My Lighting Spectrum??

[Eb0la11]

Hmmm, ok so I've got a minimal amount of carbon running now just in a HOB aquaclear 50. Its about 3 cups or so maybe 4?

How much do you guys run at a time on an aquarium with a 165G display and probably another 40G of water in my 60G sump? Also how long is it good for? A month?

Anyways, thanks for the help guys, I'll try this for now and see if it helps. Probably won't see results very fast.

[Eb0la11]

Ok so I just got a test kit to test the water, here are my readings:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - Very low, near 0
pH - between 8.1 and 8.3 (probably closer to 8.3)
Calcium - < 340 > 320
Phosphate - 0 - 0.25
Alkalinity - How do I test for this? There wasnt a way to test it in the kit I got.
Magnesium - See Above
gH - Should I test this? I cant find info on what a good range would be for it
kH - See above
Iron - I didnt test for this but could if needed.

So what do you guys think I should do to get my corals to start responding better to their environment? I see my calcium is below the ideal conditions and I could look at dosing that, but everything else seems adequate

[kien]

Originally Posted by Eb0la11

Alkalinity - How do I test for this? There wasnt a way to test it in the kit I got.
Magnesium - See Above

They sell test kits for both of these tests. Just about every test kit manufacturer has their own and your favourite LFS should have one. Might want to call to check stock first thought as these kits seem to always be out of stock or have low stocking for some reason.

[Bloodasp]

alkalinity is your kh. At least that's what I think it is. GH is more for fresh water.

[Eb0la11]

Originally Posted by Bloodasp

alkalinity is your kh. At least that's what I think it is. GH is more for fresh water.

Can anyone else verify this?

[Eb0la11]

So Im just doing some reading about how Alkalinity Calcium and Magnesium levels all kinda need to be balanced and therefore you cant just up say the calcium right now (or so thats how Ive interpreted this article Im reading)

So I was wondering if you guys can give me an example of how the numbers might change for all three if I dosed just calcium. Would alk and mg go down or how does it work exactly?

What do you add to the water to up or lower any of the three levels? Whats the easiest way to add, as well? Do I need some kind of dosing system? Could I use my ATO to dose once I get my levels correct? just add my dosages in proportion to a 5g bucket that would auto top off the system during evaporation?

[Eb0la11]

Bump