menglish November 3, 2022 November 3, 2022 Hi Jonathan, I think the science is now showing that 24-7 UV is no longer necessary particularly due to what it does to the microbiome. The consensus now is to use it only when you have a problem, like a bacterial bloom. As for clarity of water, I would reckon that Ozone and GFO is better. I am not sure what UV does for redox. I am still uncertain how to use ORP.
jhOU November 3, 2022 Author November 3, 2022 I totally agree about the importance of microbiome, and I believe that it may be the single most important factor of a tank. But it is still so early in our understanding of it. And much of the UV discussion is in regards to the speed to mature the microbiome and diversity. But perhaps it will be found that in a mature microbiome it is beneficial to keep some types in check, which can actually allow more room for diversity. It’s certainly a factor i consider, but for now the benefits outweigh the negatives
jhOU January 31, 2023 Author January 31, 2023 I borrowed the wamas apogee par meter, to compare against my seneye… my par is a bit higher than I realized. The seneye is very finicky with angles and indirect light, so i’m not surprised. The seneye initially got me in the ballpark of where I wanted to be, so I’m not complaining. I’m not changing anything, was just curious.
YHSublime January 31, 2023 January 31, 2023 I was also shocked with my par numbers when I rented, was very similar to what you're seeing up top (pushing 600 in some areas) and about 300 at the bottom of the tank. Although, my tank at the time was only 12" deep, you're working with a lot more depth and water, it's looking good!
jhOU February 4, 2023 Author February 4, 2023 New ICP test results. I had noticed trident magnesium readings trending down for a while, and ICP confirmed. I’ll have to check dosing pump calibration, and maybe up the dosing. Everything else was pretty dang consistent with my ICP from 1 year ago.
jhOU February 7, 2023 Author February 7, 2023 Apparently my tropic marin part C doser lost prime and stopped dosing on January 8. The trident was telling me something was wrong, and it still took me a month to realize… life has been busy (had a baby in December).
YHSublime February 7, 2023 February 7, 2023 2 hours ago, jhOU said: Apparently my tropic marin part C doser lost prime and stopped dosing on January 8. The trident was telling me something was wrong, and it still took me a month to realize… life has been busy (had a baby in December). Congrats on the baby! And is Part C Magnesium? 1250 is in the acceptable range I thought? Looks like you were keeping yours on the above higher then average end.
jhOU February 7, 2023 Author February 7, 2023 3 minutes ago, YHSublime said: Congrats on the baby! And is Part C Magnesium? 1250 is in the acceptable range I thought? Looks like you were keeping yours on the above higher then average end. Thanks! TM part C is sodium chloride free salt, basically its salt mix without NaCl/cal/alk. The primary ingredient is magnesium, and it has been sufficient to maintain my mag which is typically around 1350-1400. I do a 25 gallon weekly water change, so i’m sure that helped mitigate any major issues.
Origami February 7, 2023 February 7, 2023 Congratulations and, yes, 1250 is in the acceptable range. Natural seawater has an average Mg concentration of 1280 ppm. Running higher allows for you to run higher alkalinity and calcium levels without abiotic precipitation. Acceptable range is often quoted as 1200 - 1400 ppm, but I've not seen a lot of evidence that slightly higher levels are harmful. A tank with higher levels of magnesium may favor coralline algae formation a touch more simply because it tends to have a higher magnesium concentration than most other calcium-carbonate forming life in our tanks.
nburg February 8, 2023 February 8, 2023 I’ve also ‘heard’ that monti’s use more Mg than most other stonies which might be why I have never had to dose Mg in my lifetime.
jhOU February 8, 2023 Author February 8, 2023 1 hour ago, nburg said: I’ve also ‘heard’ that monti’s use more Mg than most other stonies which might be why I have never had to dose Mg in my lifetime. I’ve heard the same about montis, but idk. For whatever reason monti digitata hates my tank, but plating/encrusting/spongodes montis love it.
Origami February 9, 2023 February 9, 2023 There was an article years ago (I think it was written by Randy Holmes Farley) that included some coral skeletal composition data within. If I'm not mistaken, it may have been an article titled, "When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance?" In it (or in the article I'm recalling), RHF notes that some tanks may see unbalanced calcium and alkalinity consumption depending on the mix of species in the tank as some species had a greater or lesser tendency to substitute a magnesium ion in place of a calcium ion in the calcification process. Coralline algae was up there as I recall.By the way, the article is an excellent read if you can find it. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk
jhOU February 9, 2023 Author February 9, 2023 8 minutes ago, Origami said: There was an article years ago (I think it was written by Randy Holmes Farley) that included some coral skeletal composition data within. If I'm not mistaken, it may have been an article titled, "When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance?" In it (or in the article I'm recalling), RHF notes that some tanks may see unbalanced calcium and alkalinity consumption depending on the mix of species in the tank as some species had a greater or lesser tendency to substitute a magnesium ion in place of a calcium ion in the calcification process. Coralline algae was up there as I recall. By the way, the article is an excellent read if you can find it. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk very interesting! found the article https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rhf/index.php
Origami February 9, 2023 February 9, 2023 Many don't know it, but reef keeping magazine was published by Reef Central. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk
nburg February 10, 2023 February 10, 2023 23 hours ago, Origami said: Many don't know it, but reef keeping magazine was published by Reef Central. Sent from my Note 10+5g using Tapatalk I remembered that, even back then I used to find it funny they never updated the file sizes of their pictures. Every picture on tank of the month was tiny. Funny how Reef Central taught me what to do for the first 10 years of my hobby experience but do not have fond memories of it, lol.
Origami February 11, 2023 February 11, 2023 10 hours ago, nburg said: Funny how Reef Central taught me what to do for the first 10 years of my hobby experience but do not have fond memories of it, lol. That is funny. I avoided much of the calamity in it's last years. There were several mods that I'd befriended, but WAMAS kept my focus back then. RC taught me a lot about balancing T5's for color; RHF and Boomer about reef chemistry (I still see Boomer at MACNAs from time to time); and their pump head calculator was useful to predict the effect of friction on your plumbing. Not to mention, watching in near-real-time the evolution of the BeanAnimal overflow. And who could forget RocketEngineer's tank stand design made from 2x4s? I see so many stands today that are derivatives of his contribution to the hobby. Skimmer design; media reactor design; kalk reactor designs.... it was all there.
nburg July 10, 2023 July 10, 2023 Looks awesome! Also looks like you might be cutting a bunch of stuff back before you know it again.
jhOU July 21, 2023 Author July 21, 2023 (edited) Please vote for my tank!! Tank #3 https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tsa-coral-smackdown-voting-thread.997909/ Edited July 21, 2023 by jhOU
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