Ca and mg

[schwaggs]

SaltWaterWannabe;1084590 wrote: Finally tested water. I think I botched last nights tests, so I will only post today's.

Ca 382
Alkalinity 214
Phosphate 0.38

Your CA is not terrible but does need improvement.

You really need to work on your Phosphate. If that was an accurate measurement, your Phosphate is way too high. I would address that by weekly 25% water changes unless you have a large system. You may want to start with a bigger one the first week.

Water changes should help your Alk and CA at the same time.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

Schwaggs;1084626 wrote: Your CA is not terrible but does need improvement.

You really need to work on your Phosphate. If that was an accurate measurement, your Phosphate is way too high. I would address that by weekly 25% water changes unless you have a large system. You may want to start with a bigger one the first week.

Water changes should help your Alk and CA at the same time.

I have noticed more rapid algae growth on the glass lately, usually it looks bad before my weekly water chanfpge when I scrub the glass. I have not replaced my carbon bag in quite a while, would the new carbon make enough improvement?

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[sidvicious]

I'd use Chemipure Elite if I were you.

 

[hzheng33]

I would find out the source of the phosphate. you may alleviate the high phosphate with carbon and gfo, but I would investigate why phosphate is high, such as lighting source, food, stocking level, etc.

 

[schwaggs]

SaltWaterWannabe;1084627 wrote: I have noticed more rapid algae growth on the glass lately, usually it looks bad before my weekly water chanfpge when I scrub the glass. I have not replaced my carbon bag in quite a while, would the new carbon make enough improvement?

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Carbon will not reduce your Phosphates. In fact, if you are not using the correct type and brand, it can actually increase Phosphates.

Water changes, refugium growing macro algea, using kalkwasser, granular ferric oxide (GFO) reactor are all ways to reduce phosphates.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

I am pretty sure I am overfeeding for my coral. I am feeding every other day with a mix of half the recomended amount of 4 products plus mineral supplements. All of which I won at the coral show. I have been trying to overfeed and increase water changes to help the coral grow faster. That said, I did not increase my water changes. I typically do a 20 percent change every week, which is only 5 gallons.

I scrubbed the glass a few minutes ago and did a 20 percent wc. Once the water settles down again I will retest.

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[hzheng33]

SaltWaterWannabe;1084633 wrote: I am pretty sure I am overfeeding for my coral. I am feeding every other day with a mix of half the recomended amount of 4 products plus mineral supplements. All of which I won at the coral show. I have been trying to overfeed and increase water changes to help the coral grow faster. That said, I did not increase my water changes. I typically do a 20 percent change every week, which is only 5 gallons.

I scrubbed the glass a few minutes ago and did a 20 percent wc. Once the water settles down again I will retest.

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dan,

first thing first. if I were you, I would only feed once a week for the corals. some of the most experienced reefers here don't even feed their corals.

2nd, if you perform a test after water change, it's like diluting your tank with new water so that the phosphate level looks better. that doesn't help you in the long run.

 

[hzheng33]

fast growth of the corals typically depends on the water parameters, good lighting, and a bit of food, whether from fish poop or man made food.

 

[hzheng33]

high phosphate inhibits your coral growth. so you're not doing yourself a favor by feeding so much

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

hzheng33;1084637 wrote: dan,

first thing first. if I were you, I would only feed once a week for the corals. some of the most experienced reefers here don't even feed their corals.

2nd, if you perform a test after water change, it's like diluting your tank with new water so that the phosphate level looks better. that doesn't help you in the long run.

Thanks. I will slow down the feedings and watch the phosphate levels.

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[schwaggs]

If you are interested, here is a great article on Phosphates in the reef tank by Randy Holmes-Farley. I linked you to the Phosphates Inhibits Growth section but there is a ton of other great info in there.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

hzheng33;1084638 wrote: fast growth of the corals typically depends on the water parameters, good lighting, and a bit of food, whether from fish poop or man made food.

I replaced my bulbs recently, so they should be good. My kighting schedule is

0630 to 1300 and 1530 to 2130 - 36 watt actnic blue compact

0700 to 1100 and 1600 to 2100 - 36 watt 11k compact

24/7 short 12 inch led actnic

One of my actnic led strips stopped working, likely the wire finaly cut due to prior owners squezing the wire in a place that cuts the wire. I plan to repair the wire and add it back to the setup, possibly putting both led acnics on a timer.

I seem to be getting much better growth on my zoas since increasing the feeding regimen and replacing the bulbs. They have added about 1/3 more heads in the past month. The starburst polyps seem to be growing well and the plate is spreading out further. The rest of the coral seem to be stagnant, although there is no change in the bright color throughout the corals under the actnics.


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[saltwaterwannabe]

Schwaggs;1084641 wrote: If you are interested, here is a great article on Phosphates in the reef tank by Randy Holmes-Farley. I linked you to the Phosphates Inhibits Growth section but there is a ton of other great info in there.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/#5">http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/#5</a>[/QUOTE]
Great read. I may choose to stick with the biocube a while longer till I master handling this and other issues. I never have a problem with nitrates, so I did not think my overfeeding was causing issues. I will do another 20 percent wc tonight to help drop the phosphates then slow down feedings and monitor phosphates more closely.

I have a reactor for the 90 gallon I have not set up yet, it even has used gfo in it. I do not really have a place for it in the biocube, but if I did add a branch to my pump line I guess I could move a small cabinet next to the tank to run gfo in the reactor. Would it be worth the effort, or should I wait to see if reduced feedings drop the phosphates? Maybe consider a macro algae section in the back of the biocube?

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[schwaggs]

SaltWaterWannabe;1084647 wrote: Great read. I may choose to stick with the biocube a while longer till I master handling this and other issues. I never have a problem with nitrates, so I did not think my overfeeding was causing issues. I will do another 20 percent wc tonight to help drop the phosphates then slow down feedings and monitor phosphates more closely.

I have a reactor for the 90 gallon I have not set up yet, it even has used gfo in it. I do not really have a place for it in the biocube, but if I did add a branch to my pump line I guess I could move a small cabinet next to the tank to run gfo in the reactor. Would it be worth the effort, or should I wait to see if reduced feedings drop the phosphates? Maybe consider a macro algae section in the back of the biocube?

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For such a small tank, I would NOT try GFO. Keep up with the 20% water changes and you should be fine.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

Retested after 45% wc today. Since I was changing so much water, I chose to stir the sand a bit to see what I could remove with the wc...which I am guessing was a mistake now since my phosphates went up. At any rate, my new params are

Ca 437
Alk 188
Phosphates 0.40

I was a bit surprised so I tested the phosphates 3 times and checked my rodi water. Rodi came in at 0.11 phosphates. I plan to hook up my tds meter tomorrow to see if it reads anything after my filters.

In the meantime, I am about out of filter floss so I am thinking of some Deep Blue phosphate remover pad in lieu of plain filter floss. Does the phosphate pad work?


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[saltwaterwannabe]

Another 19% wc..unexpected. one of my clowns hopped the sump wall and ended up getting pinned between the sump wall shroud. To remove him required temporarily removing a lot of my media, which stirred up a lot of stuff. I used the 5 gal I had on hand and am making more for more wc later. He did not make it but at least I will have released and hopefully removed a lot of the nasty stuff hanging around.

I picked up a newer biocube yesterday with much better seals ... and it so happens the shroud is tight. Maybe I should just do the whole transfer sooner than planned.....is it worth the late night transfer or wait till the weekend?

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[hzheng33]

SaltWaterWannabe;1084743 wrote: Another 19% wc..unexpected. one of my clowns hopped the sump wall and ended up getting pinned between the sump wall shroud. To remove him required temporarily removing a lot of my media, which stirred up a lot of stuff. I used the 5 gal I had on hand and am making more for more wc later. He did not make it but at least I will have released and hopefully removed a lot of the nasty stuff hanging around.

I picked up a newer biocube yesterday with much better seals ... and it so happens the shroud is tight. Maybe I should just do the whole transfer sooner than planned.....is it worth the late night transfer or wait till the weekend?

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wait until the weekend, that gives you time if you run into something unexpected

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

hzheng33;1084746 wrote: wait until the weekend, that gives you time if you run into something unexpected

Thanks. I will change 10 gallons tonight to clear out more of the junk released from moving the media and will plan to make the change this weekend

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[Adam]

SaltWaterWannabe;1084730 wrote:
I was a bit surprised so I tested the phosphates 3 times and checked my rodi water. Rodi came in at 0.11 phosphates. I plan to hook up my tds meter tomorrow to see if it reads anything after my filters

If you're testing positive for anything after your DI there is something wrong. Every time you do a water change you're adding more phos to the tank just from that. Also if you're reading phos after the DI I'm sure other unwanted things are getting through too. I wouldn't make up any more water until you address that issue. Sound's like all of your filers need replacing. Pre/carbon/RO/DI all of'em.

I'm just getting started as well but one of the first things I got was a good RODI filter. It all starts with good water. I think you should slow down a little and work from the beginning, good water going in the tank. I've been working on my system since January and collecting equipment since last summer. I still don't have saltwater in my tank, lol.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

The lfs verified my phosphate tests were abiut right. When I got home I hooked up my tds and it read 43 on the outgoing side. It was a few months ago I last checked it at which time it read zero. I flushed it for 5 minutes and it dropped to 11 so I am flushing it for much longer to see what happens.

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