Kimber's Old Tank Thread

[ECLS Reefer]

1 hour ago, kimberbee said:

It wasn't an issue before I got this new heater a few months ago. I do wonder if return pump flow matters. If the return pump is gunked up and slow, would the water cool off enough by the time it gets circulated to the display? I'll have to clean up the pump and see... 

I had some issues with that, when the heater was in the back chambers of the Evo. I ended up moving it into the DT side which I know isn’t the best scenario if it ever exploded (god forbid) but I haven’t had a single issue with water temp since.

[Pjanssen]

On 1/26/2020 at 8:47 AM, WV Reefer said:

It’s seems no matter what I set my heaters on, even different heaters, my tanks settle around 75°. I don’t fight it anymore. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I often think about trying it without the heater at all. 

My tanks are always around 74. Sometimes I wonder if it's the thermometer, but whatever one I put in there it's the same. I took the heaters out. One less cord to try to manage and hide. It's been over a year and livestock doesn't seem to mind.

Tanks look great Kimber

 

[WV Reefer]

35 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

My tanks are always around 74. Sometimes I wonder if it's the thermometer, but whatever one I put in there it's the same. I took the heaters out. One less cord to try to manage and hide. It's been over a year and livestock doesn't seem to mind.

Tanks look great Kimber

 

I think I may do the same and just remove it. 

[billygoat]

On 1/26/2020 at 7:12 AM, kimberbee said:

It wasn't an issue before I got this new heater a few months ago. I do wonder if return pump flow matters. If the return pump is gunked up and slow, would the water cool off enough by the time it gets circulated to the display? I'll have to clean up the pump and see... 

I often wonder about this as well, especially since my AIO is designed in such a way that the water flows gently over the lip of several of the rear chambers if the level in the back is kept below a certain threshold. How much heat is lost during that "waterfalling" action? And how much does the flow from the return impact the temperature in the display? It would be interesting to try a few different options and see how things change.

 

Anyway the tanks look great kimber! Those enormous mushrooms at the top center of the Lagoon are insane, and the RFAs and gorgs in the flower tank look happy as ever. Have those RFAs with the long trunks always been extended like that? They seem healthy, but I haven't seen many rock flowers look like that before.

[kimberbee]

1 minute ago, billygoat said:

I often wonder about this as well, especially since my AIO is designed in such a way that the water flows gently over the lip of several of the rear chambers if the level in the back is kept below a certain threshold. How much heat is lost during that "waterfalling" action? And how much does the flow from the return impact the temperature in the display? It would be interesting to try a few different options and see how things change.

 

Anyway the tanks look great kimber! Those enormous mushrooms at the top center of the Lagoon are insane, and the RFAs and gorgs in the flower tank look happy as ever. Have those RFAs with the long trunks always been extended like that? They seem healthy, but I haven't seen many rock flowers look like that before.

The mushroom are huge and I actually wish they would stop spreading so easily!! They really puffed up when the rw-4 stopped working. 

 

Those tall RFAs don't usually reach like that. I think I caught them at a weird time, shortly after the lights came on. 

[Pjanssen]

1 hour ago, WV Reefer said:

I think I may do the same and just remove it. 

Of course I live in South Florida, so freezing temps are not an issue. Are you in Daytona yet?

[WV Reefer]

5 minutes ago, Pjanssen said:

Of course I live in South Florida, so freezing temps are not an issue. Are you in Daytona yet?

Not yet, unfortunately.  It stays pretty steady here but I will test the theory first before going without it. 

[kimberbee]

So I'm trying to figure something out here with dosing between water changes... 

 

I want to be able to go at least 2 weeks between water changes, maybe even more, and just dose my elements in between. However, since RSCP mixes with such high alk, I am wondering how close should my parameters be to my new water so I don't piss off or hurt my corals?

 

For example, using exaggerated numbers: if my alk in my tank is at 7.0, and my water mixes to 11.5 (as advertised), and I do a 50% water change, the shock of such a suddenly high alk could possibly damage corals. 

 

RSCP mixes up to: ca 450, alk 11.5, mg 1350. If I want to do 20% water changes, how close should I keep my parameters? 

 

Honestly, I just want to save money by not having to dose alk so high. I like the numbers for ca and mg, but I think I would prefer my alk to be more like 8 or 9. I'm looking into alternatives for salt mixes, but I have a mostly full bucket of RSCP...

[ECLS Reefer]

5 minutes ago, kimberbee said:

So I'm trying to figure something out here with dosing between water changes... 

 

I want to be able to go at least 2 weeks between water changes, maybe even more, and just dose my elements in between. However, since RSCP mixes with such high alk, I am wondering how close should my parameters be to my new water so I don't piss off or hurt my corals?

 

For example, using exaggerated numbers: if my alk in my tank is at 7.0, and my water mixes to 11.5 (as advertised), and I do a 50% water change, the shock of such a suddenly high alk could possibly damage corals. 

 

RSCP mixes up to: ca 450, alk 11.5, mg 1350. If I want to do 20% water changes, how close should I keep my parameters? 

 

Honestly, I just want to save money by not having to dose alk so high. I like the numbers for ca and mg, but I think I would prefer my alk to be more like 8 or 9. I'm looking into alternatives for salt mixes, but I have a mostly full bucket of RSCP...

I use RSCP and it never mixes to 11.5 for me. It’s more like a high 9 or 10. So I’ve been keeping the range in the tanks in that area. On the Evo it means dosing every other day, maybe 1-2ml. On the big tank it’s every day, total of like 6 ml I think. And I’ve been making it to two weeks so far. 

[jedimasterben]

Wait, how are you saving money by not dosing alkalinity? Baking soda is CHEAP.

 

And as for it not mixing up super high, are you using a calibrated hydrometer or refractometer? Could also step it up and buy a kitchen scale and weigh out the salt, I know the instructions from Red Sea use mass as their measurement. (I guess this is more aimed at Dirte 🙂 )

 

Raising alkalinity too quickly can harm some corals, but it would be somewhat similar to bringing a new coral in from someone else's tank with wildly different chemistry.  If your alkalinity is all the way down at 7.0 and you do a 50% change using 11.5 water, the end alkalinity will be 9.3, so it's not nearly as large of a jump. I only do large water changes (90% or more) but my corals are specifically selected for that. If they don't survive that, they don't belong in there 😛

[ECLS Reefer]

24 minutes ago, jedimasterben said:

Wait, how are you saving money by not dosing alkalinity? Baking soda is CHEAP.

 

And as for it not mixing up super high, are you using a calibrated hydrometer or refractometer? Could also step it up and buy a kitchen scale and weigh out the salt, I know the instructions from Red Sea use mass as their measurement. (I guess this is more aimed at Dirte 🙂 )

 

Raising alkalinity too quickly can harm some corals, but it would be somewhat similar to bringing a new coral in from someone else's tank with wildly different chemistry.  If your alkalinity is all the way down at 7.0 and you do a 50% change using 11.5 water, the end alkalinity will be 9.3, so it's not nearly as large of a jump. I only do large water changes (90% or more) but my corals are specifically selected for that. If they don't survive that, they don't belong in there 😛

I use a spectrometer for mixing because it’s in the garage in a 55g brute can. I get it to exactly 1.025 and the last time I tested it for alk it was only at 10. Degrades to like 8-9 the longer it sits even with a big circulation pump in there. I don’t make a fresh batch for every water change because it takes forever, so I used stored water. 

[jedimasterben]

59 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

I use a spectrometer for mixing because it’s in the garage in a 55g brute can. I get it to exactly 1.025 and the last time I tested it for alk it was only at 10. Degrades to like 8-9 the longer it sits even with a big circulation pump in there. I don’t make a fresh batch for every water change because it takes forever, so I used stored water. 

Yeah, i've heard the same about certain salts doing that, I'd love to see an explanation of the chemistry that causes that to happen. I make my water the day or morning before (I have a pump that pushes pressure to the membrane to about 95-100PSI, so mine makes 30 gallons of water in about five hours or so, give or take depending on the outside temperature), then I dump the salt in about half an hour before I start draining the tank, and it's ready to go by the time the water is all out.

[jack1978]

1 hour ago, kimberbee said:

So I'm trying to figure something out here with dosing between water changes... 

 

I want to be able to go at least 2 weeks between water changes, maybe even more, and just dose my elements in between. However, since RSCP mixes with such high alk, I am wondering how close should my parameters be to my new water so I don't piss off or hurt my corals?

 

For example, using exaggerated numbers: if my alk in my tank is at 7.0, and my water mixes to 11.5 (as advertised), and I do a 50% water change, the shock of such a suddenly high alk could possibly damage corals. 

 

RSCP mixes up to: ca 450, alk 11.5, mg 1350. If I want to do 20% water changes, how close should I keep my parameters? 

 

Honestly, I just want to save money by not having to dose alk so high. I like the numbers for ca and mg, but I think I would prefer my alk to be more like 8 or 9. I'm looking into alternatives for salt mixes, but I have a mostly full bucket of RSCP...

I use the same salt.  Never test.  Just mix .... sometimes it sits for an hour, sometimes a week.  I just dump it in.  Never had an issue..... 4 or 5 years with that stuff. 

[ECLS Reefer]

47 minutes ago, jedimasterben said:

Yeah, i've heard the same about certain salts doing that, I'd love to see an explanation of the chemistry that causes that to happen. I make my water the day or morning before (I have a pump that pushes pressure to the membrane to about 95-100PSI, so mine makes 30 gallons of water in about five hours or so, give or take depending on the outside temperature), then I dump the salt in about half an hour before I start draining the tank, and it's ready to go by the time the water is all out.

I wish I knew what the psi was coming out of the hose- I’m afraid to crank it up too much and hurt the filters. It takes 8-10 hours to make 55g, so all damn day, which is why I try to make it and then store it. 

[kimberbee]

2 hours ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

I get it to exactly 1.025 and the last time I tested it for alk it was only at 10. Degrades to like 8-9 the longer it sits even with a big circulation pump in there.

I totally forgot that RSCP loses alk after mixing for a while. 🤦‍♀️ I usually make it up a day or more in advance, so I guess I'm actually ok there. 

 

3 hours ago, jedimasterben said:

Wait, how are you saving money by not dosing alkalinity? Baking soda is CHEAP.

Cause I didn't realize that was an option...? But when my Red Sea stuff runs out I was considering using All for Reef instead. 

[jedimasterben]

1 hour ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

I wish I knew what the psi was coming out of the hose- I’m afraid to crank it up too much and hurt the filters. It takes 8-10 hours to make 55g, so all damn day, which is why I try to make it and then store it. 

There is zero chance you can hurt anything in that system. The filter housings are typically rated to 125PSI, and the Dow Filmtec membranes are good for up to 300PSI.

25 minutes ago, kimberbee said:

I totally forgot that RSCP loses alk after mixing for a while. 🤦‍♀️ I usually make it up a day or more in advance, so I guess I'm actually ok there. 

 

Cause I didn't realize that was an option...? But when my Red Sea stuff runs out I was considering using All for Reef instead. 

IMHO salt mix doesn't really matter in the long run. You'll hear a thousand different stories about how xx salt did this or yy salt couldn't do this, but at the end of the day as long as it mixes properly and has somewhere close to the correct chemistry, it will be fine. A large number of public aquariums make their own salt mixes using standard available salts. Think Morton lol

[kimberbee]

5 minutes ago, jedimasterben said:

IMHO salt mix doesn't really matter in the long run. You'll hear a thousand different stories about how xx salt did this or yy salt couldn't do this, but at the end of the day as long as it mixes properly and has somewhere close to the correct chemistry, it will be fine.

So, I want something quality so I have less of a chance of getting a bad batch, but I also want something more economical. 

 

The LFS wants $80 for a bucket of RSCP. I can get it shipped... but UPS likes to throw my packages onto my patio and heavy things get busted... 

[ECLS Reefer]

34 minutes ago, jedimasterben said:

There is zero chance you can hurt anything in that system. The filter housings are typically rated to 125PSI, and the Dow Filmtec membranes are good for up to 300PSI.

IMHO salt mix doesn't really matter in the long run. You'll hear a thousand different stories about how xx salt did this or yy salt couldn't do this, but at the end of the day as long as it mixes properly and has somewhere close to the correct chemistry, it will be fine. A large number of public aquariums make their own salt mixes using standard available salts. Think Morton lol

That would nice if I knew how, but probably end up more expensive for a single person with small tanks. I buy the big bags of RSCP because they’re available right down the street and it lasts for months. I transfer it from the open bag to a sealed bucket. 

 

29 minutes ago, kimberbee said:

So, I want something quality so I have less of a chance of getting a bad batch, but I also want something more economical. 

 

The LFS wants $80 for a bucket of RSCP. I can get it shipped... but UPS likes to throw my packages onto my patio and heavy things get busted... 

I was buying buckets on amazon but it’s more expensive and less instantly gratifying than just going down the road to grab a bag.  Not sure if that’s possible for you or not, but the bag lasts a little bit longer than the buckets. 

[mcarroll]

2 hours ago, jedimasterben said:

There is zero chance you can hurt anything in that system. The filter housings are typically rated to 125PSI, and the Dow Filmtec membranes are good for up to 300PSI.

IMHO salt mix doesn't really matter in the long run. You'll hear a thousand different stories about how xx salt did this or yy salt couldn't do this, but at the end of the day as long as it mixes properly and has somewhere close to the correct chemistry, it will be fine. A large number of public aquariums make their own salt mixes using standard available salts. Think Morton lol

This is made with the same purpose in mind...you add the sodium chloride:

1 hour ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

That would nice if I knew how, but probably end up more expensive for a single person with small tanks.

 

Brightwell NeoMarine Kalibrate would make it easy to do (instructions on the can and on the website):

 

Spoiler

Requires mixing ~43 g NeoMarine Kalibrate pre-mix with ~91 g (0.2 lbs.) of non-iodized sodium chloride (user-supplied) per gallon of water to obtain a specific gravity of ~1.025 g/cm3 with a pH of ~8.30 and alkalinity of ~7.5 dKH.

  

Champion Lighting lists Kalibrate 150 Gallon size for $50, for what it's worth:

Brightwell NeoMarine Kalibrate Salt Pre-Mix 150 gal ...

 

(Although there's a 50 Gallon size on Brightwell's page, package sizes on Champion's site go from 150 Gallon up to 15,000 Gallon in size, which is only $3800, btw.  Helluvabargain if you have a spare room to dedicate to salt storage. 😳)

 

Unlikely your store carries it though....maybe see if they'd special order it?  (They might even get it from Champion.)

 

Kosher salt is very cheap, and the only other ingredient you need (see spoiler above).

 

I've always been curious about the product since I first heard about it.

[ECLS Reefer]

27 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

This is made with the same purpose in mind...you add the sodium chloride:

 

Brightwell NeoMarine Kalibrate would make it easy to do (instructions on the can and on the website):

 

  Hide contents

Requires mixing ~43 g NeoMarine Kalibrate pre-mix with ~91 g (0.2 lbs.) of non-iodized sodium chloride (user-supplied) per gallon of water to obtain a specific gravity of ~1.025 g/cm3 with a pH of ~8.30 and alkalinity of ~7.5 dKH.

  

Champion Lighting lists Kalibrate 150 Gallon size for $50, for what it's worth:

Brightwell NeoMarine Kalibrate Salt Pre-Mix 150 gal ...

 

(Although there's a 50 Gallon size on Brightwell's page, package sizes on Champion's site go from 150 Gallon up to 15,000 Gallon in size, which is only $3800, btw.  Helluvabargain if you have a spare room to dedicate to salt storage. 😳)

 

Unlikely your store carries it though....maybe see if they'd special order it?  (They might even get it from Champion.)

 

Kosher salt is very cheap, and the only other ingredient you need (see spoiler above).

 

I've always been curious about the product since I first heard about it.

Actually.....I don’t think one of the stores (the one most accessible) carries Brightwell products at all. They like Kent, Seachem and API. But I bet you can get it on amazon for a good price. 

[Elizabeth94]

3 hours ago, kimberbee said:

So, I want something quality so I have less of a chance of getting a bad batch, but I also want something more economical. 

 

The LFS wants $80 for a bucket of RSCP. I can get it shipped... but UPS likes to throw my packages onto my patio and heavy things get busted... 

 

I hear you on shipping salt. UPS destroyed my first Tropic Marin bucket (take a look for yourself). Unfortunately my lfs only carries one type of salt that has different parameters than what I am aiming for. I have been using HW MarineMix from BRS. It mixes at 8.4-8.9 alk for me, crystal clear every time.  Ill be testing out tropic marin as soon as I get my refund shipped. 
 

 

[kimberbee]

13 hours ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

I was buying buckets on amazon but it’s more expensive and less instantly gratifying than just going down the road to grab a bag.  Not sure if that’s possible for you or not, but the bag lasts a little bit longer than the buckets. 

The nearest LFS is a 35 min drive away, they charge $80 for a bucket (they don't have bags). They are pretty over priced for basically everything... 

 

10 hours ago, Elizabeth94 said:

I hear you on shipping salt. UPS destroyed my first Tropic Marin bucket (take a look for yourself). Unfortunately my lfs only carries one type of salt that has different parameters than what I am aiming for. I have been using HW MarineMix from BRS. It mixes at 8.4-8.9 alk for me, crystal clear every time.  Ill be testing out tropic marin as soon as I get my refund shipped. 

That's my fear whenever I order something heavy!! I'd love to hear what you think of the Tropic Marin salt once you try it!!

[jedimasterben]

13 hours ago, kimberbee said:

So, I want something quality so I have less of a chance of getting a bad batch, but I also want something more economical. 

 

The LFS wants $80 for a bucket of RSCP. I can get it shipped... but UPS likes to throw my packages onto my patio and heavy things get busted... 

$80 is WAY too much for salt mix IMHO. I think I pay $50 for the 175g size bucket of the blue bucket stuff, and sometimes I will get two or three of the 55 gallon buckets for about $13-14 each, so it makes it a bangin deal.

13 hours ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

That would nice if I knew how, but probably end up more expensive for a single person with small tanks. I buy the big bags of RSCP because they’re available right down the street and it lasts for months. I transfer it from the open bag to a sealed bucket. 

 

I was buying buckets on amazon but it’s more expensive and less instantly gratifying than just going down the road to grab a bag.  Not sure if that’s possible for you or not, but the bag lasts a little bit longer than the buckets. 

Not a lot of stores carry Red Sea products because they typically have a big premium. My closest store is an hour away, and you have to go even farther to a richer town to find one that will even order Red Sea stuff, and they don't even like it ha.

[jedimasterben]

11 hours ago, mcarroll said:

This is made with the same purpose in mind...you add the sodium chloride:

But then you have to buy from Brightwell 😄

[kimberbee]

14 minutes ago, jedimasterben said:

$80 is WAY too much for salt mix IMHO. I think I pay $50 for the 175g size bucket of the blue bucket stuff, and sometimes I will get two or three of the 55 gallon buckets for about $13-14 each, so it makes it a bangin deal.

Where do you buy from!! 

13 minutes ago, jedimasterben said:

But then you have to buy from Brightwell 😄

You no likey Brightwell?