Well I finished the water tests:
PH - 8.4
Calcium - 420
KH - 125.3
Nitrates - 5
Phosphate .25
Salinity - 1.0245
We started adding iodine as Peter's pulsating zenia (I know nobody likes zenia) was not looking as good as when we left.. Now I guess we need a test kit? Suggestions? We also ran to the LFS and picked up a new Arrow Crab, 2 more Sea Hares, and a couple corals (Peter bought me my first Gorgonian) We also have a couple bottles of the 2 part calcium additive. I don't know if I should start using it when our calcium is already at 420? How do I test for alkalinity? is this the same as PH?
Measuring carbonate hardness. Science was never my strong suit, and yes-7.0 dkh - 125.3 ppm KH. I am a little confused but trying my best!You said your kh is 125.3. What is that you're measuring? I thought maybe this was your alkalinity measurement in ppm (which is around 7.0 dKH), but then you asked about how to measure your alkalinity at the end of the post.
Thanks for helping me sort this out!Xenia can be invasive, similar to green star polyps, and due to this isn't popular.
As for dosing iodine, be careful with how much you dose. It's used by some to enhance pinks and reds in sps, but it can also fuel algae growth. Most people, when used in such a way, dose around a drop per day for 50-100g tanks. Same applies to dosing white vinegar for the aiptasia. It's a carbon source, similar to vodka and sugar, which depending on the amount dosed can cause bacterial blooms and/or strip your tank of nutrients (and oxygen if it blooms).
As for alk value, you can use 8-10 dKH as a target, but I would shoot for a lower value in that spectrum. At 5 ppm of nitrates, I would shoot for around 8 dKH instead of 10. As your nitrates rises, you can go higher, but I would be careful about it. High alk values will cause tip burn on sps if your nutrient levels are low. You're carbon dosing already with the vinegar for the aips, so you should expect nitrates to actually drop over time as the bacterial population ramps up. There's less issues with running a lower alk which is closer to NSW than to run an elevated alk value. Also, if you're gonna start dosing, make sure that you measure it regularly to get an idea of how much your tank is consuming (I measure daily when I'm trying to figure out my dosing regime).
I've never dosed iodine; is there some reason you think you need to?Thanks for helping me sort this out!
Is there a difference between iodide and iodine? We started using Kent Marine Tech 1, which I thought was iodine but is actually iodide. The dosage says 10ml per 50g. so we dosed 15ml.
With the vinegar, we used very little 2ml with a sharp needle, and we don't plan on doing it often.
LFS recommended.I've never dosed iodine; is there some reason you think you need to?
Looks like we have the KH up to almost 8. We have been dosing with 15 drops of both solutions. Since we were at 7ish when we started, I figured we would slowly work our way to 8. Also decided it was time to start getting some small critters for the corals to eat so we picked up some Tisbe copapods and dumped them into both tanks. Should I add a bottle to the tanks every month or so? or will they self propagate enough? We also ordered some rotifers and will begin propagating them in the garage.
Mine seem to do fine without phyto.They won't grow unless your have phyto in there. It's what the pods eat.
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Ca is 440What is your Ca level? If it is within acceptable levels, you don't have to dose the Ca part of the 2 part.
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