The Pastel Garden: Drop-Off

[Mom2many]

Nope...I don't dose on w/c day . In fact, I didn't dose the day after either because the parameters were perfect. 8.3 dKH and 425 ca. Today it had dropped a little so I did dose. Now when I had my auto doser, It would still dose on my water change days. You want to keep your params as stable as possible with the SPS in there so I would still dose on a water change day.

 

 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend .

Thanks so much!

 

After dosing at 5 mils b-ionic two part for four days, now my readings are

 

alk 12.3

cal 547

and the ph dropped even more to 6.47

 

Should I skip a few days and start again at a lower dose?

[gena]

Thanks so much!

 

After dosing at 5 mils b-ionic two part for four days, now my readings are

 

alk 12.3

cal 547

and the ph dropped even more to 6.47

 

Should I skip a few days and start again at a lower dose?

Those are some crazy numbers! What did you start out at before you first started dosing? Did you test each day? I would definitely stop dosing. When was your last water change? And do you know the parameters of your newly mixed water? I'm no dosing expert, but if I had those numbers I would stop dosing and do a water change and then test to see where I was at. Test everyday. It's a PITA but it makes a huge difference in helping you figure out what you need to add. Some people will just stop dosing and let the numbers come down on their own. That pH is really low. I don't know why that would be but I would look into why it is so low. Dosing is a pain in the butt LOL. You'll figure it out eventually though .

[Mom2many]

Thanks for the encouragment. It is our Sabbath right now (sun down Friday to sun down Saturday) so we dont do any work. But my normal water change day is Sunday morning and I do a four gallon water change every week.

 

I started out on Monday at

 

alk 9.2

cal 400

Ph 7.45

 

So everything was a little lower than I would like. I started at the mimamum dose of 5 mil per day for a 20 gallon tank. Everything was looking ok in my tank but my neon clove polyps. They were melting I think from the alk or ph. They are slowly trying to come back now. But now my parameters are way high. I will not dose tomorrow and do my water change first thing on Sunday.

 

I use IO salt and RODI or distilled water (whichever I can get) at salinity of 1.025 and 79 degrees the calcium was 368 and I dont remember what the alk and ph were.

[gena]

Thanks for the encouragment. It is our Sabbath right now (sun down Friday to sun down Saturday) so we dont do any work. But my normal water change day is Sunday morning and I do a four gallon water change every week.

 

I started out on Monday at

 

alk 9.2

cal 400

Ph 7.45

 

So everything was a little lower than I would like. I started at the mimamum dose of 5 mil per day for a 20 gallon tank. Everything was looking ok in my tank but my neon clove polyps. They were melting I think from the alk or ph. They are slowly trying to come back now. But now my parameters are way high. I will not dose tomorrow and do my water change first thing on Sunday.

 

I use IO salt and RODI or distilled water (whichever I can get) at salinity of 1.025 and 79 degrees the calcium was 368 and I dont remember what the alk and ph were.

Test your magnesium too. If that is low you won't be able to keep your other two in line. They all work together .

 

Do you open your windows and air out the house very often? You have a lot of people in your house which means a build up of CO2. That could explain your low pH issues. I open my windows every morning to get some fresh air in the room that the tank is in.

[Mom2many]

Test your magnesium too. If that is low you won't be able to keep your other two in line. They all work together .

 

Do you open your windows and air out the house very often? You have a lot of people in your house which means a build up of CO2. That could explain your low pH issues. I open my windows every morning to get some fresh air in the room that the tank is in.

I am going to a fish store tomorrow as I am going antiquing with my dad. I will look for a magnesium test kit and test it.

 

You are correct about so many people living here and that could be causing issues with my PH. I only open the windows in the spring and fall as it is so humid here, if we open them at all in the summer, the air conditioner would work so hard when we turned it back on and it would cost so much to get all the humidity back out of the air in the house. In the winter we heat with wood so I try to conserve heat as much as possible by keeping the house tight.

 

I do have a power head aimed at the surface of the water. The weather is getting just right to open windows. I will be doing that soon and I will see if it makes a differance.

[gena]

I am going to a fish store tomorrow as I am going antiquing with my dad. I will look for a magnesium test kit and test it.

 

You are correct about so many people living here and that could be causing issues with my PH. I only open the windows in the spring and fall as it is so humid here, if we open them at all in the summer, the air conditioner would work so hard when we turned it back on and it would cost so much to get all the humidity back out of the air in the house. In the winter we heat with wood so I try to conserve heat as much as possible by keeping the house tight.

 

I do have a power head aimed at the surface of the water. The weather is getting just right to open windows. I will be doing that soon and I will see if it makes a differance.

Yep...I'm positive then that is what is messing with your pH. In the winter you will have an issue too with the wood burning. When my husband made his beer in the house, my pH would ALWAYS drop. Finally he picked up an outdoor thing to cook his beer...or whatever it is he has to do LOL.

Took a few pictures real quick

 

It's a kitty sandwich. Nora between tank pics .

 

 

 

Crabby finally molted and has a shiny new coat

[kimberbee]

Oh wow... Nora's getting big!!

[Lauraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

My crab molted yesterday!

[Mom2many]

I will try to find a way to circulate fresher air into our home by the tank.

 

Just asking...how did brewing beer drop the PH? I ferment our own Kombucha...would that do the same thing?

My crab molted as well! My urchin is carrying around the exoskeleton!!! Looks a little morbid!

[Mom2many]

Do you think it would help to take the glass top off my tank and replace it with a screen one? My glass top fits very snug. I am precise about things and the only cut out is an exact cut out for the filter.

[gena]

Oh wow... Nora's getting big!!

I know! They are growing so fast!

 

My crab molted yesterday!

Must be something in the air .

 

I will try to find a way to circulate fresher air into our home by the tank.

 

Just asking...how did brewing beer drop the PH? I ferment our own Kombucha...would that do the same thing?

 

My crab molted as well! My urchin is carrying around the exoskeleton!!! Looks a little morbid!

I think it's actually from running the gas stove for several hours at a time, that makes the pH drop.

 

Do you think it would help to take the glass top off my tank and replace it with a screen one? My glass top fits very snug. I am precise about things and the only cut out is an exact cut out for the filter.

I'm sure it would help to get better gas exchange in your tank. You'll probably still have a lower pH but not as drastically low with a screen top .

[Mirya]

I will try to find a way to circulate fresher air into our home by the tank.

 

Just asking...how did brewing beer drop the PH? I ferment our own Kombucha...would that do the same thing?

 

Fermentation releases carbon dioxide gas. (As does using a natural gas burning stove, which contributed to Gena's problem as well.) Since your house is sealed up, the fermentation is contributing into the higher carbon dioxide levels in the room air, which then diffuse into the water. In the water carbon dioxide turns into carbonic acid, dropping the pH.

 

Do you think it would help to take the glass top off my tank and replace it with a screen one? My glass top fits very snug. I am precise about things and the only cut out is an exact cut out for the filter.

 

Changing to a screen lid would help with oxygen exchange and with evaporative cooling, but will not help the pH issue. It will help oxygen levels because the oxygen in the tank water gets consumed by the fish and so drops below the room air oxygen levels. Taking the lid off makes it easier for more oxygen to diffuse into the water. However, taking the lid off also will allow the high level of room air carbon dioxide easier access to diffuse into the water. Really the only fixes are to:

- Decrease the carbon dioxide levels in your whole house with increased ventilation either by opening windows or getting an air exchanger

- Inject air that doesn't contain a lot of carbon dioxide gas into your tank. This is usually accomplished using the protein skimmer (which I don't think you have on your set-up?). The air intake for the protein skimmer can either come from outside or it can go through a carbon dioxide scrubber which is a container filled with soda lime

- Supplement the tank with kalkwasser as the carbonate in the kalkwasser will buffer the carbonic acid

 

Randy Holmes-Farley wrote a very thorough article on pH and carbon dioxide that you can read here.

[Mom2many]

 

Fermentation releases carbon dioxide gas. (As does using a natural gas burning stove, which contributed to Gena's problem as well.) Since your house is sealed up, the fermentation is contributing into the higher carbon dioxide levels in the room air, which then diffuse into the water. In the water carbon dioxide turns into carbonic acid, dropping the pH.

 

 

Changing to a screen lid would help with oxygen exchange and with evaporative cooling, but will not help the pH issue. It will help oxygen levels because the oxygen in the tank water gets consumed by the fish and so drops below the room air oxygen levels. Taking the lid off makes it easier for more oxygen to diffuse into the water. However, taking the lid off also will allow the high level of room air carbon dioxide easier access to diffuse into the water. Really the only fixes are to:

- Decrease the carbon dioxide levels in your whole house with increased ventilation either by opening windows or getting an air exchanger

- Inject air that doesn't contain a lot of carbon dioxide gas into your tank. This is usually accomplished using the protein skimmer (which I don't think you have on your set-up?). The air intake for the protein skimmer can either come from outside or it can go through a carbon dioxide scrubber which is a container filled with soda lime

- Supplement the tank with kalkwasser as the carbonate in the kalkwasser will buffer the carbonic acid

 

Randy Holmes-Farley wrote a very thorough article on pH and carbon dioxide that you can read here.

Thank you for your information.

 

I do not have a skimmer on my system. Today was a nice day. The first we really could open up our windows. So I did open up the house. It is suposed to be nice all week and I plan on keeping the windows open all week if I can. So I will see how much this is effecting my ph. I hope it fixes the issue. If is does, which it seems from talking to everyone on here, I am going to have to find a way to air the house more. We have a very large family and many pets. So we all need more fresh air if my tank is suffering.

[gena]

Fermentation releases carbon dioxide gas. (As does using a natural gas burning stove, which contributed to Gena's problem as well.) Since your house is sealed up, the fermentation is contributing into the higher carbon dioxide levels in the room air, which then diffuse into the water. In the water carbon dioxide turns into carbonic acid, dropping the pH.

 

 

Changing to a screen lid would help with oxygen exchange and with evaporative cooling, but will not help the pH issue. It will help oxygen levels because the oxygen in the tank water gets consumed by the fish and so drops below the room air oxygen levels. Taking the lid off makes it easier for more oxygen to diffuse into the water. However, taking the lid off also will allow the high level of room air carbon dioxide easier access to diffuse into the water. Really the only fixes are to:

- Decrease the carbon dioxide levels in your whole house with increased ventilation either by opening windows or getting an air exchanger

- Inject air that doesn't contain a lot of carbon dioxide gas into your tank. This is usually accomplished using the protein skimmer (which I don't think you have on your set-up?). The air intake for the protein skimmer can either come from outside or it can go through a carbon dioxide scrubber which is a container filled with soda lime

- Supplement the tank with kalkwasser as the carbonate in the kalkwasser will buffer the carbonic acid

 

Randy Holmes-Farley wrote a very thorough article on pH and carbon dioxide that you can read here.

Thank you for all of this .

 

Thank you for your information.

 

I do not have a skimmer on my system. Today was a nice day. The first we really could open up our windows. So I did open up the house. It is suposed to be nice all week and I plan on keeping the windows open all week if I can. So I will see how much this is effecting my ph. I hope it fixes the issue. If is does, which it seems from talking to everyone on here, I am going to have to find a way to air the house more. We have a very large family and many pets. So we all need more fresh air if my tank is suffering.

Notice a difference yet?

[Mom2many]

Thank you for all of this .

 

Notice a difference yet?

Just a few tenths of a point. Its only been one day though. I am hoping it will come up at least in range soon.

[gena]

I don't know what it's like everywhere else but it was 500 degrees outside today . OMG...hot stuff. Not a lot going on here with the tank. Seriously thinking about purchasing an awesome gorgonian I found . I'll let you guys know if I do it .

 

A little Sunday Shenanigans here......

 

they like to play at the top of the tree. I don't know how they both still fit up there, but they do LOL. See my tank in the background????

 

 

 

 

 

And a couple of tank pics. My reef is filthy right now. I don't know if it's from the high TDS of my water before changing the filters, or due to the fact that I've been feeding flake food more often now. I just discovered that my fish LOVE flake food!!!!! And it's so easy to just feed them that! I still will give them frozen though for variety. But it's mostly the flake now.

 

Wednesday can't come soon enough to clean up this filth!

 

 

I thought Pinky looked pretty cute peeking out from under the pink kenya tree .

 

[ninjamyst]

does the flake sink? I am surprised the clowns don't gobble everything up before the other fish get a chance

[Mom2many]

Awww. Pinky is cute in that picture. And I dont see any filth!

[HarryPotter]

does the flake sink? I am surprised the clowns don't gobble everything up before the other fish get a chance

If you mix up a pinch under the water line for a second before releasing it'll sink

[gena]

does the flake sink? I am surprised the clowns don't gobble everything up before the other fish get a chance

Yep, it sinks. It all gets eaten so there is no waste. And the clowns definitely get the majority of it. But they all love the flake and act like it's crack or something . They definitely love it more than frozen mysis. I just hope the filth in my tank is from the high TDS of my water and not the flake. I changed the filters so it's back to zero again. Hopefully I'll see a difference soon. Or I may have to figure out another way to lower the nutrients. Maybe an extra water change or possiblly adding some macroalgae. I kinda like the idea of some macro. Maybe some red grape and some ochtodes.

Awww. Pinky is cute in that picture. And I dont see any filth!

I thought it was cute too . Oh...it's bad LOL. The back wall especially but also the sand is a bit brown. And some hair algae. There's a reason I only posted two photos .

 

If you mix up a pinch under the water line for a second before releasing it'll sink

I mix mine in a cup with a little tank water and use a pipette type thing to squirt it into the tank. Works great.

[HarryPotter]

Yep, it sinks. It all gets eaten so there is no waste. And the clowns definitely get the majority of it. But they all love the flake and act like it's crack or something . They definitely love it more than frozen mysis. I just hope the filth in my tank is from the high TDS of my water and not the flake. I changed the filters so it's back to zero again. Hopefully I'll see a difference soon. Or I may have to figure out another way to lower the nutrients. Maybe an extra water change or possiblly adding some macroalgae. I kinda like the idea of some macro. Maybe some red grape and some ochtodes.

 

If you're looking for Macros this guy has a cool deal.. 13 types of macro for $30 to your door. Dunno if you want these types; I don't know anything about Macro

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/365597-macro-algae-starter-pack-sale-30-shipped-vis-usps-priority-mail/

[Mom2many]

I bet a white backround does keep you honest. I dont even scrape most of the back wall of my tank, except maybe once a month, as I worry the snails will starve. But a little algea and sand bed diatoms is just part of reefing. Honestly, Your tank is very clean looking. But I do know what you mean. If I over feed just a tad I get more diatoms and cant wait for my next water change. And even though my tank looks pretty clean, the water change water is always disgusting.

[gena]

If you're looking for Macros this guy has a cool deal.. 13 types of macro for $30 to your door.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/365597-macro-algae-starter-pack-sale-30-shipped-vis-usps-priority-mail/

Nice!

 

I only want the red grape and some ochtodes though. Let me know if you see that for sale . I haven't started looking yet, but I will.

 

Oh...and ninja...my red sponge is doing so-so. For some reason I can't keep those happy. I know you had a similar experience. My yellow frillys are fantastic. But the red ball sponge seems to hate life .

I bet a white backround does keep you honest. I dont even scrape most of the back wall of my tank, except maybe once a month, as I worry the snails will starve. But a little algea and sand bed diatoms is just part of reefing. Honestly, Your tank is very clean looking. But I do know what you mean. If I over feed just a tad I get more diatoms and cant wait for my next water change. And even though my tank looks pretty clean, the water change water is always disgusting.

Yep it does . If I had company coming over I'd scrape it, but not expecting any so it can wait for Wed LOL.

 

How's your red ball sponge doing? Yours looked great last I saw it. Mine isn't happy.

[ninjamyst]

Oh...and ninja...my red sponge is doing so-so. For some reason I can't keep those happy. I know you had a similar experience. My yellow frillys are fantastic. But the red ball sponge seems to hate life .

is it starting to darken up in some spots? mine started to develop dark patches, then the patches turned clear, then started to disintegrate. hope yours pull through!

[Mom2many]

Mine looks the same as the day I put it in. I guess it is ok. I had to glue down the yellow frilly twice. It seems to like to move. When I feed my gorgonians, I puff some food towards them too just in case they can eat it. I also turkey baste off my rock work several times a week hopeing it will feed something in the tank. I do like them very much so I am hopeing they make it. I would like a few more after buying two acans today I realized I am just out of room. Especially once everything fills in. Whats your red sponge doing to make you think it is not doing well?