fishy408
Supporting Member
I think you are right on that! I won't show her the responses..I'll just say you are probably right.
Tank Journal : Converting Fresh water to a Saltwater Tank
- Thread starter fishy408
- Start date
I think you are right on that! I won't show her the responses..I'll just say you are probably right.
fishy408
Supporting Member
A few more mistakes on my lists of mistakes .
For the past couple of weeks, I've been monitoring the Alk, Cal, Mag. I noticed that my Cal and Mag never dropped below (500/1500). Alk was the only thing that I could measure the drop. Over the past week Alk has been dropping at 5ML a week, and I was able to sustain 8.3-8.6 dosing 5ML of Red sea foundation B. (Happy Days)
Made a new batch of IO and mixed it to 1.025. I was reading that I should test the source water before. I was thinking maybe I had a bad batch of IO where the Calcium/Mag was insanely high. (New IO reading at 1.025 ALK=13.7, Cal=650, Mag=1875).
The numbers were way off what I read IO should be at 1.025 or 1.026. Started reading about refractometers and calibration. This morning, I calibrated the refractometer to RO/DI water, and 1.025 was really 1.030. :-(
There been a discussion of calibrating RO water vs using calibration fluid at 35ppt... which I'm still reading.
.For the past couple of weeks, I've been monitoring the Alk, Cal, Mag. I noticed that my Cal and Mag never dropped below (500/1500). Alk was the only thing that I could measure the drop. Over the past week Alk has been dropping at 5ML a week, and I was able to sustain 8.3-8.6 dosing 5ML of Red sea foundation B. (Happy Days)
Made a new batch of IO and mixed it to 1.025. I was reading that I should test the source water before. I was thinking maybe I had a bad batch of IO where the Calcium/Mag was insanely high. (New IO reading at 1.025 ALK=13.7, Cal=650, Mag=1875).
The numbers were way off what I read IO should be at 1.025 or 1.026. Started reading about refractometers and calibration. This morning, I calibrated the refractometer to RO/DI water, and 1.025 was really 1.030. :-(
There been a discussion of calibrating RO water vs using calibration fluid at 35ppt... which I'm still reading.
grizfyrfyter
Guest
I want to touch on your refractometer issues.
There are a lot of problems with refractometers. Calibrating to rodi is not a great idea since refractometers have a narrow window of accuracy. I've also had bad calibration solution that caused me to run my tank at 1.021 for months. I didn't find out until my ICP test results.
My friend has a digital refractometer whose reading match my test result so I use his tank as calibration if I think things are changing.
There are a lot of problems with refractometers. Calibrating to rodi is not a great idea since refractometers have a narrow window of accuracy. I've also had bad calibration solution that caused me to run my tank at 1.021 for months. I didn't find out until my ICP test results.
My friend has a digital refractometer whose reading match my test result so I use his tank as calibration if I think things are changing.
Coral reefer
Past President
Do NOT use rodi to calibrate.
fishy408
Supporting Member
This is kinda funny, I can see why people quit the hobby.
Refractometer
On a side note, interesting conversation I had with my pump store/manufacturer.
me: "the pump i ordered is not working, making some cranking noise"
store: "Did you put the pump in the water?"
me: "of course I did, how else should I turn it on?"
store: "If the pump touches the water, we can not take it back, you need to talk to the manufacturer"
me: "ok"
me: "the pump I ordered doesn't work, making a cranking sound"
manufacturer: "Did you put the pump in the water?"
me: "of course I did, how else should I turn it on?"
manufacturer: "you will need to send it in"
me: ok
pump sent in: had to pay UPS for delivery
manufacturer: "pump is broken"
me: "yeah it sure is"
manufacturer: "we opened it up and it's completely smashed inside"
me: "I have no idea what it looks like inside, i had it for a few days and was in the water for 5 minutes"
manufacturer: "I'm sorry we can't honor the warranty", but if you wanted us to fix , it would be $XXX.
Overall, there is something fishy about the industry in general.
Oh Yeah, forgot to add: I'm going to go get some calibration fluid and an Ice Cap. Seems like I love the abuse.
Refractometer
- needs to be calibrated with solution and not RO/DI
- solution maybe off, need to check with another device or a friend.
- possibly need another device like an IceCap to test that the first device (refractometer) readings are correct.
On a side note, interesting conversation I had with my pump store/manufacturer.
me: "the pump i ordered is not working, making some cranking noise"
store: "Did you put the pump in the water?"
me: "of course I did, how else should I turn it on?"
store: "If the pump touches the water, we can not take it back, you need to talk to the manufacturer"
me: "ok"
me: "the pump I ordered doesn't work, making a cranking sound"
manufacturer: "Did you put the pump in the water?"
me: "of course I did, how else should I turn it on?"
manufacturer: "you will need to send it in"
me: ok
pump sent in: had to pay UPS for delivery
manufacturer: "pump is broken"
me: "yeah it sure is"
manufacturer: "we opened it up and it's completely smashed inside"
me: "I have no idea what it looks like inside, i had it for a few days and was in the water for 5 minutes"
manufacturer: "I'm sorry we can't honor the warranty", but if you wanted us to fix , it would be $XXX.
Overall, there is something fishy about the industry in general.
Oh Yeah, forgot to add: I'm going to go get some calibration fluid and an Ice Cap. Seems like I love the abuse.
I agree, I’d like to know what manufacturer wouldn’t honor their warranty so I can avoid them.
So far in the many years I’ve been reefing, I have not had manufacturers be unreasonable about returns/replacements/repairs. But I intentionally stick to companies with good reputations as much as I can, even if it costs more. Vote with your dollars as they say, and I vote for good customer service.
So far in the many years I’ve been reefing, I have not had manufacturers be unreasonable about returns/replacements/repairs. But I intentionally stick to companies with good reputations as much as I can, even if it costs more. Vote with your dollars as they say, and I vote for good customer service.
fishy408
Supporting Member
This happened before I was a member of BAR, and didn't know too much about reef forums. I'm pretty sure if I said, "I'll post it on the forums", there would have been a different result or said "I'm a member of the Forums". To be fair, the store did call me back after a couple of weeks and asked what they could do to make things right. And if I would remove my Google/Yelp reviews
. By that time, I was already out I think another hundred+ dollars to fix my new unit.Just wanted to add..I think I'm a pretty good customer. I've probably tried to return 2 items ever since I started fish keeping.
- Some clips that I ordered the wrong size, (BRS took them back no questions asked)
- And the Pump Story.
Last edited:
fishy408
Supporting Member
Refractomer Part II:
- Went to Neptunes and picked up some calibration fluid.
- RO water tested at 0.0, and the calibration fluid tested at 1.025 ( Something still isn't right).
- Luckily I picked up a Milwaukee Tester, RO tested 0.0 and calibration fluid tested at 1.0.26
- Calibrated the refractometer based on the Milwaukee test of 1.026
fishy408
Supporting Member
Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Parameters : (New Salt Mix)
Salinity ALK Cal MAG
0.025 10.5 580 1470
0.024 9.9 500 1350
0.023 9.3 470 1260
Ideally I would like to stick close to one of these numbers so when I do a water change there is not too much of a swing. Looks like I have a little more reading to do.
Salinity ALK Cal MAG
0.025 10.5 580 1470
0.024 9.9 500 1350
0.023 9.3 470 1260
Ideally I would like to stick close to one of these numbers so when I do a water change there is not too much of a swing. Looks like I have a little more reading to do.
Flagg37
Guest
That’s why there are so many mixes out there. Each one has their idea of what the values should be. Many of the “reef” mixes are higher in alk and Ca. I think their reasoning is that the corals will use it up and you’ll get more in the system by doing water changes. This can work but it’s a constant up and down with the elements. A better approach is to pick a mix that has values that you want and then dose to maintain those values. Then when (or if) you do water changes there’s no swing.
fishy408
Supporting Member
Filter Media Cups:
A few months back I purchased those filter media cups for the Red Sea systems. Before purchasing, I read quite a bit on the forums on how in some systems it worked perfectly and how in other systems it overflows. Since I didn't enjoy washing filter socks, I decided to give it a go.
The red filter media was a failure in my system. Basically it would overflow in a couple of hours which made it useless. I tried filling the cup only half way, quarter way, rocks on the bottom, drilled more holes, etc.. but still wasn't good. When the water runs down the sump, then into the media cups, I notice that the first cup would get filled really fast while the second cup lasted longer.
My guess is success/failure of the product might have to do with the flow.
Anyways, a couple of weeks ago I saw Red Sea making their own Media cups, so I bought a pair. At this point there were hardly any reviews so I just purchased it on a limb.
Pros:
I filled the media cup halfway with the same floss I used with the red media cup. The picture below shows 2 days (48hrs) of filtering and the first cup is not overflowing. For me, this is a success. I'll probably run it longer just to find out how long before overflowing, cause it will.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
A few months back I purchased those filter media cups for the Red Sea systems. Before purchasing, I read quite a bit on the forums on how in some systems it worked perfectly and how in other systems it overflows. Since I didn't enjoy washing filter socks, I decided to give it a go.
The red filter media was a failure in my system. Basically it would overflow in a couple of hours which made it useless. I tried filling the cup only half way, quarter way, rocks on the bottom, drilled more holes, etc.. but still wasn't good. When the water runs down the sump, then into the media cups, I notice that the first cup would get filled really fast while the second cup lasted longer.
My guess is success/failure of the product might have to do with the flow.
Anyways, a couple of weeks ago I saw Red Sea making their own Media cups, so I bought a pair. At this point there were hardly any reviews so I just purchased it on a limb.
Pros:
- Cheaper $16.99
- Bigger
- Came with a media bag.
I filled the media cup halfway with the same floss I used with the red media cup. The picture below shows 2 days (48hrs) of filtering and the first cup is not overflowing. For me, this is a success. I'll probably run it longer just to find out how long before overflowing, cause it will.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Last edited:
Chromis
Supporting Member
Cool, didn’t know this product existed and it seems like it could be a good alternative to the socks.
