ninjamyst Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Dont quote me but I remember reading maintaining Ca 450 and Alk 8 is good. The emphasis is on "maintaining". 550 calcium make it hard to maintain stable Alk. I been mixing RC with regular Instant Ocean to bring Ca and Alk down a little. You should test a new batch of new water to see what the parameters are. Link to comment
davy jones Posted November 12, 2015 Author Share Posted November 12, 2015 Will do, thanks for the idea! Maybe i should get a clam to suck up some of the extra calcium lol Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Will do, thanks for the idea! Maybe i should get a clam to suck up some of the extra calcium lol isn't that why you got all those sticks?? hahah Link to comment
davy jones Posted November 12, 2015 Author Share Posted November 12, 2015 isn't that why you got all those sticks?? hahah Hahaha no i got the sticks to look at more coming in about 10 days as we are having a local frag swap. Already have dibs on pink lemonade, A purple varient of SSC, a hawkins and a horrida. Plus some zoas and rics. Link to comment
davy jones Posted November 13, 2015 Author Share Posted November 13, 2015 So tested alk last night before doing the WC, it came out at 6.68dkh. Yikes. Also tested a newly mixed batch of water at 11.2dkh. Changed about 7 gallons of water (less than my usual 10 as to not change the dkh too quickly) and everything looked okay this morning. What do i need to do to lower my calcium and boost my ALK?? Cal 557 Alk 6.68dkh (before WC) phos 0.00 (all read with Hanna Checkers) Salinity 1.024 (little low, gonna top off with Saltwater for a couple of days to slowly bring it up to 1.026 Link to comment
PieMan2k Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Calcium levels that high can start to hurt the equipment eventually because it will start to deposit on it. And as others said it can make it hard to maintain a steady alk Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 Check your Alk after water change too. Then check again same time the next day to see how much alk your tank is using. You may have to dose to keep up with Alk consumption. Link to comment
davy jones Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 Update. Lost my Kole tang to ich. she was beautiful, but apparently not healthy from the LFS (literally everything i have bought there has died, even though theyre tanks look awesome and have a huge following in the local reef club...) so i will not be purchasing anything from them again. Moreover i will be only ordering fish from vendors that have extensive QT systems as well as a guarantee on their livestock. On a side note, my biocube i set up 4 years ago and gave away when i went to military training just crashed last week and the new owners asked if i wanted the clowns back so i got my 4 year old clownfish pair back... they look healthy which is good. Will upload pics tonight or tomorrow. ( i would not have put fish in a tank i know has ich but if i didnt take them they were going to be put down a garbage disposal... sooo i figured this way they atleast have a chance at surviving.) Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 sorry to hear about the Kole tang. Are you gonna pull all your fish out and treat for ich or just let things be? also, how do you adjust the ATO so it starts filling the tank faster. I dont see any knob or anything on the float thingy. Link to comment
davy jones Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 sorry to hear about the Kole tang. Are you gonna pull all your fish out and treat for ich or just let things be? also, how do you adjust the ATO so it starts filling the tank faster. I dont see any knob or anything on the float thingy. Im gonna let things be as i have no choice. If i had room for a QT setup then the tang wouldnt have gotten sick in the first place poor fishy. sniffle. For the ATO there should be a little white adjustment screw in the black hose that attaches the float to the ato container, if you screw it in it will restrict flow. if you screw it out it will allow more flow. overall with using the float valve the water level will just barely be enough to cover the return pump without it sucking bubbles. (atleast for my tank) UPDATED STOCKING IDEAS So currently i have: 2 5 year old clowns (false percs) 1 yasha shrimp goby 1 randalls shrimp goby and pistol shrimp 1 Baby 2 barred rabbit fish (holding for a friend) Fish i plan on adding: Tomini tang (or kole, but leaning towards tomini) Fish i potentially want to add: Starry blenny 2 or 3 lyretail anthias 2 helfrichis firefish (or maybe 2 normal/purple firefish depending on funds) Disclaimer: No i am not adding everything in this list to the tank, im not a total idiot (yes, very much still an idiot, just not a total idiot lol) My thing is i want some movement in the tank as well as the corals. The clowns will swim around a small area, the gobies just hide in theyre homes, and the rabbit fish isnt a permanent resident of the tank. I love they lyretails but i dont think i want to feed 3 or 4 times a day. As well as the tank has to be able to go a weekend or 2 without food a month and not cause a tremendous amount of stress. Theyre beautiful fish and always active, now i can get a feeder to feed over the weekend but again i dont want to feed the tank into an algea haven.] Starry blenny, i am probably getting this guy and skipping the firefish but i havent decided for certain, he will help with algea and such but again, not much of an open swimmer, more of a percher. Firefish, Beautiful fish. Ive had a few of them (no helfrichis however) and half are open swimmers and love being looked at, and the other half like to hide in the back behind the rock. I want the fish, but only if they are out in the open and idk if i can know that before buying and tossing in the tank. Any thoughts or suggestions from you guys? Keep in mind, i skim heavy and plan on running either biopellets in a reactor or carbon/gfo if i need to. I also do 10 gallon weekly water changes which is more than 15%. Can also do larger changes if needed. Needless to say, i like fish! Thanks for the help! Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 yea, the ATO leaves less than 6" of water in the return pump chamber which is lower than what they recommend...weird. As for the fish, I love my lyretails and yes they require lots of feeding. I plan to get 3 firefish and I am hoping they wont hide with my open scape. A couple of suggestion for active swimmers: neon dottyback - bright neon orange http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+38+169&pcatid=169 yellow wrasse http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1379+386&pcatid=386 sixline wrasse http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1378+375&pcatid=375 coral beauty or flame angel if you wanna risk it http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+16+438&pcatid=438 http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+16+444&pcatid=444 midas blenny http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+23+83&pcatid=83 Link to comment
davy jones Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 yea, the ATO leaves less than 6" of water in the return pump chamber which is lower than what they recommend...weird. As for the fish, I love my lyretails and yes they require lots of feeding. I plan to get 3 firefish and I am hoping they wont hide with my open scape. A couple of suggestion for active swimmers: neon dottyback - bright neon orange http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+38+169&pcatid=169 yellow wrasse http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1379+386&pcatid=386 sixline wrasse http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1378+375&pcatid=375 coral beauty or flame angel if you wanna risk it http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+16+438&pcatid=438 http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+16+444&pcatid=444 midas blenny http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+23+83&pcatid=83 For me I have the ATO not only use the float but it drips a few drops a minute put of the adjustment screw giving the pump a little extra water height, might give that a try Don't think I want to risk an angle as I plan on adding a clam or 2 in the future. The neon dottyback back however is definately on the list of possibilities, one of my favorite fish from my old tank. Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 did you get that tank cover yet? my neon dottyback jumped out of my 12 gallon after 2 days. sigh. Link to comment
davy jones Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 I didnt, i decided not to go with it and am probably just ordering a BRS screen kit and ordering the screen clips for the IM sr-80 (for the glass thickness) to hang it inside. The reason i didnt go with it was because it would be $80 for the top plus whatever it costs for the BRS screen top and i didnt want to pay ~$120.. Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I emailed Red Sea about the float switch. They replied: "You can raise the height of the float." Not very helpful...exactly how do I do that?? Haha Link to comment
davy jones Posted November 19, 2015 Author Share Posted November 19, 2015 I emailed Red Sea about the float switch. They replied: "You can raise the height of the float." Not very helpful...exactly how do I do that?? Haha I'll have to look into that! There might be something there lol Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 about to build the BRS screen top and really dont want it on top of the tank. I like your idea of getting clips but couldn't find the SR-80 clips on its own. think these will work? http://smile.amazon.com/Plastic-Support-Holder-Aquarium-Glass/dp/B015R10OC0/ref=sr_1_10 Link to comment
pokerdobe Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I'll have to look into that! There might be something there lol There's a screw you can use to tilt the resting position of the float. Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 There's a screw you can use to tilt the resting position of the float. what screw??? where???????????? Link to comment
pokerdobe Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 what screw??? where???????????? Not my picture, but it shows the screw well. It will marginally raise and lower your water level in the return chamber by an inch or two. Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 do you have to take the float switch out to adjust it?? i see now... Link to comment
pokerdobe Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I had to take mine out to do it. Not sure if you have to, but it makes it a lot easier. Link to comment
davy jones Posted November 19, 2015 Author Share Posted November 19, 2015 Awesome info! Link to comment
davy jones Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 Update coming soon! Link to comment
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