Tank Parameters Of Some Masters

[Vaughn17]

Sure, hobbyist like the most of us share our "secret sauce" because we have nothing to lose. But many vendors obviously won't share it because it is their business at stake. More of like a "trade secret." I think that's fair. Hey it could be soy sauce or something. But maybe it's the same way that make those ultra neon tetras that started showing under black lights at the fish store... genetic modification! Fish genes combined with coral genes.

On the other note, I just tried the Strontium Salifert test kit for the first time... it is a pain to do. Ughhhh

Yeah, it's fun all right, lol.

 

[Bayinaung]

That is a nice compilation. Great job!

 

[Val Shebeko]

Hate to be a bother but I am at wits end.

My water chemistry is well with the parameters above but my Ph trends downward unless I add an Ion balancer .

The parameters above do not adress Ph. Is it not that SO important if everyting else is good ?

Date
Brix .0255
Ph 8.25 Ph
Ammonia .46
Nitrite .13
Nitrate .30
Carb / Alk 186. / 10.42
Magnesium 1520
Calcium 566
Phosphate .01
Temp 78


Any insight would be much sppreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[cmcoker]

Hate to be a bother but I am at wits end.

My water chemistry is well with the parameters above but my Ph trends downward unless I add an Ion balancer .

The parameters above do not adress Ph. Is it not that SO important if everyting else is good ?

Date
Brix .0255
Ph 8.25 Ph
Ammonia .46
Nitrite .13
Nitrate .30
Carb / Alk 186. / 10.42
Magnesium 1520
Calcium 566
Phosphate .01
Temp 78


Any insight would be much sppreciated. Thanks in advance.

Have you tried running fresh air into the tank and monitoring the effect on pH? Maybe your house is well sealed and high in CO2

 

[Val Shebeko]

Have you tried running fresh air into the tank and monitoring the effect on pH? Maybe your house is well sealed and high in CO2

Air is coming from outside. It does help a bit.

 

[Kajung2k]

Great article!! Thanks for taking the time to write this up.

 

[teller]

Amazing article.
Fortunately the "0/0 nutrients" is fading away, as I believe the zero nutrient methods created much more damaged to the hobby than good!
And the same people that every single day say LEDs can't grow coral must read this article, maybe they learn something new!

 

[Donovan Joannes]

Stable parameters means no big changes in a short period of time, so I don't do water changes. Good clean up crew to handle excess food, algae and fish poo. Wrasse to control worms and stir up sands to feed corals and filter feeders. I don't employ any chemical filtration system, healthy bacteria population will take care dissolved nutrients way better and most importantly it's free. Good amount of light of correct spectrum and adequate water movement for your tank to flourish. That is my method of keeping a healthy mixed reef, cheaply.

 

[Bob E]

Great article. Thanks

 

[Luke Schnabel]

Wow, beautiful tanks!!

 

[Val Shebeko]

Watching

 

[Shaun Sweeney]

Found some soda lime at the local dive shop and put that in line to my skimmers. Immediate improvement in Ph by about 0.20 Will try running it thru my micro bubble system next.

 

[Val Shebeko]

Ok, I have to ask.
I have a 120 gallon tank. Thinking about a 100 actual gallons.
Deep sand bed. No sump.
Tank has been running about 3 years now.
Hang on side skimmer set to do very very light skimming.
Two moss eating Tangs.
Two small Damsels.
A bunch of snails.
5 Urichins. Including quills, about the size of tangerines.
2 or three shrimp ( my wife likes them )
Chemistry is as :
Temp: 79 F , very constant
Ph as measured by Apex is 7.94 - 8.17 following a day night cycle.
Light is Kessil , white / color on a 24 hour cycle is. 0-5-15-5-5-0. The first 5 % is achieved by 7 Am and total
Dark is at 22: 00.
Blue is on same schedule as white: 35-70-80-70-35-0
Salinity this morning is; 32.9 - 1.0248
Ammonia 0.29
Nitrate 0.14
Phos. .34
Alk. 9.74 / 174. With dosing of .7 mil daily
Mg 1160. Dosing 3 mil daily
Ca 390. Dosing 2 mil daily
I have been adding 25 mil of Balance by Aquavitro to dampen the Ph swing supposed caused by an ion inbalance.
Water change 5 gal every few days.
My question is what do you all think ?
I was going to try adding Kalk via the ato at a concentration of 1 teaspoon per gallon to ret to dampen the ph swing
And reduce the dosing.
What should I be doing or be thinking about doing ?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Val

 

[Val Shebeko]

Just as more fyi

 

[Wiz]

Great read

 

[cap232]

I wonder the alk is around 8. most salt mixes are above that.? what is the salinity.?
what are the beinifits of the lower alk or higher alk. I mostly have softies but wanting to move to some differ corals.
thanks

 

[Wieloch89]

Very very good information here. I was actually just at aqua world discussing Jeffs nutrient levels and paramarers with him tonight and he gave me his opinion and directed me to this article to draw my own opinions. I love that 300 gallon tank and have to take a swing by it every time I'm in there. Him and his brother, Mike, have helped me quite a bit since I started my tank, great people and they're getting great results.

 

[madweazl]

Hate to be a bother but I am at wits end.

My water chemistry is well with the parameters above but my Ph trends downward unless I add an Ion balancer .

The parameters above do not adress Ph. Is it not that SO important if everyting else is good ?

...

Any insight would be much sppreciated. Thanks in advance.

Your pH is fine. Both of your posts on this page show ammonia, is that correctly expressed on your part? Your PO4 is considerably higher than most prefer. Also, you mentioned having Kessil but stated you were adjusting blue and whites; your Kessils have "Color" (0% would be full blue and 100% would appear white) and "Intensity," I'm assuming your color is the low value (peak around 15%) and your intensity is the higher number (peak around 80%).

Next, what issues are you having?

 

[Val Shebeko]

I'm sorry did not see your reply. A thousand pardons as they say. This mornings stats are attached. I lost a torch. He kindsa went from big and beautiful to snail bait in a weeks time so.

 

[Val Shebeko]

Only allows one file at a time as attachments ?