A Couple Of Useful Resources
The first: Ionic Balance.
I was looking for some info on ionic balance because I am pretty laissez faire when it comes to adding calc/mag/strontium/alk. I know what my levels are roughly, and have always been sporadic in my dosing- sometimes I just "dump it in". I know you're all screaming in horror... I have recently tried to be very regular in my dosing intervals and routines. I have had some fabulous growth and put this down to good habits and correct ionic balance of elements. The other night I put some bicarbonate in and then tested the next day to see what the "balance" was with calc and mag according to this chart. Well! My calc is about 25% higher than it ought to be compared to Alk, mag wasn't quite so high. I found it helpful and then had to try to calculate the amount of Alk I would need to add to create the correct ionic balance again. It would be great if there was some magical thing that does it all for you- if there is, it inevitably costs $1000- so I will use this handy chart for now!
http://www.reefgrow.com/tag/ionic-balance/
Secondly: Aquarimate App.
Yes, it costs money. Once you get over paying $15 for an app- the fact that it can do so much to help you manage your investment of many thousands of dollars is but a grain of sand in the ocean.
I found a review (http://www.madhattersreef.com/top-5-aquarium-app/) of several apps and liked the sound of the number 1:
Aquarium app #1 Aquaimate by WiseLogic Inc. The most expensive aquarium app on our list but it also is the aquarium app with the highest reviews. A must have app to maintain your awesome thriving aquariums! Designed to manage both Freshwater and Saltwater aquariums! Includes a very comprehensive livestock library of both Freshwater and Saltwater fish, coral, invertebrate and plant species. When it comes to maintaining our aquariums, we all want to stay organized and perform the routine husbandry tasks properly. After all, this is the key to success in maintaining any aquariums.
Features:
• Manage multiple aquariums separately,
• Record your parameter test results,
• Customize parameters for each tank by adding or removing parameters to your need,
• Easily convert measurements in different units and calculate the required dosing with the advanced unit converters and dosing calculators,
• Use the count-down timer to perform timed tests easier,
• Analyze your tank parameters along with your activities with beautiful, fullscreen and touch responsive graphs,
• Plot results of multiple parameters along with your husbandry activities all in one chart,
• Create your husbandry tasks and set reminders for them with an advanced scheduling system,
• Track your activities integrated with tasks and reminders,
• Keep all your notes organized in the searchable Notes section,
• Find information about your Freshwater & Saltwater livestock in Aquaribase,
• Import and save your livestock information from Aquaribase for each tank,
• Add your favorite livestock to the built-in wish list directly from Aquaribase,
• Visually keep track of tank inhabitants with Timelines,
• Analyze the progress of your livestock, along with your logged activities and test results, with Timelines,
• Store your tank equipment,
• Keep track of your expenses,
• Create photo galleries and organize all your photos in different albums,
• Backup & restore your app data wirelessly on Aquarimate Cloud.
Link
Cost: $9.99 (US)
The fact that the app has this huge index of fish and coral with pictures that you can select to keep your own record of your tank inhabitants and specimens is itself worth a great deal. It's awesome to have access to names of corals that can do easily slip your mind, as well as the ability to date when they first went into your tank... with the ability to do the same thing with hardware too, it really is a valuable tool for keeping stuff in one place.
I hope someone somewhere finds this helpful sometime. <3
I was looking for some info on ionic balance because I am pretty laissez faire when it comes to adding calc/mag/strontium/alk. I know what my levels are roughly, and have always been sporadic in my dosing- sometimes I just "dump it in". I know you're all screaming in horror... I have recently tried to be very regular in my dosing intervals and routines. I have had some fabulous growth and put this down to good habits and correct ionic balance of elements. The other night I put some bicarbonate in and then tested the next day to see what the "balance" was with calc and mag according to this chart. Well! My calc is about 25% higher than it ought to be compared to Alk, mag wasn't quite so high. I found it helpful and then had to try to calculate the amount of Alk I would need to add to create the correct ionic balance again. It would be great if there was some magical thing that does it all for you- if there is, it inevitably costs $1000- so I will use this handy chart for now!
http://www.reefgrow.com/tag/ionic-balance/
Secondly: Aquarimate App.
Yes, it costs money. Once you get over paying $15 for an app- the fact that it can do so much to help you manage your investment of many thousands of dollars is but a grain of sand in the ocean.
I found a review (http://www.madhattersreef.com/top-5-aquarium-app/) of several apps and liked the sound of the number 1:
Aquarium app #1 Aquaimate by WiseLogic Inc. The most expensive aquarium app on our list but it also is the aquarium app with the highest reviews. A must have app to maintain your awesome thriving aquariums! Designed to manage both Freshwater and Saltwater aquariums! Includes a very comprehensive livestock library of both Freshwater and Saltwater fish, coral, invertebrate and plant species. When it comes to maintaining our aquariums, we all want to stay organized and perform the routine husbandry tasks properly. After all, this is the key to success in maintaining any aquariums.
Features:
• Manage multiple aquariums separately,
• Record your parameter test results,
• Customize parameters for each tank by adding or removing parameters to your need,
• Easily convert measurements in different units and calculate the required dosing with the advanced unit converters and dosing calculators,
• Use the count-down timer to perform timed tests easier,
• Analyze your tank parameters along with your activities with beautiful, fullscreen and touch responsive graphs,
• Plot results of multiple parameters along with your husbandry activities all in one chart,
• Create your husbandry tasks and set reminders for them with an advanced scheduling system,
• Track your activities integrated with tasks and reminders,
• Keep all your notes organized in the searchable Notes section,
• Find information about your Freshwater & Saltwater livestock in Aquaribase,
• Import and save your livestock information from Aquaribase for each tank,
• Add your favorite livestock to the built-in wish list directly from Aquaribase,
• Visually keep track of tank inhabitants with Timelines,
• Analyze the progress of your livestock, along with your logged activities and test results, with Timelines,
• Store your tank equipment,
• Keep track of your expenses,
• Create photo galleries and organize all your photos in different albums,
• Backup & restore your app data wirelessly on Aquarimate Cloud.
Link
Cost: $9.99 (US)
The fact that the app has this huge index of fish and coral with pictures that you can select to keep your own record of your tank inhabitants and specimens is itself worth a great deal. It's awesome to have access to names of corals that can do easily slip your mind, as well as the ability to date when they first went into your tank... with the ability to do the same thing with hardware too, it really is a valuable tool for keeping stuff in one place.
I hope someone somewhere finds this helpful sometime. <3
