Salifert Magnesium Kit

[TigerIssey]

Thanks rabutt knew I had seen it somewhere, went through all the faq links last night but could not understand where I had seen it.

 

[TigerIssey]

Okay used the Salinity standard to check my Hydrometer and it is reading 0.0049 lower than it should be. I have brought the SG down by 0.001 so far and will gradually be bringing it down over hours. I will recheck pH, KH, Alk, Ca and Mg once I have done this.

 

[SkiFletch]

Heh, yup, so you were using a little too much salt mix then from the mis-calibrated hydrometer? Would make sense cause having too much salt mix would mean too much mag/calc/alk too

And I knew you opened your windows because normally in the winter, with all the windows shut (or in the summer with them shut and the A/C on), we trap the air inside our houses. And because we humans are big metabolic burners, we create a lot of CO2. That CO2 builds up in the sealed-up house. And when it dissolves in your water column, CO2 is acidic, thus dropping your pH. It is not uncommon at all to have winter pH readings in the 7.8-7.9 range despite high alkalinity. Your CO2 level inside the house is likely in the 0.25-0.5% range when the house is closed (normal is 0.04%).

So when your pH spiked in a day in the spring when you'd be likely opening up the house for the first time in months, I came up with a quick bit of reason . Close your windows back up, wait a few days, and your pH will likely fall again, even with the high alkalinity.

 

[TigerIssey]

Its strange because I read the Farley article on reasons for low pH, he says it is usually a problem in new houses with central heating however I have a house like him, 250 yrs old stone built cottage with chimneys. I have draughts coming in through the windows in the lounge, just like he does. This is why I thought the difference in pH to still be strange.

I have brought the sg down by 0.0015 over a few hours but have run out of RO water. I will get some tommorrow and continue to bring it down gradually. I have a bit of an algal bloom, green cyano I believe on rocks and a little on glass but there appears to be a little suspended in the water. I have checked phosphate level tonight and it appears to still be 0 but I know test kits are not that reliable. Considering my phosphate was 0.25 on Thursday, do you think the rowaphos needs replacing, it was not this bad on saturday. The HOB refugium should arrive in the next few days so hopefully nitrates will be taken care of with the chaeto in there.

 

[rabbut]

Replace Rowaphose when Phosphate starts skipping up again

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, now that you have an algae with a foothold, you enter a bit of a conundrum. As much as your rowaphos will adsorb the phosphates, the algae will also use some for it's growth, therefore you will probably test 0 PO4 with a hobby-level kit for the forseeable future. If the rowaphos becomes saturated, more PO4 will be available in the system, therefore the algae will be able to eat more of it and grow faster... So you'll have to get a "feel" for algae growth rates and how changing your rowaphos helps. That make sense?

 

[TigerIssey]

It does indeed, I have changed rowaphos again, it seemed to increase despite a 0 phosphate reading. This refugium should be here soon, I may end up doing a decent water change too once I have got the sg down. Bought it down further but doing it very slowly.

 

[TigerIssey]

My insticts appear to have been good, there seems to be less green water today, the snails seem to be making a headway on the rocks, I am keeping the glass as clear as possible (scraping at least once a day) .

The sg is now down to where it should be although my toadstool leather is sulking a little, so I am glad I did this slowly.

I am still tempted to do a large water change to try to get rid of some of the green water.

My chaetomorpha has also come today so I am hoping that will outcompete the cyano for nutrients. All other corals seem to be ok including the frogspawn.

Will do the water tests later today.

 

[TigerIssey]

Okay, green water was more than I can bear, so I did 45-50% water change. I have also bought a new protein skimmer as the one I bought originally is too tall. I got the V2 Nano 120. It is running in the tank at the moment, got the chaeto in an snails are having a damn good go at the green stuff on the rocks.

Will do the tests tommorrow, was enough to do the water change. The skimmer will move into the first compartment of HOB refugium when it arrives. It is a little noisy at the moment and there are lots of microbubbles but I am sure this will settle once it is bedded in.

Having done a bit of reading here there and everywhere I am sure this high SG has contributed to the fading of my lovely green coralline algae that was on the rocks when it was purchased. I just hope it comes back soon.

 

[SkiFletch]

Hey TI, is the water itself green, or just green algae growing on things? If it's a water-borne algae, UV will nip that in the bud

 

[TigerIssey]

It is in the water, yes Ski. There is minimal on rocks now as I think phosphate remover kicked in and snails are chomping away.

It is the water that is bothering me, if it was just the rocks I would be happy to leave it to the snails etc.

Have to go get more RO water later (possibly corals aswell) so will check out the price. Alternatively Ebay may be needed but would not now get till next week due to holiday weekend.

I presume it could just be used till the green water goes then put in the cupboard incase a fish develops White spot. As a microbiologist, I tend to agree with Rabbut and would not want to use it all the time.

Corals including frogspawn all appear healthy still, aas frogspawn is water quality indicator this is reassurring.

 

[seffieuk]

Hi all, have just read the whole of this thread and it made very interesting reading Ski, you sure you are not physic, because sometimes your answers just astound me, talk about astute

Seffie x

 

[TigerIssey]

He is seffie

The shop I went to today had run out of UV sterilisers. Mom taking me to usual shop tommorrow will see if they have one.

I believe in addition to the phosphate remover incident the beginning of the algae coincided with RO water that I got from a shop that is not one of my usual ones. I have a feeling their RO membrane needed replacing.

 

[TigerIssey]

SKI you are amazing, got the UV hooked up and within 24hrs (a fair bit less actually) I can see into the tank and 50% a day waterchanges are now in my past.

Can I ask how often would you recommend testing for Calcium, Magnesium and Alkalinity, I now have 4 hard corals in there. 3 Euphyllia and one Physogyra or Plerogyra (pictures in journal if you can tell difference between the 2). The skeleton on the bubble looks like a maze at night so looking in the book I am leaning towards Physogyra lichtensteini.

I also got my hydrometer calibrated at the LFS so I should be able to keep at the correct SG from now on. I will get this periodically checked.

 

[rabbut]

For a low-demand tank (like yours), weeky untill you nail the suppliment dosages and then down to monthly. I have a lot of coral demand in mine, so twice weekly is what I have to do ATM...

All the best
Rabbut