Maintaining proper water quality long term

[melev]

Here's a new article about what ideal water levels should be in a reef and how to keep them that way.

Reef Addicts - Maintaining Good Water Quality

Hope it helps some of you.

 

[Znut Reefer]

Thanks Melv, always enjoy good reading.

 

[CJO]

Thanks Melev. Going to read through it now. But I'll tell you, I'll be a little disappointed if all it says is to do regular water changes!

CJ

 

[melev]

It doesn't. :angel:

 

[subielover]

Nice article.

 

[Electrobes]

Thanks Melev. Going to read through it now. But I'll tell you, I'll be a little disappointed if all it says is to do regular water changes!

CJ

You mean that's not all you have to do!? Surely you jest! Next thing you're going to tell me is that Santa Claus doesn't exist. ; )

 

[Mavjoy]

Very nice read and great source of info.

 

[CJO]

Just read the article. Well done! But it might help to have a small section on regular water changes

CJ

 

[Electrobes]

Just browsed through it and I am surprised by a couple of things.

- The carbon.. changing it weekly (at 1/2 cup per 50) seems a bit excessive to me. I am not sure it's actually worth changing it that often in correlation to what it does for the tank. Carbon is my number one filtration method for my tank, and I only change it every 20 days. I think I would be doing more harm than good if I were to change it weekly.

- Iodine: Would you suggest using Iodide? With a less diluted formula I think it's safer, especially for newbies, to dose.

 

[Billgax]

I have always been told that carbon is shot (in an aquarium) after about 3 days or so... weekly replacement would assure active, consistent adsorption.

 

[melev]

If a hobbyist wants to purchase Kent's Iodine (for example), it'll recommend more of the solution per dose because it is diluted.

Here's more information about why I believe carbon doesn't last long. And for the record, I've not changed my carbon in over 20 days due to being lazy, and my water is a bit murky even though I've changed 60g in the past 10 days. Tech Tips & Medical Reference

 

[redtop03]

nice writeup.....not too bad for a professional stripper :xd: are you still in that line of work Marc ?

 

[SunnyX]

Great write up!

Sonny

 

[Paul_N]

Nice article Marc! You covered it all as far as water quality. Lot of great info...1smile1

 

[Electrobes]

Unless I am blind the only reference to carbon lasting the very little time you suggested is during the test: They state that in one of the brands of carbon it removed 88 of 89 color units from the tank. But that doesn't say anything about it's capacity to remove more. That statement would prove it's effectiveness and speed to which it removed the color units, but not it's life time.

I guess I'll look around more.

 

[Paul_N]

Unless I am blind the only reference to carbon lasting the very little time you suggested is during the test: They state that in one of the brands of carbon it removed 88 of 89 color units from the tank. But that doesn't say anything about it's capacity to remove more. That statement would prove it's effectiveness and speed to which it removed the color units, but not it's life time.

I guess I'll look around more.

I may be wrong but I read that and took away from it that when they stated that the carbon removed 89 color units, that the 89 was the most it could remove and therefore exhausted. I may have read into it too much. I can also tell you for me at 2 weeks I would start to see the mulm grow inside my reactor regardless of flow.

 

[CJO]

OK, I read through it again and still don't see any reference to the carbon being exhausted after 12 hours. The person setting up the experiment chose to run the experiment for 12 hours, but it seems somewhat apparent from the discussion that he chose to do this prior to running the experiment.

CJ

 

[Electrobes]

I may be wrong but I read that and took away from it that when they stated that the carbon removed 89 color units, that the 89 was the most it could remove and therefore exhausted. I may have read into it too much. I can also tell you for me at 2 weeks I would start to see the mulm grow inside my reactor regardless of flow.

Paul.. does your water get filtered for particulates before going into the reactor? I unforgettably do not, and I'll get some mulm because of it. Also do you have any light hitting the reactor?

 

[Paul_N]

I had my carbon reactor being fed from the section where the return pump is. I had no filter or anything, but that water is pretty clear. I don't run macro so had no lights. I also do not run carbon at this time. The mulm is in essence the bacteria colonizing in the reactor. You have slow flow and surface area so bacteria will definitely grow there.

 

[beaslbob]

My take seems too simple.

just balance out the tank with macro algaes, dose the stuff that is consumed, feed the fish and corals.

and then just let the tank take care of itself.

my .02