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29 gallon: R.E.E.F Tank


EthanPhillyCheesesteak

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Water parameters vary by reef keeper, each have their own preference. Levels vary by person, salt brand, consumption by coral, and dosing (if needed). If your levels are in these ranges (these are my preferences) ideally you are in the safe zone. Keep in mind SPS are most sensitive to Alk level fluctuations and thus number should be as stable as possible. Just like your lighting, pick a number and stick to it, don’t change or make hasty decisions.

 

Alk: 7.5-8.0

Cal: 420-440
Mag: 1350-1400

ph: 8.1-8.3

Nitrate: 2ppm-10ppm

Phosphate: 0.05ppm-0.10ppm

Salinity: 35ppt or 1.026 however you measure

 

I noticed white tips on the Tort. If those get worse and skeleton is exposed, that is caused by Alk burn. This is when the SPS is moved from a system with lower Alk to one with higher Alk and the Alk change is drastic and sudden. Something to keep an eye on and see if it gets worse. 

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EthanPhillyCheesesteak
46 minutes ago, SliceGolfer said:

Water parameters vary by reef keeper, each have their own preference. Levels vary by person, salt brand, consumption by coral, and dosing (if needed). If your levels are in these ranges (these are my preferences) ideally you are in the safe zone. Keep in mind SPS are most sensitive to Alk level fluctuations and thus number should be as stable as possible. Just like your lighting, pick a number and stick to it, don’t change or make hasty decisions.

 

Alk: 7.5-8.0

Cal: 420-440
Mag: 1350-1400

ph: 8.1-8.3

Nitrate: 2ppm-10ppm

Phosphate: 0.05ppm-0.10ppm

Salinity: 35ppt or 1.026 however you measure

 

I noticed white tips on the Tort. If those get worse and skeleton is exposed, that is caused by Alk burn. This is when the SPS is moved from a system with lower Alk to one with higher Alk and the Alk change is drastic and sudden. Something to keep an eye on and see if it gets worse. 

Ok, I’ll have to keep an eye on it, I am a little worried about it, because the tort seems to lost a tiny patch of flesh on the main trunk of the tort. I don’t know where it came from, it wasn’t like that yesterday. I saw my urchin trying to mess with the frag, he was trying to use the frag for a some expensive fashion, but he was not successful, it was too heavy for him. But I didn’t think he hurt the frag. Could he have poked the frag and made it loose some flesh? I slowly move the frag rack up a few centimeters each day. The torch’s seem to be benefiting from more light. The person I talked to about the torches on the phone said that the torches were kept under t5s and got quite a bit of flow and light. So they seem to be liking a lot of light. If I need to lower my alk how should I go about doing that? How would I slowly lower it?

I’ll ask the person who has been helping me with these frags what the alk was in their tank. He may have already told me. 

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EthanPhillyCheesesteak

They actually run a combination of XR30s, Hydra 52s and T5s. He said that their alk is at 8.5, that’s what they run it at. So is 9.8 too much? Is the difference too great? They also run calc at 450 and mag at 1470. I haven’t tested my mag yet tho. I’ll do that tonight. I’ll also test phosphates and ph and nitrates when I get home tonight.

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4 minutes ago, EthanPhillyCheesesteak said:

They actually run a combination of XR30s, Hydra 52s and T5s. He said that their alk is at 8.5, that’s what they run it at. So is 9.8 too much? Is the difference too great? They also run calc at 450 and mag at 1470. I haven’t tested my mag yet tho. I’ll do that tonight. I’ll also test phosphates and ph and nitrates when I get home tonight.

I wouldn't go chasing numbers mate, keep your parameters stable and things should work out, I know my levels of mixed water are 420 Calcium, 9.3Alk and 1400mg Mag so i keep the tank as close to that as possible. Sure I might lose some corals here and there but I'd rather that than constantly dosing my system to match other people's tanks

 

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EthanPhillyCheesesteak
5 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

I wouldn't go chasing numbers mate, keep your parameters stable and things should work out, I know my levels of mixed water are 420 Calcium, 9.3Alk and 1400mg Mag so i keep the tank as close to that as possible. Sure I might lose some corals here and there but I'd rather that than constantly dosing my system to match other people's tanks

 

I just want to make sure that my alk is not too high that it could kill the Acro. I really love the acro and I really want it to survive. 

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Why would you bring it up to 430 and then ask if it's good? Shouldn't you know before dosing? 

 

You want to try and stay close to whatever parameters your salt mix is. Otherwise you cause a swing when you do a water change.

 

 

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EthanPhillyCheesesteak
22 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Why would you bring it up to 430 and then ask if it's good? Shouldn't you know before dosing? 

 

You want to try and stay close to whatever parameters your salt mix is. Otherwise you cause a swing when you do a water change.

 

 

I was told that 430 was good by the person who sold me everything, I just 

liked to check with everyone😂. Sorry. I had no idea about the the params of the salt mix? I didn’t even know about that? You learn something new about this hobby everyday. I’m such a noob when it comes to this😂

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DSFIRSTSLTWATER
8 minutes ago, EthanPhillyCheesesteak said:

I was told that 430 was good by the person who sold me everything, I just 

liked to check with everyone😂. Sorry. I had no idea about the the params of the salt mix? I didn’t even know about that? You learn something new about this hobby everyday. I’m such a noob when it comes to this😂

Your target number is your new mixed water. For ex, my water mixes at around 8.5 alk so I keep my tank around that. It's harder to keep numbers stable if you have to dose new water.

First thing is to check your new water. Whatever that mixes too keep your tank at that. don't dose unless you have to..

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EthanPhillyCheesesteak
44 minutes ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

Your target number is your new mixed water. For ex, my water mixes at around 8.5 alk so I keep my tank around that. It's harder to keep numbers stable if you have to dose new water.

First thing is to check your new water. Whatever that mixes too keep your tank at that. don't dose unless you have to..

I don’t dose alk. I use gallons of distilled water. I’ve been using just that for a long time

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DSFIRSTSLTWATER
5 minutes ago, EthanPhillyCheesesteak said:

I don’t dose alk. I use gallons of distilled water. I’ve been using just that for a long time

What I'm saying is when you make up new saltwater, test the alk and see where its at. That number is where you want the tank. If your tank is higher than the new water let it naturally drop. Now that you have sps you're going to want to make sure you check your alk every couple days. They will suck it up and use it.

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EthanPhillyCheesesteak
5 minutes ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

What I'm saying is when you make up new saltwater, test the alk and see where its at. That number is where you want the tank. If your tank is higher than the new water let it naturally drop. Now that you have sps you're going to want to make sure you check your alk every couple days. They will suck it up and use it.

Really? Only two small frags of sps will suck up alk that much? That’s crazy, I didn’t think about that. Won’t they suck up calcium also?

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DSFIRSTSLTWATER
19 minutes ago, EthanPhillyCheesesteak said:

Really? Only two small frags of sps will suck up alk that much? That’s crazy, I didn’t think about that. Won’t they suck up calcium also?

It'll be small what they use but you want to make sure of the number and the only way is to test. Yes, they use up calcium but at a slower rate. Alk is the most import thing to keep stable. they can deal with alk dropping if they use it up slowly, but if you raise it fast that's when bad things happen. example: water change, If you don't know what your water mixes to it's harder to know what number you need to keep that number stable.

I test pretty regularly.. at first it was every night. Now that I know what the tank uses i'll test twice a week. If I notice numbers being off i'll go back to testing everyday to see what happens.

 

right now just find out what your water mixes too. Test your tank after a water change and test everyday till the next one. You'll then know what your tank uses and plan accordingly. you probably won't have to dose for a while

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1 hour ago, EthanPhillyCheesesteak said:

I was told that 430 was good by the person who sold me everything, I just 

liked to check with everyone😂. Sorry. I had no idea about the the params of the salt mix? I didn’t even know about that? You learn something new about this hobby everyday. I’m such a noob when it comes to this😂

You can crash your tank if you chase numbers without knowing what you are doing and why. 

 

Calcium... Alk...Magnesium... are all linked and if you change one it effects the others.

 

You need to do some reading. Here is a place to start: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php

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EthanPhillyCheesesteak
39 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

You can crash your tank if you chase numbers without knowing what you are doing and why. 

 

Calcium... Alk...Magnesium... are all linked and if you change one it effects the others.

 

You need to do some reading. Here is a place to start: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php

I have multiple people telling me different things. That’s why I’m so confused. I was told to try to lower my alk to 8.5 and that 9.8 is too high. But people on this forum are telling me differently? I’m sorry, this is just confusing 

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EthanPhillyCheesesteak
1 minute ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

yeah read that link that @Tamberav gave you

I read most of it so far and to be honest, it is a little complicated to understand. I understand that they all affect each other, and if I increased my calcium like I did last night by a little bit, then my alk probably increased as well as my magnesium. I tested my alk after I dosed some calcium, so I know that my alk is at 9.8, it must’ve been lower before I dosed the calcium then. Am I right at all so far?

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2 hours ago, EthanPhillyCheesesteak said:

I was told that 430 was good by the person who sold me everything, I just 

liked to check with everyone😂. Sorry. I had no idea about the the params of the salt mix? I didn’t even know about that? You learn something new about this hobby everyday. I’m such a noob when it comes to this😂

This: 

 


Good luck moving forward.

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46 minutes ago, EthanPhillyCheesesteak said:

I read most of it so far and to be honest, it is a little complicated to understand. I understand that they all affect each other, and if I increased my calcium like I did last night by a little bit, then my alk probably increased as well as my magnesium. I tested my alk after I dosed some calcium, so I know that my alk is at 9.8, it must’ve been lower before I dosed the calcium then. Am I right at all so far?

:slap:

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EthanPhillyCheesesteak
29 minutes ago, SliceGolfer said:

This: 

 


Good luck moving forward.

What did you mean by that? Where you saying that I’m not ready for sps? My monti is doing great, the acro is the only one I’m worried about. I thought I was prepared. Everything has been looking really great. And I thought my params where good.

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EthanPhillyCheesesteak

Everything looks good, but the acro is still missing a bit of flesh where I’m pretty sure that urchin poked him. But on the tip of the branch, it’s also a little white? That’s not good. The little baby one looks good tho

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EthanPhillyCheesesteak

Jerry has some algae growing on him, I’ll have to help him get it off. I also think that my emerald crabs were fighting? It’s weird because I’ve never seen them fight before? When I bought them, there were like 15 emeralds in the same tank, and they weren’t fighting? My leopard mushroom also grew another baby.

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