Water Chemistry

Bubble Magus BM-NAC5E External Protein Skimmer

I think the time has come to replace the Seaclone 100 Protein Skimmer. I has been doing its job as well as it can but I am finally at a point in the setup were I would like to purchase something of better quality and more efficiency. My only draw back is that I do not have a sump so I am limited to Hang On Back Protein Skimmers. I have heard that Bubble Magus Protein Skimmers have a quality build, reliable pumps and are extremely efficient ...

Brightwell Aquatics Microbacter7 Dosing

I just received my Brightwell Aquatics Microbacter7 additive and I am going to start the dosing my systems with it to assist with seeding of Biological Filtration and reducing the level of excess nutrients and waste material within the water. According to the instructions I must add approximately 4 drops per 1 gallon (I have added 20 drops to my aquarium) and will have to leave the Protein Skimmer off for a period of 4 hours after each dose (in ...

Well let me first start things by saying that I am not new in the aquarium hobby. I have been into the hobby on and off for about 6 years now and I am in the process of saving for my own home which may take about a year or two so I can't really justify starting a project on a huge reef aquarium (my ultimate goal is at minimum a 400 gallon reef aquarium). I purchased a small Fluval Chi 5.5 gallon aquarium for one of my sons which I soon found out was not the best decision I could have made for ...

So I haven't been super active on here lately, having a lot to do with the fact that I recently moved and have been going through a bunch of crap with my tank. Since reseting the system up in January I have been battling STN on all of my SPS and have basically gone through and tried to correct for every possible cause of general SPS unhappiness. For reference, my parameters have been pretty stable at the following:

Salinity: 35 ppt
PH: 8.0 - 8.2
Alk: 9.5 dkh
Calc: ...

Did a full battery of tests tonight to see where things are, and upped the output of the calcium reactor slightly to bring Alkalinity back up a skotch. I've been pretty busy as usual, but do enjoy the tank every day.