In the goody bag from today's trip were 5 lb of real live sand from that LFS in Houston, a Corallife 18W PC light fixture to put over the modified AC 500 filter now a 'fuge, and a LED moonlight strip. The sand is already in the AC500, and it's flowing just fine. I have about 2 in of sand in the bottom, and it threw out a bunch of silt that clouded the tank for awhile, but it cleared up in about an hour. Now I need some LR rubble and cheato. I hope to get those next trip to Austin.
Man, I'm still pumped over that game! I'm not a real big college football fan, but that was just one heck of a game. (Where I went to college, we didn't even have a football team. But we were ECAC Division I hockey champs one year!
)flyingfish85
New member
Dudester,
The planning, diligence and patience shown in this post is what makes one a very successful person. This post should be what new hobbyists see first so they can get an understanding of how in-depth a reef tank really is and what is required to do it right. The planning and methodical introduction of fish, inverts and life over time is what makes all the difference in the world.
Thank you for taking the time to share such an elaborate implementation and congratulations on a beautiful tank, stand and light fixture. Well done.
The planning, diligence and patience shown in this post is what makes one a very successful person. This post should be what new hobbyists see first so they can get an understanding of how in-depth a reef tank really is and what is required to do it right. The planning and methodical introduction of fish, inverts and life over time is what makes all the difference in the world.
Thank you for taking the time to share such an elaborate implementation and congratulations on a beautiful tank, stand and light fixture. Well done.
That's exactly what's happening. I can see pieces of detrius all though the substrate but can't seem to get it out when siphoning without pulling out the CC also. I'm sure this is partly what's driving my nitrates up.
I guess I'm going to have to study this sand stuff some more.
Hey Dudester,
Have you seen this? The new Reef Keeper II. Hmmmmm, now I wish I had waited a month or so. I may need to get one of these anyway. Then I can use the original RK on one of my freshwater tanks.
http://www.digitalaquatics.com/reefkeeper_2.htm
Have you seen this? The new Reef Keeper II. Hmmmmm, now I wish I had waited a month or so. I may need to get one of these anyway. Then I can use the original RK on one of my freshwater tanks.
http://www.digitalaquatics.com/reefkeeper_2.htm
Dudester
Premium Member
Sorry for the late response, everyone. For some reason I didn't get an e-mail that there was a response to my last post, so I thought the thread had gone quiet for a while - glad it didn't! I also haven't taken the pics of my new corals that I got from "Salty in training," but I plan to take them ASAP and post them here.
I got my stuff from MarineDepot and installed my PinPoint pH probe. Turns out I was reading my pH correctly with the Salifert test kit. After calibrating the probe and putting it into my sump, I check my pH with the test kit to see how they compared. I read the color on my test kit sample as having a pH of ~8.4; the PinPoint probe measured my tank at 8.41. Pretty close, I'd say. This doesn't mean I don't want the probe, I definitely do, since it'll be nice to simply open the cabinet and check the pH whenever I want. I'll still use the test kit weekly, as this will also let me know if I need to recalibrate my pH probe (if my readings become too disparate). The manual recommends recalibrating the pH probe once/month. Is this what you PinPoint users do out there, or just recal when you think it's off?
My Ca is only 365 and my alk is at 2.4. I'm going to use Turbo Calcium today to quickly get my Ca level up to ~410-420, and I'll start redosing B-Ionic to increase my alkalinity and to keep my Ca where I want it. This should do well to keep my new corals happy.
Today I'm going to clean out the MaxiJet 1200 pump that powers my Remora skimmer. The output's been decreasing lately, and I'm sure the pump is filled with deposits and other unspeakables.
Salty in training - It was incredible seeing your tank. You've done a great job and it's nice to see what can be achieved with patience and time. If you would like to post a pic of your tank on this thread be my guest, I'd be honored to "host" a photo of such a beautiful tank! Really, guys, this is TOTM quality. And of course "thanks" is not enough to show my appreciation for the corals you gave me. They're all doing well and I'll have pics for you before too long. Of course you'll need to come over and see them up close whenever you want. And don't worry - I'll be over to your house with bone cutters before you know it.
Bruce - The LFS owner in Houston was speaking the truth. Yes, you should definitely test calcium (and alkalinity) in your tank, as it will promote coralline algae growth. I don't know if you're dosing kalk but that's what I did (and still do) prior to dosing the B-Ionic. My calcium levels initially stayed over 400 with kalk alone, but as the coralline took off and I started adding corals, the level dipped and extra dosing became necessary. Salifert is a great test kit for Ca and alkalinity. As far as dosing trace elements, I'm not positive if that's necessary, as there are many trace elements in the salt mixes we use. With a small tank, I do bi-weekly water changes as well, and I have the gut feeling that that's plenty to provide all the trace elements my tank needs. I'm sure you're aware that the frequency and volume of water changes is a controversial issue, and I'm sure my tank would do fine if I changed less than the 10% every other week, but I continue to do it primarily for the purpose of replacing trace elements. Of course B-Ionic also contains trace elements but I just feel like I'm doing the right thing by performing the water change. Plus this gives me a scheduled time to clean out the sponge in my sump and siphon out the detritus that collects down there.
My nitrates (and phosphorous) run at 0 (zero) consistently, even just before water changes. Why? I'm not sure, since I don't have sufficient macro in my fuge to be helping. Maybe it's because I'm currently stocked lightly. 20 sounds high and I'd be leary of adding corals if that's where you're running. You should try to keep nitrate below 5 (I think - if this is wrong someone correct me). Maybe you need to do a water change every week, then you might be able to add a coral or two?
Thanks for the link to the ReefKeeper II. I checked it out and it looks great! I love the look, and especially the option for manual override. Currently, when I need to do a water change, I unplug my pumps from the ReefKeeper then plug them back in when finished. The override option would make it that much simpler. The pH monitoring feature is also quite nice, so yes, you've made me envious. I'm not going to trade mine in, though. I'm quite happy with the one I have, and I'm glad to have the time-tested reliability of my PinPoint ph monitor.
flyingfish85 - Wow, I am truly humbled by your kind words. If this is what I can expect from your posts, then please continue to post away. But seriously, I'm glad that you consider this informative. After all, that's the purpose. And of course, if you see something that deserves criticism, please chime in!
I got my stuff from MarineDepot and installed my PinPoint pH probe. Turns out I was reading my pH correctly with the Salifert test kit. After calibrating the probe and putting it into my sump, I check my pH with the test kit to see how they compared. I read the color on my test kit sample as having a pH of ~8.4; the PinPoint probe measured my tank at 8.41. Pretty close, I'd say. This doesn't mean I don't want the probe, I definitely do, since it'll be nice to simply open the cabinet and check the pH whenever I want. I'll still use the test kit weekly, as this will also let me know if I need to recalibrate my pH probe (if my readings become too disparate). The manual recommends recalibrating the pH probe once/month. Is this what you PinPoint users do out there, or just recal when you think it's off?
My Ca is only 365 and my alk is at 2.4. I'm going to use Turbo Calcium today to quickly get my Ca level up to ~410-420, and I'll start redosing B-Ionic to increase my alkalinity and to keep my Ca where I want it. This should do well to keep my new corals happy.
Today I'm going to clean out the MaxiJet 1200 pump that powers my Remora skimmer. The output's been decreasing lately, and I'm sure the pump is filled with deposits and other unspeakables.
Salty in training - It was incredible seeing your tank. You've done a great job and it's nice to see what can be achieved with patience and time. If you would like to post a pic of your tank on this thread be my guest, I'd be honored to "host" a photo of such a beautiful tank! Really, guys, this is TOTM quality. And of course "thanks" is not enough to show my appreciation for the corals you gave me. They're all doing well and I'll have pics for you before too long. Of course you'll need to come over and see them up close whenever you want. And don't worry - I'll be over to your house with bone cutters before you know it
.Bruce - The LFS owner in Houston was speaking the truth. Yes, you should definitely test calcium (and alkalinity) in your tank, as it will promote coralline algae growth. I don't know if you're dosing kalk but that's what I did (and still do) prior to dosing the B-Ionic. My calcium levels initially stayed over 400 with kalk alone, but as the coralline took off and I started adding corals, the level dipped and extra dosing became necessary. Salifert is a great test kit for Ca and alkalinity. As far as dosing trace elements, I'm not positive if that's necessary, as there are many trace elements in the salt mixes we use. With a small tank, I do bi-weekly water changes as well, and I have the gut feeling that that's plenty to provide all the trace elements my tank needs. I'm sure you're aware that the frequency and volume of water changes is a controversial issue, and I'm sure my tank would do fine if I changed less than the 10% every other week, but I continue to do it primarily for the purpose of replacing trace elements. Of course B-Ionic also contains trace elements but I just feel like I'm doing the right thing by performing the water change. Plus this gives me a scheduled time to clean out the sponge in my sump and siphon out the detritus that collects down there.
My nitrates (and phosphorous) run at 0 (zero) consistently, even just before water changes. Why? I'm not sure, since I don't have sufficient macro in my fuge to be helping. Maybe it's because I'm currently stocked lightly. 20 sounds high and I'd be leary of adding corals if that's where you're running. You should try to keep nitrate below 5 (I think - if this is wrong someone correct me). Maybe you need to do a water change every week, then you might be able to add a coral or two?
Thanks for the link to the ReefKeeper II. I checked it out and it looks great! I love the look, and especially the option for manual override. Currently, when I need to do a water change, I unplug my pumps from the ReefKeeper then plug them back in when finished. The override option would make it that much simpler. The pH monitoring feature is also quite nice, so yes, you've made me envious. I'm not going to trade mine in, though. I'm quite happy with the one I have, and I'm glad to have the time-tested reliability of my PinPoint ph monitor.
flyingfish85 - Wow, I am truly humbled by your kind words. If this is what I can expect from your posts, then please continue to post away
. But seriously, I'm glad that you consider this informative. After all, that's the purpose. And of course, if you see something that deserves criticism, please chime in!I was wondering where you were! I was hearing crickets in here.
OK, I guess it's time to start considering dosing of essential elements. Right now I'm not dosing with kalkwasser or anything. (Not having a sump limits a lot of options.) I'll get a calcium test kit and start adding a calcium supplement as needed. I have heard that Purple Up is good for coraline algae and that the A-B Ionic stuff is good. I do test regularly fro dKH and it is consistently 10-11.
On the nitrates I run about 20 ppm before my bi-weekly 5 gal (25%) water change. I was attributing this to ditritus buildup in the CC substarte, which I am having a hard time removing. BUT, this morning I tested nitrate and got a lower reading, somewhere between 10-20 ppm (the color thing, you know). Last weekend I did a mod to my CPR BakPak 2R skimmer and added a limewood airstone in the reaction chamber and an airpump. BIG difference. I never before got anything that could remotely be considered foam out of the thing. Now I got lots of bubbles, real foam, and for the first time in 3 months I'm actually getting some dark colored skimmate! Hopefully it will now take some of the organics and nitrates out of the water. I've never been happy with that BakPak skimmer. Not having a sump to put a better skimmer in is again limiting my options. But I am investigating that nice Deltec HOB skimmer.
I was just about to order a Pinpoint pH monitor, but now I think I might wait and get the RK II with its pH monitor instead. That can be part of my excuse for upgrading.
I'm beginning to see now why the smaller tanks are considered more challenging. The lack of a sump is a real disadvantage in system integration.. I'm mentally planning my next tank which I now may try to do sooner than I expected. I'm thinking either a 58 gal, which is 36 in. wide and will fit in my current location, OR, going to a 75 or 90 gal 48 in. tank, which will involve some re-siting.
You know, I've had a number of hi-tech interests and hobbies over the years. Ham radio, solar power systems, precision shooting and reloading, spacecraft systems, building and tuning race cars and motorcycles, etc. All require systems design and integration, which is the part I love. I'm finding that this salt water stuff and reef keeping is probably the most technically challenging thing I've run into. So much to learn about so many different fields. Plumbing, electrical, mechanical (stand) for just a start. Then lighting, biology chemistry, and animal husbandry and more I probably don't even know about yet. This can certainly be a life-long learning experience.
Bruce
OK, I guess it's time to start considering dosing of essential elements. Right now I'm not dosing with kalkwasser or anything. (Not having a sump limits a lot of options.) I'll get a calcium test kit and start adding a calcium supplement as needed. I have heard that Purple Up is good for coraline algae and that the A-B Ionic stuff is good. I do test regularly fro dKH and it is consistently 10-11.
On the nitrates I run about 20 ppm before my bi-weekly 5 gal (25%) water change. I was attributing this to ditritus buildup in the CC substarte, which I am having a hard time removing. BUT, this morning I tested nitrate and got a lower reading, somewhere between 10-20 ppm (the color thing, you know). Last weekend I did a mod to my CPR BakPak 2R skimmer and added a limewood airstone in the reaction chamber and an airpump. BIG difference. I never before got anything that could remotely be considered foam out of the thing. Now I got lots of bubbles, real foam, and for the first time in 3 months I'm actually getting some dark colored skimmate! Hopefully it will now take some of the organics and nitrates out of the water. I've never been happy with that BakPak skimmer. Not having a sump to put a better skimmer in is again limiting my options. But I am investigating that nice Deltec HOB skimmer.
I was just about to order a Pinpoint pH monitor, but now I think I might wait and get the RK II with its pH monitor instead. That can be part of my excuse for upgrading.
I'm beginning to see now why the smaller tanks are considered more challenging. The lack of a sump is a real disadvantage in system integration.. I'm mentally planning my next tank which I now may try to do sooner than I expected. I'm thinking either a 58 gal, which is 36 in. wide and will fit in my current location, OR, going to a 75 or 90 gal 48 in. tank, which will involve some re-siting.
You know, I've had a number of hi-tech interests and hobbies over the years. Ham radio, solar power systems, precision shooting and reloading, spacecraft systems, building and tuning race cars and motorcycles, etc. All require systems design and integration, which is the part I love. I'm finding that this salt water stuff and reef keeping is probably the most technically challenging thing I've run into. So much to learn about so many different fields. Plumbing, electrical, mechanical (stand) for just a start. Then lighting, biology chemistry, and animal husbandry and more I probably don't even know about yet. This can certainly be a life-long learning experience.
Bruce
Dudester
Premium Member
Bruce, I just came back to the computer to try and write an addendum to what I told you about your nitrates, but you got here first and you've already touched upon what I was going to say (was that a run-on sentence, geez, I'm not sure, maybe I could add more nonsense to ensure that, without any chance of misinterpretation, that, yes, this is indeed a run-on sentence). Anyway, PROTEIN SKIMMING IS ALSO KEY to keeping down your 'trates. I've read a lot about the limewood airstone improving performance, and it sounds like you're well on your way to your nitrates heading for the abyss.
As far as dosing kalk, you don't need a sump for that. If you recall, I dosed kalk with my auto-topoff with a reactor that sat in my topoff reservoir. You could have kalk in a bucket beside your tank, nothing beautiful but definitely functional. Although with your plans for a larger tank, you could use your current tank as a sump, eh?
I'm not sure I'd spend any money on PurpleUp; if your tank conditions are appropriate for coralline algae growth, it WILL grow.
As far as dosing kalk, you don't need a sump for that. If you recall, I dosed kalk with my auto-topoff with a reactor that sat in my topoff reservoir. You could have kalk in a bucket beside your tank, nothing beautiful but definitely functional. Although with your plans for a larger tank, you could use your current tank as a sump, eh?
I'm not sure I'd spend any money on PurpleUp; if your tank conditions are appropriate for coralline algae growth, it WILL grow.
Ain't that the truth? That's what keeps me in this!
Dudester
Premium Member
Forgot to mention that I just cleaned out my skimmer pump and the skimmer, itself. The pump impeller was literally CAKED with calcium deposits. I essentially filed them off of the magnet impeller, and cleaned out as much else as I could. The only part I couldn't clean was the plastic housing in which the impeller sits. Anyone know how to get the calcium out of there? After hooking the skimmer back up I can visibly see a marked improvement in flow through it. I'm sure this will translate into more skimmate, as well. I'll need to remember to do this about every 2 months or so.
Dudester
Premium Member
Thanks, Bax, I'll do that next time.
Last night I added Turbo Calcium (~2 and 1/4 tsp) to my tank. I used the calculator that I referred to earlier in this thread to figure out how much to add. It said to use 4.5 tsp to raise my Ca from 365 to 415, and it recommended doing it over two days. So I dosed half last night and tested calcium tonight. It was 410! I just held right there and didn't add any more. Man that stuff's potent - and I bought an 800 gram bottle of the stuff. That should last me for years. I also began redosing B-Ionic tonight, and that should get my alkalinity up in no time.
As far as my skimmer, it's gone nuts since cleaning my MaxiJet pump. The volume of skimmate has tripled. It's still not a lot of skimmate (I only fill the collection cup about 1/2" every 2 days) but my params indicate that it's enough, I'd say.
By the way, I forgot to mention that I DID change the air line tubing from my AquaLifter pump to my CPR overflow. This has resulted in MUCH more flow through my overflow, and I'm convinced now that the loss of siphon is why my tank flooded. For all you CPR overflow users out there, make sure you keep your siphon tubing patent. I plan to change mine every 2 months, or more if it becomes stained with algae. It's just too easy to prevent and too messy to let it go.
I took pics tonight of my new corals and will post them soon.
Last night I added Turbo Calcium (~2 and 1/4 tsp) to my tank. I used the calculator that I referred to earlier in this thread to figure out how much to add. It said to use 4.5 tsp to raise my Ca from 365 to 415, and it recommended doing it over two days. So I dosed half last night and tested calcium tonight. It was 410! I just held right there and didn't add any more. Man that stuff's potent - and I bought an 800 gram bottle of the stuff. That should last me for years. I also began redosing B-Ionic tonight, and that should get my alkalinity up in no time.
As far as my skimmer, it's gone nuts since cleaning my MaxiJet pump. The volume of skimmate has tripled. It's still not a lot of skimmate (I only fill the collection cup about 1/2" every 2 days) but my params indicate that it's enough, I'd say.
By the way, I forgot to mention that I DID change the air line tubing from my AquaLifter pump to my CPR overflow. This has resulted in MUCH more flow through my overflow, and I'm convinced now that the loss of siphon is why my tank flooded. For all you CPR overflow users out there, make sure you keep your siphon tubing patent. I plan to change mine every 2 months, or more if it becomes stained with algae. It's just too easy to prevent and too messy to let it go.
I took pics tonight of my new corals and will post them soon.
Dudester
Premium Member
Sorry, no pics yet but trust me, they are forthcoming.
Now that I have the PinPoint pH monitor, I'll probably be testing pH less often. I mentioned that I had ordered more test kits to have on reserve, with pH being one of them. This now brings a question to mind ... what's the usable shelf life of the Salifert test kits, does anyone know? Hey melev - haven't heard from you in a while - I seem to recall a photo that you took of your stockpile of Salifert test kits (along with other items as well). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I remember you keeping quite a number of them on hand. Is that true and if so, have you had any problems with the test kits that you've had over a long period of time? I've not seen an expiration date or a "use before" notification.
Now that I have the PinPoint pH monitor, I'll probably be testing pH less often. I mentioned that I had ordered more test kits to have on reserve, with pH being one of them. This now brings a question to mind ... what's the usable shelf life of the Salifert test kits, does anyone know? Hey melev - haven't heard from you in a while - I seem to recall a photo that you took of your stockpile of Salifert test kits (along with other items as well). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I remember you keeping quite a number of them on hand. Is that true and if so, have you had any problems with the test kits that you've had over a long period of time? I've not seen an expiration date or a "use before" notification.
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