victoly

I've had them compare close, and I've had them pretty far off. It's inconsistent in comparison. Alk isn't a finite parameter like pH or temperature. There are a several speciations of "alk" involved, and in marine analysis, it's even more complicated because of other interdependent parameters. It'd be great if we could just use the little color changing bulbs like you can use in FW aquaria to indicate CO2.

No, no ability to evaporate. I was just thinking that maybe it wasn't mixed enough and kind of settled into a hyperconcentrated layer, although your point is well taken. You would think that there would be a gradual increase instead of a quantum leap at the end of the container. I'll turn my dosing back on tomorrow once it gets back down where i like it and see how a days worth of dosing affects the tank.

My guess right now is that I just have concentrated alk solution.

It's cute that you think I have a sump. My pumps feed directly into the DT.

There is some evidence that the hanna reads high because of a shortcoming in the analytical method. I haven't had a chance to confirm this by taking it to a lab (i use them enough, they owe me ). This is somewhat confirmed by doing the salifert titration.

"OK, this is what happen. Dana did not use seawater stds for testing ALk. That means his HACH plots are ~ 10% low. If we add that 10 % to the HACH and look at the HANNA plots the HANNA is on avg is ~ 18 % to high. So, that means take the HANNA reading x .82.

Ex.

HANNA reads 200 ppm

200 x .82 = ~164 ppm corrected ruffly to fit our target range. Look at the plot where it is 200 ppm on the HACH, add 10 % = 220. The HANNA is ~ 265 ppm, a 45 ppm off-set.

265 x .82 = 217.3 ppm close to that 220 ppm

This NOT how we should have to do things For me, after talking to Habib, the Sailfert should be our ref std till shown otherwise. I will add, Alk is NOT an easy measurement in seawater. If using a Salifert you need to follow the instructions Exactly to get the proper reading."

For instance, my last raw alk reading was 208 ppm or 11.6 dKH. Corrected (0.82*raw value) = 171 ppm or 9.55 dKH. When I tested against salifert alk, i get 11.1 dkH (198 ppm). My personal readings aren't quite the 0.82x conversion, but somewhere in between.

Side note, my alk yesterday (raw) was 198 down from 208 the day before, 10 ppm consumption in one day. That makes me think it wasn't a bulb change thing, or anything else. Because my daily alk consumption is in line with normal, i think there's something making my dosers overdose. I haven't changed my dose rate in months, and i'm not sure what type of mechanical failure would make the dosers pump MORE solution.

It's been chopped. We'll see how the surgery went.

I haven't had time yet. I'm probably gonna cut it up and superglue the frags.

My other thought was that maybe my alk container is getting low and the stuff in the bottom is more concentrated than a fresh solution of the stuff. Now I'll need to put my hanna mixing plates under my solution containers and mix daily.

cuttin it close there buddy

WEIRDEST THING is happening. My alk went ape-poop and shot up to 210/172 raw/corrected (from about 150 corrected i normally run at) ppm for no apparent reason. Only abnormal tank change I've made in months was to replace my radium. Not sure if it's causative or happenstance, Either way, shut the old alk pump off for a while. It'll give me a good chance to gauge consumption. Only victim is one of my favorite acros Pink tip i got from rory is STN's like a mother (see 1st picture above). PE's like crazy on top, bleaching from the bottom.

Richard does kalk AND 2 part AND CaRx.

Slightly above average.

Since I've had to redo the left side aquascape chasing the one lone aiptasia, the new positioning of cyphastrea face makes him look even more ominous in that corner over there. Sitting there and judging me... mocking me whenever I screw something up... I'm watching you too Mr. Cyphastrea face! You're not better than me!

If only there was a creature capable of consuming these aiptasia...

Sorry rory. That'd be a bad day to see $100 bucks get eaten, and have it not be you with a nice steak.

OK, so, we're at 19 total for 4 people. If we split shipping, it's 12.5 per person plus berghia cost. I'm game to do it either way, with my preference being to do it sooner than later.

"

Please keep in mind there are times when creatures considered "reef safe" do not act as expected. But, generally speaking, the creatures below are those you should be most concerned about when adding Berghia.

Any fish that aggressively hunts the live rock at night for food other than algae, including some Wrasses, Butterflyfish and some Dottybacks. It's hard to predict fish behavior. As a general rule if your fish spends a lot of time "hunting" your reef on a regular basis, especially at night, it is suspect for hunting Berghia.

Shrimp that scavenge at night: Peppermint shrimp are the worst, also Coral Banded shrimp and possibly Camel shrimp (does not include Cleaner or Fire shrimp).

Aggressive crabs that scavenge for food: Sally Lightfoot crabs, Arrow crabs, Pom Pom crabs, live rock crab hitchhikers and Emerald crabs that have no algae to eat (does not include Emerald crabs with algae available to eat or any Hermit crabs).

Also, Aiptasia may eat a Berghia nudibranch if it is accidentally dropped directly into the Aiptasias mouth area. So be careful when adding them to your tank."

lollllll.

WPG is kind of a crummy metric with the advent of economical LEDs in reefing. PAR is a better way to measure. A clip on LED (33w) is definitely sufficient for a 30g, depending on the optics and whether or not it will fully spread to cover the footprint of the tank.

I think i got this from clint.

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Sea-ARE21515-Saltwater-Aquarium/dp/B006L48N1C/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1424116215&sr=1-1&keywords=red+sea+colors+test+kit

Same one as here. Never really used it, should still be plenty of reagents left for all tests.

Okie Doke. We're probably not gonna make the minimum, so everyone just distribute the shipping (50) per their percentage of the order. Reduce your numbers also (rob) if you'd like.

Fair enough. I'd like to get this closed up by tuesday, mid day, so that I can order tuesday night, ships wednesday, pick up thursday.

Can you go ahead and tell the other board members the equipment you run on that gateway tank? It's enough to run a much larger tank easily.

Maybe a 60 cube. No return pump though. And then I'd need a sump and a CaRx.

I've had a gateway tank for three years now. It is possible.

I bet Ty has some aiptasia he needs to get rid of. I think I heard they eat velvet too.