Jestersix

Max’s 30 gal

Alk has been getting lower so I have been increasing dosage. I was just 2mL of each part/day for awhile and now am up to 3mL and so far things are stable. I will test nutrients later since I have been working on stabilizing nutrient levels by having a more routine feeding schedule.

I mixed another batch of nitrates and will adjust the dosage based on testing, the new batch is slightly less potent because I was only dosing 1mL and want a less saturated mix to keep NO3 stable.
 
As disappointing as losing stuff has been I’m just trying to take it as a learning experience and then get everything I can backed up in DBTC. I’m not discouraged, but will just take things slower. I saw momentary success and mistook it for a green light to buy more corals without having long term success and the lessons associated with just having more time in the hobby. I’m coming up on one year of doing this, and Ive learned a lot. I look forward to learning more, but for a bit I will try to find success with easier corals like the zoas I’ve been having great growth from
 
1 year ago, my nuvo 10 with the two clowns, toadstool, and a Xenia. I still have the clowns and toadstool and have learned a lot in this last year.
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I did another somewhat large WC (10 gal on a 25gal tank) and the corals look happy. I removed some stacked rocks from my structures to open up more flow which the red Goni seems to be appreciating. The clowns have also been exploring more, they must have realized it’s just them and the cleaner shrimp.

I also got a new phone and it’s getting some awesome pics. I think I’ll need a new orange filter though, I have to adjust my current one to go over the right lens.

RR Wolverine
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LC Gonzo gold mushroom
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red Goni from coral Reefer
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Wide angle shot from the front of the tank
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The clowns with the purple and green torch
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Alk has been slowly lowering. I will add another dosing time. With the khg testing every 4 hours, I can see that it tends to go down .1dkh around 3-5am so I will be adding a dosing time at 4am.I have gone from 7.5 to 7.2 and although I still want to end up around 7 so it is consistent with the TM pro salt I use, but I want to take it slow so I will slightly increase the dosage.

I know I’m chasing numbers but my real goal is stability. I want to slowly lower the alk to the level my salt mixes at so I can do water changes and not have to worry too much about alk. So I’m chasing the alk of the salt I use and am being as careful as I can be to do it slowly. I think the amount of alk data I get from the khg makes it too tempting to chase consistent alk
 
max_nano said:
Alk has been slowly lowering. I will add another dosing time. With the khg testing every 4 hours, I can see that it tends to go down .1dkh around 3-5am so I will be adding a dosing time at 4am.I have gone from 7.5 to 7.2 and although I still want to end up around 7 so it is consistent with the TM pro salt I use, but I want to take it slow so I will slightly increase the dosage.

I know I’m chasing numbers but my real goal is stability. I want to slowly lower the alk to the level my salt mixes at so I can do water changes and not have to worry too much about alk. So I’m chasing the alk of the salt I use and am being as careful as I can be to do it slowly. I think the amount of alk data I get from the khg makes it too tempting to chase consistent alk
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How will you get the khg to test at 4am?
 
Meshmez said:
How will you get the khg to test at 4am?
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I won’t. I have it set to test every 4 hours and with the varying time to run a test it isn’t consistent but I looked though all the times I saw a decrease between tests and found the average to be 4am

@Coral reefer and @svreef you would recommend 8 because at 7 if I have a rapid increase in intake it could go lower and at 7 there less of a “safe zone” buffer if it goes down? While at 8 I would be safer if it had a swing up or down.
 
@Coral reefer and @svreef you would recommend 8 because at 7 if I have a rapid increase in intake it could go lower and at 7 there less of a “safe zone” buffer if it goes down? While at 8 I would be safer if it had a swing up or down.
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Exactly. I target 8.5 for that reason. Uptake depends on pH and mine has swings when we’re out of town or home with the windows closed on cold days.
 
max_nano said:
I won’t. I have it set to test every 4 hours and with the varying time to run a test it isn’t consistent but I looked though all the times I saw a decrease between tests and found the average to be 4am

@Coral reefer and @svreef you would recommend 8 because at 7 if I have a rapid increase in intake it could go lower and at 7 there less of a “safe zone” buffer if it goes down? While at 8 I would be safer if it had a swing up or down.
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Ahh I misunderstood. I thought you were going to have it test at that time.

I agree about alk. 8-8.5 gives you a nice cushion so your variation stays in safe zones. It's easy to raise mixed salt water with baking soda. Since TMP seems to be very consistent, once you figure out the dosage you can probably just count on it and test after dosing, rather than checking your baseline then after dosing.
 
Meshmez said:
Ahh I misunderstood. I thought you were going to have it test at that time.

I agree about alk. 8-8.5 gives you a nice cushion so your variation stays in safe zones. It's easy to raise mixed salt water with baking soda. Since TMP seems to be very consistent, once you figure out the dosage you can probably just count on it and test after dosing, rather than checking your baseline then after dosing.
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Unless it is a very large water change, the difference will be very small - and automatic dosing will correct it quickly.
 
Meshmez said:
How will you get the khg to test at 4am?
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I think some people on the khg fb group talk about figuring out the average time to run a test and factoring that into their testing interval so it is more consistent when it tests. So if the average test takes 20 minutes they will set it to test every 220 minutes if they want a test every 4 hours. The test interval resets after each test so the times it test will shift if you don’t account for it.

but the way it is designed it will always run 2 tests and compare the results to give the result. If they aren’t within the margin of error it will run a third test which would throw off the timing if it was set based on the average time for 2 tests. I would try this but I just keep it at the maximum of 240 because I don’t have it in a cabinet and hate hearing it do the titration haha
 
Coral reefer said:
Yes. 8 better than 7. Closer to ocean. More room to work with. I’d rather have a little more than a little less.
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Got it, I’m honestly just aiming towards the Params Omar had and he ran 7 with the TM pro. But I know I have a very different setup so I’ll move up towards 8ish. I generally do 5 gallon (20%) WC so I have not seen any alk changes. But I might test the freshly mixed water and my tank water and compare to see the next time I do a WC. I’ve just trusted that a similar salinity will be fine, and based on the auto alk testing it’s shown no impact when doing WC so far
 
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