Howaboutme's Return - Waterbox PM15 UNS 75s

[howaboutme]

It's been a while so just a quick FTS and 1 close up. Tank is still chugging along. I can definitively confirm that keeping parameters in check for a small tank is hard. I've had some alk swings that really weren't attributed to a specific event. I had to baby the tank a bit during those times, many tests, adjusting doser, etc. I think I'm back to stability now. All this and I'm only dosing alk!

 

All of my stringy stuff are now gone but still have some cyano on the sand bed at times. Nothing on the rocks and that's really all that matters to me. I've lost a few frags here and there while others are either growing like weeds (pocci) or just maintaining. I still think colorization could be better. I will likely experiment with the Luxdium upgrades at some point. I just don't want to be one of the firsts. I have room for more corals but want to take it slow. Perhaps a Dr. Mac's clam is needed in the center. That's what it's for anyways!

 

Next big maintenance task is cleaning the sump! Dreading it so I keep pushing it off....

 

Tonight's shot while the lights are blue:

 

A close up of the BSA Beast Monti mentioned a while ago. I moved it lower and it seems to like it. The color is coming back and I see growth. Hopefully it continues to color up to be closer to what it's supposed to be.

 

[YHSublime]

Looking great! Def harder to keep parameters in a smaller tank!

[howaboutme]

1 hour ago, YHSublime said:

Looking great! Def harder to keep parameters in a smaller tank!

 

Thanks! Yep, I share your pain too.

 

Part of my issue, I think is that the BRS doser always has air gaps in the line. Some gaps are huge and so I may not get the same consistency in # of drips. Not sure if that is the case for other dosers but I assume so.

[howaboutme]

Shrek meet WAMAS. WAMAS meet Shrek:

 

 

Anyone know what is growing on my snails shell? It looks super cool. I did pick at one of the sticks and the green part popped off. Soon after it grew back. This doesn't show up anywhere else.

[YHSublime]

?

[nburg]

I had that years ago in a tank and it grew in a little patch but didn’t really expand too much. Must Be some kind of algae that only grows these weird stalks. Not invasive in my experience. 

[howaboutme]

6 hours ago, nburg said:

I had that years ago in a tank and it grew in a little patch but didn’t really expand too much. Must Be some kind of algae that only grows these weird stalks. Not invasive in my experience. 

 

Good to know. Thanks buddy!

[Schg]

That is awesome, I love it! I had a hermit crab back in the day that had a red mushroom on its shell. 

[howaboutme]

Wow, it's been a few months!

 

Not much is going on, really. Some growth, some no growth. Some colorful, some not colorful. No deaths though. Alk has been a PITA to control. At one point, I realized I didn't need to dose. Now I'm back to dosing. Tomorrow? Who knows!

 

I finally have some detectable NO3 (2ppm). But then again, besides testing it 2 days ago, I can't remember the last time I even tested that. But seriously, I tested it thinking my tank is a bit too clean. Either way, I still don't have a concrete pathway other than sit and wait since nothing bad is going on. Coraline is going crazy in the spots I allow, which is not the glass.

 

Oh! My rainbow 'nem did split about a week ago. I was planning to try and get it and sell it but it is now in a good spot (lower left) that I'm willing to see if the clowns will host it. (Remember that the sexy shrimp has taken over the initial (now other) one.)

 

I do need a clam in that center spot...

 

I only remembered to take a picture when the tank was already very blue so harder to depict.

 

[YHSublime]

Tank's looking nice! What I admire most about it though is your patience. 

 

I can't remember if it was 1 or 2 years ago for black Friday, Dr Mac did some really nice clam deals. My Maxima came from there, looks gold from the side and silver from the top, I thought it was very unique. Anyways, keep your eyes peeled in a few weeks!

[howaboutme]

7 hours ago, YHSublime said:

Tank's looking nice! What I admire most about it though is your patience. 

 

I can't remember if it was 1 or 2 years ago for black Friday, Dr Mac did some really nice clam deals. My Maxima came from there, looks gold from the side and silver from the top, I thought it was very unique. Anyways, keep your eyes peeled in a few weeks!

 

Thanks and thanks for the heads up about Dr. Mac! Funny because yesterday I went to their website and boy was I shocked at the current prices of their clams. I know they culture the best but that was a bit of sticker shock. I then went to AlgaeBarn and their prices looked way better and had some different options. I prefer an easier clam than Maxima's too. It is close to BF so I will keep eyes peeled.

[nburg]

What type of clam? A huge derasa would do well on the sand bed right there in the middle. probably easier to find than a maxima as well (less likely to die as well)

[howaboutme]

1 hour ago, nburg said:

What type of clam? A huge derasa would do well on the sand bed right there in the middle. probably easier to find than a maxima as well (less likely to die as well)

 

I think either a derasa or squamosa. I agree that those tend to be easier. Nothing is worse than spending $200 for a maxima and having it wither away. BF almost here!

[howaboutme]

Wow, been a while since I posted here. Anyways, finally took advantage of the free ICP test we got at our last meeting. Some results:

 

Can you say low nutrients? Yes, that is 0.003ppm PO4. Is that even possible to be this low?

 

 

The RODI tests confirm 0 chlorines so where is all of this chlorine coming from? My reef crystals?

 

 

I thought these tests include the main numbers like Alk and NO3 but I guess not? Do any of the ICP tests do this to confirm our home tests? Kind of disappointed. Who the heck needs all of the full 55 tests? Glad this was free!

[WheresTheReef]

My phosphate read much lower in my icp results than my hanna checker. I didn't worry about that much. The chlorine reading should be from the chloride in the salt. I believe that number is elevated, if I reminder correctly, but you can confirm. You might check your salinity against a calibrated refractometer. Of course, refractometer calibration solution can also vary. Maybe check against a reefing buddy or LFS.

[howaboutme]

18 minutes ago, WheresTheReef said:

My phosphate read much lower in my icp results than my hanna checker. I didn't worry about that much. The chlorine reading should be from the chloride in the salt. I believe that number is elevated, if I reminder correctly, but you can confirm. You might check your salinity against a calibrated refractometer. Of course, refractometer calibration solution can also vary. Maybe check against a reefing buddy or LFS.

Thanks!

 

How low was your icp compared to your test kit? Am I able to get no3 or alk?

 

Incidentally, you can get the other numbers if you download the results. They don't blur those numbers. However those numbers are also gibberish as i wouldn't even know how to chase them if i wanted to.. ?

[WheresTheReef]

Yea I agree, I can’t make out most of those results either. Maybe for the best since we shouldn’t chase numbers based off a single snapshot in time. I do an icp test maybe once per year. More for trends and to check against a sample when things seem off. 
 

Just looked back at the phosphate reading from last month and my Hanna url phosphorus checker gave a 0.1ppm reading and the icp result was 0ppm. So more than a little lower.

 

I don’t think it’s possible to measure alk and NO3 with an icp test. Fauna Marin does sell a test kit that includes them, but I haven’t used it. 
 

https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/reef-icp-test-total-90-water-parameters-fauna-marin/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2-2eBhClARIsAGLQ2RnZpN1_2Rkd3OpxFyTzvWB1T5H0SmGDWrjVqn3ZZ7F4H0LqbdY_6zYaAhk9EALw_wcB

[howaboutme]

35 minutes ago, WheresTheReef said:

Yea I agree, I can’t make out most of those results either. Maybe for the best since we shouldn’t chase numbers based off a single snapshot in time. I do an icp test maybe once per year. More for trends and to check against a sample when things seem off. 
 

Just looked back at the phosphate reading from last month and my Hanna url phosphorus checker gave a 0.1ppm reading and the icp result was 0ppm. So more than a little lower.

 

I don’t think it’s possible to measure alk and NO3 with an icp test. Fauna Marin does sell a test kit that includes them, but I haven’t used it. 
 

https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/reef-icp-test-total-90-water-parameters-fauna-marin/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2-2eBhClARIsAGLQ2RnZpN1_2Rkd3OpxFyTzvWB1T5H0SmGDWrjVqn3ZZ7F4H0LqbdY_6zYaAhk9EALw_wcB

 

Thanks for the context. I never paid attention to these tests and never realized they tested all of the fluff but very little of the stuff we care about day to day.

[YHSublime]

I guess if something is off, it could be helpful, like mentioned. I still have to use mine as well.

[WheresTheReef]

12 hours ago, howaboutme said:

 

Thanks for the context. I never paid attention to these tests and never realized they tested all of the fluff but very little of the stuff we care about day to day.

I'm sure some use it as an integral part of their reefing, especially for trace elements. I mostly look for possible contaminates and heavy metals that get flagged which wouldn't show up in any of our test kits, but can build up and cause issues.

[Origami]

Chloride is from you salt.

 

Alkalinity is the ability to neutralize acids. It's not a specific ion. The alkalinity that we mostly desire is carbonate alkalinity, but we also see borate salts (or borate alkalinity) in our tanks. Alkalinity is best measured by titrating a solution with a laboratory grade acid standard. It can't be directly measured with ICP because it's not the measurement of one or even several ions or ionic complexes. Anybody that measures alkalinity from ICP would be using some sort of model which may or may not match your water's characteristics.

 

The value of ICP analysis is not necessarily to confirm your test measurements from home test kits. (You put a lot of trust in the accuracy of those kits if you do.) Instead, it's more to highlight imbalances or the presence of ions that you may not want such as heavy metals, or deficiencies in trace elements. 

[howaboutme]

Thanks all! I can see the worth for yearly (at least) testing. I just never paid attention to it until we got the free sample so my expectations were totally off.

 

So here is the rest of the test. Note that everything after PO4 is greyed out (have to pay) on the website but it shows up when you download the PDF. That said I don't know if anything after that may not be accurate, though I don't know why they would do that.

 

 

 

 

I've always known that my Calc is high so that is confirmed. I never measure MG but I'm not surprised. All of this is because of the salt and I don't have much consumption. I may be switching to regular IO shortly.