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cyano

parameters question

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7 Comments
by
cyano
, 12-08-2012 at 08:53 PM (2712 Views)
Hello fellow addicts! As many of you know I recently did a tank restart so 70% of all my water is new, no additives added, no corals yet, and lots of testing done. Currently I am working on stabilizing my parameters but first I need to get them all where they should be and I am wanting to do sps and lps in this tank so I want to maintain them at the right levels and keep them as rock solid as possible. After 13 days of running I am at:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0
Temperature 77 (very stable with LEDs now compared to T5s)
PH 8.2
Salinity 1.024 (I am working on bringing this up to 1.025-1.026, started at 1.023)
Calcium 460
dKh 6.5
Magnesium 1440
currently using Seachem reef salt
testing phosphate/alkalinity with Elos kit - Magnesium with Salifert - all other parameters tested with API kit - (calcium kit by Elos on the way)
all water from RO-DI outputting 0 TDS with all new membrane and pre-filters

I have been doing a lot of reading and first of all what parameters are all your successful SPS tanks averaging? I am thinking that once I get around 1.026 then my calcium/alkalinity should start to balance better. Am i correct in thinking that or should I go ahead and start dosing now? with my calcium already sitting at 460 should I still dose a 2 part? I am not going to chase PH around this time around thinking that PH will take care of itself if I can get my dKh around 8, does that sound right?

I am really wanting to do this right this time around and I am committed to being successful with SPS so I am really interesting in learning from the pro's on this one since softies just aren't as rewarding (I think i have xenia and kenya tree growing in my septic tank.)

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Categories
‎ Water Chemistry , ‎ Questions - Need some input

Comments

  1. cyano's Avatar
    also to increase flow randomness I have a Vortech MP10 on the way to run alongside my MP40 which will help with prefered SPS flow
  2. Midnight's Avatar
    Dosing a two part right know would raise both alk and cal. Looks like you currently just need to raise alk. And then your SG should be 1.025-1.026, topping off with saltwater is probably the best way to do this.
  3. Articfox32's Avatar
    Hope you have good luck on the sps set up, I am intrested in hearing how it turns out. I am wanting to do an sps and Lps as well. What are the proper parameters for an sps tank?
  4. melev's Avatar
    Agree with Midnight, just bump up your Alkalinity (dkH) to around 8 and you're good to go. Dosing anything else isn't necessary at this time, as you don't have anything pulling it out livestock-wise.
  5. cyano's Avatar
    Ok, I have alkalinity right at 8 now and salinity at 1.024 (still working with it.) I have moved my duncan coral back over to the main tank again. I am still debating on whether to include any other LPS though. I have 3 good frags from my old branching hammer and I know I am going to get rid of 2 for sure, but I am not sure if I want to add one or try to do mostly sps. The acans I was trying to save have puffed back up but are carrying some nasty hitchhikers (Bubble algae, and some other type of macro algae) so I am not sure about them either. I also am thinking of finding a new home for my yellow clown goby since I know how much they "love" sps. any thoughts on any of this?
  6. melev's Avatar
    The Clown Goby can be destructive, so I'd also consider sending him to a different tank. How's the Duncan doing so far?
  7. cyano's Avatar
    the duncan is very full and happy, the other reason I moved it was to get it away from the cleaner shrimp. It is very fat right now without the shrimp pulling food away from it but the big thing was I wanted to get it in the tank so I have an idea of flow rates and their affect on this coral so I know how much too much is. I have been reading and researching information on dipping sps before placing them into the tank (a lot from your website.) I have a clean slate to start with and I don't want to mess with that. I am absolutely looking to add staghorn, acros, millepora, birdsnest, and perhaps a picollapora but unfortunately I have no LFS that carry sps coral so odds are I will either have to head to either atlanta or knoxville of order them online if anyone has any reputable websites/stores in those areas they have experience with?