melev - Ouch my poor toes!
I've been buffing a touch more than I usually do lately because I cleaned the Brute and plumbing pieces out with vinegar before placing them into use. While I wiped everything down with RO/DI water, I was worried any miniscule amount of vinegar might drop my Ph at night.
I'm using SeaChem test kits, and when I performed the Alk test, a few of the drops of reagent from the pipette mixed with too much air. I counted the drops anyway, so this might account for the discrepancy. Since I knew I was within range, I didn't redo the test. Because the result was a little higher than expected I looked at the SeaChem instructions while I was performing some of the other tests. The instructions state that the reef Alk should be higher than that of NSW. The range they gave for this was quite high. The instructions did not give a "translation" for Dkh, but simply stated that it was unreliable so no modifier was given.
Well that's all well and dandy, but I agree that 5.0 seems a bit high. I've always looked for 3.5meg/l. I'm going to test again as soon as I get home from work in the morning.
I am really embarrassed to say that I don't have a magnesium test, and it would seem that my calcium test was lost in the move. I have to order a ballast and a couple of extra heaters online tonight, and I'm going to add those tests to the order. Even before you mentioned it, I had been meaning to order them tonight as I've been dosing magnesium and find myself very irresponsible in doing so without a test kit.
I should say that I have been extremely diligent with dosing magnesium in very low amounts comparative to my water volume.
I've checked out the test kits at the LFS closest to me and most don't have an expiration date. I refuse to buy testers without an expiration date. The ones that do(other brands) are WAY out of whack price wise. This is the main reason I've waited to order them till I needed a larger item as I try to save on any shipping charges where I can.
Marc, do you think it is necessary for me to test for Phosphates at this juncture- or rather, should I be testing for phosphates on a regular basis? Once again, and I hate to harp on the price tag, but phosphate testers always seem to be REALLY pricey.
I just can win with the clowns. At least I figured out the most likely cause. I glanced over at my temperature after I had written my initial post- 69-70 degrees! Yikes. I manually switched on the lights in an attempt to add heat. Thank god everything else was fine when I left for work tonight. The tank is at 73ish right now and slowly rising, after my step son's laser tag party, I ran over and snagged a 200 watt Stealth heater and threw it in the 44 Brute. I'll be ordering two more heaters tonight, and while I didn't want one there; it is just TOO cold up here to not have at least one small heater in the main display. We've had quite a cold spell here in New England, but I'm surprised it got that low. The tank has been holding at around 76 at night and around 78ish during the day. To my knowledge, at no other time has the tank gotten below 75-76 on the coldest nights here.
I just read melev's message from the editor of Reefkeeping magazine just two nights ago on this very subject. :rolleye1:
One problem is that I've been meaning to order at least one more heater since I had to remove one of the faulty Jager heaters, so I've been relying on the two Jager heaters in the sump, the ambient temperature of our home, and the pumps/lights to keep the tank warm.
Letting something go because everything holds steady for awhile is NOT a good idea.
I've been such a proponent of keeping a tank on the cool side since the issues I had with my older 40 Breeder reef and heat. Unfortunately, that philosophy turned around and bit me.
I really like the construction on the MarineLand Visi-Therm "Stealth" heaters. Does anyone have any other suggestions for heaters?
I won't go into my irrational paranoia about having heaters in a plastic garbage can and an acrylic tank.
FL-Joe - Thanks. In my experience with Tangs they can be slow/poor to acclimate. The ones that do acclimate quickly may take some time to get "used" to their new surroundings. Keeping the lights off seems to help this process. The two I have now are grazing, eating nori, and accepting a variety of frozen foods. I've seen my large Lieutenant eat everything from clam to rotifiers from my food mix. Good variety is key.
I really haven't had a setup suitable for tangs in the past, so my experience is very limited to the two I have now, and the reading I have done. I will say this, I've done some extensive reading on tangs, and I have to say there are alot of them on the "no no" list- serious thought needs to go into the right match for your system. Since they can be delicate fish, and prone to a variety of diseases, quarantine if possible, or get them from a very reliable source. The two I purchased came from LiveAquaria.
Funny thing is, I work with schizophrenics everyday. Maybe it's rubbing off on me. 
