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dangros

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Posts posted by dangros

    Low Mg

    in General Discussion

    Tom - I appreciate the long post so dont sweat it!  

    Wolf - BRS had a nice special on the digital Milwaukee during the black friday time frame.  I knew I would kick myself for not going for it but I was a bit shell shocked after jumping at the Vertex 150 skimmer.  I really want one that is easier to read but in the meantime, I'm gonna wash my crappy IO old school hydrometer after every use and hope it does the job.  The refractometer is going in the trash.

    So I measured everything again today and it seems to be a bit more inline with what I would expect. The results:

    Mg - 1260  (keep in mind that I boosted it about 200ppm w/Gary's diy potion)

    Ca - 390

    Alk 2.82 meq/l 

    Salinity 1.0245  (was in between 1.024 and 1.025)

    Phosphates - 11  

     

    The phosphates are a little high but I am running GFO in the brs min reactor so hopefully that is gonna drop soon.  After reading some posts, I suspect my BRS Pukani is leaching out some Phos.

    After measuring, I did a small water chg (approx 10g).  I purposely mixed the water to 1.030 so that I would get the salinity up a tad in the tank and it worked perfectly.  

    I will likely do another small water chg tomorrow.

    I think the reason things were out of wack was 3 fold:

    1) my recraptometer was off (*and yes I did calibrate as instructed by the documentation using rodi water*)

    2) as a result of #1, my salinity was too low causing my Mg to be lower

    3) I needed to do more water chgs.

    Low Mg

    in General Discussion

    I tested the water last night 2x.  The first time, the Mg came out to a shockingly low 1100 ppm.  So I checked the salinity with both the refractometer and the ole swing arm made by Instant Ocean.  The io hydrometer measured the water at 2 g/cm lower than the refractometer.  The thing w/the refractometer is that it's quite old. I dont know if that matters. It's also VERY hard to read due to the very small labels and my lack of 20/20 vision (dont get older people!) 

    So I decided to pump up the salinity to 1.025 by measure of the supposedly less accurate swing arm and sure enough, the Mg tested at approx 1235.  MUCH BETTER!  So i suspect that the old refractometer is either inaccurate or too difficult to read/calibrate due to the ridiculously crowded tick marks and labels.  I'm going to get a new one.  Do any of you recommend one that is very easy to read?

    I took a look at the red sea one and it seems like it solves the prob I'm having. Note the 

    Red Sea’s Refractometer display section:  http://www.redseafish.com/red-sea-salts/seawater-refractometer-salinity-test/

    If you recommend a better/easier to read brand, please speak up!

    Low Mg

    in General Discussion

    · Edited by dangros

    Black frame - glass. That might be it.

     

    What are you using to check salinity? And is it calibrated? What numbers are you getting for calcium and alkalinity? Oh, and what salt are you using? (Instant Ocean from the first post.)

     

    A salinity of 1.022 is about 17% low. That would drop a mix that targets 1200 ppm of Mg to around 1000 ppm.

     

    If the numbers are all proportionally low, then it could just be a problem with salinity. Hard to say until you run a few more tests.

    I dont think 1.022 is 17% low.  I recall that 1.023 was within the range of acceptable.  Having said that, 1.025 seems to be the recommended level.  My RODI unit is in in the garage. So eventhough there are heaters in the trashcans containing the salt mix, I have, at times, measured the salinity in the cold b/f heating the water!    Here's something REALLY interesting that I just found:

    the density of seawater (S = 35) changes from 1.028 g/cm3 at 3.98 °C to 1.025 g/cm3 at 20 °C to 1.023 g/cm3 at a typical marine aquarium temperature of 80 °F. Since the density of the sample is changing with temperature, the measured specific gravity will also change, unless this is taken into account. 

    Low Mg

    in General Discussion

    How does your tank look?


    It's got a black frame and clear glass all over :)


    There's a tiny bit of brown alg on the gravel but otherwise, looks quite nice now.


     


    What's your salinity? How are you checking salinity? What numbers are you getting for Calcium and Alk?  Another way to get low numbers is low salinity. The typical numbers we're looking for are for water at 35 pt (or 1.0264 sg).


    Good questions, actually.  My salinity was both high and low for a while but I corrected that this weekend.  My Tunze auto topoff hose was submerged in the sump. So when the pump turned off, the water back siphoned back into the RODI reservoir.  I didnt realize it till recently and fixed my stupidity.  I've been keeping it at 1.025 but it got as high as 1.028 and low as 1.022 before I fixed the topoff.  My shrimp didnt die so it couldnt have been too bad.  That was scary though.  I had nightmare visions of my floor getting soaked. Fortunately, that didnt happen.

    Low Mg

    in General Discussion

    I'll chk the test kit but I have a feeling it's not that.  Salifert tends to be right on and it's prob not a coincidence that my calc and alk were a little low also. I didnt use a kalk reactor, just the BRS mini reactor w/carbon and GFO.  I also dripped Kalkwasser but w/RODI water.

    I'll make sure to test pure/new saltwater tonight.  If that's as advertised, that should confirm that the kit is ok.  If not, then it's either the kit or the salt.

    Low Mg

    in General Discussion

    So I was testing my Mg this week and was quite shocked to see that it was at 950ppm.  The tank is a very new setup but cycled (2-3mos old).  I had only done a couple small water changes but since I dont have any coraline or much in the tank other than dry rock and live sand, I wouldnt expect such a drop in Mg.  Especially since Instant Ocean has 1264ppm.  Since then, I started boosting it up w/Gary's DIY formula and it seems to be bouncing back as expected.

    Anyone have any idea what could be dropping it - or are my expectations off base w/a cycled tank and only a couple small water chgs in 2 months?

    return pump recommendations AC/DC

    in General Discussion

    Cool. I got 3 20lb bags. But it's the live sand so prob need another. Should do the trick for now. Can't wait to get this tank fully flowing

    FYI, love the flakes.  nice color and size. The pump, meh.  It's ok but if you put on the lowest 2 settings, it makes a whirling noise due to the back pressure of pushing the water 5' up.

    Cost of RO membranes?

    in General Discussion

    I had a cheap ebay version and ended up with 0 readings on my tests but hair algae.  I ended up going w/my good but still cheap ebay vendor and it was good.  They are filterdirect.   I think it's a great value. Feel free to email them b/c their customer service seems great.

    Coralline Disappearing

    in General Discussion

    Did you say 500 Calc??!  That seems way out of line - way too high.  

    Read this:

    http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

     

    If I may also add, that when I experienced this issue:

    the first time was due to a hungry Urchin, and the 2nd time was due to the lack of Mag.  Once I dosed it correctly, my other elements seemed to get back in line and the coraline started to thrive again.  I suspect that is your prob.  I would check for that first and try to isolate that Urchin son of a gun.

    return pump recommendations AC/DC

    in General Discussion

    Btw, I read ur entire tank build thread. Great read. I have the same tank but my lights r kessil and my fuge is a 40B. I also put in the Herbie. Water goes in this weekend.

    Love your rock scaping!

     

    Tropic Eden reef flakes are very nice. It is what I used. Even nicer than Caribsea Special Grade.

    --

    Warren

    Warren's 90 gallon Zeovit tank

    in Dedicated Tank (Build) Forum

    What if we started a crowd funding drive to get one for the members? It would belong to the group and would be available to us as a service whose operating costs could be shared by member subscribers - if there were enough to commit. We would need an attorney who could write up the contract, etc. I wonder if it's feasible?

    It would be nice if we could get a LFS to get a THRIVE Lab Machine!!!! :wub:

    Customer_cir_thrive.jpg

    return pump recommendations AC/DC

    in General Discussion

    · Edited by dangros

    I've seen the same.  I guess I'll try it.  I wish I could see it so I could decide b/w the mini-flakes and regular.  Any consensus as to how many bags for my 90g or which one (mini vs reg)?  

    I seriously doubt any local guys have it but that would be awesome

    return pump recommendations AC/DC

    in General Discussion

    So I went with the jebao 12000.  The whole tank is setup and ready to roll with the exception of substrate and my rock scaping.

    I was curing the rock in a bin but the bin burst in the basement at midnight!  Apparently the plastic was a bit old and brittle.  One of the rocks broke through and BOOM!  NOT FUN!  Luckily, it was in the basement and we had removed all carpet when moving in.  Even luckier, my wife was sleeping and I had finally finished the cleanup at 1:30am when she woke back up wondering where I was (gone swimming!).

    SO my plan is the test the tank to make sure things flow correctly and there are no leaks in my plumbing.  Also want to make sure nothing splashes around in the oversized refugium I made.  I'm a bit concerned about not having enough space in the sump area (I went with a 40g homemade fuge) to properly hide all of the wires and apex connections!!  Fires are worse than floods.

     

    So anyone recommend a place for pretty white crushed coral?  I would do sand but I dont want it blowing around like crazy with my RW-8s blasting the tank.

    return pump recommendations AC/DC

    in General Discussion

    After doing some more poking around I found the 12000 for an amazing price on fishstreet.  So I ordered it and 2 rw-8's w/wireless controller.  Tomorrow, I'm getting the apex and will try to finish the (bleeped out) stand.  I love the DIY way but I way over did it here.  In hindsight, I would have purchased the fuge and stand instead of making them.  Doing one at a time is cool but not all at once when you have a 2yr old!

    I'll let you guys know what I think once it's up and running.

    return pump recommendations AC/DC

    in General Discussion

    I dont disagree that the mag is a reliable pump. My previous 90g tank had one and it lasted 15yrs - still works as far as I know.   However, it is hot and vibrates a lot.   If I were to go that route, I would prefer the Eheim.  They are more reliable and quiet.  I have an old one for my skimmer (which I will eventually replace too).  

     

    Mag 9.5 hands down best all around pump for 90g.  Will last 10 years if serviced regularly. Has a proven track record as reliable pump.

    return pump recommendations AC/DC

    in General Discussion

    Hey Everyone!

    I have a question that seems basic but I haven't found a satisfying answer yet.  I need a reliable, quiet return pump.  The old threads mostly favored Eheim but now-a-days there seems to be more of a desire to use DC pumps such as the newer Jebao's.  

    I am building a 90g display with a 40breeder sump.  The return will be over the back at approx 43".  I will also split the return to feed the fuge.  Currently, I'm looking at the Eheim 1262. It's reliable, proven, quiet, and seems powerful enough.  

    It would be great to reduce heat and power consumption w/something else but I dont want to break the bank (any more than I already have).

    Any suggestions??

    Dan

    Need something to seed new tank

    in Do It Yourself

    So today, I'm going to start on my sump/refugium.  It's a 40g breeder.  I think I'm going to go with rocketengineer's design on this one too.  I still have to plan it out w/the plumbing and exact location of baffles.  I went to HD and picked up some 24x18 sheets of glass for the baffles.  They are really thin but as glass I'm hoping they will be strong enough for a sump.  I've already cut a few pieces and sanded the edges.  Who would of thought that sanding glass would work? :)

    ... slight update: Just saw this and will prob pick it up since it's so cheap.  At least I'll know the thickness wont be an issue and it will be locked down when siliconed to the 40g breeder: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-12-in-x-36-in-Clear-Glass-91236/202091044

     

    Phosphates!!  Yesterday, I measured the phosphates w/a Hanna and it was maxed at 200.   I made sure to clean the vial and am sure it was high b/c it turned a pretty blue color when applying the powder.  So, I dosed 12ml of SeaKlear but for some reason dont see precipitate!  Kind of puzzled on that one.  Anyone have an idea?  

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