Reef nutrition

Tank Journal : Converting Fresh water to a Saltwater Tank

Saw this critter today, what is it and should it be removed? There are a couple of them.
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A few more mistakes on my lists of mistakes :).

For the past couple of weeks, I've been monitoring the Alk, Cal, Mag. I noticed that my Cal and Mag never dropped below (500/1500). Alk was the only thing that I could measure the drop. Over the past week Alk has been dropping at 5ML a week, and I was able to sustain 8.3-8.6 dosing 5ML of Red sea foundation B. (Happy Days)

Made a new batch of IO and mixed it to 1.025. I was reading that I should test the source water before. I was thinking maybe I had a bad batch of IO where the Calcium/Mag was insanely high. (New IO reading at 1.025 ALK=13.7, Cal=650, Mag=1875).

The numbers were way off what I read IO should be at 1.025 or 1.026. Started reading about refractometers and calibration. This morning, I calibrated the refractometer to RO/DI water, and 1.025 was really 1.030. :-(

There been a discussion of calibrating RO water vs using calibration fluid at 35ppt... which I'm still reading.
 
I want to touch on your refractometer issues.

There are a lot of problems with refractometers. Calibrating to rodi is not a great idea since refractometers have a narrow window of accuracy. I've also had bad calibration solution that caused me to run my tank at 1.021 for months. I didn't find out until my ICP test results.

My friend has a digital refractometer whose reading match my test result so I use his tank as calibration if I think things are changing.
 
I agree, if you can get some testing solution it would be better. Even if you have a friend’s tank that you can test against would be better imo.
 
This is kinda funny, I can see why people quit the hobby.

Refractometer
  • needs to be calibrated with solution and not RO/DI
  • solution maybe off, need to check with another device or a friend.
  • possibly need another device like an IceCap to test that the first device (refractometer) readings are correct.

On a side note, interesting conversation I had with my pump store/manufacturer.

me: "the pump i ordered is not working, making some cranking noise"
store: "Did you put the pump in the water?"
me: "of course I did, how else should I turn it on?"
store: "If the pump touches the water, we can not take it back, you need to talk to the manufacturer"
me: "ok"

me: "the pump I ordered doesn't work, making a cranking sound"
manufacturer: "Did you put the pump in the water?"
me: "of course I did, how else should I turn it on?"
manufacturer: "you will need to send it in"
me: ok

pump sent in: had to pay UPS for delivery
manufacturer: "pump is broken"
me: "yeah it sure is"
manufacturer: "we opened it up and it's completely smashed inside"
me: "I have no idea what it looks like inside, i had it for a few days and was in the water for 5 minutes"
manufacturer: "I'm sorry we can't honor the warranty", but if you wanted us to fix , it would be $XXX.

Overall, there is something fishy about the industry in general. :)

Oh Yeah, forgot to add: I'm going to go get some calibration fluid and an Ice Cap. Seems like I love the abuse.
 
What pump is that? I don’t know why the manufacturer wouldn’t honor a return like that. I’m kind of surprised that the store wouldn’t take it back. They would just send it back to the vendor. That’s a shame.
 
I agree, I’d like to know what manufacturer wouldn’t honor their warranty so I can avoid them.

So far in the many years I’ve been reefing, I have not had manufacturers be unreasonable about returns/replacements/repairs. But I intentionally stick to companies with good reputations as much as I can, even if it costs more. Vote with your dollars as they say, and I vote for good customer service.
 
I agree, I’d like to know what manufacturer wouldn’t honor their warranty so I can avoid them.

So far in the many years I’ve been reefing, I have not had manufacturers be unreasonable about returns/replacements/repairs. But I intentionally stick to companies with good reputations as much as I can, even if it costs more. Vote with your dollars as they say, and I vote for good customer service.

This happened before I was a member of BAR, and didn't know too much about reef forums. I'm pretty sure if I said, "I'll post it on the forums", there would have been a different result or said "I'm a member of the Forums". To be fair, the store did call me back after a couple of weeks and asked what they could do to make things right. And if I would remove my Google/Yelp reviews :). By that time, I was already out I think another hundred+ dollars to fix my new unit.

Just wanted to add..I think I'm a pretty good customer. I've probably tried to return 2 items ever since I started fish keeping.
  • Some clips that I ordered the wrong size, (BRS took them back no questions asked)
  • And the Pump Story.
 
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Refractomer Part II:
  • Went to Neptunes and picked up some calibration fluid.
  • RO water tested at 0.0, and the calibration fluid tested at 1.025 ( Something still isn't right).
  • Luckily I picked up a Milwaukee Tester, RO tested 0.0 and calibration fluid tested at 1.0.26 :)
  • Calibrated the refractometer based on the Milwaukee test of 1.026
Thanks again! You guys are spot on - RO water testing can be way off.
 
Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Parameters : (New Salt Mix)

Salinity ALK Cal MAG
0.025 10.5 580 1470
0.024 9.9 500 1350
0.023 9.3 470 1260

Ideally I would like to stick close to one of these numbers so when I do a water change there is not too much of a swing. Looks like I have a little more reading to do.
 
If I'm looking at this, there is no way for me to hit the optimal parameters if I'm using IO reef crystals?

Took the bottom image from Randy Holmes:
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That’s why there are so many mixes out there. Each one has their idea of what the values should be. Many of the “reef” mixes are higher in alk and Ca. I think their reasoning is that the corals will use it up and you’ll get more in the system by doing water changes. This can work but it’s a constant up and down with the elements. A better approach is to pick a mix that has values that you want and then dose to maintain those values. Then when (or if) you do water changes there’s no swing.
 
Today I got a shipment from tap plastics. Cut out a sheet and placed it between the light and the protein skimmer. Got a chance to clean the sump also. [emoji16]
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Filter Media Cups:

A few months back I purchased those filter media cups for the Red Sea systems. Before purchasing, I read quite a bit on the forums on how in some systems it worked perfectly and how in other systems it overflows. Since I didn't enjoy washing filter socks, I decided to give it a go.

The red filter media was a failure in my system. Basically it would overflow in a couple of hours which made it useless. I tried filling the cup only half way, quarter way, rocks on the bottom, drilled more holes, etc.. but still wasn't good. When the water runs down the sump, then into the media cups, I notice that the first cup would get filled really fast while the second cup lasted longer.

My guess is success/failure of the product might have to do with the flow.

Anyways, a couple of weeks ago I saw Red Sea making their own Media cups, so I bought a pair. At this point there were hardly any reviews so I just purchased it on a limb.

Pros:
  • Cheaper $16.99
  • Bigger
  • Came with a media bag.


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I filled the media cup halfway with the same floss I used with the red media cup. The picture below shows 2 days (48hrs) of filtering and the first cup is not overflowing. For me, this is a success. I'll probably run it longer just to find out how long before overflowing, cause it will.

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Filter Media Cups:

A few months back I purchased those filter media cups for the Red Sea systems. Before purchasing, I read quite a bit on the forums on how in some systems it worked perfectly and how in other systems it overflows. Since I didn't enjoy washing filter socks, I decided to give it a go.
Cool, didn’t know this product existed and it seems like it could be a good alternative to the socks.
 
I buy the big blocks of aquarium foam and cut out 4 1/4” circles that fit snugly in the cups. These catch a lot of detritus and can be reused after rubbing them between your hands under the faucet. I keep 2 extra sets on hand.
 
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