pdiehm
Valuable Member
Here's the situation:
My 120 has been up and running since Mid July 2015. Added first fish September/October.
Parameters as of last test were:
pH: 8.28
Alk: 9.5
NO3: 0
PO4: 0
CA and MG off the charts high because nothing is using them up for the most part. I'm sure the Orange Digitata loves that it has the calcium and magnesium at its disposal any time it wants it.
I know the PO4 and NO3 are not 0 because the chaeto in the fuge is growing, and there were some dino's growing in the fuge. Not a big deal, I sucked them out with the last water change. So maybe they aren't 0, but they are well within what we probably want in our systems.
Initially, I was going to convert to a zeovit/ultra low nutrient tank, because my tank is already nutrient low. But the cost right now is prohibiting me from going down that route, not to mention, I really don't know enough about it.
the more I read, the more confused I got, and i get confused rather easily to begin with, so there's that.
Essentially it was: Low nutrients, Low Alk...high(er) nutrients, high(er) alk.
I don't dose anything. I am doing 1 water change per month, maybe every other week. No need for me to change the water. the clowns aren't dirtying it up, the snails and crabs aren't doing much to dirty it up, and if I understand correctly, my pukani rock, since it's so porous may be building up denitrifying bacteria (this I guess happens naturally on its own).
I am using instant ocean reef crystals, mainly because it's cheap, and available locally. I've read that RC isn't a good salt to use in a system like mine because the paramters are on the low end due to the high alk, and it will burn SPS corals. I don't know this to be a fact.
It's been recommended that I move to a lower ALK salt, like HW-Marinemix Reefer, the Blue bucket by Red Sea or the Aquavitro Salinity.
This is where I'm confused. I've seen a million tanks using IORC, who "say" they have "0 PO4, 0NO3", and seem to be doing fine with the higher alkalinity.
At last check, RC mixed up at 12dKh after 8 hours. If I let it mix more, does the alkalinity drop? If my goal is to be at say 8.5dKh, is that possible with RC?
Or am I thinking too much into it because as I add fish, the nutrients are going to go up, and I'll inevitably have 5ppm Nitrates, and the higher alkalinity may or may not matter?
I have a thing of Kalkwasser that I got on black friday sales, figured, I would need it down the line, so I got some. Is switching to regular IO something to consider, but I was under the impression that the regular IO wasn't that far off from the IORC.
My 120 has been up and running since Mid July 2015. Added first fish September/October.
Parameters as of last test were:
pH: 8.28
Alk: 9.5
NO3: 0
PO4: 0
CA and MG off the charts high because nothing is using them up for the most part. I'm sure the Orange Digitata loves that it has the calcium and magnesium at its disposal any time it wants it.
I know the PO4 and NO3 are not 0 because the chaeto in the fuge is growing, and there were some dino's growing in the fuge. Not a big deal, I sucked them out with the last water change. So maybe they aren't 0, but they are well within what we probably want in our systems.
Initially, I was going to convert to a zeovit/ultra low nutrient tank, because my tank is already nutrient low. But the cost right now is prohibiting me from going down that route, not to mention, I really don't know enough about it.
the more I read, the more confused I got, and i get confused rather easily to begin with, so there's that.
Essentially it was: Low nutrients, Low Alk...high(er) nutrients, high(er) alk.
I don't dose anything. I am doing 1 water change per month, maybe every other week. No need for me to change the water. the clowns aren't dirtying it up, the snails and crabs aren't doing much to dirty it up, and if I understand correctly, my pukani rock, since it's so porous may be building up denitrifying bacteria (this I guess happens naturally on its own).
I am using instant ocean reef crystals, mainly because it's cheap, and available locally. I've read that RC isn't a good salt to use in a system like mine because the paramters are on the low end due to the high alk, and it will burn SPS corals. I don't know this to be a fact.
It's been recommended that I move to a lower ALK salt, like HW-Marinemix Reefer, the Blue bucket by Red Sea or the Aquavitro Salinity.
This is where I'm confused. I've seen a million tanks using IORC, who "say" they have "0 PO4, 0NO3", and seem to be doing fine with the higher alkalinity.
At last check, RC mixed up at 12dKh after 8 hours. If I let it mix more, does the alkalinity drop? If my goal is to be at say 8.5dKh, is that possible with RC?
Or am I thinking too much into it because as I add fish, the nutrients are going to go up, and I'll inevitably have 5ppm Nitrates, and the higher alkalinity may or may not matter?
I have a thing of Kalkwasser that I got on black friday sales, figured, I would need it down the line, so I got some. Is switching to regular IO something to consider, but I was under the impression that the regular IO wasn't that far off from the IORC.
