smallreef October 8, 2016 Share October 8, 2016 Ahhb like what you did to hold the kessils up.. May want to coat them with some epoxy coat or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 8, 2016 Author Share October 8, 2016 Under the Kessils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 8, 2016 Author Share October 8, 2016 Ahhb like what you did to hold the kessils up.. May want to coat them with some epoxy coat or something? I'll do something with them I'm sure. I dont really have any splashing of water at the surface so I doubt they will catch much but I'm sure the wood will start to suck up some moisture and transfer the nasty to the hardware before too long. For now, it's beer-thirty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 9, 2016 Author Share October 9, 2016 Today is the first day Ive had the Kessils running as intended and my initial impressions are very positive. The torch and pipe organ have opened further than ever (everything else seems normal thus far). The absent third peppermint shrimp popped out and joined the other two today (always nice knowing you didnt lose something). I'm starting to suspect my Ca test may be bad (Salifert); I've had to dose alkalinity twice but the Ca has remained constant (Mg is good). I'll give it another week before I order a replacement just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef October 10, 2016 Share October 10, 2016 That lepto looks awesome under the lights! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 10, 2016 Author Share October 10, 2016 That lepto looks awesome under the lights! That credit goes to epleeds; his parent colony is beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 11, 2016 Author Share October 11, 2016 I never seem to place things in a good position to photograph.Cali tortDuncan sprouting a new branch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 12, 2016 Author Share October 12, 2016 Huge sweeper (relative to the size of the coral anyways) from the leptoseris! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM October 12, 2016 Share October 12, 2016 Alk drops much faster than calcium, so it is possible you can basically keep up with ca consumption with water changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 12, 2016 Author Share October 12, 2016 Alk drops much faster than calcium, so it is possible you can basically keep up with ca consumption with water changes. Alkalinity and Ca are used together, one does not fall without the other. My dKH has dropped and been dosed multiple times but the Ca levels that are being measured havent changed at all (no water changes). For my water volume, a change of .1 KH should be roughly 2ppm Ca. My Ca should have dropped by approx 20ppm over this period but they havent which leads me to believe something is wrong with the test kit. Hanna checker (Ca) should be here by Friday so I can further isolate the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM October 13, 2016 Share October 13, 2016 Ca is usually around 350ppm, carbonate is usually around 150ppm. You'll see alk dropping twice as fast on a checker than you see Ca because the relative parts per million are different. Carbonate ions are used by other process than just laying down skeleton as well. When my tank was newish I saw alk dropping fast and didn't dose Ca for quite a while. I'll dig up the posts where I was asking about it. Also, 20ppm of Ca is a bit hard for me to be confident I'm seeing with my Red Sea Pro test kit. Maybe yours is better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM October 13, 2016 Share October 13, 2016 Here it is: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/63622-alk-calcium-consumption-dosing-question/ Tom did a Ca-usage schooling post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami October 13, 2016 Share October 13, 2016 Alkalinity and Ca are used together, one does not fall without the other. My dKH has dropped and been dosed multiple times but the Ca levels that are being measured havent changed at all (no water changes). For my water volume, a change of .1 KH should be roughly 2ppm Ca. My Ca should have dropped by approx 20ppm over this period but they havent which leads me to believe something is wrong with the test kit. Hanna checker (Ca) should be here by Friday so I can further isolate the issue. Ca is usually around 350ppm, carbonate is usually around 150ppm. You'll see alk dropping twice as fast on a checker than you see Ca because the relative parts per million are different. Carbonate ions are used by other process than just laying down skeleton as well. When my tank was newish I saw alk dropping fast and didn't dose Ca for quite a while. I'll dig up the posts where I was asking about it. Also, 20ppm of Ca is a bit hard for me to be confident I'm seeing with my Red Sea Pro test kit. Maybe yours is better. Both true. As a rule of thumb, calcium and alkalinity drop together in a ratio of 20 ppm of calcium for every milliequivalent (or 2.8 dKH) of alkalinity. However, for an average tank with 8.4 dKH (or 3.0 meq/l or 150 ppm CaCO3), if you were to consume every bit of alkalinity up, only 60 ppm of calcium would be consumed (leaving close to 270-300 ppm calcium in the "normal" tank). The ratio is upset by a tiny bit by the occasional use of magnesium replacing a calcium atom in coral skeletons. This usage typically varies species to some degree. For example, coralline algae can replace as many as 5% of the calcium atoms with magnesium leading to a slight reduction in the 20 ppm-to-2.8 dKH ratio. Test kit sensitivity can also play into this. Alk test kits are generally more sensitive allowing you to read out at least to 1 dKH resolution, but often less. Calcium test kits often resolve to 10 ppm Ca or higher. This leads to a situation where you may easily see alkalinity being reduced from test to test, but don't see much of a change in calcium concentration. For these reasons, many of us make alkalinity the test that we perform most often when we're just checking a stable system as it's an indirect indicator of what we'll likely find when if we were to look at calcium and magnesium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 13, 2016 Author Share October 13, 2016 Appreciate the discussion guys. The Salifert kit is a titration test that can measure 5ppm intervals (unknown accuracy). Obviously operator error plays a role in the results but I should see something. Coralline is growing pretty quick and the duncan and torch show noticeable growth too so something has been consumed (I would assume this number to be pretty low). I'm not changing anything because everything looks as it should but it caught my attention. When I checked fresh mixed RC it was over 500 which seemed odd but I've read a few posts that indicate it can come out at 490ppm at 1.026 so that wasnt too hard to believe. Now that I think about it, the tank may have measured over 500 (highest the results go without doing the math) at one point so I'll have to sift through my notes some more. And as suggested, I use the alkalinity as the go to measurement to track what is happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCReefer1964 October 13, 2016 Share October 13, 2016 Ca is usually around 350ppm, carbonate is usually around 150ppm. You'll see alk dropping twice as fast on a checker than you see Ca because the relative parts per million are different. Carbonate ions are used by other process than just laying down skeleton as well. When my tank was newish I saw alk dropping fast and didn't dose Ca for quite a while. I'll dig up the posts where I was asking about it. Also, 20ppm of Ca is a bit hard for me to be confident I'm seeing with my Red Sea Pro test kit. Maybe yours is better. +1 you going to learn today lol Sent from my SM-N915T using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami October 13, 2016 Share October 13, 2016 BTW, new tanks without a fully developed biological filter (or with nitrate issues) drop alk even faster. The reason is that the final "step" in the nitrogen cycle, the conversion nitrate to nitrogen gas, releases one unit of alkalinity back to the tank. In a tank that has increasing nitrates (or management of nitrates through water changes), that unit of alk is never realized so alk appears to drop even faster. I can easily see this being the case in a new tank (such as what Alan was describing). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 13, 2016 Author Share October 13, 2016 I rely on the macro algae for nutrient export and have zero measurable nitrates but the Salifert NO3 kit is a color chart so it is tough to really know (I use the low range method for the test). I'll check it today and see if something has changed in that regard (think I've only ever tested it once). I was checking PO4 every couple of weeks and it generally stays low (think the highest I've seen was .03 but typically .009-.011). Again, appreciate the comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 14, 2016 Author Share October 14, 2016 Test results were as expected: dKH 8.0 Ca 460 Mg 1380 PO4 .009 NO3 1 Looks like I'm using .15 dKH/day. Hannas will be here tomorrow. Hopefully they shed some light on Ca (got alkalinity too) without making things more confusing LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 14, 2016 Author Share October 14, 2016 Hanna's are in line with the results above at 8.34dkh and 471 Ca so it isnt the test kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM October 14, 2016 Share October 14, 2016 I just realized that your Ca is very high compared to dKH and Mg. Higher than I normally see unless the alk was up at like 11-12. Not sure what that means... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 14, 2016 Author Share October 14, 2016 I just realized that your Ca is very high compared to dKH and Mg. Higher than I normally see unless the alk was up at like 11-12. Not sure what that means... When I measured the fresh mixed Reef Crystals the Ca was over 500 at 1.026 (I think the dKH was up around 11 and might have even been 13; I'll have to go back through some posts). I compared the refractometer to a Deep Six hydrometer the other day and they were both right around 1.0255 so I have no reason to believe there is an issue there. I am going to switch over to IO for the lower Ca and alkalinity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 14, 2016 Author Share October 14, 2016 Just went back through this thread and post #172 shows I measured Reef Crystals (I stated IO but I've only have RC) at 13.5 dKH with RODI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl October 14, 2016 Author Share October 14, 2016 (edited) Just remeasured some fresh RC with salinity right at 35ppt. Side of the bucket says Ca should come out to 455 but doesnt show anything for dKH. Hanna dKH 11.65 Ca 527 Red Sea dKH 11.5 Salifert dKH 11.05 Edited October 14, 2016 by madweazl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WheresTheReef October 14, 2016 Share October 14, 2016 Did you mix the salt bucket/bag before using it? Sometimes the salt mix settles and can lead to inconsistent saltwater levels. Also, I have found the alkalinity to be high with freshly mixed saltwater. It typically drops by the next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM October 14, 2016 Share October 14, 2016 Just remeasured some fresh RC with salinity right at 35ppt. Side of the bucket says Ca should come out to 455 but doesnt show anything for dKH. Hanna dKH 11.65 Ca 527 Red Sea dKH 11.5 Salifert dKH 11.05 Does the side of the bucket say to mix to 1.026sg/35ppt to get 450 or something lower? I somehow recall they quote numbers and weights for something like 1.021. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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