Opinions on my water chemistry

[howaboutme]

From reviews that I've read on the bubble magus doser they cannot be calibrated and the support is not great. You would have to figure out how much each pump is dosing and adjust your volume based on the output. They are very good otherwise and reliable but to adjust it you'd have to go back to the device and do it there. I like the one stop shop i get with my RA.

 

As far as the RA pumps, i have no issues with them that I've heard but the BRS are nice and reliable and its what i'm using so I feel confident recommending them.

 

You mean the Marine Magic? I wouldn't consider the Bubble Magus because I have the RA to control the pump...so basically I'll just need a peristaltic. Just making sure we're describing the same, often confusing, products.

[lnevo]

I was referring to the bubble magus. If you get the RA or Marine magic pumps you can do same as the BRS. I have not used them though so I cannot make a recommendation other than to say they may be a cost effective solution. I think we're on the same page.

[howaboutme]

On Saturday night, with the kitchen all to myself, I made some Alk additive using Randy's recipe #1, baked baking soda. An hour or two later and a messy kitchen, it was done. I don't believe it's a full strength gallon because some of the baking soda ended up on the counter and the stove... After realizing I couldn't dissolve it easily, I had to warm up the RODI water to almost a boil in order to get everything dissolved. What a pain but it cost me next to nothing.

 

I chose this path because my ph runs low and if I am going to systematically dose, I'd like to not lower my ph further. I had a choice in this case so I chose this path.

 

I am going to dose 10 mL of the solution per day which raises my Alk ~ 0.56 dkh (assuming a full strength mixture which mine is probably not). My target number right now is 8 dkh. I am going to try to maintain 8 for a little while and visually monitor the tank. Then, after a while, I will raise it up to 9 and then monitor again. From there, I will determine if 9 is right or some thing else. (There will probably be nothing visually different between the 2 is my guess.) I am going to do this by hand, probably in the early AM before work when my ph is the lowest. I know already that doing this by hand will get old so I'll probably look into automating this in the future.

Edited April 29, 2014 by howaboutme

[howaboutme]

Almost a month of hand dosing 2x's a day and HATING it, I have taken the plunge and bought a BRS 1.1 mL doser today. I will continue to dose just Alk as my CA is stable w/ wc only. Got a good deal too. For anyone that wants to save a few bucks...take note:

 

1. Put item in cart. Leave it be.

2. Next day receive email from BRS reminding you of cart items and to check out. Ignore it.

3. Next day receive another follow up email from BRS reminding you of cart items and to check out. Ignore it.

4. Next day receive yet another follow up email from BRS reminding you of cart items and to check out. However, this email includes a $5 off coupon as incentive. Don't ignore this.

5. Buy product at a discount and smile.

Don't forget to do this all while signed in. I've done this numerous times as I'm sure others have too.

 

Also got it cheaper because of the Memorial Day sale.

 

Will be setting this up via Reef Angel and fugetaboutit.

[YHSublime]

I knew you would come around

[howaboutme]

I knew you would come around

 

I accepted that but wanted to wait for the right moment. Was originally hoping to go all the way to the black friday deal, assuming it was like last year...but I don't have that much patience...close, but not enough. The Mem Day sale was good enough pull the trigger.

[lnevo]

I always use that trick. In fact I did it today too

 

You probably want to start keeping things simple, but when you ready for the advanced dosing pump routines i have i'll hook you up

[howaboutme]

I always use that trick. In fact I did it today too

 

You probably want to start keeping things simple, but when you ready for the advanced dosing pump routines i have i'll hook you up

 

I quickly looked over the code generated by the wizard (I will probably want to hard code it so I don't get the tendency to mess w/ it) as well as some sample codes in the forum last night. It seems to be pretty straight forward (I think), similar to the DC pump line. I'd want to wrap it in a schedule though. Since I'm only dosing Alk, I want to do it at night when the PH is the lowest. I'll come up w/ something and have you check it out. Thanks!

 

By the way..what are "advanced dosing pump routines"? Give me an example or two. I do like the "if ph is >X, don't dose" but it's highly unlikely....not sure though.

[lnevo]

The basic functionality is to set the number of seconds you want the dosing pump on. The routines i've written allow you to set the pumps calibration characteristics (volume and time) which then allows the controller to calculate the pumps flow rate. Then you can configure the dosing pumps to dose X milliliters instead of having to program it in seconds. It also has routines for some level of logging.

[howaboutme]

The basic functionality is to set the number of seconds you want the dosing pump on. The routines i've written allow you to set the pumps calibration characteristics (volume and time) which then allows the controller to calculate the pumps flow rate. Then you can configure the dosing pumps to dose X milliliters instead of having to program it in seconds. It also has routines for some level of logging.

 

Ok, just went through your code (headache again)....This routine eliminates the need to calculate how often the pump turns on myself (therefore eliminating math errors), right? Basically, I can tell the pump to does X mL in a set amount of time and the controller does the rest? I like the logging. Where do you view the log? Portal? For calibration, are you following the 1.1 mL of the pump and just verifying it or can you reset the 1.1 mL/minute default of the pump? Not sure I understand that part.

 

I also have some other questions about your code..will ask there when I'm reading to decipher. Thanks!

[lnevo]

Yes it eliminates the math part. The 1.1ml/minute from BRS is not what your pump will actually have. Many usually run faster. Mine are at 1.28 and 1.22ml/min.

 

Essentially you record how many seconds it takes you to get to x milliliters. I log to a variable in one of the portal custom vars.

 

We'll have to do some customization for you since you only want to dose at night, but that should be pretty straightforward.

[howaboutme]

Yes it eliminates the math part. The 1.1ml/minute from BRS is not what your pump will actually have. Many usually run faster. Mine are at 1.28 and 1.22ml/min.

 

Essentially you record how many seconds it takes you to get to x milliliters. I log to a variable in one of the portal custom vars.

 

We'll have to do some customization for you since you only want to dose at night, but that should be pretty straightforward.

 

I love it! I'll post on the RA forums when I'm ready. Thanks!

[howaboutme]

I've set up the doser. It will run when the lights are off, between 10pm and 10am and dose once per hour for 68 seconds. So I will get 12 total doses. I am testing it tonight by dosing into a measuring cup. On my way to automation....

 

I also bought 2 of these (1 other for future Ca dosage) while at Ikea this past weekend:

 

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40176974/

 

The large one is 4 quarts...1 gallon. They are nice and sleek and fit in tight places.

[YHSublime]

What kind of dosers did you get?

[howaboutme]

Brs 1.1

[s2nhle]

How is everything come along?

[howaboutme]

How is everything come along?

 

Things are doing well! I think...Actually, you're post reminded me to do some tests. My tank has been doing it's own thing lately and I'm just an audience most nights other than feeding, occasional dosing of KNO3 and weekly 5G water changes with RC . Shortly after starting to dose, I tested religiously just to make sure everything was going correctly and that my dosers were dialed in correctly via my Reef Angel. Now I'm back to about 1x per week, mostly checking just Alk and NO3.

 

Tonight's numbers:

Alk: 8.9 dKh

Ca: 340

 

The Ca is surprising. I have only been dosing Alk as my previous tests have shown my water changes able to keep up. Going back on my logs, I show that my Ca is usually at the low to mid 400s and tonight's test is more than half way between water changes. This low number could be consumption though I will make a point to monitor this more closely before determining next steps. My ever growing clam could be the culprit too.

 

I am still dosing 15mL of Alk over a 12 hour period when the lights are dark.

 

Since I started dosing, I have continued to see growth in all of my SPS with exception of my LA Lakers Monti. Not sure what the deal is there but the color is still good so hopefully it'll start to take off soon. My strawberry shortcake is going well as evidenced by recent pictures in my build thread as are 2 recent additions, a Miyagi Tort and a Red Planet. My little baby Maxima clam is not so little anymore and is also doing well. I am experiencing some STN on a growing green bird's nest that I think is a result of self-shading. I moved it to a place that gets more light to most of the coral to try to get more of it back. We'll see.

 

Overall, I'm happy. Still looking to add a few more acros in the future. Thanks for looking!

 

PS..still looking to give away red monti frags! If anyone is interested, look here.

[lnevo]

Alk and cal are gonna het consumed equally, theres a lot of standard error for calcium though and easy to be +/-20ppm. Anyway 15ml is still pretty low dosing but def start checking calcium more frequently, you will see that it is going to trend down. It just takes longer to see the movement because of that deviation. Anyway, now that your at this point, you can sit back and just keep tabs, you'll need to adjust eventually. I would start getting the calcium bottle ready.

 

FWIW I'm having the same experience now with magnesium. For some reason, I always had high mag, like 1500-1600. Well, it finally started dropping and I did my first few doses of mag to bring it to 1350. It was down to 1250. This took from august of last year till end of june. So we'll see where it is at the end of the month or next wc and see if I'll need to dose again.

[YHSublime]

Clam will do it

[howaboutme]

Thanks guys. I'll keep an eye on CA a bit more from now forward.

[lnevo]

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.

[howaboutme]

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.

 

Aren't you dosing CA too? Why did your CA drop so much if so?

 

I am back to my no testing ways again and trying to only use visuals as clues. I do know that my Ca falls back in line after a water change, though on the low side or "normal". I haven't checked Mag since I started this thread months ago.

[John Ford]

[quote name="howaboutme" post="608196" timestamp="

 

I am back to my no testing ways again and trying to only use visuals as clues. I do know that my Ca falls back in line after a water change, though on the low side or "normal". I haven't checked Mag since I started this thread months ago.

 

I haven't tested anything for a year minus salinity. Sometimes reading threads I think I'm a bad reefer for it but then I look at my happy fish and coral and don't feel so bad.

[howaboutme]

I haven't tested anything for a year minus salinity. Sometimes reading threads I think I'm a bad reefer for it but then I look at my happy fish and coral and don't feel so bad.

 

Happy fish and coral = good reefer.

 

Testing is for suckers and for cycling. What's the saying? "Do as I say, not as I do?"

 

But seriously, I know I need to test more, I just don't and I know I won't change, a risk I am willing to make. A perfect example is me realizing how low my Alk got but the corals still looked great! (Subject of this thread.) Go figure.

[lnevo]

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...