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pixie
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Posted 2/18/2013 6:02:39 PM
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Group: Forum Members
Last Active: 2/26/2013 4:18:37 PM
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I'm an experienced reef keeper starting what is basically a new tank with my old live rock and sand. I've been keeping reef tanks for 13 years.
Right now I'm trying to not dose Kalk at night just to patch my pH problem. It will drop to 7.9 at night without dosing. It will come up to only about 8.05 by the end of the day.
I did 3-4 water changes last month.
Feb 6th
Calcium 425
pH in the morning 7.95
Mg 1245
dKH 11
Ammonia 0, Nitrates 2-3
I was dosing Marine Buffer 8.3 to try to bring it up to 8.0 in the morning. Now I have to add even more because it's 7.9 in the morning. But, as you can see this isn't a solution either because my dKH rose to 15.
Feb 14th
Calcium 400
dKH 15
Mg 1200
pH at night now is 7.9
It's 140 Gallons. 40 hermit crabs, 4 urchins, 5 peppermint shrimp, 1 Tang, 1 Rabbitfish. A few coral frags. Lots of coraline algae, not every surface, but at least 50%.
1500 GPH of circulation. with plenty of surface turbulence.
800W metal halide lighting.
12 hours of light time every day.
Phosphate reactor.
Protein skimmer
1/2 HP chiller keeping it at 77 F.
No_ calcium reactor.
Strontium is somewhere around 5-10. My test kit is very hard to use. I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in that range though.
Any ideas? I've run this by all the shops here in town and they have no suggestions.
Thanks!
-- Rick
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argi
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Posted 2/19/2013 2:25:14 PM
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Group: Administrators
Last Active: 9 hours ago
Posts: 7,157,
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What are you using to test the pH?
Low pH can sometimes be caused by high CO2 levels, especially during the wintertime when houses are closed up most of the time. If you live in a cold climate that could be part of the problem.
You could try using a product by Two Little Fishies that is suppose to help with that:
Two Little Fishies CDX Carbon Dioxide Adsorption System
________________________________________________
Keith
"Simply put, you believe that things or people make you unhappy, but this is not accurate. You make yourself unhappy." Wayne Dyer
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pixie
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Posted 2/20/2013 8:22:07 PM
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Group: Forum Members
Last Active: 2/26/2013 4:18:37 PM
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Thanks Keith.
I'll give it a shot.
I'm using the ReefKeeper Lite. And my eyes. The corals tend to not like 7.9 so they don't look as happy.
I live in Texas and my windows are almost never closed. My house tends to retain heat even in the winter thanks to the Texas sun. It's summer when the house is sealed for three months at least.
-- Rick
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argi
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Posted 2/20/2013 8:38:20 PM
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Group: Administrators
Last Active: 9 hours ago
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Have you tried calibrating the probe to make sure it is ok?
I have run tanks where my pH always stayed around 7.9-8.1 and the corals didn't seem to mind it.
What are you dosing to keep up with the calcium demand in the tank?
________________________________________________
Keith
"Simply put, you believe that things or people make you unhappy, but this is not accurate. You make yourself unhappy." Wayne Dyer
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pixie
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Posted 2/21/2013 10:29:52 PM
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Group: Forum Members
Last Active: 2/26/2013 4:18:37 PM
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I just calibrated my pH probe. It's correct.
I'm using Turbo Calcium and Super Buffer dKH from Kent.
I am considering switching to Kalk+2. It sounds like a good product. But, if it doesn't keep everything in balance then it's not worth it.
I'm in the middle of adding a sump. I'm thinking maybe all the extra churning will help with aeration. I'll let you know.
-- Rick
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pixie
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Posted 2/26/2013 4:30:33 PM
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Group: Forum Members
Last Active: 2/26/2013 4:18:37 PM
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I wanted to wait to see if this is a fluke or if I really did fix it. My pH jumped to exactly 8.2 the morning after I installed the sump.
I added the sump with about 700gph of flow. It's a 30 gallon sump.
For the past 5 days my pH has been 8.2 - 8.24 in the morning and 8.28 - 8.30 in the evening. Perfect in other words.
I've been struggling to keep my calcium up with just Turbo Calcium. I'm going to add the Kalk+2 doser soon. I'm losing only about 0.5 dKH a day so I can't justify a calcium reactor yet.
Right now:
Mg 1170
dKH 13
Cal 362
pH 8.2 - 8.3
So, the conclusion is no matter how much perturbation you get on the surface it isn't nearly as efficient in terms of aeration as dropping the water 5 feet and pumping it back. The tank is definitely more noisy than it was, but I guess I'll live with that.
Happy reef days are back.
-- Rick
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