righttirefire Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I use the red sea titration test. Personally, I think all test are questionable to interpretation. I test my fresh mixed saltwater. I test my tank water, my LFS water when i get livestock. To get a comparison. When I dose I test to get an idea what is happening. Test you fresh mixed salt water for Ca lvl. And keep in mine Mg, Ca, and dKH are related look it up Link to comment
mystersyster Posted October 6, 2015 Author Share Posted October 6, 2015 Alright. So I figured out the API test kit. Don't judge me. Post water change Calcium: 340 ppm Alkalinity: 8 dKH Nitrate: 0-5 ppm. So this is is interesting. It looks as if I will most certainly have to dose. I will know my magnesium in a couple days. After I test that I going to buy bulk reef supply 2 part additives, unless anyone can persuade me otherwise. Hopefully my dying coralline will take off after I start dosing as well. Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 API test- don't judge me- that one made me laugh out loud?Test kits can all be a pain for sure- I've used API in the past. I use saliferts for most but tropic- Marin for KH cause of its simplicity. Numbers look good post w/c- just a little low on the calcium- bump that up to 400-20. Alk is solid at 8 ? Link to comment
mystersyster Posted October 6, 2015 Author Share Posted October 6, 2015 API test- don't judge me- that one made me laugh out loudTest kits can all be a pain for sure- I've used API in the past. I use saliferts for most but tropic- Marin for KH cause of its simplicity. Numbers look good post w/c- just a little low on the calcium- bump that up to 400-20. Alk is solid at 8 Thanks Sk8n. I might have to check out that tropic-marin in the future. I'm from Longmont BTW. Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Thanks Sk8n. I might have to check out that tropic-marin in the future. I'm from Longmont BTW. Longmont- cool - more Colorado reefers?. Are you going to Fragtober? Ya, I like the Tropic-Marin KH kit- no mixing and shaking of solvents. Simply drip the solution/shake and compare. Where do you get your livestock at? Link to comment
mystersyster Posted October 6, 2015 Author Share Posted October 6, 2015 Longmont- cool - more Colorado reefers?. Are you going to Fragtober? Ya, I like the Tropic-Marin KH kit- no mixing and shaking of solvents. Simply drip the solution/shake and compare. Where do you get your livestock at? I love in WA now. I used to hit up exotic aquatics and aqua imports in Boulder. How about you? Link to comment
Sk8n Reefer Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 I love in WA now. I used to hit up exotic aquatics and aqua imports in Boulder. How about you? Hmmm. Never been to either of those- don't make it up to Boulder much. I only buy locally from aquatic arts in Highlands ranch- really nice store Link to comment
mystersyster Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 Ive had these two of these guys for probably just over a year. They came as an accident in my reef cleaners snail crew. Anyone know what kind of crab it is? Link to comment
Benny314 Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Hard to tell colour with such a blue photo, black and white striped legs? Black claws with white dots? I have a couple, were sold as algae eating hermits. Don't know scientific name, a quick googleing as algae eating hermits turns up similar pictures, one link suggests they're found in the Caribbean. Link to comment
mystersyster Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 Hard to tell colour with such a blue photo, black and white striped legs? Black claws with white dots? I have a couple, were sold as algae eating hermits. Don't know scientific name, a quick googleing as algae eating hermits turns up similar pictures, one link suggests they're found in the Caribbean. Thanks benny. "Algae eating hermit" was the magic search. Its Clibanarius vittatus, or thin striped hermit crab. Apparently they get up to six inches! Lol that will be innteresting. Link to comment
Benny314 Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Well I've had mine 18 months, got 3 of them, and they're still less than an inch when not in their shells, so they're slow growers if they do make 6 inches lol. Glad you got an ID. Link to comment
mystersyster Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 So this weekend I'll be switching over to my newly built stand, finally. On another not, I bought a dual inline TDS meter for my rodi. I was getting paranoid about TDS creep and the lifespan. Turns out my tap water has a max of 41 TDS, with an average of 30. Very exciting. jelly? Link to comment
righttirefire Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Lol...so I think Santa is getting me an rodi system for christmas. Link to comment
mystersyster Posted November 4, 2015 Author Share Posted November 4, 2015 Alright. Another update. I have 4 fishes now and one coral. I decided on a Melanurus Wrasse, and Mccosker's Flasher Wrasse. Also, my two royal grammas are doing great. One is getting a bigger, faster. I'm assuming he is the male. Sorry for the horrible photo quality. Samsung galaxy s5 camera isn't the best. Here you'll see my flasher, flashing the melanurus as he passes by. He does this almost everytime, and the melanurus couldn't give less of a crap. Three of them, and I spy a pokadot hermit who looks fabulous. Here is my new encrusting montipora. Forget the name. There were so many to choose from... And finally, my FTS. Lastly, I lost my chaeto. I had a softball sized I got from my lfs. After a few weeks it turned white and got smaller and smaller. I have 0 nitrates on my API kit (I know, ditch the API) I also run GFO. Not sure why it died, and I'm not gonna lose sleep over it as long as my tank is doing well. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 Cheato, nothing to eat or burnt under your light? Link to comment
mystersyster Posted November 5, 2015 Author Share Posted November 5, 2015 Yeah. Light is only 5000k led bulb. I'm sure it was lack of food. Link to comment
mystersyster Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 So, I need a bit of help desperately. I've researched and researched. I am unsure about why my bubble magus curve 5 doesn't skim well for more than a day. Yesterday I cleaned it, and set it back in my tank; started to skim wonderfully. After working on my tank a little bit (moving wires around) she stopped skimming again. This has been an issue, and I am unsure what the cause is. When I clean it, there isn't much to clean. I have really fine sand in my display tank, and it will coat my skimmer after a while. Could this be the culprit? Other than that, I am getting filter socks to try and help my skimmer. If the filter sock doesn't work, and the skimmer keeps doing the same old thing, I'm ready to throw my entire 40 breeder and sump into the parking lot from my balcony... Okay, maybe just the skimmer. UGH. I am beyond frustrated. Link to comment
Benny314 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 What's the water height in the skimmer chamber in your sump. BM's need 8-9 inches I believe and they're a pain in the ass if the water level is to low. I've always avoided them due to this. Link to comment
mystersyster Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 What's the water height in the skimmer chamber in your sump. BM's need 8-9 inches I believe and they're a pain in the ass if the water level is to low. I've always avoided them due to this. Water level is fine at about 9 1/2. Link to comment
Benny314 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Hummm. So what's happening exactly? It's building a good head of foam and then stopping and starting? Or just not getting any foam at all? Can you get pictures or a video of it running so we can see what the micro bubble production is like in the chamber? Link to comment
mystersyster Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 Video incoming Link to comment
Benny314 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Perfect thanks. So much easier than trying to explain lol. Link to comment
mystersyster Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 https://youtu.be/Rl1F2j1WySE Sound didn't work on my little go pro. Guess it was turned off from diving. Anyway, I'll try to be specific Yesterday I cleaned out my skimmer, which didn't have much to clean. More of a rinse off. Put back in my system, started to skim perfect. Today, one day later, I noticed the foam head started to break. Within a few minutes, it was gone. It has yet to return. This happened once before, and it didn't return until I cleaned it yesterday. I waiting for about 2 weeks before deciding to clean it again. And was the reason I took it out to clean again. Same thing happened last time. I do notice more turbulence in the body. Not sure what that is about, but I can assure you, it is assembled correctly. The bubbles are just slightly above the white ring on the neck. Link to comment
Benny314 Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Hummmm again. The body of the skimmer seems nicely whited out by what I would assume would be proper micro bubbles. Yet at the water line near the neck you have large churning bubbles, not micro bubbles? When you cleaned the skimmer did you strip the pump and inspect the impeller/needle wheel? When you turned the dial to min was that air intake or water height? I didn't notice much change in the water level or bubbles in the cone. I've just upgraded to a Hydor recirculating skimmer (a 600DP I got for a steal off good old ebay) and it produces a lovely 1.5-2cm micro bubble foam head at the water level that then forms a dryer foam often with bigger bubbles that climbs the neck and enters my collection cup. You seem to be missing this top layer of micro bubble foam and have larger bubbles that appear to be coming up from the bottom of the cone to the surface churning it all up? Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.