jph's downsize, new tank plans

[OneDummHikk]

Looking nice J. What issues were you having with the Crystals? I was using IO salt and bought a bucket of Crystals today and wondering what was wrong in the tests.

[jph]

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

Looking nice J. What issues were you having with the Crystals? I was using IO salt and bought a bucket of Crystals today and wondering what was wrong in the tests.

the test results were not waht i was hoping for.
a freshly mixed batch that has been mixing for more than 24hours in a 5G bucket and a MJ1200

i'm pretty sure that i have a bad bucket.

SG : 1.025
15 dKH
Ca : 350 ppm
Mg : 1000 ppm

i'm keeping this tank at 1.026 SG though.

i just started a kalkwasser drip, and added the first dose of many more to come of Kent tech M magnesium.

we'll see how it tests tomorrow.


J.

[OneDummHikk]

Originally Posted by jph

the test results were not waht i was hoping for.
a freshly mixed batch that has been mixing for more than 24hours in a 5G bucket and a MJ1200

i'm pretty sure that i have a bad bucket.

SG : 1.025
15 dKH
Ca : 350 ppm
Mg : 1000 ppm

i'm keeping this tank at 1.026 SG though.

i just started a kalkwasser drip, and added the first dose of many more to come of Kent tech M magnesium.

we'll see how it tests tomorrow.

J.

I normally get 400 Ca readings (it fluctuates from 400-420) using just IO salt. If you are gettin 350 from the crystals, that would be an issue. I have to make up some water for my 12G tomorrow and will test it and see what I get on mine.

[jph]

dosed almost one gallon of kalkwasser over the last 24 hours.

ALK still 7 dKH
Ca still 350 ppm


all corals inverts and fish still look happy, so no bad effects. although i had hoped that this amount in a fairly small tank would have elevated my levels instead of keeping them. i guess my corals are growing nicely.


i made some more progress on taking down the big tank. chopped up a nice big piece of liverock, that i'll be cooking for a while, and use that to fill in the spaces that need more rock, and re-arrage some of the pieces that i don't currently like.

i also have a ton of LR rubble that will make nice frag mounting rocks


J.

[jph]

boosted levels a bit with Kent tech-CB part A & B
and kent Tech-M (which is almost empty now)

levels are almost where i want them. (using Elos test kits)

9 dKH
Ca inbetween 375 and 400ppm (colorchange is not 100% at 375ppm)
Mg : 1200 ppm


however; i somehow managed to let me SG sise to 1.027, so i siphoned out some water and refilled the top-off with ro/di. that should take care of that, while slightly lowering the other levels too i guess.



J.

[bigdeeezy]

tank is lookin very nice J...good to know there is a fellow SJ'er on here

[jph]

Originally Posted by bigdeeezy

tank is lookin very nice J...good to know there is a fellow SJ'er on here

thanks!

i just checked out your build thread, it looks like we've got more than one thing in common; reef tanks, SJ, turbo cars

btw, i still need to "get rid" of a pink birds nest that's too big for the nano.
if you need one... come and get it one LFS doesn't take any corals, and the other one doesn't do SPS. and i don't like the ideo of selling it, and then shipping it too (added problems and costs)


J.

[bigdeeezy]

Originally Posted by jph

thanks!

i just checked out your build thread, it looks like we've got more than one thing in common; reef tanks, SJ, turbo cars

btw, i still need to "get rid" of a pink birds nest that's too big for the nano.
if you need one... come and get it one LFS doesn't take any corals, and the other one doesn't do SPS. and i don't like the ideo of selling it, and then shipping it too (added problems and costs)


J.

hahaha where in SJ do u live and wat car do u drive? maybe we know eachother...lol i would get that birdsnest of yours but my tank is not ready yet as you can see on my build thread...my names Derek BTW

[jph]

Originally Posted by bigdeeezy

hahaha where in SJ do u live and wat car do u drive? maybe we know eachother...lol i would get that birdsnest of yours but my tank is not ready yet as you can see on my build thread...my names Derek BTW

i live close to where 87 and capitol cross.
currently i drive a stock-ish '08 sti.
drove a pretty modified '04 sti before that. and had a brief affair (couple of months in between sti's) with a '08 mx-5 (modified suspension)


let me know when you're ready for that birdsnest, it still growing pretty good in this small tank.


J.

[jph]

so, this is what the tank looks like today.

i'll post a few more close up shots, but it's not very easy to get nice sharp pictures through the curved front glass


added a few more pictures

the frag rack, as seen top down
frogspawn with curious clown
the purple mushrooms making their way down away from the light
and the acropora millepora that's been through hell it was a red one originally. half of it bleached during a quarantaine incident. cut of the dead part, and fraggeda TINY (see detail in close up) tip. that tiny frag has been encrusting very nice, and is starting to show signs of growth now. however, it completely changed color. it is now a yellow/green/lime kind of color, and it lights up under actinic lights. the "parent" has turned into something orange/brown, and doesn't light up at all.


J.

[aquawolf]

That is a great shot. I really like how you have the different frag areas, that is a clever way to do things.

[WilyGuy]

Nice looking pix.

[jph]

Originally Posted by jph

06/09/2008
SG 1.027
9 dKH
Ca inbetween 375 and 400ppm (colorchange is not 100% at 375ppm)
Mg : 1200 ppm

18/06/2008
SG 1.026
7dKH
Ca inbetween 350 and 375 ppm
Mg 1200 ppm

not dosing anything right now, did a small waterchange ~2-3 gallon

trying to figure out what the tank's demands are
will only top-off with RO/DI for another week, and add salt water to replenish skimmed out water.


J.

[OneDummHikk]

jph, too tired to look back and see if you have posted it, so what salt do you use? It appears your Ca is going down.

[jph]

Originally Posted by OneDummHikk

jph, too tired to look back and see if you have posted it, so what salt do you use? It appears your Ca is going down.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...7&postcount=92

i also made a post about it in the general forum when i first opened this bucket. i'm planning to switch to something else. but haven't made up my mind just yet.


J.