Otakuthugster
Guest
March '21 update:
Paused dosing NeoNitro and feeding HPD. Nitrates slowly crept past 20ppm, and the PO4 introduced by the HPD mix (likely from the ReefChile) was a pain to manage. I tried lanthium chloride, which was detected in my latest ICP. So, I stopped that and switched to passive flow GFO, which ended up being such a chore to maintain and get the right amount of depletion without a huge drop. I've found that decreasing the fuge photoperiod is more than adequate at keeping NO3 at a suitable level -- so that's that.
Regarding lighting, I've increased the T5 photoperiod (all B+) to 11hrs, which equals 10hrs of max intensity when combined with the Radion peak.
As far as blunders, I was excited to see a huge uptake in Alk consumption over the past couple of months -- more than double my previous dosing volumes. However, the visual, observable growth did not match the consumption numbers. I ended up finding what looked like white slime near my return pump and heater and freaked out. Upon cleaning, I noticed it was a hard substance rather than slime: Inorganic coral skeleton growth, folks. Realizing the removal of my home-grown coral would create a spike in my alk, I had to drop my dosing and monitor alk values closely over the past couple of days. So far so good, but my alk spiked by 1dKH over a day. Crossing fingers that I don't have any aftereffects from this.
Paused dosing NeoNitro and feeding HPD. Nitrates slowly crept past 20ppm, and the PO4 introduced by the HPD mix (likely from the ReefChile) was a pain to manage. I tried lanthium chloride, which was detected in my latest ICP. So, I stopped that and switched to passive flow GFO, which ended up being such a chore to maintain and get the right amount of depletion without a huge drop. I've found that decreasing the fuge photoperiod is more than adequate at keeping NO3 at a suitable level -- so that's that.
Regarding lighting, I've increased the T5 photoperiod (all B+) to 11hrs, which equals 10hrs of max intensity when combined with the Radion peak.
As far as blunders, I was excited to see a huge uptake in Alk consumption over the past couple of months -- more than double my previous dosing volumes. However, the visual, observable growth did not match the consumption numbers. I ended up finding what looked like white slime near my return pump and heater and freaked out. Upon cleaning, I noticed it was a hard substance rather than slime: Inorganic coral skeleton growth, folks. Realizing the removal of my home-grown coral would create a spike in my alk, I had to drop my dosing and monitor alk values closely over the past couple of days. So far so good, but my alk spiked by 1dKH over a day. Crossing fingers that I don't have any aftereffects from this.
