Reef Discussion

[potatocouch]

It's Friday :D

Happy Friday, folks!!!

As per @slin1977 suggestion, I am opening this thread to understand what's the trend these days among Reefugers for the following:

• What is your tank dominance? SPS, LPS, NPS or mixed?
  
  
• What is your target for Mg, Alk, Ca, No3 & Po4?
  • by target, I mean you may not at this level but you're certainly chasing these numbers.

• In what order do you dose to increase/decrease the above elements? Perhaps you group them by day & night dosing?
  • Mg then Alk then Ca then Carbon?
  • Alk then Mg then Ca then Carbon?
  • Ca then Carbon then Mg then Alk?
  • and so on?

• What's your WC schedule?
  • Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly, Never, Whenever You Feel Like It (WYFLI) ?

By assumption, you guys are aiming for 1.026 SG .. if not, state otherwise.

 

[RobbieMVFC]

I'll play
SPS tank
Targets ALK 7.5 Cal 420 MAG 1400-1450 p04 0.03 - 0.07
Dosing by CALRX done between 6am till midnight
WC ....105 PCM if I am lucky more like WYFLI
Carbon & GFO used when needed.
My next tank that should be set up within a month will be carbon dosed ( AF or Zeo)

 

[potatocouch]

Hmmm very slow thread for Friday :)

I shall chime in

Dominance: LPS tank
Targets: Alk 12 Ca 450 Mg 1350-140 No3 0 - 5 ppm
Dosing sequence: Mg then Alk then Ca then Carbon.
WC: Fortnightly ... it looks like it's going to become Monthly soon.

 

[Buddy]

• What is your tank dominance? LPS, clams
  
• What is your target for Mg 1250, Alk 7.5, Ca 420, No3 <5 & Po4 <0.08

• In what order do you dose to increase/decrease the above elements? Auto doser. Alk during the day. Vinegar a few times per 24hr. Water changes for other parameters.

• What's your WC schedule?
  • Continuous. New water in and old water out every 10 minutes for a total of 100L per week which is 10%

 

[Wazza22]

Dominance: LPS tank
Targets: Alk 9 currently 8, Ca 450 currently over 500, Mg 1300 currently 1300, No3 under 5 ppm Currently at 0 and has never registered in the 12 months of setup, PO4 under .03 currently .049
Dosing sequence: At This stage Kalk in ATO and currently Seachem Alk in small doses 1-2 times a week as my Alk got low at 7.
WC: 200L (20%) Fortnightly with NSW

Note, As a new setup all Corals put in are Frags so not big consumers yet. I'm aiming for a grown in tank setup (from frag to Beast in tank)
Biggest coral i currently have is an Yellow Tip Elegance that is 10cm long at the skeletal base and around 20cm in diameter

 

[slin1977]

SPS zoa tank. About 350liter!!!
Target water params
Kh7 range 6.5 to 7.7
Magnesium 1800 (sitting on 1800 for 6 months with no problem.
Ca 420 range 420-430
NO3 target 5 range 0-10
Phos target 0.03 range 0.00 -0.08
Salinity target 1.025 range 1.024 -1.026
Temp 25 range 23-27
Potassium 430 - range 420 to 450
Water change target 40liter per week range 0-60
Lighting 2 x39watt T5 2hours
8x39watt T5 8hours 2x39watt 2hours

Dosing 2 drop lugols every other day
Iodine target 0.03 range 0 -0.06
Dose iodide solution 2ml -5ml weekly
4 drop sponge power daily
4 drop amino acid daily
2ml 1:1 Koral colour Salifert trace hard every other day.
Dose nitrate to raise tank water by 10ppm daily = 2ml solution
Dose phosphate to raise tank water by 1ppm =1 ml solution
No carbon dosing , just skimmer , bag of activated charcoal and Siporax media.

 

[Lesley]

Mixed
Target (held mostly )
Sal 1.026
Mag 1250
Alk 8.3
Cal 420
Nitrate <0.03
Phos <0.03

Randy recipe
Dose 46ml cal uneven hours (12 doses ) daily

Dose 52ml alk even hours (12 doses ) daily

Mag 35ml half past the hour 10 doses
Daily

Wc 300ltr ever 21 to 30 days

 

[Wazza22]

SPS zoa tank. About 350liter!!!
Target water params
Kh7 range 6.5 to 7.7
Magnesium 1800 (sitting on 1800 for 6 months with no problem.
Ca 420 range 420-430
NO3 target 5 range 0-10
Phos target 0.03 range 0.00 -0.08
Salinity target 1.025 range 1.024 -1.026
Temp 25 range 23-27
Potassium 430 - range 420 to 450
Water change target 40liter per week range 0-60
Lighting 2 x39watt T5 2hours
8x39watt T5 8hours 2x39watt 2hours

Dosing 2 drop lugols every other day
Iodine target 0.03 range 0 -0.06
Dose iodide solution 2ml -5ml weekly
4 drop sponge power daily
4 drop amino acid daily
2ml 1:1 Koral colour Salifert trace hard every other day.
Dose nitrate to raise tank water by 10ppm daily = 2ml solution
Dose phosphate to raise tank water by 1ppm =1 ml solution
No carbon dosing , just skimmer , bag of activated charcoal and Siporax media.

Have been looking at Amino Acids, how do you find the corals response to them?
Must be doing something if your sticking with them right?

 

[gtrxu1]

Mixed - LPS, Softs, SPS Frags
Targets - ALK - 7.3 CALC - 420 - MAG - 1300
Currently dosing 3ML of ALK and 3ML of CALC spread across 6 doses in 24 hours.
MAG is 2ML per day currently but I will be upping it soon as I noticed a bit of a drop last night when I tested it.
No3po4-x currently on 2ml per day spread accross 4 doses in 24 hours.
5 drops of Seachem Nitrate per day.
3 drops of Sponge Power per day
2 drops of Amino every 2-3 days
3 drops of Coral Vitalizer every 2-3 days

Last water change was about 60L 8 weeks ago, I try not to do them.

 

[slin1977]

Have been looking at Amino Acids, how do you find the corals response to them?
Must be doing something if your sticking with them right?

Hello @Wazza22 - with low nutrient SPS can go pale , spent a few months getting to know my frags and how they respond, not saying I understand them however can say that it takes about three weeks to see the effect of a new dosing routine.
Amino are an important part of the colour code. I find yellow is a particular hard colour to encourage and maintain. Amino has deepened my yellows and even brought out red in one of the most challenging frags I have.
Perhaps the problem I have had in the past is sticking to routine and chopping and changing things around.

 

[potatocouch]

Last water change was about 60L 8 weeks ago, I try not to do them.

This I like !

I know few reefers (in the USA) do actually have a fully working thriving system without even doing WC.

 

[slin1977]

This I like !

I know few reefers (in the USA) do actually have a fully working thriving system without even doing WC.

This concept of no water changes would require a complete understanding of chemistry to the point where you understand chemical equations ,covalent and ionic balance.
Take a look at a periodic table to see how facinating elements are ,where they sit and how they react with each other. You see , adding calcium or magnesium to your tank is basically causing a chemical reaction. Think of it like creating a soup , you can't cook a soup forever, there will come a time when it gets spoilt.

 

[gtrxu1]

I'm not "one of those guys" who doesn't ever do them, I do like the idea of less frequent changes though. Seems to work well for me we'll see how it goes over time.

 

[Wazza22]

This I like !

I know few reefers (in the USA) do actually have a fully working thriving system without even doing WC.

Ever heard of the DSR (Dutch Synthetic Reefing) system?
http://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-dsr-method-dutch-synthetic-reefing.162872/
This method requires meticulous testing and monitoring to add required levels of various additives, imo basically you replace the annoyance of water changes with testing and dosing for everything :)
It clearly can work as if you see the pics of these tanks they are amazing.
Like slin1977 was alluding to, it's all about chemical balance and this guy seem to have found the sweet spot for reefing

For me personally water changes with NSW just give me a greater peace of mind and i dont have to test everything.
I've set up my water changes to be simple siphon out and pump in, so not moving water between places manually.

If water changes are to big of a chore then this could be looked at but really need to be careful and get a good understanding of his thread.

 

[Wazza22]

Hello @Wazza22 - with low nutrient SPS can go pale , spent a few months getting to know my frags and how they respond, not saying I understand them however can say that it takes about three weeks to see the effect of a new dosing routine.
Amino are an important part of the colour code. I find yellow is a particular hard colour to encourage and maintain. Amino has deepened my yellows and even brought out red in one of the most challenging frags I have.
Perhaps the problem I have had in the past is sticking to routine and chopping and changing things around.

Thanks for the response, can i ask which product you recommend?
Red Sea A and B are available from my LFS as well as the Zeovit brand (little blue bottles, cant remember the brand name)

 

[slin1977]

Thanks for the response, can i ask which product you recommend?
Red Sea A and B are available from my LFS as well as the Zeovit brand (little blue bottles, cant remember the brand name)

I use
Zeovit Amino Acid
I will try Aquaforest amino next time