mchippo

Thanks Boret...Ya know, I was thinking the same thing...the swing should be the other way. Hmmmm. I have not calibrated the Probe in a while. I will try that. Testing with Salifert shows my pH to be stable @ 8.5'ish no matter when I test. Defective Probe is a possibility....

The prob is at the opposite end of the sump...6 feet.

I run my water top-off system as follows... -RODI water through an Aqua Medic Dosing Pump through Deltec Kalk Reactor into sump -System runs from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. and replaces 3 to 4 gallons of water I lose every day through evaporation After reviewing my AC III data logs, I have noticed my pH drops from the mid 8 range down to about 6 during the period I run the top-off system. pH starts to drop @ 1 a.m., bottoms out about 4 a.m. and climbs back to mid 8 range by 7 a.m. Last nights cycle was as follows: 1 a.m. - 8.5 2 a.m. - 6.1 6 a.m. - 6.2 7 a.m. - 8.5 My question for the group...Is this pH swing causing stress or harm to my tank inhabitants...or is this nothing to worry about? If a concern, how could I stabilize the pH swing? Thanks for you ideas....Dave

Yep, thats what I did.

That's all I can attribute it to...all other readings were within range. The mag registered about 1100 ppm on Seachem so I kept dosing to try to get it closer to 1350. Started having a lot of coral RTN'ing...literally had big colonies turning white overnight. I had my water tested with a Salifert Magnesium test kit and I was over 2000ppm. The only other suspect at the time was my dosing of Brightwell Vitamin C and Ameno Acids (had recently started dosing them). I welcome other thoughts....Nitrates at that time were 0.

Hey Sean, I have used Seachem and Tropic Marin Test kits...in addition to Salifert. I think Salifert is the most accurate but who knows...Seachem gave me low Magnesium readings...so I dosed to raise the level...and ended up over dosing. I had a major die off as a result.

Yes - I have two Vortechs. I clean them weekly but is is mostly for algae buildup.

So I have used Crystal Sea Bio Assay since the very beginning of my tank and do 10% water changes every week. Latest readings are: Calc 500 Alk 8 pH 8.3 Mag 1350 I run a kalk reactor for four hours at night as a water top off....would that be the reason my Calcium Stays so high?

Thanks lhcorals.... The challenge and frustration with this hobby is finding what works best for your tank. Of course I mean that in a positive way... I forgot to mention that I feed a sheet of Nori once a week as well...

Hey Mark, Yes, I pulled it Stones and all. Coral was bleached and my LPSs/softies were shriveled when I was Neozeoing and my Nitrates were at zero. I may add the reactor back in now that I have a full compliment of fish and increasing nitrates. It also sounds like I am feeding way too much. I will cut back on that as well. Not sure about the Snow and Powder...or the flake food... What do you do? Can anyone tell me a good flake to use?

I need to weigh in here too...looking for advice / reccos. I have a 350 with about a 60 gallon sump and a 10 gallon fuge with Chaeto. I have about 350 pounds of Alor Live rock (most in tank, some in sump). There is a total of about 40 fish in the tank to include one Diamond / Gold spot Goby that constantly works the sand bed. I do 10% water changes every week. The tank has been up about 14 months and until recently had 0 nitrates. They are now creeping up (within last 2 months). Tested last night and I am at 10 - 15 ppm. What has changed recently? 1) I used to vac / siphone my sand bed every week when I did the water change. I stopped that when I got the diamond goby (about 3 months ago). 2) I have recently added about 15 of the 40 fish I feed (probably overfeed) once a day and alternate between Mysis, Rods, and Ocean Nutrition cubes. Example portion size would be 4 O.N. cubes with a 2" x 2" chunk of Rod's or Mysis. I also mix Reef Snow or Tropic Marin SPS food (powder mixed in water) to the food mixture and let it thaw in the fridge over night. The solid food is usualy gone within 5 minutes...the powder SPS food lightly particulates the water column a bit longer. So...what do you think? Too much food...Too many fish...Start vacuuming the sand bed again. Thanks for your help! Dave

Roger that! Tank is progressing well. Lots of coral growth...lots of real estate left to fill My problem has been with wrasses. I love them but have had 4 jump! Black Tang is doing well! Talk again soon....

Hey Mark, I am starting my 3rd week now. I will keep you posted how it goes... Dave

Could I ask what the temp of the room is that the chiller is in?

They are one of my favorite fish...but, the one I had in my last tank DID nip my corals. I watched her do it many times. I finally had to catch her (not easy) and take her back to the LFS. Very sad because she was beautiful to watch (when not eating my coral). MC

For what it is worth, I have a Starry Night Blenny that continually works the rocks in my tank. I had traces of Hair Algae before putting him in...now nothing. Besides that, he is a really cool fish with a lot of personality. Also, cutting back on feeding is a big help. Make the inhabitants of the tank do a little "yard" work in return for the care and feeding.

Wow! The video captures why I am addicted to this hobby. The beauty, variety, surprises....just great!

I can speak from experience on this one. Back in Sept. 2004, my Aqualogic Chiller shorted/overheated and started a fire that took out my 72 gal. Bow Front, my study, and darn near my house. $80K in total damage. My insurance company (Erie Insurance Group) was amazing....covering everything except the livestock. They had a rep on site the morning after the fire and they pretty much started handling everything from there...can't say enough good things about them. Erie did go after AquaLogic on the grounds that their instruction manual for the set up of the chiller was completely inadequate. Case in point, they specified if the chiller was located in a cabinet (e.g., in a tank stand), it shoud be vented to exhaust the hot air that it generates. I did exactly that but appearantely the fan I used to exhaust the hot air was competing with the fan the chiller used to cool the water. Bottom line is, it looks like the chiller was starved for air and overheated and shorted. We will never know for sure how the fire started but we are certain it started dead center in the chiller (where the electrical components were). The Aqualogic setup instructions made no mention of air flow dirction or on which side of the unit the chiller should be vented. Long story short, this case came to jury trial in April (yes, 3 and 1/2 years later) and Erie lost the case. We will never know why. I am super cautious now and have taken a lot of safety steps on my new tank. In Fact, I had CHUBAKAH out at my house yesterday installing 3 dedicated 15 Amp circuits to my fish room. The circuits are both GFCI and ArcFault protected. CHUBAKAH did fantastic work... fast, clean, professional and exactly what I needed. Thanks CHUBAKAH...I will call you again whenever I need Tank Electrical Work Done!!! mchippo Post Script...AquaLogic Instructions are now very clear on Air Flow and Venting....hmmmmm