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New Tank Means Tons of Questions!


Prezpreston

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Agreed, but a tank that went through a 1.046 s.g. spike and unknown neglect may share more in common with a new tank than an old tank...and the OP is definitely new and definitely trying to get it rolling (again).  👍 😉

 

It's not heavily stocked, thankfully (presumably the OP will stock some new items sooner or later)....and should be way better than starting from scratch with dead rock.

 

Once things are settled and whatever new stock is added, it should be clear if a refugium is really needed or not....and of course one can be added at any time, now or later, since some extra nutrients in the water won't hurt anything, and may actually help.

 

@Prezprestonif you still find that nitrates are accumulating in spite of your efforts at eliminating them and their source(s), check phosphate levels to make sure they aren't zero.  Many things will be unable to grow, function or reproduce without it.  Every 0.01 of phosphate that gets used under normal conditions (for growth/reproduction) would take around 0.16 ppm of nitrate (figure it for just nitrogen and phosphorous if you wanna be accurate).  If that demand goes away due to no available phosphate, then all that nitrate goes unused and accumulates.  Check the expiration date on the kit if you haven't already. 

 

It's also possible that your DEnitrifying bacteria (NO3->N2 gas) were hit harder in that s.g. spike than other things.....and they're taking longer to come back online.  Dosing a small bottle of denitrifying bacteria wouldn't be the worst idea in the world.  (They also depend on available phosphate to grow and reproduce though!)

 

The nitrites not appearing on a test could be more or less expected since your rock was damaged, not dead....in functional rock the conversion from ammonia to nitrite to nitrate may be nearly instant, with all the bacteria in close proximity with each other.

 

What does the tank look like right now?  (pic?)

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13 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Agreed, but a tank that went through a 1.046 s.g. spike and unknown neglect may share more in common with a new tank than an old tank...and the OP is definitely new and definitely trying to get it rolling (again).  👍 😉

 

It's not heavily stocked, thankfully (presumably the OP will stock some new items sooner or later)....and should be way better than starting from scratch with dead rock.

 

Once things are settled and whatever new stock is added, it should be clear if a refugium is really needed or not....and of course one can be added at any time, now or later, since some extra nutrients in the water won't hurt anything, and may actually help.

 

@Prezprestonif you still find that nitrates are accumulating in spite of your efforts at eliminating them and their source(s), check phosphate levels to make sure they aren't zero.  Many things will be unable to grow, function or reproduce without it.  Every 0.01 of phosphate that gets used under normal conditions (for growth/reproduction) would take around 0.16 ppm of nitrate (figure it for just nitrogen and phosphorous if you wanna be accurate).  If that demand goes away due to no available phosphate, then all that nitrate goes unused and accumulates.  Check the expiration date on the kit if you haven't already. 

 

It's also possible that your DEnitrifying bacteria (NO3->N2 gas) were hit harder in that s.g. spike than other things.....and they're taking longer to come back online.  Dosing a small bottle of denitrifying bacteria wouldn't be the worst idea in the world.  (They also depend on available phosphate to grow and reproduce though!)

 

The nitrites not appearing on a test could be more or less expected since your rock was damaged, not dead....in functional rock the conversion from ammonia to nitrite to nitrate may be nearly instant, with all the bacteria in close proximity with each other.

 

What does the tank look like right now?  (pic?)

So appreciate all that info mcarroll!

 

So after conducting a 40% water change about 6 hours ago, I just tested Nitrate and Phosphate. Happy to report that Nitrates have reduced from around 20 PPM to 10 PPM, and my Phosphate level is 0.25! Should I be aiming for a .25 PPM for Phosphate and 5 PPM for Nitrate?

 

Also, attached photos here! Please forgive them, I shot these at night and the lighting was horrible. You'll see my little Nite Vue LED's still work and in my last picture, you'll see that I had some coralline algae growing, but with the lights dying and me not replacing them, it's largely dissipated except for a few spots now.

 

 

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Personally I say you're about where you want to be for nitrates and phosphates now.  I would lay off of water changes and everything else now except "as needed".   Stick with as much frozen foods as possible for your fish, and add corals as soon as you're comfortable doing so...and of course keep an eye on nitrates and phospahtes going forward to see how things continue to develop.

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On 11/28/2019 at 2:39 AM, mcarroll said:

Personally I say you're about where you want to be for nitrates and phosphates now.  I would lay off of water changes and everything else now except "as needed".   Stick with as much frozen foods as possible for your fish, and add corals as soon as you're comfortable doing so...and of course keep an eye on nitrates and phospahtes going forward to see how things continue to develop.

Awesome! Will do - thanks so much for all your help. Is there a reason why I should stick with frozen foods as opposed to pellets/flakes or freeze dried??

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In a nutshell: The closer to live food the better.   Balance of nutrition tends to be better.  Most nutrients are still locked within cell walls until consumption, making it less messy in the tank vs more processed options.  Etc.

 

Roughly speaking:  Live>Fresh>Whole Frozen>Processed Frozen>freeze-dried>dry.   

 

Some folks do make their tanks go on nothing but dried foods, so make-do as needed.  But also do the best you can based on what's available to you. 

 

Just for an example: if you can raise some live food (there are many possible options) or maybe a store carries live brine shrimp, but you only have dry foods to choose from otherwise, then live+dry is a decent compromise.

 

I would suggest using something like a feeding ring when using dry foods to minimize waste.  I use an Eheim auto-feeder along with their "feedSTATION" that acts more or less like a feeding ring.  (I feed mostly frozen with a small supplement of dry.  Sometimes live newly-hatched brine shrimp.  Availability is an issue near me.  As a result, I also feed fresh seafood items from the local people-food store...fresh fish eggs when they have them.)

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On 11/29/2019 at 6:37 PM, mcarroll said:

In a nutshell: The closer to live food the better.   Balance of nutrition tends to be better.  Most nutrients are still locked within cell walls until consumption, making it less messy in the tank vs more processed options.  Etc.

 

Roughly speaking:  Live>Fresh>Whole Frozen>Processed Frozen>freeze-dried>dry.   

 

Some folks do make their tanks go on nothing but dried foods, so make-do as needed.  But also do the best you can based on what's available to you. 

 

Just for an example: if you can raise some live food (there are many possible options) or maybe a store carries live brine shrimp, but you only have dry foods to choose from otherwise, then live+dry is a decent compromise.

 

I would suggest using something like a feeding ring when using dry foods to minimize waste.  I use an Eheim auto-feeder along with their "feedSTATION" that acts more or less like a feeding ring.  (I feed mostly frozen with a small supplement of dry.  Sometimes live newly-hatched brine shrimp.  Availability is an issue near me.  As a result, I also feed fresh seafood items from the local people-food store...fresh fish eggs when they have them.)

So good to know mcarroll - I'm definitely going to be switching to frozen / fresh if I can get my hands on it (West Coast located, so shouldn't be too much of a problem).

 

Also, thanks for the light advice - ordered an A80 Kessil during Black Friday for 15% off! Can't wait to set it up and get it running.

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  • 3 weeks later...

So BIG update on the tank since I last posted!

 

Parameters are good - hanging around 5 - 10 PPM Nitrates and 0.25 PPM for Phosphate. Haven’t tested Calcium or dKH yet but going to pick those tests up soon to make sure I’m well within good parameters for coral. However, based on my coralline algae growth, I would say the parameters are good! I think I found a sweet spot of a 25% water change weekly, but that remains to be solidified over the next few weeks. 
 

I picked up the Kessil A80 based on your recommendation, mcarroll (thank you!) and it’s been absolutely amazing thus far. Currently running it on a timer but asking for the spectral controller from family for Christmas, so I can get some coral! 
 

In addition to the coralline growth, there has also been an explosion of copepods! Accompanying that, my heart stopped because I thought I had tiny tiny baby aiptasia beginning to grow. A quick google search made me feel a lot better; turns out I have little Hydroid jellies! Pictures are a dead ringer for the pics I found online (tiny white specks with tentacles). So far I only have a few (like 3 or 4 on the glass) but I’m going to try and suck them up with my next water change, as my scraping them off the glasses only caused them to float through the tank (and my clown promptly tried to - unwisely it turns out - consume it).

 

Finally, I picked up 3 Nassarius Vibex and 5 or 6 Dwarf Planaxis from Reef Cleaners - and they have been a dream. No more leftover detritus on my aquarium floor (and my sand has been getting turned over constantly).
 

I’ve found mixed reviews regarding the little hydroids - but the vast majority seem to agree that the white ones are harmless, and should die off. What does this say about the stage that my tank finds itself in? And how did those guys get in my tank? Funny enough, a google search result I found was a gentleman talking about how he had some hydroids appear after he bought some inverts from Reef Cleaners - so maybe they’re present in that part of Florida where John gets them? 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Did you get the controller you asked for. I’ve not had any experience with hydroids so I’m afraid I won’t be much help there (and my clean up crew comes from Reef Cleaners too). Your parameters all seem good. 25% water change is great. It’s what I strive for, but sometimes life gets busy. You will find that as your tank matures you can get away with missing a water change here or there. Continued good luck to you. Time for some pictures!

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All sounds like it's progressing nicely to me.  👍

 

IMO, do water changes for mostly for three things:  salinity maintenance (two part dosing adds NaCL to the water over time, so this is the main reason for me), or alkalinity maintenance (important in the early phases when your frags are growing in, but before it's worth setting up a doser), or for cleaning....which is not the same as "for nutrient reduction".  You aren't targeting any levels when you're cleaning.  Of course there are other reasons, but they probably shouldn't be as routine as the others.  There may not always be a reason for a water change, IMO.
 

 

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On 12/26/2019 at 12:18 PM, Pjanssen said:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Did you get the controller you asked for. I’ve not had any experience with hydroids so I’m afraid I won’t be much help there (and my clean up crew comes from Reef Cleaners too). Your parameters all seem good. 25% water change is great. It’s what I strive for, but sometimes life gets busy. You will find that as your tank matures you can get away with missing a water change here or there. Continued good luck to you. Time for some pictures!

 

On 12/26/2019 at 6:24 PM, mcarroll said:

All sounds like it's progressing nicely to me.  👍

 

IMO, do water changes for mostly for three things:  salinity maintenance (two part dosing adds NaCL to the water over time, so this is the main reason for me), or alkalinity maintenance (important in the early phases when your frags are growing in, but before it's worth setting up a doser), or for cleaning....which is not the same as "for nutrient reduction".  You aren't targeting any levels when you're cleaning.  Of course there are other reasons, but they probably shouldn't be as routine as the others.  There may not always be a reason for a water change, IMO.
 

 

Thanks much guys! And thanks for all your help. Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to you both as well! @Pjanssen I'm super happy to say I got the controller! In addition to 3 killer coral from my family, which I'm really excited about. Bunch of updates to share with you guys below:

 

I'm super passionate about being as sustainable as possible with my livestock for my tank as I can, so I've decided to turn this tank into a maricultured/aquacultured softie tank! That being said, the 3 coral frags I received courtesy of LiveAquaria (and my family) are: an ORA Marshall Island Hammer Coral, an ORA Metallic Green Galaxea, and an ORA Orange Colony Polyp Zoanthid.

 

The reason I had asked for these specific coral was A.) I thought the looks of these coral were absolutely stunning and B.) I wanted at least 1 coral that would be a moderate challenge for myself in terms of reef keeping. From all my research, I would have a harder time trying to actively kill my Zoanthid and Galaxea corals than keep them alive, while the Euphyllia would present a bit more of a challenge in ensuring it flourished. I also wanted coral where I wouldn't have to actively dose in order to see crazy growth (such as SPS), and, as you guys have said, my water changes should be enough to replenish Calcium and other nutrients lost week to week. In thinking ahead with regards to aquascaping, I also foresaw that housing semi aggressive to aggressive coral in a 12.5 gallon nano may not be the best idea, but with the way I've situated them in my tank, I'm going to attempt to isolate my galaxea to a rock in the front of my display, and move my hammer to the opposite side (with my zoanthids on the very top). With the way my flow currently moves in the tank, the stingers the coral send out at night will never touch my other coral. I foresee maybe adding one more coral in the future to round this tank out.

 

This last Friday, all 3 coral and my Spectral controller were delivered! I temp acclimated then drip acclimated all 3 coral upon delivery for about an hour, did a quick coral dip with Seachem coral dip for 20 minutes (no pests came out that I could see) and moved them in. Within an hour, all 3 had begun to open up, and fast forward to now (3 days later), they are looking super happy (especially my Euphyllia)! During drip acclimation, I tossed out and replaced a few gallons of saltwater, so I had my weekly water change done a few days early. Upon testing tonight, these are my params:

 

Nitrates - 5 PPM

Phophate - 0 - 0.25 PPM

Calcium - 340 - 360 PPM (Definitely noticed a drop here in a few days from where I was at 400 PPM!)

Salinity: 1.025

Temp: 79F

kH: 12 degrees

 

In terms of lighting, I'm currently on day 3 of the 14 day coral acclimation setting on the Kessil Spectral controller. Right now the color is set at 10% (though I've no idea what that means for actinic vs. 10,000K, as my lights are currently just deep deep blue) and intensity at 2%. Thus far, my lights have been running for around 24 hours a day? Not positive if that's intentional in the programming (I would assume it is), but the personal anecdotes from people using the coral acclimation setting with the spectral controller have been pretty scarce.

 

I've moved the coral around (except for the Eupyhillia, which seems to be in the perfect spot) because the next morning after my coral were placed in the tank, my Galaxea and Zoa frags were facedown in the sand! I righted the frags, who opened up happily about 10 minutes later. I chalked it up to my clown deciding to rearrange things (the little bully) and left them in the sand but now I'm not so sure because upon testing tonight, I saw my Zoa frag (which was in the sand) closed up, with one of my hermits covering it. I immediately moved the Zoa to a higher up part of the live rock, and plan on affixing it there with superglue or putty. I didn't see if my hermit was attacking it, but I don't think it was as the Zoa's opened up about 15 minutes later perfectly fine and happy.

 

I'm going to be buying some Reef Roids or Reef Chili to target feed my coral 2-3 times per week as I would love to get some crazy growth and propagate some coral to sell (I'm leaning towards BRS Reef Chili after seeing a University of Hawaii study in a BRS video showing that BRS Reef Chili gave phenomenal growth to coral over a certain period of time; marketing, I know, but that host Ryan seems legit).

 

I target fed with some mysis shrimp, and while the galaxea and the Euphyllia seemed to enjoy it, I know the shrimp was too big for my Zoa's (although I did shoot some juice into their little mouths!).

 

Also last thing - upon feeding last week I noticed, to my shock, a tiny creature poke it's little fuzzy, wormy head out of a hole in my live rock - a bristle worm! I immediately freaked out, and after about 30 minutes of frantic google searching, determined that he was a sedentary bristle worm, and absolutely no threat to the tank (and in fact, was a good little member of the cleanup crew). I'll get some pictures of him to toss in here (due to coloring, I'm 99% positive he isn't a fireworm).

 

I had a few questions for you guys:

 

1.) Is 24 hours a day of lighting way too much for this coral with the setting at 2% intensity? The only tuning I could do was change the amount of days I could set the acclimation for, and 14 days was the max setting. Maybe the lights shut off super early in the evening/morning and I'm just not seeing it? Obviously, I will be running the lights somewhere between 8-12 hours per day after acclimation, not 24 hours per day.

2.) Anything to worry about with that little bristleworm?

3.) From what I've seen online, Euphyllia tend to prefer more moderate flow. I think I have them in a moderate flow area, but I'm unsure if I'm seeing full extension from the polyps currently. Judging by the pictures, am I seeing full extension? If not, I shouldn't be worried as they are brand new to the tank, and it may take much longer to see full extension, correct?

4.) I've looked at Tidal Gardens coral profiles, BRS 52 weeks of reefing, and advanced aquaculturist articles on Zoa, euphyllia and galaxea care guides, but are there any other special tips or care tips you guys might have when it comes to these coral?

5.) Anything to worry about with my hermit attacking my coral? Or was he just being a curious Charlie and checking them out? He should be a happy fellow as I believe I overfeed the tank.

 

Without further ado, here are the pictures!!!!!

 

 

 

 

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On 12/30/2019 at 1:49 AM, Prezpreston said:

target feed my coral 2-3 times per week as I would love to get some crazy growth and propagate some coral to sell

Forget about that whole idea for the time being IMO.  That's an expert level tweak that can send a new tank''s stability right down the drain.

 

Focus on getting the tank stable and corals growing well first before you worry about trying to control how fast they grow.

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On 12/30/2019 at 1:49 AM, Prezpreston said:

target feed my coral 2-3 times per week as I would love to get some crazy growth and propagate some coral to sell

Forget about that whole idea for the time being IMO.  That's an expert level tweak that can send a new tank''s stability right down the drain.

 

Focus on getting the tank stable and corals growing well first before you worry about trying to control how fast they grow.

 

On 12/30/2019 at 1:49 AM, Prezpreston said:

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Watch out for those sweeper tentacles!  Up to 12" long if they want!

 

On 12/30/2019 at 1:49 AM, Prezpreston said:

Is 24 hours a day of lighting way too much

Yes -- too much.   It shouldn't be a problem to set it up for 12 hours of lighting as there are defaults for that.

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44 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

Forget about that whole idea for the time being IMO.  That's an expert level tweak that can send a new tank''s stability right down the drain.

 

Focus on getting the tank stable and corals growing well first before you worry about trying to control how fast they grow.

 

Watch out for those sweeper tentacles!  Up to 12" long if they want!

 

Yes -- too much.   It shouldn't be a problem to set it up for 12 hours of lighting as there are defaults for that.

Really appreciate that macarroll - are you saying I should skip the target feeding as well? 
 

Eek noted on the 12 inch sweepers - that is gnarlyyyy. Definitely going to make sure I keep that galaxea isolated on a rock!

 

Yeah I’m really weirded out by this coral acclimation setting, I haven’t found information anywhere about it - and the spectral controller manual didn’t mention anything beyond how to actually set it. So I’m considering scrapping it and just using the setting on BRS. I posted in the lighting part of the forum and haven’t heard anything yet; if I haven’t heard anything by tomorrow I’m switching it off and going manual, my poor clown looks like he’s slowly going crazy. Really disappointed in the coral acclimation setting...

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24hrs of light is too much. 8-12 hrs, moonlighting on light settings for a few extra hrs is fine but not necessary all night,  having complete darkness is good too.

 

Euphyllia will not fully expand under flow they aren't happy with or too much light.

 

 

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8 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

24hrs of light is too much. 8-12 hrs, moonlighting on light settings for a few extra hrs is fine but not necessary all night,  having complete darkness is good too.

 

Euphyllia will not fully expand under flow they aren't happy with or too much light.

 

 

Got it - thanks Clown, just switched schedule over to this setting after finding a lighting schedule on this forum that Kessil sent someone a few years back for an A80 with the spectral controller:

 

1200  0% color 10% intensity

1400 10%  30%

1600 25%  60%

1800 45%  60% 

2000 30%  30% 

2200 0%     0% 
 

Also - do my pictures show a full extension of the euphyllia? Or are they definitely tucked in? I googled pictures but I really can’t tell, because most pictures online show mature and massive colonies and/or just the tips/heads of the hammer coral.

 

 

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On 12/30/2019 at 1:49 AM, Prezpreston said:

1.) Is 24 hours a day of lighting way too much for this coral with the setting at 2% intensity? The only tuning I could do was change the amount of days I could set the acclimation for, and 14 days was the max setting. Maybe the lights shut off super early in the evening/morning and I'm just not seeing it? Obviously, I will be running the lights somewhere between 8-12 hours per day after acclimation, not 24 hours per day.

The 2% blue running at night is just acting as moonlight and imo is not necessary but will nor really bother anything.

On 12/30/2019 at 1:49 AM, Prezpreston said:

2.) Anything to worry about with that little bristleworm?

Probably not, but we need to see it to be sure.

On 12/30/2019 at 1:49 AM, Prezpreston said:

3.) From what I've seen online, Euphyllia tend to prefer more moderate flow. I think I have them in a moderate flow area, but I'm unsure if I'm seeing full extension from the polyps currently. Judging by the pictures, am I seeing full extension? If not, I shouldn't be worried as they are brand new to the tank, and it may take much longer to see full extension, correct?

Your hammer looks good right now. I have my hammer in  a lower flow area and moderate light right now, but it has done well in higher flow areas as well. While it is maturing, I would keep it on the lower end.

On 12/30/2019 at 1:49 AM, Prezpreston said:

4.) I've looked at Tidal Gardens coral profiles, BRS 52 weeks of reefing, and advanced aquaculturist articles on Zoa, euphyllia and galaxea care guides, but are there any other special tips or care tips you guys might have when it comes to these coral?

Zoanthids are funny little corals. Sometimes they do great with little to no effort, and other times you just can't figure them out!

On 12/30/2019 at 1:49 AM, Prezpreston said:

5.) Anything to worry about with my hermit attacking my coral? Or was he just being a curious Charlie and checking them out? He should be a happy fellow as I believe I overfeed the tank.

With hermits i the tank, you will most definitely need to glue everything down. Other then knocking your corals off of the rocks they are generally considered to be reef safe, but there is that rare hermit that will prove the statistics wrong!

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On 12/31/2019 at 4:31 AM, Pjanssen said:

The 2% blue running at night is just acting as moonlight and imo is not necessary but will nor really bother anything.

Probably not, but we need to see it to be sure.

Your hammer looks good right now. I have my hammer in  a lower flow area and moderate light right now, but it has done well in higher flow areas as well. While it is maturing, I would keep it on the lower end.

Zoanthids are funny little corals. Sometimes they do great with little to no effort, and other times you just can't figure them out!

With hermits i the tank, you will most definitely need to glue everything down. Other then knocking your corals off of the rocks they are generally considered to be reef safe, but there is that rare hermit that will prove the statistics wrong!

Awesome - thanks on all the above! I'll be posting some updated pics soon.

On 12/31/2019 at 4:33 AM, Pjanssen said:

This is really high for Alkalinity, especially with your Calcium as low as 340-360. What salt are you using that it is so high?

Ok, so I retested this week and I'm almost positive I was off last week when testing. Here are my new numbers:

 

Nitrate: 10-15 PPM

Phos: 0.25 PPM

Calcium: 360 PPM

Alk: 10 dKH

Ph: 8.2/8.3

Salinity: 1.025

 

My last water change was Thursday when I drip acclimated all my corals, so a week ago. I'm going to let it go until Sunday so I can get back to my regularly scheduled water changes!

 

Those params look better, right? Because you would expect to see calcium and alk levels decreasing at the same time?

 

When I began testing calcium, I was at 400 PPM, so I'm going to be monitoring levels after this next water change and then the week after to determine how much these 3 frags are using week to week.

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6 hours ago, Prezpreston said:

Awesome - thanks on all the above! I'll be posting some updated pics soon.

Ok, so I retested this week and I'm almost positive I was off last week when testing. Here are my new numbers:

 

Nitrate: 10-15 PPM

Phos: 0.25 PPM

Calcium: 360 PPM

Alk: 10 dKH

Ph: 8.2/8.3

Salinity: 1.025

 

My last water change was Thursday when I drip acclimated all my corals, so a week ago. I'm going to let it go until Sunday so I can get back to my regularly scheduled water changes!

 

Those params look better, right? Because you would expect to see calcium and alk levels decreasing at the same time?

 

When I began testing calcium, I was at 400 PPM, so I'm going to be monitoring levels after this next water change and then the week after to determine how much these 3 frags are using week to week.

Ca is low. 

 

What does your newly mixed water test at for

 

Ca, alk, and mag

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7 hours ago, Prezpreston said:

Ok, so I retested this week and I'm almost positive I was off last week when testing.

What happens if you run 2 or 3 tests back to back on the same water sample?  How much variability is there between test results?

 

If you're finding a lot of variability between tests, you have to doubt all your numbers before you doubt your water IMO. 

 

You really need to be able to get consistent repeatable results in order to know how far off your water is -- and to calculate a safe corrective dose.  This is important for more than one reason.  (Usually it just takes a little more practice to get repeatable results.)

 

If you DO get consistent results across 2 or 3 tests of the same sample, then you have to consider that your testing ISN'T the issue and your earlier test results were valid.

 

 

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5 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Ca is low. 

 

What does your newly mixed water test at for

 

Ca, alk, and mag

 

3 hours ago, mcarroll said:

What happens if you run 2 or 3 tests back to back on the same water sample?  How much variability is there between test results?

 

If you're finding a lot of variability between tests, you have to doubt all your numbers before you doubt your water IMO. 

 

You really need to be able to get consistent repeatable results in order to know how far off your water is -- and to calculate a safe corrective dose.  This is important for more than one reason.  (Usually it just takes a little more practice to get repeatable results.)

 

If you DO get consistent results across 2 or 3 tests of the same sample, then you have to consider that your testing ISN'T the issue and your earlier test results were valid.

 

 

Ugh - I still haven't picked up a mag test. I'll do that now. Would you guys recommend Salifert?

 

And I'm going to run 2-3 back to back tests of Ca and Alk and post them ASAP - on both the new saltwater from LPS and the current saltwater in my tank.

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19 minutes ago, Prezpreston said:

 

Ugh - I still haven't picked up a mag test. I'll do that now. Would you guys recommend Salifert?

 

And I'm going to run 2-3 back to back tests of Ca and Alk and post them ASAP - on both the new saltwater from LPS and the current saltwater in my tank.

Ya salifert is good.

 

 

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