DKoKoMan's 150g Reef Tank

[DKoKoMan]

Thanks Amber! Ya I am so happy I was able to replace the mate and that my female accepted the onyx. I was worried because she is so big and has had her previous mate for 3 years. All seems to be well. I will definitely take more photographs as things progress.

[DKoKoMan]

I finally got a hold of a blue Maxima Clam and took the plunge buying it. It has only been in the tank for less then a week. This is the best photo I could take of it at the moment.

[DKoKoMan]

Ok so yesterday I did water tests for Alk / Cal / Mag / PO4. I had received my new Hanna Alk and PO4 checkers. I also received a Salifert Calcium test kit. The following results came back:

ALK: 12dKH (Hanna)
CAL: 500ppm (Salifert)
MAG: 1350ppm (Red Sea)
PO4: 0.16ppm (Hanna)

I had been previously using the Red Sea Reef Test kits which indicated the following:

ALK: 11.5dKH
CAL: 460ppm
MAG: 1380ppm

PO4: 0.25ppm (API)

My doser is set to deliver 15ml - ALK (twice a day), 15ml - CAL (twice a day) a total of 30ml each. I have a bunch of frags, LPS, clam etc. So I didn't think I was dosing too much. I have since reduced my dosing to a total of 10ml of both ALK and CAL delivered twice. Hopefully the levels drop a bit as this is way higher the. I expected.

My ideal parameters are:

ALK: 8.5-9dKH
CAL: 420-450ppm
MAG: 1350ppm

PO4: 0.03ppm or slightly higher.

I am currently using IO - Reef Crystals and have been at the beginning of my 75g. Is it unrealistic to get the ALK / CAL levels down with this salt? Any recommendations on moving forward. I feel like these new parameters are pushing the high end of the limits, although my sps haven't had any STN or RTN. I don't want to have large fluctuations in water parameters.

I currently do biweekly water changes (30g which is about 25%). Even without dosing anything I think the RC will push me outside my desired parameters. Looking forward to some responses from the seasoned reefers here on Canreef.

Thanks!

[DKoKoMan]

Also I am running a mixed Reef, primarily SPS frags with some LPS and Zoas.

[tang daddy]

What's the po4 and no3 reading.

Typically if those above are higher more alk and ca won't hurt the tank.

If your alk is that high your sps is probably not consuming enough alk, this could be due to a couple reasons... when po4 is high sps has a harder time soaking up bicarb but if the alk and nutrients are high then they are able to use it up.

I usually run alk at 8.5-9.5 and po4 is higher like .17 to .25 I notice alk is depleted slower so I dose about 80ml per day but when po4 is dropped below 10 then alk is 95ml per day....

Mind you ca is over 500 and mg over 1600.

[DKoKoMan]

I recently tested PO4 at 0.16ppm but will have to get a new test kit for nitrate. I definitely agree that with the higher levels I'm not seeing my corals bothered by the higher values. I do want to get them more in the mid range levels. Do you think this can be achieved with biweekly water changes using RC? I am down to my lay pails (one opened and one full) so I can definitely transition to a different salt.

The draw for Alk/Cal on your tank makes sense to me from looking at your photos. I definitely don't have any ALK or CAL precipitating out. I will test the nitrate hopefully tomorrow. I'm due for my WC tomorrow as well so I can test the values later on. Thanks for the information tang daddy, hopefully I can get a handle on this.

[Myka]

An option for you would be to switch to regular IO and add some muriatic acid to it to bring down the KH (best to let it mix overnight after to let the pH come back up). IO has low Ca and Mg, so those numbers would slowly fall, then once they do you can add Ca and Mg to the freshly mixed IO to target specific numbers.

OR...switch to a salt that matches your desired parameters right out of the bucket. H2Ocean is very close to your ideal parameters you listed.

[DKoKoMan]

Thanks for the options Myka. I was considering switching to AF salt but I am definitely leaning toward getting a salt with the lower parameters. I will have to see if any of the LFS sell H2Ocean salt.

[DKoKoMan]

I ended up making an egg crate stand for my skimmer (2 inches) in height. My baffle in the skimmer compartment is set at 10" which is the max for my IceCap skimmer. I decided that I would have more wiggle room for adjusting the skimmate. I added a picture, nothing fancy but it will do the trick.

[tang daddy]

I tested af reefsalt kh of newly made water and it was at 9.6,I thought it would be lower so I've been buffering it up with 1 tbsp of sodium carbonate.... guess that was a mistake.... always test your newly made salt to make sure kh is what you think it is!