SPS problems

[dannyab84]

Magnesium
Dillute the sample you are testing for magnesium with RODI water to 50% or 75% strenght and retest. Multiply by your dilution to get the result....see if that matches with the first round of tests above.

FWIW, high Mg is rarely a problem. Likewise for high Ca. I've accidentally dosed my Ca to around 700 ppm, and if anything there was a color and growth spurt...no stress. Mg should be similar.

Phosphates
The only thing liquid PO4 tests are good for is diagnosing zero. If the sample has no color at the end of the test - not blue, not baby blue, not slightly blue, not barely blue or any of the other levels they laughably expect you to discern on those tests - your PO4 can be considered low enough. You always have to go by what the tank is telling you as well though...test kit can't tell everything, even when it's the best one.

Lighting
Download a lux meter onto your smartphone for free. If you want a handheld, they only cost around $15-$20.

-Matt

ok so when I diluted the mag test I come to 1680. (that was a great idea that I would not have thought of).

As for taking the lux reading how do I do it? do I point it at the top of the water? or right below the lights or even at the lights?

I did download it just don't know where to take the reading from

 

[mcarroll]

As close to the water surface as you can....face the camera straight up.....AND DON'T GET IT WET!

 

[dannyab84]

6700 is about an average reading for lux

 

[mcarroll]

For your peak light during the day, I'd be shooting for 10,000-20,000 lux on the low side....80,000 on the high side....depending on the corals you keep. I keep SPS happy at either end of that scale, so don't think more is automatically better. In my system, I only have 80,000 lux for a few hours of the day on my brighter tank. The tank that gets around 15,000 lux gets it constantly for about 6-8 hours. FYI.

That was the peak of your light cycle, where the lights are at the brightest, right? (Just checkin'! )

Easy enough to dial in to that range on your AI's, right? I'd probably just jump up to 10,000-15,000 lux and creep up a little every week or two until you get to the range you want.

-Matt

 

[dannyab84]

well I just turned it down a couple of days ago since I though I might have been having too much light if I bring it back to what it was it sits at 11,000. I also just got those new sps frags so I turned it down for them to at least acclimate to it. I can turn it back but, I don't think that it was the problem. all of my corals should be used to exception of these new frags since it was only 2 days ago.

 

[Pete polyp]

What lux meter are you downloading. The ones I download only go up to 16,000

 

[mcarroll]

What lux meter are you downloading. The ones I download only go up to 16,000

I cant swear I've used them anywhere but for general indoor use (I use the handheld for mostly everything)...hadn't thought about an upper limit. Dang!

FWIW, 16,000 lux is good enough to know you're "over the minimum", but obviously won't help past that.

Now having tested the lux meter app I have (a freebie) under my lights at full-on – it only registers about 6000 lux. Doh!

Just tried another called "LightMeter by Whitegoods" and it seemed to give readings up to around 23,000 lux (under a 60,000 lux source) and then started giving low-ball readings too. In their disclaimer they state that the auto-focus in the camera can mess with the readings, especially if you're shining a light onto the camera (like us).

So, a free app may still be a good place to start since it can be had immediately, but a $15 handheld lux meter will do a lot more and make you cry less if you get it wet.

-Matt

 

[Pete polyp]

Well, when I put it under an led it will get 16,000 in about 20 seconds. When I put it under my tank lights it's instant lol

 

[mcarroll]

Forgot to mention that last app I tried also had separate settings for high and low light situations....also had a way to calibrate it to a real light meter, but I didn't mess with that.

-Matt