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miggs76

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Posts posted by miggs76

    Air conditioner effect on pH

    in General Discussion

    Is this on an Apex or some other device that has temperature compensation? One possibility is that the probe input circuit on the measuring device is varying with the room temperature and, if the temperature swings are pretty wide down in the basement, maybe this is causing the measurement swings. If this were the case, the pH in the tank is not actually swinging widely, but the measurement is. One way to check is to measure the pH of some calibration solution when the basement is really cold from the AC being on and at other times when it's warmer after having been off for a little while.

     

    That's a good idea. I'll try it. yes, it is an Apex. Does turning on the temperature compensation alleviate this?

    Air conditioner effect on pH

    in General Discussion

    Interesting. Is this a central AC / heating system? If you just turned the central fan on, does it impact the pH in the tank? (I'm wondering if the turnover between the upper levels and the basement are affecting this.) Does the probe cable run anywhere near any electrical that's feeding the AC system?

     

    It is central AC. I'm not sure about the fan. It gets very cold in the basement when the A/C comes on because it's naturally cool down there anyway. I'm going to do some more tests on it. As a last resort I can simply block the air duct that comes into the room I guess--it really doesn't need to be cooling that room anyway. The probe isn't near any electrical that is feeding the system.

    Air conditioner effect on pH

    in General Discussion

    It probably isn't the AC. It's probably you closing the windows to keep the AC in. CO2 buildup during winter months when everything closed to retain heat in is fairly common. Sounds like you have the same thing but just for the AC instead.

     

    It is kind of the opposite----we don't ever open the windows in our house. During the cooler spring days the pH is normal (around 8.2) It is just when the ac comes on that the drop happens and it goes down to 7.9 or so.

    Air conditioner effect on pH

    in General Discussion

    Last week when I had the air conditioner on in my house I saw a drop in pH. The next day was cool outside and the pH was back to normal. Yesterday I had the air on and I saw another drop in pH. So I'm thinking that the A/C is causing this. Other than opening some windows to let some fresh air in are there any remedies for this? The tank is in the basement which is a big plus when the temp outside gets near 100---it stays nice and cool down there and my tank temp never gets higher than 81.

    2 part dosing schedule

    in General Discussion

    well i would say it depends on many factors such as how much your corals sequester, how much sps coral you have any how frequently you do water changes and how much of that need is met by your salt mix. also how much you are dosing at a time. testing it is the only sure way and it will require adjustment as your corals grow.

    I know exactly how much 2 part to put in per day (35ml). I'm just wondering how to spread it out over 24 hrs.

    2 part dosing schedule

    in General Discussion

    I finally got my BRS dosers and set them up last weekend. I love them...but that is besides the point. I am wondering how everyone spreads out their 2 parts. I have a controller, so I was doing alk every hour from 8pm until 11am and calc every hour (on the half-hour) from the same time. This spreads calc and alk by 30 minutes. Does this sound like a plan? I am not turning them on from 11am until 8pm so as to keep the pH stable as it normally rises a bit between those hours.

    Yellow SPS

    in General Discussion

    I have reds, greens, oranges, pinks, and even some blues in my tank........I'd like to add some yellow colors. Anyone have any suggestions for some yellow SPS corals?

    Magnesium and pH

    in General Discussion

    100 ppm of additional magnesium at these levels will have little effect on calcium / alkalinity saturation. I'm more inclined to believe that the probe settled, there's more fresh air (or less CO2) around the tank, or something has changed with light around the tank that is affecting photosynthesis rates. What are the pH values you were getting before and after?

     

    (Sent from my phone)

     

    Before I was topping out at about 8.10 and it would swing early in the morning to about 7.85. Now it tops out at about 8.25 and only swings to about 8.12

    First fish lost :(

    in General Discussion

    I spot feed my yellow watchman. If I don't, the pig clowns and anthias will eat every pellet in sight and let nothing fall to the bottom for him. I use "julian's tool" and he basically runs up to it when I stick it in the tank and waits patiently.

    Magnesium and pH

    in General Discussion

    · Edited by miggs76

    Question for those of you into chemistry.....I recently got a pH probe. For the first few days I saw big swings in pH (by about .25 or so throughout the day/night). I tested out my magnesium which was a little low at about 1250. I then dosed mag to get it up to about 100 to 1350 in the next few days. Now the pH is is only fluctuating by about .1 throughout the day/night. By keeping mag in check does that help keep pH stable, or is this just coincidence? PS. It is a lab grade pH probe and yes I calibrated it. Thanks in advance.

    BRS dosers

    in General Discussion

    I bought 2 of them, and will set them up this weekend. My question is, do people mount them? I don't think I have enough room under the stand cabinet. I'll likely mount them on the wall behind the cabinet and have a jug of cal/alk solution behind the cabinet. Is this what most people do? I've been dosing twice daily by hand so I'm happy that I won't have to do this anymore.

    usps kills nem, survived only by "acid rain" clone...

    in General Discussion

    I had similar trouble with USPS when someone sent me corals overnight.....the box was smashed and leaked everywhere....most of the corals didn't make it. Thankfully the person sent me replacements and all I had to do was pay shipping-----this time we used fedex and it arrived in great shape. I'll never use USPS to send or receive anything live in the future.

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