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Penny's Lane-A BC29 Journey. Retired


Pjanssen

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5 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

I've seen a couple people report that really thick patches took a second round to knock out. I'd remove what you can manually and then repeat a few days after a water change. 

It's just really hard to get to without disturbing a rather large toadstool and torch. Was trying to avoid that. It's been suggested  that I try to move the affected area to a higher flow/light area of the tank. I'm itching to do a water change. I rarely go more than two weeks, and when I do I end up paying for it somehow. Tank looks pretty good right now though. Probably going to wait it out a couple of days.

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In other news-I finally bit the bullet and ordered a Bubble Magus BM-T11 Dosing Pump Package from Marine Depot. Okay, so my stove/oven just broke down, and I can't replace that without also replacing my refrigerator (yes, the have to match!), so what's a couple hundred more dollars?:P. There's always going to be something, right? Anyway, I can finance the appliances :D. (Oh Boy!)

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So I decided my 1st course of action was to measure my parameters so i can figure out how much ca/alk/mag to start dosing. I know it hd been awhile since I ran any tests, but if I am to believe my records (and I do), Then I haven't tested since 10/31/16! Which means I also haven't dosed anything since then (except for Vibrant, Flucon, and amigos), since I don't dose without testing. Surprisingly, with the exception of low Alk, my numbers are pretty good:

temp 79.5

pH 8.1

Salifert test kits:

Alk 6.1-I'll start bringing it up

Cal 440-I double tested. Not sure what's keeping it up

Mag 1320-probably raise it a little

 

All in all the tank looks good. My Hammer is once again massive. I'm afraid the toadstool is going to outgrow the tank, but my clown has decided to call it home so...I theenk I need a beeger tank!

Still a little patch of Bryo, but I'm working on it. Couple Aiptasia still. The peppermint shrimp have disappeared. I blame Elmer Fudd and company(AKA Lord Acans).

So if my calcium is being replenished with water changes, why do i need a doser? Cuz I want to add some SPS, and hubby wants a clam!

 

 

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Christopher Marks
On 2/23/2017 at 0:00 PM, Pjanssen said:

HEY:angry:! How do I get my pictures to post like they use to? I'm not good with change!

I fixed your photo for you. Posting images from Flickr is super easy now, all you have to do is paste the actual Flickr photo page URL into the new editor, and it will automatically embed right then and there before you even submit your post. In the post above I just pasted this link to your photo into the editor, and it took care of the rest :) 

https://flic.kr/p/Sk4XYj

 

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20 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

I fixed your photo for you. Posting images from Flickr is super easy now, all you have to do is paste the actual Flickr photo page URL into the new editor, and it will automatically embed right then and there before you even submit your post. In the post above I just pasted this link to your photo into the editor, and it took care of the rest :) 


https://flic.kr/p/Sk4XYj

Thank you:)

Thank

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I think my tank is finally "clean". No noticeable algae, Cyano, diatoms or other nasties. Maybe it's too clean? I'm having some difficulty getting my Alk and calcium to balance. Alk keeps dropping and calcium doesn't. When I bring the alk up using Seachem reef builder the calcium also rises. I don't understand it. Magnesium remains stable at 1320. Alk has been swinging down to as low as 6.1 which led to me somehow over dosing to 13.1 (Which I don't understand how that happened either, but...I take full responsibility). Calcium was at 420. I did a 20% water change to help with the alkalinity, and the next day it was back down to 6.4 but calcium remained at 420. I dosed reef builder again this morning and my alk is now right where I want it at 8.4, but my calcium went up to 470 (I triple tested). I thought maybe my test kits are bad, but they both have expiration dates of 2018. Any thought? Would the Fluco or vibrant cause such issues? I also add 5 mg of "Fuel" (aminos carbs vitamins fatty acids). I should also point out that the tank looks great and nothing is showing any signs of distress. 

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Still haven't hooked up my auto doser. Can't seem to get the water chemistry quite right. What would cause my alkalinity to fall but not my calcium? My dKH seems to drop about .7-.9 daily. Okay, I can figure out that dosage easily enough. But my Calcium is not dropping at all. Some readings even suggest that it actually climbs a little, but I'll leave that to reader error. Without dosing any calcium for several weeks, my levels remain at 450-460. Magnesium has also risen to above 1400 without me dosing.  I added a new cured rock several days ago. Could that be leaching calcium & magnesium. Any chance the Fluco or Vibrant affects them? Chemistry is not my thing, so any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

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You'll have to do better than that. ;)

 

 

I'm normally not one to care about pH levels, but maybe it'd be worth looking at.  Do you run GFO?  That would reduce alkalinity without affecting calcium or magnesium.  But I doubt that your rock is leaching calcium and magnesium.  IDK why you are seeing an increase in those levels, I'd probably attribute the fluctuations due to hobby test kits (but probably not your algae treatments).  Our test kits tend let us know what ballpark levels are in, but often aren't accurate enough to provide precise accuracy.

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After hemming and hawing (and fretting) about diving into the world of SPS corals, I finally am ready. I've talked and researched and talked and researched some more concerning what I thought were Alkalinity issues, only to decide that I'm probably over thinking. It has come to light that it is perfectly normal for a euphilia/softie dominated tank to use up more alkalinity than calcium. And also that it is okay to dose Continuum 2 part alk/cal un-equally. And so after researching what I want my first SPS to be, I decided on a Stylophora and/or birds nest. So low and behold, while at the LFS, they recently got a shipment of ORA Stellar stylophora and pink birds nest! Pictures to follow!

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Nice! Can't wait for pictures :D

 

I missed your earlier posts, but I had the same issues when I first started dosing and measuring alk a lot. One thing I didn't understand is that while alk and calcium are closely related, alk changes a lot faster than calcium. At least in my tanks, they do. So while they might both be dropping, the alk drops right away and it takes a couple days or even weeks for the calcium to drop accordingly.

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IMG_3515.thumb.jpg.1fd9128c7cb177d935ac40cef94c03c9.jpgIMG_3516.thumb.jpg.cc8fae9ce4acf5cbb86862f6a817199e.jpg

4 minutes ago, teenyreef said:

I missed your earlier posts, but I had the same issues when I first started dosing and measuring alk a lot. One thing I didn't understand is that while alk and calcium are closely related, alk changes a lot faster than calcium. At least in my tanks, they do. So while they might both be dropping, the alk drops right away and it takes a couple days or even weeks for the calcium to drop accordingly.

Now you tell me!

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I am jelly of the SPS and the Acans! :)  Since the near Tank crash a little while ago...it's going to take me some time

to start replacing some corals.

On a Side note, I am thinking of a FOWLR for Shar.  *Down the road*

Those look awesome Penny :)

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1 hour ago, Astinus said:

I am jelly of the SPS and the Acans! :)  Since the near Tank crash a little while ago...it's going to take me some time

to start replacing some corals.

On a Side note, I am thinking of a FOWLR for Shar.  *Down the road*

Those look awesome Penny :)

Still have hammers available Mike

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Oh my! Settled in to try to figure out how to set up the new Bubble Magus T11 auto doser. The directions resemble english, but I'm pretty sure they're actually Chinese in disguise! Seriously, can't they hire a proof reader before printing up instructions for equipment obviously destined for the U.S. I have a headache!

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All set up, I think. I just had  disturbing thought as I'm looking at it. Are the pumps going to be powerful enough to dispense up? I don't have a sump, so the unit is sitting about level with the bottom of the tank so liquid has to flow upward about 18 inches. holding canisters are on the floor. If not I will mount the pump on the wall above the tank. Not a great look, but not a bad option.

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  • Pjanssen changed the title to Penny's Lane-A BC29 Journey. Retired

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