Purigen, kalk, vinegar, chemipure blue

[ReefOG311]

How do these react together in small nano? Seems like some redundancies with vinegar and purigen. Can u provide your thoughts?

 

[Hitman]

Purigen and chemipue blue are redundant in my opinion, kalk is used to assist in Ca and Alk consumption with the perk of increasing PH, vinegar is widely used to feed your beneficial bacteria which in turn lowers NO3 and PO4.

 

[ReefOG311]

So should I remove purigen and chemi? My nitrates are at 40. No fish just corals and a few inverts.

 

[Dan_P]

So should I remove purigen and chemi? My nitrates are at 40. No fish just corals and a few inverts.

How did your system attain a nitrate level of 40 ppm without fish?

 

[Hitman]

^^^^ Same ? Is your tank new and still cycling?

 

[ReefOG311]

2 months old so yes fairly new. It bounces from 20 to 40. And I like to feed my corals. It's a fluval tank so I think chemical filtration doesn't have the optimal flow. Fluval skimmer works well tho. Lots of wet skim. Softies and LPS are happy. Even the few SPS.

 

[ReefOG311]

New tank but keep in mind, I used all established live rock and live sand. Not much of a cycle.

 

[Hitman]

Are you dosing vodka or vinegar?
Water changes?
What are your others parameters? Ca, Alk, Mg, and PO4

 

[ReefOG311]

Dosing vinegar with kalk topoff. 1.5 cups of evaporation daily.
3tsp to 15ml per gallon. pH has been steady at 8.16.
Temp=78-79
Water changes weekly. 1.025.
Calc is 325 today. I have not tested anything else yet.
Other than tell me to test everything else. Any other suggestions.
Calc went from 550 to 325 since started dosing yesterday.

 

[ReefOG311]

Nitrates still around 40. Doing water change tomorrow to see if I can cut in half. Rinsing purigen, chemipure blue, and filter floss tomorrow as well.

 

[Hitman]

Without knowing what your ALK and MG is I can’t suggest anything.
Why you might ask? Well if your MG is low it will not allow your CA and ALK to hold as it will percipitate out.

 

[ReefOG311]

What would u test first?

 

[Hitman]

Well that’s a loaded question as Alk can make or brake your performance and water quality but Mg is needed to keep the CA and Alk working together properly.
With the swings your having if I could only do one right now I would pick the Mg. With that said I definitely would NOT be dosing anything I couldn’t test for. If your looking to pick up test kits I highly recommend Salifert as they are fairly simple, very accurate, and cost appropriate. Do NOT use API for Ca, Alk, and Mg as they are not at all accurate.

 

[Hitman]

Just Incase you ment time wise what first it doesn’t matter. I personally test at 2 in the afternoon on the days I’m going to test. It’s more important to test at the same time then it is what time, so if 9 am is the best time for you stick with that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

How do these react together in small nano? Seems like some redundancies with vinegar and purigen. Can u provide your thoughts?

There's no problem with using them all if you need what they are accomplishing. None of them "react" with one another.

 

[ReefOG311]

Thanks all. I will test and provide results

 

[Pntbll687]

There's no problem with using them all if you need what they are accomplishing. None of them "react" with one another.

I would trust what this guy says ^^^^

 

[ReefOG311]

Ok guys. Tested today.
CA 420
MAG 1200
ALK 9.3
PH 7.9 to 8.3 lights off/on

I've been dosing 3tsp of lime and 15ml of vinegar for a week now. Where should I be and how should I get there?

 

[Hitman]

Ok guys. Tested today.
CA 420
MAG 1200
ALK 9.3
PH 7.9 to 8.3 lights off/on

I've been dosing 3tsp of lime and 15ml of vinegar for a week now. Where should I be and how should I get there?

I would raise your mg to 1300-1350 and retest. If you get the same CA and ALK I would keep it there personally.

 

[ReefOG311]

What's a good way to raise Mag?