Peter's Garage Tank
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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.
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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!
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Okay, I think I have a grasp on this. The carbonate hardness (KH) test is a measure of alkalinity and we are shooting for between 8 & 10. Peter's small reef is at 10 so it is ok and the garage tank is at 7 so we need to adjust it to be within specs. We started dosing the garage tank with a 2 part alkalinity/calcium buffer system from B-Ionic. Am I good or still confused?????
Working daily on smashing vermetid snails (the Emerald Crabs love to pick at them after I smash them)
Also we are getting a handle on the Aptasia. Instead of burning them, We are just injecting them with white vinegar from a syringe. Not as much fun, but probably safer.
Cheers!
Working daily on smashing vermetid snails (the Emerald Crabs love to pick at them after I smash them)
Also we are getting a handle on the Aptasia. Instead of burning them, We are just injecting them with white vinegar from a syringe. Not as much fun, but probably safer.
Cheers!
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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).
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).
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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.
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I've never dosed iodine; is there some reason you think you need to?
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LFS recommended.
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RHM is better at explaining than I am. From a dated post (2008):
Many aquarists dose iodine, and claim that certain organisms need it to thrive. Often mentioned are shrimp, Xenia species of soft corals, mushroom corals, and more. However, no evidence for an iodine requirement by these organisms appears anywhere in the scientific literature. They also thrive quite well in many coral reef aquaria where iodine is not dosed. Of Reef Central's Tanks of the Month for the past couple of years, the majority do not supplement with any form of iodine (or at least do not mention doing so), although some certainly do dose it.
I do not presently dose iodine to my aquarium, and I do not recommend that others do so, either. Iodine dosing is much more complicated than dosing other ions due to its substantial number of different naturally existing forms, the number of different forms that aquarists actually dose, the fact that all of these forms can interconvert in reef aquaria, and the fact that the available test kits detect only a subset of the total forms present. This complexity, coupled with the fact that no commonly kept reef aquarium species are known to require significant iodine, suggests that dosing is unnecessary and problematic. On the other hand, it is nevertheless possible that some organisms that we keep do actually benefit from iodine, and that in some aquaria there is not enough in the foods that we add so that supplements may possibly be beneficial in those aquaria.
I dosed iodine for several years when I first set up my aquarium. I dosed substantial amounts of iodide to try to maintain 0.02 to 0.04 ppm of iodide (which is a natural level). Iodide is rapidly depleted as algae and perhaps other organisms take it up and convert it into organic forms. After a few years of dosing iodide, I became frustrated with the complexities of testing for it, so at that point I stopped dosing any supplemental iodine. That was about seven years ago. I detected no changes in any organisms, and never dosed any again. If you are dosing iodine now, I suggest stopping for a month or two, and seeing if you can objectively detect any difference in any organism.
For these reasons, I especially advise aquarists NOT to try to maintain a specific iodine concentration using supplementation and test kits. For those who do supplement iodine, I suggest iodide as a more suitable form than certain other additives, such as Lugol's iodine, which is unnatural and potentially more toxic. Iodide is also more readily used than iodate by some organisms, and iodide is detected by both currently available iodine test kits (Seachem and Salifert).
With the above in mind, I would stop dosing the Kent Marine Tech 1 unless you were measuring it consistently. Also, at a concentration of 2mL, the vinegar shouldn't have any diverse effect on the tank.
Many aquarists dose iodine, and claim that certain organisms need it to thrive. Often mentioned are shrimp, Xenia species of soft corals, mushroom corals, and more. However, no evidence for an iodine requirement by these organisms appears anywhere in the scientific literature. They also thrive quite well in many coral reef aquaria where iodine is not dosed. Of Reef Central's Tanks of the Month for the past couple of years, the majority do not supplement with any form of iodine (or at least do not mention doing so), although some certainly do dose it.
I do not presently dose iodine to my aquarium, and I do not recommend that others do so, either. Iodine dosing is much more complicated than dosing other ions due to its substantial number of different naturally existing forms, the number of different forms that aquarists actually dose, the fact that all of these forms can interconvert in reef aquaria, and the fact that the available test kits detect only a subset of the total forms present. This complexity, coupled with the fact that no commonly kept reef aquarium species are known to require significant iodine, suggests that dosing is unnecessary and problematic. On the other hand, it is nevertheless possible that some organisms that we keep do actually benefit from iodine, and that in some aquaria there is not enough in the foods that we add so that supplements may possibly be beneficial in those aquaria.
I dosed iodine for several years when I first set up my aquarium. I dosed substantial amounts of iodide to try to maintain 0.02 to 0.04 ppm of iodide (which is a natural level). Iodide is rapidly depleted as algae and perhaps other organisms take it up and convert it into organic forms. After a few years of dosing iodide, I became frustrated with the complexities of testing for it, so at that point I stopped dosing any supplemental iodine. That was about seven years ago. I detected no changes in any organisms, and never dosed any again. If you are dosing iodine now, I suggest stopping for a month or two, and seeing if you can objectively detect any difference in any organism.
For these reasons, I especially advise aquarists NOT to try to maintain a specific iodine concentration using supplementation and test kits. For those who do supplement iodine, I suggest iodide as a more suitable form than certain other additives, such as Lugol's iodine, which is unnatural and potentially more toxic. Iodide is also more readily used than iodate by some organisms, and iodide is detected by both currently available iodine test kits (Seachem and Salifert).
With the above in mind, I would stop dosing the Kent Marine Tech 1 unless you were measuring it consistently. Also, at a concentration of 2mL, the vinegar shouldn't have any diverse effect on the tank.
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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.
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They won't grow unless your have phyto in there. It's what the pods eat.
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Mine seem to do fine without phyto.
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The go
Ca is 440