What are the Secrets to Stability?

[Mock]

I figured I would start a thread to just get everyone's opinion and tips of the trade on stability.

We all know this is key to any reef tank softies and alike but we all know it is crucial to SPS dominated tanks.

So, how do you maintain stability for years, what are some tips or tricks you use to make sure that things remain the same for long periods of time?


(actually meant to post this here the first time, forgot what sub-cat I was in)

 

[ska d]

Other than the big 3, cal. alk. and mag. Something you don't hear about a lot is temp. Once I got my apex controller I was able to use the probe to keep my temp within 1° +/- at all times. With use of a fan that kicks in when the ttemp rises, and a heater when it falls. But it if the temp keeps rising, say on a warmer day. I can program the apex to turn off certain pieces of equipment when the temp rises to a level the fan can't handle. It may not be a big thing but its part of being stable.

 

[Tweaked]

Well they are not secrets for me, but more of an understanding, or maturity. I mean my maturity, not the tanks. I have stopped all knee jerk reactions when it comes to the tank. Feed what I always have, use the same salt with regular water changes, and invest in good equipment. An apex, skimmer, ATO, reactors, dosing pumps for ALK,Ca,Mg,& Acro power etc really help. Great lighting, with scheduled bulb replacement. And finally, I let my tank tell me.. how quickly I have to clean the glass tells me everything I need to know in regards to nutrient levels.

 

[Wazzel]

The key is consistency and patients. Knee jerk drastic reactions to minor problems will send things all over the place. Changing things up just to try something will throw things out of whack. Find a system that works for you and tweak it as needed.

Remember only bad things happen fast in a reef tank.

 

[daaznguy]

Gotta have ATO. Some type of accurate dosing. And test parameters on new salt bags or buckets.

 

[JB NY]

Really it comes down to patience and being observant.

For example, I am restarting my tank, just some frags in it right now. I had no corals in it for almost a year. When my tank was full of SPS, my Ca Reactor effluent was at 7.8 liters/hr and I had all my topoff going through a kalk reactor just to maintain my levels, but they were rock solid.

So now with just some frags and coralline algae growing my demands are much different. I had forgotten how much effort it is to first dial the system in. I originally thought I could just drop the reactor down and run kalk and I would be fine, but my alk would spike in just a day. Next I turned off the ca reactor, and using just kalk I was still spiking it in a day. To try to keep my alk at 8 dkH, now every time I had a spike I had to shut down my kalk and Ca Reactor and wait until the levels came back to 8 and then turn everything back on. Testing everyday. Took me almost two weeks to get it dialed in, but now the alk tests the exact same reading every time I take a measurement at the same time of day.

So here is what I recommend you do.

Get your parameters where you want them, eg 8 dkH, Ca 425, Mg 1350

First find out what your alk consumption is. Test your water for alk, and then shut down whatever dosing method you are using, ca rxr, kalk, dosing pumps etc. wait 24 hours and then test again. The difference in alk between the two days is how much alk you consume a day. That is what you are trying to dose in the tank. Don't worry about Ca or Mg right now.

Set your equipment to dose what you think you need to to maintain the alk. After you make your adjustment wait 24 hours and test your alk again, make an adjustment based on what your reading is. Eventually you will be making smaller adjustments and the alk will test out the same for a few days in a row, ok now you are done. At least until your corals start to grow and you need to make another adjustment. I find that once you get it locked in, the easier it is to adjust later.

While you are adjusting, I would stop and take some corrective action if your alk moved more than 1-2 dkH in either direction. If it gets too high, stop dosing and wait for it to drop, you will know how long to wait because you found out how much alk you consume earlier. If it is too low, dose some buffer to the tank to bring up the alk, again you will know how much to use based on what you consume per day.

Only dose alk when you are dialing in, alk is used much faster than ca or mg so you can let those slide while you are getting your tank stable. Once you have your alk dialed in, test you ca and mg and dose those to get things back to where you want them. From there on your parameters should be very stable.

It's a lot to do, but once you have it all set up you will have a very good understanding of how your tank works and everything will be a breeze with SPS.

 

[JB NY]

That is just for alk/ca/mg get some kind of a temp controller to keep the temperature consistent, then make sure you have ATO for your tank that will keep you salinity consistent.

 

[rovster]

Good topic and good responses so far. For me the keys are:

1. Develop a routine and stick to it. Feed the same, change water at regular intervals, dose the same way, keep it consistent. By YOU becoming consistent, your tank will follow.

2. Watch your Alk like a hawk! At least at the beginning. When things are going good, I check Alk every other day to every third day. When I feel things are slipping I'll check every day. Just because you check every day, you don't have to "react" to it every day.

3. Avoid the knee-jerk reactions. They cause a lot of instability and you end up chasing your tail.

4. Don't go crazy with numbers and let your tank tell you what's going on.

5. If you have dosers, start slow and SLOWLY bump it up, and compensate at the beginning by adding by hand. I use BRS dosers on my apex. I have NO IDEA how much I dose. I do know for how long my dosers are on though. I started by guessing where I might be and started testing daily. Instead of calculating water volume and how much I need to add to get "X" number, I just added a little time and a little by hand. By slowly bumping it by adding a tiny amount of time to each dose, I can easily "coast" the dose to the right level. The closer I get, the less I add by hand. It takes some time to dial it in, but you can get close within a few weeks and really dial it in in a month or 2. I can check my Alk now and its always within a few tenths.

6. Stability is measured in months, not days or even weeks.

7. Keep in mind it may take weeks for a coral to settle in, so don't assume lack of growth initially means there is something you need to "do" anything with your tank.

8. ***** Be mindful of the fact that anytime you make any kind of change or you experience any kind of event you may need to make adjustments, especially to Alk. If you have a temp spike or drop, or you change the lighting, or you change the salt, or you start carbon dosing, or you add or remove a fuge, or you get a new skimmer......ANYTHING you change in the tank may lead to a stall in consumption with corals. If you do not compensate by reducing or stopping your dosers, you may get an Alk spike. Ask me how I know......

 

[Paul B]

Stability is measured in months, not days or even weeks.

I feel stability is measured in years and decades. Months don't mean much as not much happens in months.

 

[rovster]

I feel stability is measured in years and decades. Months don't mean much as not much happens in months.

LOL, maybe in your world. Most of us have not lived long enough to observe such stability. You're reef has been up since before I was born I think:frog:


Edit, ya I just saw your sig, your reef is older than me, haha!

 

[JB NY]

I feel stability is measured in years and decades. Months don't mean much as not much happens in months.

But you got to start somewhere, days turn to weeks that turn to months that turn to years that turn to decades.

 

[nashorn]

I feel stability is measured in years and decades. Months don't mean much as not much happens in months.

+1 also keep it simple. Change only one thing at a time. No dosing or reactor till it's needed .
Like others have said what's on the glass will tell you a lot.
Never forget to dip

 

[Paul B]

But you got to start somewhere, days turn to weeks that turn to months that turn to years that turn to decades

That is true but most animals will go for weeks without food or light. Some without water.
Weeks don't mean much for an animal such a coral that can live 500 years or a fish that can live for 30 years. At least a year and that is stretching it.

 

[JB NY]

That is true but most animals will go for weeks without food or light. Some without water.
Weeks don't mean much for an animal such a coral that can live 500 years or a fish that can live for 30 years. At least a year and that is stretching it.

weeks matter tremendously for an acropra coral that can RTN in less then 24 hours and be dead because the person was unable to keep the parameters stable enough for the coral to acclimate properly.

Yes everyone should strive for keeping their tank stable for years and years. But that is not going to happen if the person can't even keep his tank stable for a few days. Most people need to start small and work your way up.

 

[Paul B]

an acropra coral that can RTN in less then 24 hours and be dead because the person was unable to keep the parameters stable enough for the coral to acclimate properly.

That is true, but if you are attempting to keep SPS corals you should "first" be able to keep your tank stable for a long period of time. If you can't maintain stability for a few weeks, you should not keep those corals. A properly run reef tank should remain stable almost by itself with no help from us. I rarely do anything to my tank and don't even have any test kits or dosers. I realize people with less experience will need those things but if you are chasing numbers and tweeking all the time, the tank is not stable, not for a month, a week or a day. I have been keeping for for over 60 years and never once tried to alter my pH. The temperature is a no brainer and actually not that important as long as it doesn't fluctuate to much during the day. A couple of degrees means nothing in 24 hours. Calcium and Alk also should not fluctuate in a few weeks as long as you add some. IMO, I think many people make this a lot harder than it needs to be. :bum:

 

[power boat jim]

That is true but most animals will go for weeks without food or light. Some without water.
.

Paul, which animals can do with without the water? I figure my tank parameters would be much more stable if I could remove the variable of water from the equation.

 

[Paul B]

How you doing Jim? Is your boat in the water? I think mine is going in today.
As for water my family had a sea food market since the Roman Empire. OK, I am not sure about that. But many of the animals we sold we just kept on ice for about a week. Lobsters, clams, crabs can all live out of the water if kept cold. Carp can also live for a few days on ice. Ever catch an eel? Throw it in a bucket and it can live for days with no water. I do agree of course that our reef animals should stay in the water, but as you know, Jim, I sometimes get carried away.

 

[power boat jim]

I am doing just fine thank you.The boat goes in in 6 days. The weather is much better this year the marina opened at its normal time. I cant wait to go for a ride its been a long time.

 

[Mock]

So the next question to ask is, how do you maintain a schedule. Is it something you guys set up for say Sunday evenings water changes, testing on Wednesdays, clean skimmer cups on Fridays.

I know this thread was about the keys to stability but how do you keep your stability? Set routines? Wing it? Wait for something to show signs before even opening up the hood? What do you actually do to make it ingrained in your mind that you have to do "this" or "that" on particular days?

For instance, I have the Sunday water change routine and every Friday when I get home I clean the skimmer cup and change the filter socks.

 

[Wazzel]

I have an auto doser and top-off so those are covered continually.
lights are on a timer
Feeding happen every day when I get home from work
All testing and maintenance is done on Saturday
Kit gets descaled every 3rd month

No need for any great big complicated schedule.