Sam's Oceanic 120 - DIY solutions

[Projects with Sam]

Reef Flux works almost as well but you have to break the pills and dump the powder in. Flux RX is sooo much easier.

I was going to get Reef Flux but FluxRX was cheaper for over 100 gallons. I am going to see if my Cat's vet can get me a prescription so I can get insurance to cover it.

 

[tbrown]

I was going to get Reef Flux but FluxRX was cheaper for over 100 gallons. I am going to see if my Cat's vet can get me a prescription so I can get insurance to cover it.

Brilliant!

 

[Projects with Sam]

2022-09-04 9:49 PM	Alkalinity	11.3
2022-09-04 9:53 PM	Calcium	485
2022-09-04 9:56 PM	Magnesium	1335

Installed my Kalk stirrer because it seemed good 'nuff to me. I put about 1/2 a bag of Mrs. Wages so I'll be good on Kalk for awhile. I unfortunately spilled some Kalk slurry into my sump as I was filling the chamber, spiking my pH from 8.11 to 8.37 before I was able to bring it down with ~12oz of soda stream water and ~100ml vinegar.... dang.
Nothing seemed to notice the spike but we'll see in a bit... I think it was fast enough to not make a difference.

I think I can get a reactor or two in there then I'm full-up. - I am looking for someone's old RODI for me to make into a GFO,Carbon,&1micron filter.

 

[rmorris_14]

I used fluxRX. Its insane how well its working.

Is it only working on bryopsis or do you have by chance has other GHA and or turf it is also working on?

 

[Projects with Sam]

Is it only working on bryopsis or do you have by chance has other GHA and or turf it is also working on?

The package says it only works on bryopsis. I don't know if I had other algae - I have what I thought was turf algae but it may have just been a patch of bryopsis.

 

[Projects with Sam]

2022-09-05 9:26 PM	Alkalinity	12.3
2022-09-05 9:29 PM	Calcium	485
2022-09-05 9:32 PM	Magnesium	1455

lowered my kalk dosing to 80ml/hr across the board.

 

[tbrown]

2022-09-05 9:26 PM	Alkalinity	12.3
2022-09-05 9:29 PM	Calcium	485
2022-09-05 9:32 PM	Magnesium	1455

lowered my kalk dosing to 80ml/hr across the board.

Holy high alkalinity...

 

[Projects with Sam]

Holy high alkalinity...

ya. don't know why that skyrocketed but my Calcium stayed the same. I am hoping its measurement error. Trying to not overreact. Could it be a side effect of adding all the soda water and vinegar the other day to get the pH down?

 

[tbrown]

ya. don't know why that skyrocketed but my Calcium stayed the same. I am hoping its measurement error. Trying to not overreact. Could it be a side effect of adding all the soda water and vinegar the other day to get the pH down?

Potentially if the Carbonate or Bicarbonate changed the alkalinity could change as well. pH dropping would probably lead to a change in carbonate hardness I would imagine but I'm not a chemist. The way I understand it, higher pH and lower bicarbonate hardness makes for lower alkalinity. So lower pH and higher bicarbonate would make for higher alkalinity?

 

[Projects with Sam]

Potentially if the Carbonate or Bicarbonate changed the alkalinity could change as well. pH dropping would probably lead to a change in carbonate hardness I would imagine but I'm not a chemist. The way I understand it, higher pH and lower bicarbonate hardness makes for lower alkalinity. So lower pH and higher bicarbonate would make for higher alkalinity?

If I could sit down and think about it I may be able to figure it out but I may go remeasure first.

 

[tbrown]

If I could sit down and think about it I may be able to figure it out but I may go remeasure first.

Vinegar being a carbon source could have some effect.

I found this:

Keep in mind that when one adds vinegar to kalk water it will increase the alkalinity and calcium output when one adds more than two teaspoons (saturation point of kalk water) to 1 gallon of RODI water. For example if you add 3 teaspoons of kalk to 1 gallon of RODI water and also add 45mL of vinegar, it will increase your alkalinity and calcium output by around 1/3 - 1/2 more.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

If I could sit down and think about it I may be able to figure it out but I may go remeasure first.

First thing I do when I see a dip or spike is check all dosers visually, and possibly recalibrate to cross that off the list.

Idk anything about kalk though I've never used it .

 

[Projects with Sam]

2022-09-06 7:07 PM	Alkalinity	12.1
2022-09-06 9:57 PM	Alkalinity	12.1
2022-09-06 10:01 PM	Calcium	470
2022-09-06 10:06 PM	Magnesium	1350
2022-09-06 10:14 PM	Nitrate	25
2022-09-06 10:14 PM	Phosphate	0.25

Alk coming down slowly. Not really a spike just a gradual increase over August... Its coming down now that I've adjusted my dosing again.

pretty happy with my Nitrate and Phosphate; They were supposed to be elevated because of the fluconazole and not running the skimmer.

Edit: Forgot to comment that I swapped out my roller filter fleece roll. I think the last one lasted over two months. I had to cut it off the roll twice because the collection roll got too big.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

This is clearly where the not dumb people come to talk about serious things . .

I'll see myself out....

 

[tbrown]

2022-09-06 7:07 PM	Alkalinity	12.1
2022-09-06 9:57 PM	Alkalinity	12.1
2022-09-06 10:01 PM	Calcium	470
2022-09-06 10:06 PM	Magnesium	1350
2022-09-06 10:14 PM	Nitrate	25
2022-09-06 10:14 PM	Phosphate	0.25

Alk coming down slowly. Not really a spike just a gradual increase over August... Its coming down now that I've adjusted my dosing again.

pretty happy with my Nitrate and Phosphate; They were supposed to be elevated because of the fluconazole and not running the skimmer.

Edit: Forgot to comment that I swapped out my roller filter fleece roll. I think the last one lasted over two months. I had to cut it off the roll twice because the collection roll got too big.

I don't think that the Flux has a big impact on Nitrates unless there's a huge algae die off. Mine started fading and the algae eaters ate it.

 

[Projects with Sam]

couple of corals from Petco. came in really clean except for some xenia that I scraped off. $30 for the hammer (they thought it was a torch) 15 for the favia colony. better pricing then a lot of the dedicated reef stores near me...
speaking of which; so stoked to find Reefwise is only 20 minutes away... bet your buns I'm going to check that place out soon.
It must be wacky Wednesday... my wife is getting on board with the few purchases I let her know about

 

[Mschmidt]

couple of corals from Petco. came in really clean except for some xenia that I scraped off. $30 for the hammer (they thought it was a torch) 15 for the favia colony. better pricing then a lot of the dedicated reef stores near me...
speaking of which; so stoked to find Reefwise is only 20 minutes away... bet your buns I'm going to check that place out soon.
It must be wacky Wednesday... my wife is getting on board with the few purchases I let her know about

All my local petco has are sad looking leathers and Kenya trees; for the same price as the hammer you got. NIce snag.

 

[tbrown]

All my local petco has are sad looking leathers and Kenya trees; for the same price as the hammer you got. NIce snag.

Mostly the same. They occasionally have a nice Goni skeleton and some closed up zoa rocks too!

 

[Mschmidt]

Mostly the same. They occasionally have a nice Goni skeleton and some closed up zoa rocks too!

I wonder what a goni skeleton looks like, hope I don't find out in my own tank... Sometimes the other petco near me has closed up zoas. A lot of nems at the one I drive past daily. One already has a clown living in it and found a rock to wedge into.

 

[rmorris_14]

couple of corals from Petco. came in really clean except for some xenia that I scraped off. $30 for the hammer (they thought it was a torch) 15 for the favia colony. better pricing then a lot of the dedicated reef stores near me...
speaking of which; so stoked to find Reefwise is only 20 minutes away... bet your buns I'm going to check that place out soon.
It must be wacky Wednesday... my wife is getting on board with the few purchases I let her know about

Nice