MichaelB
Supporting Member
It was .3 not .03 maybe a typo on my part. Salifert always read .3
I've never seen the salifert give any other reading beyond .3 that I can recall.
Biocube 32
- Thread starter MichaelB
- Start date
I've never seen the salifert give any other reading beyond .3 that I can recall.
tribbitt
Supporting Member
In that case the first test that showed substantially higher amounts of phosphate was the day after the CFM with Hanna reading of 1.42 ppm
MichaelB
Supporting Member
I can't say anything major happened that day, and between the prior test, nothing specific to cfm beyond adding the pods, prior a few water changes every week I do it, i've only been off delaying a change by a week twice since I had the tank.
I also should have tested once or twice between those tests u pointed out so missing data that would have helped with a better picture.
Skimmer has been a key issue i spent time earlier this week adjusting it in the water column so it stays skimming 24hrs a day. Before its been hit and miss with it actually slimming.
I will return to better water now that I know it’s a potential issue I won't be adding any without testing it first same as I check for salinity.
I have the Rowaphos I will probably add after the water change thia evening.
Beyond that I will just keep chugging along, with getting elements back in range dosing and getting po4 lower.
Over all tank looks great nothing dire. Just issues with a few key peices of sps that alerted me to this issue.
My recent posts and questions are mainly aimed at being proactive, and heading things off.
I have a much better skimmer, dosing pump, phosban reactor etc. For the 65 gallon tank where I intend to keep mostly sps. So alot of these issues won't be a drastic problem in the near future.
As far as this 32 gallon tank I may even consider adding a smaller sump in the future if I can find one that fits in the stand, and can plumb it without drilling the tank.
All that to say with all the advice and help from members here the future looks very bright in deed.
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MichaelB
Supporting Member
Latest test results.
05/20/2024
(6 hr post water ch/adding rowa phos)
Dosing Daily: 7mil afr, 4mil mag.
Alk - 7.6 hanna
Mag - 1150 salifert
Ca - 390 salifert
Po4 - 0.97 hanna (low range)
P04 - .07 salifert
5/22/2024
Dosing Daily: 7mil afr, 4mil mag.
Alk - 8.0 salifert
Alk - 7.4 hanna
Mag - 1200 salifert
Ca - 390 salifert
Ca - 458 hanna (used rodi not distilled)
Po4 - 1.01 hanna (low range)
P04 - .8 salifert
1. Since using water from Neptunes, I'm seeing rapid improvements in the sps.
2. Since resuming daily dosing I'm seeing new growth on the cali cali tort left side of picture and the green slimer right side of picture. (Center nub is vivid confetti picked up from last CFM.)
3. For the 1st time in 6 months I see what I believe is corline alage starting to grow in multiple places on the rock work, snails, and hermits.
4. The adam bomb hasn't colored up as it was previously but i'm seeing active feeding tenticals when feeding tank.
My General Observations + Thoughts
* P04 is still high, but will test it every few days trying to see effect of the rowa phos and higher quality water for water changes.
** I think may need to slightly increase all for reef dosing maybe from 7mil to 8mil or 9mil daily. (Mag seems to be on the rise with 4mil daily)
It's still early but I think things are starting to return back to normal.
05/20/2024
(6 hr post water ch/adding rowa phos)
Dosing Daily: 7mil afr, 4mil mag.
Alk - 7.6 hanna
Mag - 1150 salifert
Ca - 390 salifert
Po4 - 0.97 hanna (low range)
P04 - .07 salifert
5/22/2024
Dosing Daily: 7mil afr, 4mil mag.
Alk - 8.0 salifert
Alk - 7.4 hanna
Mag - 1200 salifert
Ca - 390 salifert
Ca - 458 hanna (used rodi not distilled)
Po4 - 1.01 hanna (low range)
P04 - .8 salifert
1. Since using water from Neptunes, I'm seeing rapid improvements in the sps.
2. Since resuming daily dosing I'm seeing new growth on the cali cali tort left side of picture and the green slimer right side of picture. (Center nub is vivid confetti picked up from last CFM.)
3. For the 1st time in 6 months I see what I believe is corline alage starting to grow in multiple places on the rock work, snails, and hermits.
4. The adam bomb hasn't colored up as it was previously but i'm seeing active feeding tenticals when feeding tank.
My General Observations + Thoughts
* P04 is still high, but will test it every few days trying to see effect of the rowa phos and higher quality water for water changes.
** I think may need to slightly increase all for reef dosing maybe from 7mil to 8mil or 9mil daily. (Mag seems to be on the rise with 4mil daily)
It's still early but I think things are starting to return back to normal.
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Alexander1312
Supporting Member
I would not bother using the Hanna CA tester. I have this too, but the last three ICP, Salifert was within 5 to 10 ppm aligned. Magnesium however has been reading consistently 100 ppm higher vs ICP, but this can be just considered when using Salifert, as Mag levels are less important as long as not too low.
MichaelB
Supporting Member
Trying to learn to keep things stable, not so much chasing numbers as it may seem at a glance. My whole focus is getting into the ideal range and staying there. This is why I like comparing test results for the bigger picture and observing the cause and effect trends. I want to get things automated at some point. Yet It’s of personal value to me to learn how to manually do it myself first. Hence I haven't tried the dosing pump I have yet.
Alexander1312
Supporting Member
That makes sense. The Hanna CA is a rather annoying tester with steps to get wrong impacting the results and I am not sure if it is worth the effort for what you are trying to accomplish.
MichaelB
Supporting Member
Lmao tell me about it, ive added tank water twice, or rodi water twice, not hard just really have to pay attention and not be distracted. Worst I ever done was screw up 3 times in a row. I got it down now though.
MichaelB
Supporting Member
Todays testing results day before i do the water change tomorrow.
5/27/2024 dosing 7ml daily afr, 4ml mag
Alk 8.1 - salifert
Mag 1125- salifert
Ca 385 - salifert
Po4 0.61 - hanna (low range)
1. Alk seems to be getting back in proper range.
2. Po4 based on this test is low as I seen in in a long time (adjusting skimmer+ adding rowa phos seems effective so far)
* current Observations indicate to me that mag, and Ca aren't raising like the other elements are with what, I'm currently dosing.
I'm open to suggestions as to should I increase dosing or do something something else?
My goal is getting everything into ideal recommended ranges in and just staying there.
5/27/2024 dosing 7ml daily afr, 4ml mag
Alk 8.1 - salifert
Mag 1125- salifert
Ca 385 - salifert
Po4 0.61 - hanna (low range)
1. Alk seems to be getting back in proper range.
2. Po4 based on this test is low as I seen in in a long time (adjusting skimmer+ adding rowa phos seems effective so far)
* current Observations indicate to me that mag, and Ca aren't raising like the other elements are with what, I'm currently dosing.
I'm open to suggestions as to should I increase dosing or do something something else?
My goal is getting everything into ideal recommended ranges in and just staying there.
Alexander1312
Supporting Member
Mag is a known weakness of AFR. I am just surprised your CA is not getting higher but seems like you have some good consumption, which means good growth. The issue with the all in one solutions is that you have to make sacrifices, either higher Alk to get CA up, or be ok with lower CA.
Carolina Coral heads and Fauna Marin recommend around 420 (probably others too), so if I had to decide, I would try to get CA to this level, and take a higher alk level (around 9). This means increasing your current AFR to that level. Or be ok with potential growth limitations.
Oh, and I have some MAG from Triton left I can bring to the swap on Saturday. This should be enough for a while even though you need some to get the level up as mentioned by Thomas.
MichaelB
Supporting Member
Currently using this for mag, do you think this is a decent product or would I want something else. It was recommended to me by a employee at Neptunes a few weeks back only reason I went with this type. I'll have to try to figure out how much is safe to add of this product to acheive that result. Per your recommendation that 100 ppm is safe per day.
I also have b ionic 2 part buffers (only used them once many months ago) just don't wanna play mad chemist without fully understanding what, why and how much of somthing to use for effect.
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MichaelB
Supporting Member
B the nano reefer has some
ati essentials pro, he's off loading, I may consider more so for the new tank. That will be sps mostly.
At the rate i'm going that one may take gallons of all for reef lol.
Don't know much about the ati but looked ok from reviews I read and his opinion. I took shared a pic of mag stuff i'm currently using. If what you have is better I'd be greatful. Trying to take things in stride and not rush being rash.
I'm definitely open to other dosing methods for newer tank as i have a dosing pump to use with it. I just wanna ensure im well informed with a good idea of what im doing verse just dumping random stuff in the tank.
Alexander1312
Supporting Member
I would stay with one approach for a while and dial this in. AFR is cheaper as powder I believe you know. For magnesium only, I would get the Fauna Marin or Captive8 products for highest quality. Water change would often be sufficient. ATI should be fine but it is not only MAG? Dosing pump or not does not really matter IMO, depends on your preference and what you dose. From your results, CA and MAG are slightly low, but can be further increased easily.
MichaelB
Supporting Member
The biocube mix reef tank I’m sticking to what im already doing with all for reef, only considering maybe I need a tiny capful of something extra to give those a slight boost for balance.
Anything else would only be directed at the new tank. Top to bottom the new tank will be a huge learning opportunity, equipment, lighting, sump, and some minor automation.
Tech M is old school, but a pretty expensive solution since you use it up pretty rapidly. Pretty sure it's mag sulfate and mag chloride mixed together (I think the old balanced ratio was 5:3). https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/rhf/index.php
But once you correct you shouldn't have to adjust much since consumption is often not very high in most tanks. If it drops, likely due to precipitation in your salt mix bucket due to going to high on salt mix to water then adjusting down. That's where I've gotten in trouble in the past.
Delayed response, but regarding the po4 spike after adding pods, that might not be a coincidence. To grow pods you need phyto. To grow phyto you need N & P, usually added as a fertilizer. Depends on the brand, but both phyto and pods can have a lot of nutrients in them.
I personally filter them through some fine mesh sieves and then dump that in.
MichaelB
Supporting Member
Latest test results, I went with the spin test at Neptunes, since I was going there to get water anyways.
06/07/2024 Neptunes spin test
Alk - 158 (8.9)
Ph - 7.8
Mag - 1451
Ca - 402
Po4 - 0.5
Nitrate - 19
Ammonia - 0.1
Nitrite - 0.1
From this it seems things are slowly improving as my personal tests have been showing. I will be resuming my own testing next week.
1. Will back down on dosing the mag.
2. Will stick to all for reef routine.
3. Wil continue to watching the results closely
06/07/2024 Neptunes spin test
Alk - 158 (8.9)
Ph - 7.8
Mag - 1451
Ca - 402
Po4 - 0.5
Nitrate - 19
Ammonia - 0.1
Nitrite - 0.1
From this it seems things are slowly improving as my personal tests have been showing. I will be resuming my own testing next week.
1. Will back down on dosing the mag.
2. Will stick to all for reef routine.
3. Wil continue to watching the results closely
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MichaelB
Supporting Member
6/16/2024 dosing 7mil daily afr.
* Test 1 Day before water change.
* Paused dosing mag (06/08)4mil mag
* fritz slime out (Treatment added 06/15/24)
Alk 8.6 - hanna
Mag 1260 - salifert
Ca 540 - hanna
Ca 400 - salifert
Po4 0.31 - hanna (low range)
I will resume dosing 5ml Mag 3 times a week to prevent it from droping again.
* Test 1 Day before water change.
* Paused dosing mag (06/08)4mil mag
* fritz slime out (Treatment added 06/15/24)
Alk 8.6 - hanna
Mag 1260 - salifert
Ca 540 - hanna
Ca 400 - salifert
Po4 0.31 - hanna (low range)
I will resume dosing 5ml Mag 3 times a week to prevent it from droping again.
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derek_SR
Supporting Member
Just say NO to magnesium testing: RMM is born
OK, this thread has been many years in the making, and I'm posting it here since folks in the chem forum are probably already tired of all the threads relating to problematic magnesium testing. I'm going to propose a method, let's call it the Randy Magnesium Method, or RMM for short. All good...
www.reef2reef.com
There’s probably no way your tank consumed that much mag in that short of a time, and it’s almost certainly just the difference in test kits (salifert vs spin).