Kat's Ol' Max

[iball1804]

Kat have you seen the new Batman movie yet? I saw it last night with the bros and it was SICK.

[ZephNYC]

+1, I would only dose the alk part of 2-part for right now to get the alk up, when calcium gets too high it can actually be detrimental.

 

Kalk has a magical way of balancing things out, as if the powers above ( or below ?) created it just for our reef tanks. 99.9% of those that I KNOW use it as 100% of their top off water, and in my opinion that should be your goal. Kats system seems to have a very low calcium consumption. If I was her I would use a REGULAR SALT without an inflated calcium ration, like instant ocean, and use kalk as all top off water. She may never need to use a buffer. Kalk can do it all. Use Brightwell Kalk+2 and youll never have to add magnesium or strontium ever again either, and no extra chlorides.

(sponsederd by kalk)

(yay kalk)

( i need a nap)

[albertthiel]

Kalk has a magical way of balancing things out, as if the powers above ( or below ?) created it just for our reef tanks. 99.9% of those that I KNOW use it as 100% of their top off water, and in my opinion that should be your goal. Kats system seems to have a very low calcium consumption. If I was her I would use a REGULAR SALT without an inflated calcium ration, like instant ocean, and use kalk as all top off water. She may never need to use a buffer. Kalk can do it all. Use Brightwell Kalk+2 and youll never have to add magnesium or strontium ever again either, and no extra chlorides.

(sponsederd by kalk)

(yay kalk)

( i need a nap)

on the NAP Mr Napper as Kat calls you

[jedimasterben]

Kalk has a magical way of balancing things out, as if the powers above ( or below ?) created it just for our reef tanks. 99.9% of those that I KNOW use it as 100% of their top off water, and in my opinion that should be your goal. Kats system seems to have a very low calcium consumption. If I was her I would use a REGULAR SALT without an inflated calcium ration, like instant ocean, and use kalk as all top off water. She may never need to use a buffer. Kalk can do it all. Use Brightwell Kalk+2 and youll never have to add magnesium or strontium ever again either, and no extra chlorides.

(sponsederd by kalk)

(yay kalk)

( i need a nap)

im not sure it would work for me - i use reef crystals salt, i last measured calcium at 560ppm and alk was 8.6 dkh, both per hanna colorimeters. kalk would bring calcium to absolutely insane levels lol.

 

i think she uses red sea coral salt, the calcium on that is a bit low as far as comparing it to other salts, especially reef crystals.

[thadscottmoore]

I've been sumped!

 

 

 

 

sorry, I havent been on much lately. Your sump is nicely done! I am impressed!

[thadscottmoore]

Thank you Piggy.

 

MAG 5 ARRIVED! The thing is huge!

 

Keep an eye on that pump! I dont know if my LFS got a bad batch of them or what- I burned up 2 of them within 3 months. Threw the breaker and shut everything down on my tank.

 

after the second one went kaput- I went with Tunze Silence pump rated close to the Mag-5. have not had an issue with pumps since.

[metrokat]

sorry, I havent been on much lately. Your sump is nicely done! I am impressed!

 

 

Keep an eye on that pump! I dont know if my LFS got a bad batch of them or what- I burned up 2 of them within 3 months. Threw the breaker and shut everything down on my tank.

 

after the second one went kaput- I went with Tunze Silence pump rated close to the Mag-5. have not had an issue with pumps since.

THAD! Thanks for visiting my thread.

I poured over your sump install before I did mine, I love that you modeled yours after lifereef, that is a sick sump! I'll keep an eye on the mag, hopefully I won't have trouble. I had the electrician upgrade my circuit board (if that is the right term) and I also have GFI outlets installed for the aquarium. Not sure if these help or what but I hope so.

[Deleted User 3]

Uh huh. My niece and nephew named most of my fish. I have Lorax, Mater, Finn. Geowge is curious George, except we want him to be from Missisippi so it's Geowge.

 

I got to name Draco, Charlie, Google.

 

hahah Cool! I like naming things.

[metrokat]

In other news, I picked up a bag of live brine shrimp a little while ago and dumped a big bunch in the tank. Maybe I should have scaled back because the fish look like they're going to explode.

[ZephNYC]

im not sure it would work for me - i use reef crystals salt, i last measured calcium at 560ppm and alk was 8.6 dkh, both per hanna colorimeters. kalk would bring calcium to absolutely insane levels lol.

 

i think she uses red sea coral salt, the calcium on that is a bit low as far as comparing it to other salts, especially reef crystals.

 

560 is NUTS! Are you dosing calcium ?

[hannahs]

How is your mandarin doing? Does he eat well?

[albertthiel]

In other news, I picked up a bag of live brine shrimp a little while ago and dumped a big bunch in the tank. Maybe I should have scaled back because the fish look like they're going to explode.

Guess they must be fat and happy now .... :-)

[jedimasterben]

560 is NUTS! Are you dosing calcium ?

nope. never dose anything like that.

[albertthiel]

nope. never dose anything like that.

I used Reef Crystals and my Calcium levels seem to stay around 480-500 but calcium demand is low since I only have a small Pavona in the tank and coralline algae has not yet starting to spread.

 

I tested a batch of prepared salt water prepared with Reef Crystals and my API test (not the best I think) says the Ca level is 520

 

Albert

[thadscottmoore]

THAD! Thanks for visiting my thread.

I poured over your sump install before I did mine, I love that you modeled yours after lifereef, that is a sick sump! I'll keep an eye on the mag, hopefully I won't have trouble. I had the electrician upgrade my circuit board (if that is the right term) and I also have GFI outlets installed for the aquarium. Not sure if these help or what but I hope so.

 

thank you metrokat! the current sump on my setup is the second one i built- the first one was experimental- I had the intake at the rear of the refugium on the left- it exited the refugium through the front right into the pump chamber- i didnt like the high volume of flow that was going through the refugium. so, the second one entered and exited the front of the refugium- allowing a true refugium sanctuary in the rear- all the flow just passes the front and the rear is nearly no flow. the only thing that I dont like about mine is the height- makes for difficult access to side chambers. pretty much forget trying to handle a sock. to help prevent any denitrus building in the hard to reach areas- I installed a Koralia Nano Water Pump in the rear of the intake chamber. I do like the way you setup yours. Who built it? Do you have ATO float switchs in the sump pump chamber? my sump pump chamber houses two float switches for ATO. there is a constant level in this chamber- my ATO sump is a 5 gallon container on the outside of the stand. The ATO travels through a Kalk reactor before being delivered to the sump pump chamber. my system evaporates 4-5 gallons a week. turning off power - the sump water level reaches about 2 inches from the top edge. Before i built it, I spent days calculating and recalculating maximum safe operating water level of the sump. When I built the final product, the power outage test was hair-raising and then relief to see it work time and time again without a disaster overflow.

 

I do use a GFI. would not want to put my hand in the tank without one being on the system. There was a teenage boy that lived near my parents house that got killed last thursday while plugging an extension chord into a outside outlet while he was standing in a puddle of water while it was raining. the outlet box was not grounded- and he died a horrible death. witnesses said he screamed for several moments before death occurred- no one could get near him in time due to the live current feed. My parents payed for his funeral plot and part of his casket. their neighbor paid the remaining part of the casket and the funeral. the boys parents could not afford such things and I know that they were distraught and in total shock to lose their son at such an early age- I could never imagine losing my son or die while dealing with electrical while being in contact with water. I know in our hobby, we all regularly take for granted safety- please make sure your systems are protected with GFIs before attempting to place any part of your body into water.

Edited July 22, 2012 by thadscottmoore

[tinctorus]

Can someone tell me what page the pictures of her sump setup are on?

I can seem to find them anywhere but kat said they are in here

[metrokat]

How is your mandarin doing? Does he eat well?

He's doing good, thank you. He eats well. I have a pod culture going for him, but today I fed live brine shrimp and he seemed very animated. Although I didn't actually see him eat one, he likes his food small. He eats nutramar ova.

 

Can someone tell me what page the pictures of her sump setup are on?

I can seem to find them anywhere but kat said they are in here

Here ya go

 

So for once Zeph supports something I was going to do: KALK

It makes sense to think there is no reason to dose KALK being that my calcium is high (I'm going to be using KALK +2 BTW) so it is not a 2 part solution. I have used 2 fishies 2 part and it did not raise ALK even a point. Buffers seem to work well for me.

I will try KALK and monitor my levels. I suppose if I overdid the Calcium I would see precipitation?

 

I do like the way you setup yours. Who built it? Do you have ATO float switchs in the sump pump chamber?

It was built by Custom King, he's from CT and does a lot of work for members on another forum I am on.

My ATO float switch is in the mag chamber, yes.

 

The design is a hybrid between what the sump maker came up with and what I came up with based on what you are saying: having less flow to the fuge. I think I will be making another sump at some point, with this one I have a good idea of what I want different. I've been thinking about adding a powerhead too!

 

I'm sorry to hear of the neighbors, that is a horrible way to go, and to loose a child.

Edited July 22, 2012 by metrokat

[ZephNYC]

So for once Zeph supports something I was going to do: KALK

It makes sense to think there is no reason to dose KALK being that my calcium is high (I'm going to be using KALK +2 BTW) so it is not a 2 part solution. I have used 2 fishies 2 part and it did not raise ALK even a point. Buffers seem to work well for me.

I will try KALK and monitor my levels. I suppose if I overdid the Calcium I would see precipitation?

 

Oh Batgirl, If I didnt care so much about you I wouldnt care what you do. The only pet peave I have about Kalk is most guys use open containers, and sure it will still work, but youll get a messy crusty water surface in your reservior, not to mention the small but measurable conversion to carbonates that takes place in that process. But far better that than no kalk at all. It will definitely help your dkh, but you will probably still need a little buffer.

You would have to really overdue it to get calcium precip...Jedi says his is what....560 ???

[metrokat]

Todays agenda, after Zumba, is to install the KALK doser. I've already mixed a solution, not sure how much "settling" will occur, the solution was 1tsp KALK +2 in 1 Gallon water.

 

And after that I am doing the last bit of coral glue-down! And Hopefully have a clean sand bed to show Chip Walters.

 

Then it is water change time. And to see how much stuff the new filter sock caught.

 

If the water clears up enough I'll take a video.

[ZephNYC]

Todays agenda, after Zumba, is to install the KALK doser. I've already mixed a solution, not sure how much "settling" will occur, the solution was 1tsp KALK +2 in 1 Gallon water.

 

And after that I am doing the last bit of coral glue-down! And Hopefully have a clean sand bed to show Chip Walters.

 

Then it is water change time. And to see how much stuff the new filter sock caught.

 

If the water clears up enough I'll take a video.

 

 

you can use 3 tsp and barely get any settling. I use 1 TBSP per gallon.

[metrokat]

you can use 3 tsp and barely get any settling. I use 1 TBSP per gallon.

I might adjust the dose as I use it, for now I'm going to follow the instructions on the product.

I have no idea how the tank will react, better to be cautious.

[albertthiel]

I might adjust the dose as I use it, for now I'm going to follow the instructions on the product.

I have no idea how the tank will react, better to be cautious.

 

Good move IMO, better safe than sorry, till you figure out what the recommended dose actually brings about, and once you know that, you can always change the quantity used

Edited July 22, 2012 by albertthiel

[chippwalters]

Todays agenda, after Zumba, is to install the KALK doser. I've already mixed a solution, not sure how much "settling" will occur, the solution was 1tsp KALK +2 in 1 Gallon water.

 

And after that I am doing the last bit of coral glue-down! And Hopefully have a clean sand bed to show Chip Walters.

 

Then it is water change time. And to see how much stuff the new filter sock caught.

 

If the water clears up enough I'll take a video.

 

I, too, dose Kalk and at about the same amount as you describe. I keep it mixed with my ATO water (with a cover on Zeph!). Look forward to seeing your latest creation!

[metrokat]

FTS July 22, 2012

Edited July 23, 2012 by metrokat

[albertthiel]

FTS July 22, 2012

 

Nice Kat ...