bbales Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 So, I have a jbj 8 gal that is approx 9 months old, I have had a montipora, frogspawn, zoas, and a couple mushrooms in it, no fish, 1 hermit, no snails... I know... how boring! Honestly my husbandry fell off a bit and I have some unwanted (what I believe is gha).The monti has had great growth, but the color is quite pale, so I recently decreased my radion from 50 to 30%. I recently added some new corals (a validia, red planet, jedi mindrick monti, ricordea, sympodium, gsp) and hermits and snails and a highfin goby pistol shrimp pair... the highfin goby sadly went carpet surfing =( my fault didn't think he would be a jumper... Either way, I thought I should test my water because it had been a while... 2 days after adding new stuff: pH 8.4 Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0 Phospate 0 kh 10 or 11 temp 78 salinity 1.024 or 1.025 calcium is 320 I use kalkwasser in my ATO and do not have a lid on the tank for increased dosage (hence the demise of my goby...) This reading was 2 days after a water change and right after I had heard my ATO kick on My question, is there something else that could be at play here something fixing my calcium? Or should I start trying to have a higher rate of evaporation by using a fan or something (maybe the heat on during the winter will be enough) I have no coraline growth on my glass or back wall, and i have the painted LR so its hard to tell how much is real coraline, but there is some on frag plugs etc. Hoping my snails and hermits along with some better husbandry (and gfo) help with the hair algae. Thanks for any help! I am really trying to not have to dose a 2 part, and was really hoping my kalkwasser ato set up would suffice! Link to comment
braaap Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Few questions. What salt are you using? What test kits are you using? You ideally want your trates to be 2-3 and Phosphate to be just barely detectable. If you are using API kits throw them out and get some Salifert, RedSea, Nyos or Elos. A Radion XR30 or XR15? XR30 would be a TON for that tank. Why are you using kalkwasser if you don't test or know your consumption? Link to comment
bbales Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 Thankyou! Few questions. What salt are you using? What test kits are you using? (Reef Crystals and yes API) You ideally want your trates to be 2-3 and Phosphate to be just barely detectable. (I'm sure they are there since there is algae growth) If you are using API kits throw them out and get some Salifert, RedSea, Nyos or Elos. (I have heard this before, I will look into switching) A Radion XR30 or XR15? XR30 would be a TON for that tank. (XR15, I know its a ton, but wanted to go the LED route and be able to keep sps...I have the reeflink so my vortech and radion are easily programmable, like I said I had it at 50% and have it down to 35% now...) Why are you using kalkwasser if you don't test or know your consumption? (I had established a maintainable level and stopped testing, and didn't retest since I had great growth in the monti cap. Now that I have a higher demand I am retesting, but was shocked it was so low with the kh being where it is supposed to be and right after a water change.) Link to comment
braaap Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Test your bucket of salt. Things could be consuming a lot of calcium but unlikely. You said coloring and growth has kind of stalled. Test every day at the same time for 3 or 4 days to find your consumption. Might want to switch to a 2 part dosing system. Link to comment
bbales Posted October 7, 2015 Author Share Posted October 7, 2015 Color has been lacking since the coral adjusted to my system, but growth has not stalled. The orange went from more of a brownish orange to more of a pale neon orange. The monti I swear I can watch grow its so fast. I will test my salt tonite for sure and monitor for the next few days. Thanks! Link to comment
braaap Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Color has been lacking since the coral adjusted to my system, but growth has not stalled. The orange went from more of a brownish orange to more of a pale neon orange. The monti I swear I can watch grow its so fast. I will test my salt tonite for sure and monitor for the next few days. Thanks! Well if stuff is growing that fast but color is lacking it is nitrates and phos. Up those slightly and you should see good results. Sounds like you are going to need a 2 part dosing system. Link to comment
spinycheek Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Kalkwasser can be finicky and sometimes actually lower your calcium. If it gets added too quickly, the local pH around the effluent spikes and forms calcium carbonate precipitate which then pulls calcium out of the water rather than add any. Additionally, if the magnesium level is too low, your calcium can precipitate much more easily, I think it's very important to test and maintain magnesium as it's an essential component of calcium being able to dissolve in the water. No magnesium=no calcium. I would try switching to calcium chloride instead of kalkwasser. It's much easier to make and adding it doesn't cause pH spikes. Just make sure magnesium and alkalinity are in good order. Link to comment
Hig789 Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I had debated on using kalk in my top off water also but two part is just too easy. Watch the BRS videos of how they set it up, two 1.1ml dosing pumps, 2 digital timers, some kind of a container and two part solution is all you need. You can find the pumps used for $50-60. No mixing kalk, letting it settle and having to find the right mix as consumption increases. With the timers and pumps you just increase the time it doses. Also it doses really slow, 1.1ml per minute, so no localized ph spikes. also pumps are just much safer IMO than a ATO. With kalk and a ATO it could get stuck on and dump the whole reservoir into the tank. Link to comment
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