okay let me do some thinking on this BTB923 I have to talk with my seachem rep. friend and get his thoughts as well and do some trouble shooting for you.
mr.reef24
mr.reef24
saltwater newbie attempting a 55 gallon reef
- Thread starter BTB0923
- Start date
You know a Seachem Rep? Awesome. That'd be great if you could ask him what alk, mag, and calc levels I should be shooting for; and what daily dosing quantities are about the norm for the products I'm using.
I need this information real quick form you. Size of your tank again, temp. Salinity, PH, how many pounds of sand and live rock, How much exactly your dosing and on what days during a week? And, your average fluctuations in parameters and when you do water chages.
mr.reef24
mr.reef24
Tank is 55 gallons, 79-81 degrees (depends on time of day), 1.0255 specific gravity, 8.25 ph, about 45 pounds of live rock. I'm not really sure about the weight of the sand but I have about a 2" thick layer in my display tank and a 6" thick layer in my refugium.
I dose every day...anywhere from 1 tsp all the way up to 4 tsp of Reef Builder, anywhere from 1/2 tsp to 4 tsp of Reef Calcium (depends on test results), and I've been dosing about 14 tsp of Magnesium a day which I will continue to do until my mag gets to 1470.
When I do water changes (10% weekly) my alk drops an entire 2 units DKH, which I then have to dose to get back up. Calcium isn't affected, salinity isn't affected, temp isn't affected, not too sure about mag...might drop slightly.
This info might be useful....after I mix the Seachem Reef Salt to a specific gravity of 1.025 I get the following readings in the new water (to be used for water change)...6.3 DKH, 420 calcium, 1150 magnesium.
I dose every day...anywhere from 1 tsp all the way up to 4 tsp of Reef Builder, anywhere from 1/2 tsp to 4 tsp of Reef Calcium (depends on test results), and I've been dosing about 14 tsp of Magnesium a day which I will continue to do until my mag gets to 1470.
When I do water changes (10% weekly) my alk drops an entire 2 units DKH, which I then have to dose to get back up. Calcium isn't affected, salinity isn't affected, temp isn't affected, not too sure about mag...might drop slightly.
This info might be useful....after I mix the Seachem Reef Salt to a specific gravity of 1.025 I get the following readings in the new water (to be used for water change)...6.3 DKH, 420 calcium, 1150 magnesium.
sweet thanks will get back to you soon been side tracked with college final's this week and next week. sorry for the delay
mr.reef24
mr.reef24
So I ended up contacting Seachem about my salt and they had me send them a sample. Their test results for the most part didn't really match mine, but they did agree that the calcium levels were pretty jacked up. They were nice enough to agree to send me a care package to make up for the trouble I've been having with the salt. I can't say enough about the great customer service Seachem provides. I also use a lot of Seachem products and this salt is the first product that I've had a problem with.
I'm looking forward to trying out the new Aquavitro Salinity salt that Seachem is coming out with soon. Supposedly they will be testing every batch and posting test results on the side of the bucket so you know exactly what you are getting. Anybody know when its supposed to be available for sale?
I recently added a new blue zoa frag to my tank...pics below. My pulsing xenia has been growing really quickly, as expected, so I took some out and started a little half gallon nano tank with it. Its really just an experiment to see if it will work. No heater, flow, or filtration...just a bit of rock, sand, a starfish, couple crabs, nudibranch, some snails, and the xenia. I figure I can use the water I pull out of my 55 when doing water changes for little mini changes in the half gallon tank every few days. If it works I might even put a couple zoas in there and take the setup to my office at work. I posted a couple pics of that too....
I'm looking forward to trying out the new Aquavitro Salinity salt that Seachem is coming out with soon. Supposedly they will be testing every batch and posting test results on the side of the bucket so you know exactly what you are getting. Anybody know when its supposed to be available for sale?
I recently added a new blue zoa frag to my tank...pics below. My pulsing xenia has been growing really quickly, as expected, so I took some out and started a little half gallon nano tank with it. Its really just an experiment to see if it will work. No heater, flow, or filtration...just a bit of rock, sand, a starfish, couple crabs, nudibranch, some snails, and the xenia. I figure I can use the water I pull out of my 55 when doing water changes for little mini changes in the half gallon tank every few days. If it works I might even put a couple zoas in there and take the setup to my office at work. I posted a couple pics of that too....
RyanP;3766067; said:
Thanks! You know I already spotted an amphipod in there that must've hitched a ride on the rock the xenia is on. I have several amphipod colonies and lots of copepods crawling around in my 55 gallon.
