lnevo

And sorry to harp but a better analogy would be calibrating a level. By the principle of zero with ro/di that would like calibrating a level with a 45 degree incline versus a known level surface... If you calibrate at 45 degrees you are trusting the lines marked by the factory and the worker that lined it up.

Your assuming the scale and prism are accurate. If you mark the line at 0 and 100 on a faulty marked thermometer you are changing the scale and it is no longer faulty since its been calibrated. The scale on the refractometer doesnt matter when you only need one point. If you are only mark 0 you have no clue that the 35 mark is anywhere close to accurate. You are assuming the scale and prism are accurate. When you use 35ppt fluid you know that you are matching the reference. The precision and magnification are irrelevant except in the case you described to measure to a specific precision 34.8-35.2. But zero'ing with RO may work great on scientific grade equipment but on a hobbyist device you only care about the measure you are trying to reach, in which case 35ppt fluid is the best practice. Advocating otherwise is dangerous plain and simple. It may work on your refractometer and maybe on others, but on ones manufactured cheaply etc?

That's not entirely true...being that they are hobbyist devices the farther away your sample is from the target calibration, the more error deviation you introduce. If you use 35ppt fluid all that matter is the line that you compare any other mix. If you take a faulty thermometer and it says 50 when you put it in boiling water you add a mark and consider that 100. All you need to know if something is now at 100 you can just compare with your line same thing with a refract omelet.... Now put that same thermometer in ice and marking it at 0 does not make the 100 mark suddenly accurate and you should not go use that calibration line to measure 100 degree water any longer.

25pcs if you count the box

Its related to dust or too much tumbling. Rox 0.8 is hard and rinses super easy. Thats why i asked what kind of carbon was used.

What kind of carbon did you use?

I'm sure if we dilute the recipe we can get it to where we can measure. I just don't know the math. So I measure calcium today with an API test and got 450 and 589 with my hanna. As of now I'm inclined to believe my API test. I should check with the RSP too because I did do a WC yesterday.

Yeah, I am dosing Ca as well. I'm thinking maybe the last batch I mixed of Ca and Alk were off... I'm not sure if the additive can be tested for concentration or what it should be. Anyone know? The Ca could be off because the Mag got so low. Or maybe both being low is related. I do know that if mag is off things can get wonky, but I'm not enough of a chemist to know what But either way, having low Ca puts me on par with Isaac's issue as well. I don't know if he's tested Mag either, so would be interesting to explore. For me, this was the first test in a month, so don't look at me as any kind of example of religious testing...

So my mag measured 1160 a month since I first dosed magnesium when I brought it from 1250 to 1350. I double checked that number and got 1120. My calcium also dropped down to 325 which I also double checked. My alk has been very stable at 8dkh. I would like to get those params double checked. I'm just so surprised to see so much mag consumption.

Do the eggs need to be in suspension and do the shells hatch or float or both after hatching? I always liked your two chamber approach vs the upside down soda bottle designs that you see everywhere. I'd like to easily and efficiently hatch some brine shrimp for my mandarin and am definitely following. I think this is easily doable

Good point

How about a door opens and you have a paddlewjeel activate to flush the shells into a shell collector (water bottle with screen filter on bottom to catch shells and drain water back to tank. Paddle finishes door closes.

Check out ReefAngel. Let me know if you have questions. The RA is the only one with wifi although its an option. There is also a preview of a new wireless addon using zigbee protocols that can connect to remote relay boxes and more in the works. It will come out just below the cost of the apex but can easily do what you need. The stock unit has up to 3 temp probes, ph, two dimming ports, two input/output ports, 8 relays and the head unit with display. Oh and 2 float switches

I have one of those crappy canopies, you know the ones... Too short, not enough room, and has one of those lids on the top instead of the front. Anyway, i eventually want to build a new one, but in the meantime a few bucks a bit of elbow grease and I made a few improvements. I installed a new piece of 1x2 molding to hold up the frame for my light fixtures. It's not a lot but its the most I could fit considering the height of the canopy. That allowed me to consider the next idea. I actually had to do this step first, but what I did was make a mitered cut about 7 inches from the front of the canopy. I used L brackets to connect the lid to the new loose piece of canopy. Now the front and sides flip back along with the canopy. I did the miter cut to have some overlap so there would be no light leakage on the sides. The few inches made a nice little difference. I can now get underneath and clean my center brace and reach to my overflow. The whole canopy can now slide back to the wall and the light fixture goes back nicely. I have a lot more room to work since now i can access from the rim of the tank instead of 8" higher on a step ladder.

I have been told the kit works with the generic Evergrow D2040 fixture that I bought. I have placed an order for two and will be documenting the install as soon as I can. I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures so people can see if their connections, etc will be compatible.

Sometimes short and sweet is the best

To address Isaacs protest and ultimate agreement i would just rephrase this to If you are successfully growing SPS and even LPS, dosing in some form will be an eventual requirement, if you want to keep your parameters consistent. Water changes are great up and to a point, but eventually the usage will overtake the replacement by WC. I was also told by another reefer that I respect that you don't really want a locked in number as there will always be some natural variance and corals will always grow in some cyclical fashion and some fluctuation can help build up some resilience. Take all that FWIW. Keeping it within 1dkh is definitely a good goal to strive for.

That advice was for ATO exclusively not for kalk dosing.

One simple idea is having your ATO run on a timer, so it's only on for 20 minutes at a time or for an hour before you leave in AM and on an hour after you get home. This can make sure you are around if something doesn't run or gets stuck, it's time limited and your there to address any issues.

You could look at a system like this to manage your nitrates. From what I understand, its a lot easier and safer to maintain than sulphur. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=22453998

Following...if we have opposites you can have mine lol if i can part with it...it's a love hate thing...

A bit of salt water (not fresh for some reason) and a rubdown with a dry paper towel is more than enough to get a perfect shine on the glass. No need to ever bring glass cleaner over to the tank...

Or mystery fish feeding children?

Mixed reef Target 0 Current 0-0.02 Test monthly with hanna

Looks really good!!! Whatever it is its working great. I would have expected a ton of STN/RTN at 80 nitrates...at least that was my experience in the past. My phosphates are at 0 and nitrates between 8-16, so not quite as bad as your situation, would love to see it come down a few ppm. When I took GFO offline, my phosphates went up and nothing changed on my nitrates either. I'll probably start dosing some prodibio again which seemed to help for a while...