Blog Comments

I've just been using a test kit, not a probe. I actually bought a probe on Friday, but premium aquatics was out of SL1 and SL2 modules for the reefkeeper lite that I have. As soon as they get their shipment I'll hopefully have a reliable probe.

Make sure you have a freshly calibrated pH probe. You're pH could be 8.4 for all you really know, while your STN problems may be all alk related. Low pH is an inhibitor for calcification, so if you are getting growth while adding kalk, I question your probe's accuracy. Good luck.

It's a 55 gallon tank with an Octopus DNWB-110 skimmer. I'm leaning toward trying the attic and using the money I saved on some nice frags.

Mits, I had a similiar PH issue with my first 27G (about 5 or so years ago). PH would just hover around 7.8. After a couple of weeks of frustration, I tried just opening a window when I would come home from work, and close before bed. After a couple of days, I tested and the PH hit 8.0 by just leaving a windows open for a bit.

Found this article years ago.. really helped, and gave me the idea to open a window: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...e2002/chem.htm

I'm not a huge fan of LED lighting.Yes they can be bright but in my eyes,not great as a visible light Ie for viewing a subject.Compare an led flashlight to a regular incandescent type.The led flashlight is super bright but washes out depth and contrast as well as natural color.Turn on a nice incandescent flashlight and all is there for you to see.Then again what we see and what our wet pets see/need is not exactly the same thing.I will be interested to see how led lighting develops for our hobby.

I think LED hasn't really taken off because there hasn't been much substantial info yet on their ability to support coral life. That's my opinion on it. I think once prices start dropping and we have solid info in the ability to sustain life long term, they will take off. No heat, super low electrical use, you cant go wrong.

You can have my halides when you pry them from my burned dead hands. LOL

Or, when I see some that keep my coral and electric bill happy. The new ones from aqua-illumination are definitely perking my interest though. Personally, I think we'll see a return to lower kelvin halides for growth, with LED supplementation to balance out the colors. At least, thats the next thing Im switching to.

The other thing that dictates the amount of time it works is how much air your skimmer pulls. Ive heard they last over a month on most smaller skimmers, On a Alpha 200, the one I saw lasted about a week. But the difference is VERY noticeable, pH went from 8.1 to 8.4 in a day on the test tank.

I'd try the fresh air approach first. I saw those CO2 scrubbers at MACNA this year, and thought it might be useful to some people. That being said, I didn't buy one myself. I wonder how long the media will last, which would depend on each tank's environment. A more humid one would probably burn up the media more quickly than a dry one.

I don't know. Currently (lol), there are a few companies trying to create something you can use. IceCap just released their blue LED T-5-like retro kit, and I'm really thinking about buying some to put over my reef.

A recent DIY thread was so interesting that I encouraged the author to create a write up for our site here. Hopefully he'll do so shortly. (Ooh, another pun!)

I would say having the air intake from an outside source (like your attic) would be a much more effective and cheaper option, IMO. Not only would you have to buy the scrubber, but also either new adsorbant or recharge the used adsorbant, which all sounds kinda expensive when compared to the price of tubing. Just make sure your air source is ok (IE, not pulling on car exhaust from your garage or road). I wouldn't think that the difference in air temps from the attic would make the huge of a difference. What size tank / skimmer do you have?