Eco pico help

[ScottyMcReefer]

I'm all set up with my eco pico. With such a small tank and a future with zoas, what should be the main parameters I should keep an eagle eye on? Also, should i be dosing with anything in such a small tank? I have my salinity stuck at 1.024 as of right now as well. Any tips are welcome! Thanks.

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[alberthiel]

I'm all set up with my eco pico. With such a small tank and a future with zoas, what should be the main parameters I should keep an eagle eye on? Also, should i be dosing with anything in such a small tank? I have my salinity stuck at 1.024 as of right now as well. Any tips are welcome! Thanks.

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Just keep all the parameters the way they should be for a reef tank :

pH 7.9 to 8.2 preferably on the higher side (I keep mine at 8.1)
Calcium 420 to 450 ppm unless you are going to put SPS in which case a little higher is fine
Magnesium 1250 to 1350 ppm
dKH 8 to 12
Nitrate : not measurable with a low range test kit
Phosphate: not measurable with a low range test kit
Temp : between 78 and 82 but towards 78 is better as the amount of dissolved oxygen will be higher
Specific gravity : 1.023 to 1.024 some keep it at 1.025 but the lower range is fine
Dissolved organics as low as possible : a skimmer will help bring it down a good deal
Of course no ammonia and no nitrite

And that should do it

Hopefully this helps but if you have more questions do not hesitate to post them here on this thread or on mine in my sig

 

[ScottyMcReefer]

Just keep all the parameters the way they should be for a reef tank :

pH 7.9 to 8.2 preferably on the higher side (I keep mine at 8.1)
Calcium 420 to 450 ppm unless you are going to put SPS in which case a little higher is fine
Magnesium 1250 to 1350 ppm
dKH 8 to 12
Nitrate : not measurable with a low range test kit
Phosphate: not measurable with a low range test kit
Temp : between 78 and 82 but towards 78 is better as the amount of dissolved oxygen will be higher
Specific gravity : 1.023 to 1.024 some keep it at 1.025 but the lower range is fine
Dissolved organics as low as possible : a skimmer will help bring it down a good deal
Of course no ammonia and no nitrite

And that should do it

Hopefully this helps but if you have more questions do not hesitate to post them here on this thread or on mine in my sig

Great information.thanks!

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

[alberthiel]

Great information.thanks!

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You are welcome and if you have any other questions feel free to post them here or on the thread in my sig

 

[always reefin]

Watch and test Alk, very important parameter with steady being key

 

[alberthiel]

Watch and test Alk, very important parameter with steady being key

If you look at the list above it says dKH 8-12

 

[always reefin]

If you look at the list above it says dKH 8-12

12 way too high in my opinion, 11 pushing it too

 

[alberthiel]

12 way too high in my opinion, 11 pushing it too

Anywhere from 8 to 12 is fine. Mine runs around 9 but some run it higher than that and in one of Randy Holmes-Farley's articles if I remember correctly he recommends a little higher than than like 10 or 11 ... and it also depends on what you keep in your tank. If you read my books on Reefkeeping you will find a lot more info on alkalinity/dKH including on how to convert one to the other as it is the same just expressed in different units, minus 1 component and dKH was really introduced by the German Hobbyists maybe 20+ years ago or so.