reefmontalvo

Tom, After the propsed question was asked I will plan on tonight to test the Mg levels in the tank. I have not dosed Mg in sometime since using this product so my numbers will be soley based on the Kalk+2.

Thanks guys for the compliments. Yeah 120 corner overflow with MP20's and hope fully I can upgrade to 40's Yeah I kinda forget about the Hooka. Hasn't been used in sometime.

Only you Tom !!!! I was under the assumption since the mag was ionic it was easier for the coral cell wall the absorb along with the strontium. THat is why I thought it was more of a polar attraction verses non-polar attraction. Well do you think Im crazy for adding a carbon reactor to the tank? I am aiming for clarity in the water as to allow more light penetration to the bottom of the tank. BUt this is a disscusion for another forum.

Good luck on the new build, I will be tagging along to see the progress.

Today My current lights are 250w DE Phoenix 14k's and some actinic pc's for dust dawn effect. About as messy as it gets around the tank.

Actually there is a guy that has been making some pretty crafty Kalk Dosers for BRK. I think you should look into them. The guy has an awsome design which incorprates LED lighting that lights up the stir stick. Ask Johnny and tell him "Montalvo" sent you.

After much thought I went ot the shelf and grab both containers, both Kent Marine and Brightwell are both Calcium Hydroxide. But the Brightwell contains strontium and Mag in ionic forms. Which makes me think there in a polar form which allows them the be absorbed better in to the actual polyps of the corals and not parcipitate on the sides of the tank or in the sump. I'm just a solid believer in the Brightwell stuff until something else comes along .

That sounds like a possible problem. I would call the company and find out if that is part of the powders properties.

Good find in Petco.

How long have you been using the picking lime?

I started my very first kalk experience with Kalk+2 and used it for about 8 months, before this I was using B-Ionic which was still a good product but I wanted to get away from dosing two parts on a weekly or daily basis. I did noticed great strides in my overall tank progress in all forms of growth once I switched to using kalkwasser. But then I ran out and went cheap with the Kent kalk since I was told there both one and the same, I feel me buying the cheaper kalk powder was not a mistake but an emergency back up in case the stores run out I can at least dose something rather than nothing. I recently in the last two weeks switched over back to Kalk+2 and have noticed certain corals starting to show polyp extensions just like in the past. So IMO I feel the Kalk+2 is far superior.

????? I was just commenting on the product I use versus the other product I had used. I never thought to look at the label and see which form of calcium I was using.

Is this the 60g that you took completely apart and resealed?

Brightwell's Kalk+2. It was my first kalk I used, but I have had great results. I also tried kent kalk, but was not as impressed just because it was a few dollars cheaper. The kalk+2 has more additives in it then the regular Kent kalk. I don

Yeah I am curious myself. What are teh long term benfits of using LED's? I mean in a ecological stand point.

As for Ghetto tanks I have seen that as well. I once had my sump/refugium on the out side of my stand on the side complete with cracks and vise grip pliers to restrict the output flow of the pump.

I stated my opinion that is all. If I wanted the whole club to comment on a DIY projects that I have performed on my tank then I will post the photos and comments, but I long have stopped the practice of DIY. I'm way toooooo busy with working two jobs and nursing school. The time and cost factor to the same if I just bought the item from the store. And if you took offense to my comments I apologize but you should realize this is a public place and comments are going to be made. Also as a person with over 20yrs working with machines, small, large, electrical and mechanical I have learned and been taught safe practices as to what is considered safe and what is not, so I feel in order to help you out I do think your DIY light project is a long drawn out form of a fire hazard. But if you don

If both tanks were not on the same uniform system then yes I would agree that acclimation was the cause of the problem.

I will agree to disagree and leave it at that. I'm all about DIY but when it comes to lights and other small projects but I also feel the lights should have a sleek look to them. For example I'm not a fan of DIY ligths that have wires hanging all over the place and you can see all the inner wire connections made with electrical tape on the outside. That is why if I DIY anything I try to make it look as factory as possible, and I have a strong electrical background with working on large commercial and private industry aircraft.

Double the For the time and cost I think I would have just ordered a hood from BRK. Plus no offense but that setup looks like a total fire hazard.

Nice tank. Biocubes are nice. The down side is they have that PC bulb. If only there was a mod out there that carried a T-5 light in the hood.

Looks clean and professional.

I once left for ten days out of the counrty. I asked my uncle to stop by and just add freshwater to the tank. But instead he could never make it past the fridge, instead he would just get a beer look at the tank and walk away. He figured there was water in the tank why add more just casue it dropped a couple of inches.

Toss in about 10 Scarlet hermits, they love hair algae.