Aaron

Just setup a calcium reactor on my system yesterday. I am running a milwaukee pH controller to switch on/off the CO2. Thought I had everything figured out, but I really need some input from someone that has experience with these devices. When the pH in the chamber rises to 6.7, I have the controller set to turn on the CO2. The CO2 is set with a bubble rate of about 60 bubbles per minute. How long should it take for the pH in the chamber to drop to 6.5? I am resisting the urge to tinker with things, don't want to screw something up, but... It seems like it takes a long time for the change to register (pH to drop)...... I'm kind of freaking out, but trying to take a valium and relax instead of making the assumption that this thing isn't working correctly. Help??

Thanks Brian. Sometimes I just feel the need to doublecheck myself. Mistakes can be heartbreaking, and expensive. Now if I could just get my SPS to grow faster That is a whole different conversation though...

I'm wondering what the general consensus is around here - how much light is too much? Given what I've read about photoinhibition, I was wondering what other's experiences have been. I have a 40B setup with 2x150W Radiums + 1x39W 420nm Super Actinic and 1x39W ATI Purple Plus (both T5HO). Haven't noticed any negative effects, but it could just be that everything in the tank is accustomed to that amount of light. Currently my lighting schedule is T5 4PM-2AM, Radiums 6PM-12AM. Figure I should be able to keep pretty much anything I want with this setup (at least in terms of intensity), but admit it may be a bit over the top. I haven't had any temperature issues, but I am running a temperature controller with fans in the canopy and on the sump - temp fluctuation throughout the day is about 2 degrees.

Sure thing - 40 gallon acrylic 20 gallon sump (rubbermaid ) Mag 5 return pump Koralia 1 (circulation) MaxiJet 900 (circulation) Euro Reef RS-100 skimmer (upgraded pump to KSP-5000 and added valves on both inlet/outlet) Nextreef MR-1 media reactor (I run about 1/2 cup of pelletized GFO from bulkreefsupply.com) Auto top-off system w/5 gallon reservoir Milwaukee pH controller (currently just operating as a monitor) Medusa temperature controller (single stage, controlling fans) 2x150w Radium 20k (running on 175w icecap ballasts - right side is currently on a cheap ballast and under-drives the bulb, but the second icecap ballast is coming in this week so that they match, clear crisp white ). ~40lbs Fiji live rock 3.5-4" sand bed Like I said, still a work in progress, but these are the basics. The underside of the oral disc on this anemone definitely has the white spots. I will see if I can get a pic of the top of the oral disc today sometime.

Thanks guys! Honestly, one of my most favorite animals is my long tentacle anemone (at least that's what the label said when I bought it). I am not sure on the exact type. When I first got it, it was completely white with green tips and a red base, but has since turned a distinct brown color with green tips. Reading suggests it was severely bleached and is now regaining its color. I hope that's true, I've been keeping up with my husbandry and doing my best to keep it healthy and happy.

Still have a long way to go, but making progress...

Tom, thanks for the great info. You always seem to have the answers. Chemistry is not my forte unfortunately, but I get the basics.

Thanks Bill, maybe I should consider a switch, not sure. This is my first time running a phosphate media like this and so far I am having a bad experience. Believe I may have over done it with the quantity, but I can deal with that as long as I know the dip in parameters will subside soon. Hopefully someone in the forum has worked with this product before and had a similar experience.

Bump Nobody?

I just added a MR-1 to my tank and started running some rowaphos. In 24 hours my alk went from about 9 dkh to 7, and my pH dropped from about 8.1 to 7.8. Been doing some reading online, and it sounds like this is fairly common when you first start using this media. I was wondering if anyone has experience with rowa, and will this lowering effect eventually subside? 7.8 is a bit outside my comfort zone. Any thoughts?

Finally getting around to posting a couple pics of my new tank setup. Moving from an 8 gallon biocube to a 40 gallon with sump proved to be a lot of work, a lot of work! But, things are finally up and running, and the first thing I notice right off the bat is that the water parameters in this larger volume of water are much easier to keep in line, and seem to have much more gradual trends. As you can see from the pictures, there's a long way to go, and lots of empty spaces :-), but that just means I need some more rock and some more acropora.

Thanks! I was thinking American Marine sounded like the best choice based on specs, although it would be nice to have an AC adapter.

Thanks. I'm glad I posted before making the purchase. Can someone make a recommendation on what to purchase that will be reliable long-term? Haven't gotten any feedback on the pH monitor. Any suggestions there?

Thanks Jason. Do you have any recommendations? I am prepared to make an investment, but I don't want to flush money down the toilet. :-)

I am tired of comparing colors on an index card all the time to get a pH reading, and I don't think they are very precise. Looking at both American Marine and Milwaukee, any recommendations? The Milwaukee has an optional AC adapter, and I don't see that for the American Marine (though I may be missing something). As far as the heater, I have been looking at bulk reef supply for both pH and heater, and I'm thinking of going with a 300w Finnex with digital controller. This would be for a 55 gallon reef with 20 gallon sump, and I realize it's oversized, but in the past I have always used oversized heaters so that my heating and cooling are right up against each other (this has always allowed me to dial in a more precise operating temperature). Would love some feedback, you guys are awesome.

There is a snail guard on the primary, but not on the backup. The backup is probably about an inch above the normal water line (maybe just a bit more).

Looks like it was just calcium buildup on the equipment that caused the failure. Nothing a little soaking in vinegar and scrubbing won't take care of. Everything looks fine this evening.

Tank is 55 gallon acrylic, and sump is 20 gallons. I usually run about 65 gallons in the system at any given time. Research in progress on the root cause. I will make sure to post results. Initial findings are some calcium deposits on the switch, and it didn't work when I first picked it up and cycled it by hand. After working the switch repeatedly by hand it appears to be working again, but I don't trust it at all. I will be disassembling the topoff system and doing a thorough analysis.

I woke up this morning to my overflow making a gurgling noise (which is always a sign in my tank that the water level is too high). looked in the sump and discovered that three gallons of my topoff water had been pumped into the tank. Thank god the float switch is setup with two switches (one that is a backup in case the primary fails). It worked exactly as it's supposed to, and apparently I positioned them pretty well. Salinity dropped from 35ppt to 31ppt, but it looks like everything has survived. Correcting the salinity problem now - and of course will have to test everything else, since I'm sure this will throw off a bunch of other paramaters as well. This is the third equipment failure I've had in the last couple years. The two others were both heaters, but I finally bit the bullet and bought an expensive heater, and haven't had a problem since.

Tom, Do you think that the activated carbon filter cartridge for the Biocube could also contribute to the problem? I have done some reading about carbon filter media leaching Phosphates into the water? Mine has not been changed in some time, and I'm not really sure about it's effectiveness at this point anyway (it has probably been in there unchanged for six months). My only concern would be removing a bacterial colony and upsetting the balance of things. I was thinking about eliminating it altogether since I am doing regular water changes. What do you think? Thanks! Aaron

Thanks for the quick responses. I knew I would get good feedback from people with more experience than I have. The tank is a Biocube 8, and it's just over a year old now. My normal routine is to change about one gallon of water per week. I have a 6 stage RODI filter and have been using Brightwell NeoMarine for my salt mix. I haven't been using any supplements other than the occasional two part alkalinity/calcium (B-Ionic). In the beginning I learned some hard lessons about introducing supplements into a volume of water this small and I have stayed away from it as much as possible. I am using an auto top-off system, and the tank really requires very little interaction from me most of the time. I have one fish - and no intentions of introducing any others, and I feed him a very small amount of Rod's food once per day. The focus has definitely been on corals. For lighting I am running a 150W Radium for 10 hours per day, with a one hour sunrise/sunset period of actinic only. So, based on what I'm hearing, it sounds like the problem is not CO2 at all, and that skimming (since I am using inside the house air) will increase oxygen levels, but will also increase CO2 levels if they are present in the home. It also sounds like skimming is still a good idea, and would ultimately reduce Nitrate and Phosphate due to removing organics from the water column that would otherwise break down, contributing to the problem. I'm not using any chemical filter media to bind Phosphate or Nitrate. Not sure if it would be such a good idea in a volume of water this small. Do you think it's a fair assessment that reinstalling the skimmer, and staying on top of my weekly water changes will eventually help the situation? In the beginning I was skimming, but I stopped at some point because it didn't _seem_ like it was needed. Funny thing is, I didn't have this problem then - wonder if that's a coincidence? Thanks again for all the excellent guidance.

I'm wondering what people's opinions are on protein skimming, specifically its impact on CO2 levels. I have a small amount of nuisance algae growing in my tank, but the NO3 levels are undetectable, have been for some time. I assume that Phosphate is fueling the growth, but my RODI water reads 0 ppm on the TDS meter. This leads me to two conclusions: a.) my salt mix (Brightwell NeoMarine) is introducing Phosphates into the water, or b.) there isn't enough gas exchange taking place to keep CO2 levels in check. I have been running my system skimmerless for some time, with great success actually, but one of the algae species that has recently shown up is Grape Caulerpa, so I want to do what I can to get ahead of it. Last night I pulled out the Aqua C Remora Nano and reinstalled it, thinking this might help reduce CO2 levels and further starve the plant life. I'm open to other suggestions if you have ideas. I am not really a newbie (3-4 years experience), but I'm also not a marine chemistry expert.

Troy, thanks for the heads-up. Definitely looks like Caulerpa, two types actually. Not sure how it got in the display - must have come in on some rock as a hitchhiker. I've been pruning it back periodically. It does grow fairly quickly, but hasn't gotten a stronghold on the tank so far. My nitrates are undetectable, have been for a long time now. I have to assume that Phosphate is fueling the stuff, and I must admit I don't have a phosphate test kit in my bag of tricks - looks like it's time to get one. My RODI water tests 0 ppm on the TDS meter before I mix my change water. Wonder if there's a possibility of Phosphate being introduced with my salt mix? I think I remember reading about that somewhere in the past. Anyway, I pulled out the Remora Nano and I'm going to skim for a while and see if that helps at all. My general rule of thumb with this tank has been to leave it alone as much as possible and let nature take its course, but the last thing I want to happen is for an aggresive, invasive species of algae to swallow everything up I couldn't get the whole tank in the picture, would have needed an ultra wide angle lense to get everything in the picture. There are also two euphyllia colonies at the bottom, one branching hammer, and one branching frogspawn.

Haven't posted any updates in a while and thought it would be nice to share a current pic of the Biocube. Things are growing like crazy, some of them almost invasively (Xenia)