Hello! Long time lurker, first time poster. We have a 9 gal nano that has been up and running for about 2 yrs. It has gone through a number of phases including a move and about 8 months of general neglect beyond random water top offs. A couple months ago, we decided to revive the tank with what we had left ( a hammer, duncan, yuma mushroom and snails). We have slowly added more soft corals and a couple sps encrusting, some inverts (2 hermits, peppermint shrimp, emerald crab) and most recently a damsel. Along with the critters, we have slowly started to increase the amount of food into the tank. We feed daily now with a variety of mysis, GP reef, decapsulated brine, and minced fish scraps (whatever we have in freezer, grouper, grunt etc). For equipment: AI Prime HD with WWC softie setting over 14 hr (very gradual ramps), Jebao SW-2 wavemaker, 3 chamber sump with chaeto and media. I do not recall what the return pump is but it moves some water. We do not use a skimmer. We do weekly 10% water changes and use an oil absorbing cloth floating on top top capture any scum (usually let this run overnight a couple times a week and just pitch the cloth). I started dosing with the KZ 4-pack about 1.5 months ago. This has generally been at half the recommended daily dosages while the corals build up. I also started with All for Reef about 3 weeks ago attempting to increase KH and bring pH up and stabilize a bit (again, below recommended as I noticed Ca was creeping). This brings up my problem. The tank is all over the place with pH. I know this is related to CO2 levels in our house. 2 adults, 2 kids, cat, dog. We open/close windows, go out of town. I have noticed variable patterns in coral health also and am assuming this is water quality related. Some have been super awsome and then crap out while others just keep trucking along (mostly zoas). Parameters are below.
What can I do with this tank to keep it pH stable? Kalk drip? Airstone with CO2 media? Should I stop or change dosing regime?
Thank you for the help R2R!
| Date | pH | Ca | KH | PO4 | NO3 | NaCl | Comments |
| 9/15/2023 | 7.8-8 | 480-500 | 9 | 0.25-0.5 | 5-10 | ||
| 10/7/2023 | 7.8-8 | 480-500 | 6 | start All for Reef | |||
| 10/16/2023 | 8.4 | 520 | 8 | 0.25-0.5 | 5-10 | windows open | |
| 10/20/2023 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | windows closed | ||
| 10/22/2023 | 7.8-8 | 500 | 8 | 0-0.25 | 0-5 | out of town | |
| 10//28/23 | 8.4 | end All for Reef/first day back | |||||
| 10/29/2023 | 7.8 | 440 | 7 | 0-0.25 | 0 | 1.0255 |
What can I do with this tank to keep it pH stable? Kalk drip? Airstone with CO2 media? Should I stop or change dosing regime?
Thank you for the help R2R!
