Is my tank too low on nutrients? Too high?

[gwdemos]

I went through a bout of whacky numbers much like yours that didn't make sense. Through process of Elimination and borrowing a members kits found out both my Ca and Alk salifert kits were bad and mr refractometer was off a few clicks. Long story short after all was said and done I abandoned two part and went CaCo3 with a Masterflex to control effluent.. I will add that the saliferts still had 1+ years to go before expiration. And I now calibrate the refrac at every WC just to be sure.


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[P-Nut]

I went through a bout of whacky numbers much like yours that didn't make sense. Through process of Elimination and borrowing a members kits found out both my Ca and Alk salifert kits were bad and mr refractometer was off a few clicks. Long story short after all was said and done I abandoned two part and went CaCo3 with a Masterflex to control effluent.. I will add that the saliferts still had 1+ years to go before expiration. And I now calibrate the refrac at every WC just to be sure.


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What kits did you use?

Also, where the Salifert numbers constant? (If you measured 3 times in a row, did you get the same number each time?)

 

[jdeb101]

So I'm doing a fresh start with my testing. I'm switching it up to morning before work, same time every day (give or take 30 minutes). I'm also doing two of each test, three if the two are drastically off. I've completed two days worth of tests so far and here are my results:

July 16:
Alk-3.4
Calc-425
PH-8.1

July 17:
Alk-3.18
Calc-420
PH-8.1

Results look good so far. I plan on doing one more day of testing and hoping that will give me enough accurate data to determine my dosing regime. I'm not dosing or doing wc's during the three days to make it easier, and my evaporation is very minimal so I don't think top offs will cause any drastic result changes. Wish me luck!

 

[ro_nicu]

I WOULD top off, otherwise your salinity will rise and scew your results.

The numbers you got do not look too bad.

 

[jdeb101]

I WOULD top off, otherwise your salinity will rise and scew your results.

The numbers you got do not look too bad.

Sorry to confuse, I am topping off just not dosing. Top off is barely anything over 3 days in summer though.

 

[jdeb101]

So I think I have enough accurate data now to determine my tanks Alk & Calc consumption. As stated in my previous post - I did three days of testing, same time of day, each test done twice to ensure it was done correctly. Here are the results:

July 16:
Alk-3.4
Calc-425
PH-8.1

July 17:
Alk-3.18
Calc-420
PH-8.1

July 18:
Alk-2.96
Calc-410
PH-8.1
Mag-1380
PO-0

So it looks like my Alk consumption is roughly .20/day and Calc roughly 5-10/day.

 

[ro_nicu]

fabulous!

 

[jdeb101]

So now that I got some numbers to go off, I have two concerns.

1. The seachem stuff I'm dosing also adds mag. Will dosing calc cause my mag to raise too high since it appears my mag hasn't moved much, if at all?

2. How many days is it safe to go without dosing anything? Jw in case I go on a vacation or something. I dose by hand, not using a doser.

Thanks!

 

[ro_nicu]

do you have an auto topoff?

 

[jdeb101]

No I do not.

 

[freakit]

Jdeb I saw your tank before you sold off a bunch of corals. It was awesome, with huge scrolling caps! How did you do it!


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[jdeb101]

Jdeb I saw your tank before you sold off a bunch of corals. It was awesome, with huge scrolling caps! How did you do it!


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Thanks! How did I do what exactly? Keep things healthy back then or screw things up? Lol back when I had just monti caps for sps they did great, but now all my sps look like crap. Funny thing is I actually had twice as much cap than I do now back then. Although I did add a second (very small) clam.

 

[freakit]

Well, you have no auto top off, you didn't worry about maintaining parameters. That was the nicest easiest tank ever! But we always want more lol. At least your getting past the headaches and I'm sure this tank will be beautiful too.


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[nemodan]

Vacation time !!!!
Oh well....read a new thread about that on this forum. You have a very well trained person that takes care of what you do manually every day OR try to add an ATO and a doser and ....other stuff to make the tank independent of a human for at least 1-2 weeks. With the only need of someone to take a look every other day and feed the fish if you can not install an automated feeder.

 

[delta]

So now that I got some numbers to go off, I have two concerns.

1. The seachem stuff I'm dosing also adds mag. Will dosing calc cause my mag to raise too high since it appears my mag hasn't moved much, if at all?

2. How many days is it safe to go without dosing anything? Jw in case I go on a vacation or something. I dose by hand, not using a doser.

Thanks!

That is the problem with the Seachem stuff it cross buffers Alk Ca and Mg. You will be able to tell in time if it actually raises anything. That is why it is better to Dose each component separately. The biggest thing is that regardless of what you are using to buffer your tank you have tested enough to get a feel for it. So it should go a lot better for you here on out.

I would dose the tank everyday ,the more stable the parameter the less apt the are to become unbalanced

 

[jdeb101]

That is the problem with the Seachem stuff it cross buffers Alk Ca and Mg. You will be able to tell in time if it actually raises anything. That is why it is better to Dose each component separately. The biggest thing is that regardless of what you are using to buffer your tank you have tested enough to get a feel for it. So it should go a lot better for you here on out.

I would dose the tank everyday ,the more stable the parameter the less apt the are to become unbalanced

Thanks Delta. I see a doser and new additives in my near future.

 

[ro_nicu]

Your consumption does NOT WARRANT a doser, an auto topoff with Kalkwasser will keep things happy. If you want a doser just get one but I do not think you NEED one at this point and considering how fast things are getting better and lose their retail value in this hobby I think it's just a misplaced investment. Look around the for sale forum for a cheap ATO and you'll be all set for a while.

 

[jdeb101]

So I've been dosing manually all this time keeping alk at 3.5 and calc 420 as consistent as possible. I may be seeing some new growth with a few of my sps, coloration Doesn'tlook much different. My biggst concern right now is my huge caps are fading more and more everyday. A good portion of my red cap is white and don't see polyp extension at all. This was happening before I started this thread but seems it may have sped up. Should I just continue trying to keep levels consistent or should I start making other changes?

 

[delta]

Yes keep thing steady


Any chance the dosing is getting pushed onto the Cap when you are adding it?

Have you checked for blackbugs?

Or does it look like bleaching?

Any chance you can get a decent picture of it?

 

[jdeb101]

Yes keep thing steady


Any chance the dosing is getting pushed onto the Cap when you are adding it?

Have you checked for blackbugs?

Or does it look like bleaching?

Any chance you can get a decent picture of it?

I don't see any black bugs, dosing doesn't appear to settle on the cap as I slowly pour it over my powerhead. Hard to get a decent picture, but I suppose you'd say it's bleaching since most of it has turned white and what color is left is very faded.