Greg's 75g

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

I tested my tank last week and Elos told my 8.5, but Salifert told me 7.7

Honestly, both values are fine. Bumping from 7.7 to 8.3 isn't going to make a difference.

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Honestly, both values are fine. Bumping from 7.7 to 8.3 isn't going to make a difference.

I agree with you, but, if my tank has been running @ 7.0-7.3, when I thought it was @ 7.7-8.0, it may explain why my corals are only 'spreading'

I am going to bump up my Alk using the Salifert test and see what happens
I'm sure my SPS will be happier as I now feel the Elos kits are giving me false readings

Only time will tell

[mrhasan]

I would trust salifert's reading. Despite having junk hardward (the syringe reading with fade away with use), I love how consistent they are with all the test. I never got any surprises till now from salifert (other than the quality of the 1ml syringe).

Alongside, I don't think 400ppm and 7.7dkh is problematic. That's the exact parameters of my tank. But I am starting zeovit so that's justified. I think its more about the balance of ca-co3 than the magnitude itself; as long as they are within the acceptable range.

Balanced Calcium and Alkalinity: (as per Randy Holmes-Farley)

360 ppm to 0 dKH
370 ppm to 1.4 dKH
380 ppm to 2.8 dKH
390 ppm to 4.2 dKH
400 ppm to 5.6 dKH
410 ppm to 7 dKH (natural seawater)
420 ppm to 8.4 dKH
430 ppm to 9.8 dKH
440 ppm to 11.2 dKH
450 ppm to 12.6 dKH
460 ppm to 14 dKH

When I used to run non-ULNS, I concentrated on keeping my parameters in the correct ratio (11.2dkh and 440ppm was my preference). HTH

[Madreefer]

Don't fiddle Greg. Your parameters are fine and your corals look great.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

Don't fiddle Greg. Your parameters are fine and your corals look great.

Good advice. Leave it alone, the alk isn't going to make a difference. If I test alk, which is rare, I want somewhere around 7 or 8, which translates to anything from 6.5 to 9 is acceptable.

[gregzz4]

Thanks for the advice guys
I'll just carry on as I have been then

[hillegom]

Good thinking

[gregzz4]

After an internal tug-of-war about when to add the new fish from QT, I transferred them from the QT to the DT last Sunday
They were all eating everything I wanted them to, and nobody had any signs of issues, so into the DT they went
For the record, I only QT'd them for 2 weeks, instead of my previous 6 week regimen
I don't recommend 2 weeks for anyone, and encourage all of you to QT your new critters for at least 6 weeks to monitor for anything that may 'pop up'

All the fishies we added looked really good, except for the filamented flasher
It was being picked on by the lubbock's and we were pretty sure it wouldn't make the night
We were right and I found the flasher in the morning with a hermit picking on it
RIP Levi

Beyond that, all has been good
I've had no NH3 readings, nor any NO2 or NO3 for that matter
I'm very surprised as I've doubled my fish load
The only thing I've noticed is some thicker nog and I've tweaked the adjuster on my skimmer to try and get some more goo
After a week, my skimmer is producing more crap relative to the amount of new fish and not overflowing, so all is good

I've brought my PO4 down from 0.24 before the new fishies, to 0.02 after the new additions, so all is under control there
All I did was go back to using the recommended amount of GFO and within 2 weeks it was back to normal
After 1 week of the new fish my PO4 is still only 0.02 - ish so all is good

All the new fish are getting along and have found their night-time locations

Guess I'll have to add some pics soon