Fat Al's 93 Gallon Reef Cube

Here's some photos from this week's Unique Coral order. I also got some Purple Cat Eye palys, but didn't get a photo.

This is the anemone that they were running a sale on. I'm really happy with it. It was hard to get a shot b/c of the place it has settled. But the color looks way better in person, especially when the lights are around 16-20k. I'm hoping it settles more around the front of the tank. I think it's too close to the leather coral. I'll be watching that closely.


Solomon Islands Montipora Digitata:


Torch Coral:


Helm's Deep Paly, this one really glows at night:

 

If it does well, I'll get some frags of it. It is a really nice purple and the tips are white with new growth. The polyps are all out, so hopefully it's a good sign.

I just installed a new ro unit this morning. I've been so busy, that I had forgotten to change the filters in like 6 months. Well my ro water was reading like 66ppm. I installed the new ro unit that I won at Reef Splash. It has 4 chambers, where my old one only had 3. The tds is coming up with a reading of 0. I honestly haven't noticed any negatives from the tds being so high, but it might be something slowly building up. So this gives me peace of mind, and maybe I'll see some positives in this tank with this change.


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I also seen my mandarin eat frozen food today. That makes me feel good about his long term survival. I add pods every couple of months, but it's good that he can get some nutrition from something other than just pods.


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Starting to try and get my calcium and alkalinity balanced out this week. I plan on buying an apex of some kind, dosers, and the BRS two part soon. But for now I have several gallons of Kent's part A & B I'm going to use up until I can make the switch. I tested my calcium and alkalinity for the first time this week. I did it a day after a water change. My calcium was 370 and Alkalinity was 7. (Using Red Sea pro test kit).

So I added 5ml of both A & B on Monday morning. I wanted to try to get my calcium up to 375. I know that's the bottom of acceptable range, but I'm trying to go slow.

I tested this morning, and calcium had dropped to 350, and alkalinity raised to 9.1. I used a calculator to see what it would take to get me back at 375 for calcium. It said 16.6ml. So I added that this morning. I wasn't sure how much alkalinity to add to keep in balance, so I added 8ml, since that was half the dose. I don't want my alkalinity to jump way up and kill the few sps that I do have.

I am going to test parameters again in the morning. I'm using the aquarimate app to record everything. I've been reading up on dosing, but I am having a hard time understanding it all.


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I thought you had to add the two part in equal amounts. And I was afraid just dosing calcium would drop the alkalinity back down, causing it to swing again. And let me look into those others.


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I've probably got a 2.5:1 ratio of alk to ca+
Instructions often say equal parts but I add more than double the amt of Alk than Ca+
Doc is correct with alk, maintain constant stable numbers and avoid large swings. 7-9 is too much.
I'm of big fan of the Hannah testers.

Oh and that Dig is Awesome!!!!

 

Thanks everybody for the advice. I did screw my alkalinity up. I tried testing it this morning twice, but couldn't get a reading. My test goes up to 14. My calcium was back at 350 again. I added the same amount of calcium, but skipped the alkalinity dose today. I am wondering if I should just let the alkalinity come down on its own. I was afraid if I started trying to tamper with it, it would cause even more swings. I can't do a water change until this weekend though, due to work. I'll also try to post those other numbers this weekend David. Right now, all my corals are fully open, and polyped out. I haven't noticed any changes in the color. I'm watching them all close. I'm hoping everything survives this mistake. If the dig survives and turns into a colony, remind me, and I'll give you both a free frag for helping me deal with all this.

 

Ok I tested my parameters again today, and everything is actually normal. I have just been dosing calcium. It is around 440. I tested my alkalinity twice, and it said 8.4. So is this the balance I should try to keep? Should I not dose today, and then see how much my tank consumes today, and try to balance my dose for that tomorrow?


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Oh, and I haven't noticed any damage from the alkalinity spike. The sps are polyped out, and the colors look good. I was most worried about the red planet, but it's looking good.


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Thanks. I'm using the aquarimate app so I can keep all the data recorded and will hopefully get this all lined out.


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I'll have to read the reviews. I've used it for a few years. Just a simple app to keep all your parameters recorded, & set up reminders for tank tasks.


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Yuma & Hawaiian Sunsets: