Bubba's SPS Journey

[bubbaque]

Ryan from BRS is one of my friends. He was telling me a year or so ago about testing co2 scrubbing and the affects on Alk Consumption. Not sure if a video was ever made or not but the raise in ph almost consistently doubles the amount of Alk Consumption within the tank... meaning it absolutely increases coral growth compared to running the exact same tank with lower ph.

They did release the video on co2 scrubbing and mentioned it doubled their alk consumption. I noticed the same thing in my tank. I use kalk along with co2 scrubbing to get my ph up. Before raising ph I would run my calcrx at a ph of 6.4. I had to raise my calcrx ph to 6.6 but I now dose almost 2 1/2 gallons of saturated kalk a day. Corals that wouldn't grow before have started to grow.

I think for anyone that has really low ph and you can raise it up another .2 or more, you would see a difference.

Yes the canisters are plumbed to go from one canister to the next. People say don't chase ph for a reason and I believe it's due to having your ph jump all around because your chasing it with liquid ph booster or you don't keep on top of whatever method your using and your ph goes all over. I wanted to raise it with a way that I thought would keep it consistent. The two canisters made sure I didn't have to throw away unused media just to make sure my ph wouldn't drop when it was used up.

Water in the canister helps the media last longer but I was hoping that since it pulls all the humid air from the skimmer that it would almost be to the same affect. You can see the tube looks gross from whatever moister it pulls in.

 

[Fishfinder]

where do you buy that first media? seems like its medical grade

 

[bubbaque]

where do you buy that first media? seems like its medical grade

From a buddy who decided not to use it. I messaged him and he said he bought it from amazon but it's discontinued

 

[BigJohnny]

Ryan from BRS is one of my friends. He was telling me a year or so ago about testing co2 scrubbing and the affects on Alk Consumption. Not sure if a video was ever made or not but the raise in ph almost consistently doubles the amount of Alk Consumption within the tank... meaning it absolutely increases coral growth compared to running the exact same tank with lower ph.

Impossible to determine how much of that alk consumption is actually from precipitation and not growth though, however I agree, no doubt it increases growth.

I see an increase in consumption and growth in my tank and it drops everytime I am lazy about switching media.

 

[tigé21v]

I actually have found that when adding Corals my alk consumption lowers for a day or two so say my tank is consuming 1.5 dkh a day when I add Corals it only consumes 1 dkh for a day or two then everything goes back to normal I thought I was going crazy but it has been verified by my khg on my last pack

My hands in the tank

Also I think Corals are smart

They are alive and they can sense other “threats” in the tank and once they realize that the other coral is no threat to them they go back to business as normal

I have no proof of this at all but i think it could be truthful as the new Corals are expelling whatever in there new tank environment and the established Corals can sense that and kind of put up a protective barrier of sorts and shut down their consumption of alk as they feel they could be in danger

What do I know tho it’s just my thoughts but in the last year I have gotten multiple shipments of Corals that had ten plus frags in it and noticed it with my Hannah and now with the khg that the consumption stops for a day or two and besides my hands in the tank nothing else changed.

Now if I could somehow add the Corals with chop sticks or a lucky jump shot instead of my hands to prove my other theory correct

Interesting observation, and theory. Kind of seems like it would make sense.
Have you tried placing your corals while wearing gloves? It seems that would remove one more variable.

 

[justingraham]

Interesting observation, and theory. Kind of seems like it would make sense.
Have you tried placing your corals while wearing gloves? It seems that would remove one more variable.

No I can try that tho have Corals coming next week

 

[tigé21v]

I have some disposable breeder's gloves, thin plastic one-time use that go up to your shoulder. If you don't have gloves, PM me your address and I'll send you a pair if you want.
You've piqued my curiosity. I'm very interested if it makes a difference or not.

 

[tigé21v]

My apologies, Mr. Bubba. Sorry to hijack your thread.
On with the pics!!

 

[Norcalreef]

Ph for sure increases alk consumption as you saw when I went on vacation. Even now on days that my wife works and my son is in day care my alk consumption changes. She worked yesterday and alk was 7.8 she didn’t work today and both her and my son were home it was 8.
I’ve thought about getting a scrubber but I’m admittedly lazy and my ph is not bad even when everyone is home.

The times it hit 8.3 are when everyone is gone all day.

I can’t get apex to show enough but I clear correlation between ph and alk

 

[hwntunda]

Tank looks great and excellent pics!!

 

[BigJohnny]

No I can try that tho have Corals coming next week

I would definitely do that, that is not normal imo. I have never had my consumption go down when adding corals. Do you wash your hands first? If so with what? Do you have corals capable of substantial chemical warfare like leathers?

 

[BigJohnny]

Ph for sure increases alk consumption as you saw when I went on vacation. Even now on days that my wife works and my son is in day care my alk consumption changes. She worked yesterday and alk was 7.8 she didn’t work today and both her and my son were home it was 8.
I’ve thought about getting a scrubber but I’m admittedly lazy and my ph is not bad even when everyone is home.

The times it hit 8.3 are when everyone is gone all day.

I can’t get apex to show enough but I clear correlation between ph and alk

Is one of those your alk? They both say ph. Either way isnt that backwards?

"She worked yesterday and alk was 7.8 she didn’t work today and both her and my son were home it was 8."

Ph would be higher if they werent home and alk consumption would go up so alk would be lower...... not higher when they are home.

 

[Norcalreef]

Is one of those your alk? They both say ph. Either way isnt that backwards?

"She worked yesterday and alk was 7.8 she didn’t work today and both her and my son were home it was 8."

Ph would be higher if they werent home and alk consumption would go up so alk would be lower...... not higher when they are home.

No I got it correct. She worked,ph was higher alk was 7.8. Today she didn’t work, ph was lower and alk was 8. Alk was .2 higher on the day they were home.

On the last graph alk numbers are on the left and are the dotted line with little beaker. Ph is the green and numbers are on the right.

 

[BigJohnny]

No I got it correct. She worked,ph was higher alk was 7.8. Today she didn’t work, ph was lower and alk was 8. Alk was .2 higher on the day they were home.

On the last graph alk numbers are on the left and are the dotted line with little beaker. Ph is the green and numbers are on the right.

Yea I'm an idiot, sorry lol.

 

[Norcalreef]

Yea I'm an idiot, sorry lol.

Haha all good

 

[Abhishek]

I am just a silent admirer of your amazing acros @bubbaque ! Amazing is an understatement .

Just my 2 cents - I think you need a true ORA Pearlberry to put icing on top of all your amazing collection .. But it has to be the original deal .


Regards,
Abhishek

 

[bubbaque]

I am just a silent admirer of your amazing acros @bubbaque ! Amazing is an understatement .

Just my 2 cents - I think you need a true ORA Pearlberry to put icing on top of all your amazing collection .. But it has to be the original deal .


Regards,
Abhishek

Thanks!

I would love to get an ORA pearlberry. Finding one feels near impossible. Even those who say they have it, others will debate it doesn’t look exactly like it.

I think there was a thread a little while ago about it and no one could decide who actually had the real deal.

I reached out to Adam as I find him honest and he said he don’t have it either.

 

[Abhishek]

Thanks!

I would love to get an ORA pearlberry. Finding one feels near impossible. Even those who say they have it, others will debate it doesn’t look exactly like it.

I think there was a thread a little while ago about it and no one could decide who actually had the real deal.

I reached out to Adam as I find him honest and he said he don’t have it either.

Thats true ! If you can wait like 6 months , you might just have one . It takes forever to encrust :mad:
I can think of 5 classics that would complete the amazing collection you have :-

OG Purple Monster
DFS Pink Panther
Tyree 20K lokani - Much difficult and slower than 30K . If not 20K atleast 30K
Sapphire millepora
ORA Pearlberry

 

[bubbaque]

Thats true ! If you can wait like 6 months , you might just have one . It takes forever to encrust :mad:
I can think of 5 classics that would complete the amazing collection you have :-

OG Purple Monster
DFS Pink Panther
Tyree 20K lokani - Much difficult and slower than 30K . If not 20K atleast 30K
Sapphire millepora
ORA Pearlberry

That for sure is a great list!

I have the Purple monster and have a DFS Pink Panther I bought coming next week. I tried to get the 20k lokani from John Copps but the price just seemed a little high for the size IMO.

The pearlberry is a must! I thought I bought one but as it's growing it don't look right to me.

 

[tigé21v]

Thats true ! If you can wait like 6 months , you might just have one . It takes forever to encrust :mad:
I can think of 5 classics that would complete the amazing collection you have :-

OG Purple Monster
DFS Pink Panther
Tyree 20K lokani - Much difficult and slower than 30K . If not 20K atleast 30K
Sapphire millepora
ORA Pearlberry

Where'd you source your pearlberry from?
The infamous Purple Monster! You never hear of it any more.
Isn't that the one that started all this coral- naming craze?