Ph of 7.8 is not out of range really. I would personally not start dripping kalk until you get a good alkalinity test kit. In regards to your question about the phosphate reactor John said it best, they are very effective but if your phosphates aren’t high you could be stripping the water too clean and actually hurting your coral. Are you battling any algae at the moment? http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/ This link has helped me really understand the basic chemistry of our reef tanks. just my :TWOCENTS
How often are you doing water changes? And how many gals each time?
About 12 to 15 gals once a month on a 90 gal.
[quote=“ericdaman, post:21, topic:6844”]
Ph of 7.8 is not out of range really. I would personally not start dripping kalk until you get a good alkalinity test kit. In regards to your question about the phosphate reactor John said it best, they are very effective but if your phosphates aren’t high you could be stripping the water too clean and actually hurting your coral. Are you battling any algae at the moment? http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/ This link has helped me really understand the basic chemistry of our reef tanks. just my :TWOCENTS[/quote]
Nope it is not bad but for improved coral growth higher then 8.1 is optimal. I’ve had everything survive on lower then 7.6 but not a lot of growth. And yes stripping to much out of the water is definitely not good either. SPS color depends alot on what the coral polyps can pull out and feed on.
Ok w/c’s are good. Get a good test kit to check your alkalinity and mag.
Havent had much growth on any of my corals either. I will pick the test kits up tomorrow. Just checking, I need a phosphate, alkalinity, and magnesium tests correct?
Correct, and then please post results and we will do our best to help.
Most definitely will post results!!
don’t worry about your ph its fine it won’t hurt anything. If you want it up try to get some more flow in the tank surface agitation. My ph runs low most of the time but it will raise when we have the windows open. More oxygen higher ph. so, anyway to get more oxygen. thats why its higher in the day and drops at night your light causes algae and corals to produce o2. at night they use it up
ok guys I took a water sample to LFS and here are the results.
phosphates .25-.50
alk 9
calc 460
ph 7.8
Nitrate 160 ( i guess i have figured out my problem )
When I tested the nitrates it was only reading between 5 and 10 ppm
I guess its time to do some serious water changes.
Or Build a serious Fuge!
[quote=“kaptken, post:31, topic:6844”]
Or Build a serious Fuge![/quote]
+1
Gfo and denitrate
I am planning on setting up a fuge. I need to convert my sump.
Tim, what exactly are those? Are they something you add to the water?
GFO is (Granular Ferric Oxide) it lowers PO4 (phosphate) and denitrate is a medium that helps lower nitrate. By using those you can do away with having the fuge. You just put the media in the sock in the sump.
The media will only help with lowering it will not do away with it, especially when you continue to add what ever is producing PO4 or nitrate.
[quote=“nerak, post:34, topic:6844”]
I am planning on setting up a fuge. I need to convert my sump.
Tim, what exactly are those? Are they something you add to the water? [/quote]
GFO is the media that goes into the reactor.
Also are you using RO water or tap water for water changes and top off?? Your nitrates are super high. If your using RO water how much are you feeding? If your using tap water would suggest getting your fresh water checked for nitrates. You may have high amounts your putting back into the water.I am using RO water. I used to use the tap water when I was trying to cycle the tank and couldnt figure out why the nitrates wouldnt go down then figured out it was the tap water high in nitrates. I feed twice a day. Flakes in the am and frozen and seaweed in the pm.
Are my phosphates extremely high ? I dont have a phosphate reactor at this moment.
Your phosphates are not terrible but low as possible is optimal.
I would cut your feeding way down to once a day every other day and make sure the fish are eating what you put in there . Any left over unrated food will turn into waste and increase your problem
With my nitrates being that high will that keep the ph on the lower end?
I used to feed once a day every other day but was told by LFS when I purchased my anthias that I needed to feed it twice a day. Is that wrong?
Also is your RO unit newer ? The membrains and filters are good for so long if the TDC gets to high they may need to be changed also.
TDC is total dissolved solids . You want that as low as possible also .
If the membrane and filters get worn and used the tds will go up and doesn’t filter out all the impurities in your water