Always learning...

[georgiajams]

You know... it took getting a calcium reactor to buy a pH monitor. And when I used to test pH it always would be in the "acceptable" range, but not great. But, you know, when you have a monitor on your tank, and you see the numbers all the time, it really makes it more "real", and you can see where it is at all times of the day and not think that the occasional low reading is an anomoly.

So, after having pH's in the past being around 7.8-8.0, and the occasional 8.1, I decided that I really need to control that a lot better. I thought that, perhaps, part of the problem was that the calcium reactor was maybe lowering the pH, so I unhooked it as an experiment. In addition, about 3 or 4 months ago I bought a doser and started dosing kalk for every bit of my evap water (rather than the occasional drip, or A/B stuff). I started using buffer occassionally as well. I can't emphasize how much better my tank looks lately now that my pH is better.

I think my pH is still low, but it is usually in the 8.1 range, on average, now. It may, occasionally, drop to 7.9 at night, and it may get to 8.2 during the day. It rarely gets to 8.3. Although... I need to cal my pH meter soon as it has been a while. When I do the old fashioned reagent tests it seems to look somewhere between a 8.2, and an 8.3 at best.

Anyway... you know, I was just musing tonight about how just a little difference in water chemistry can make a big difference in how your tank looks and thrives. My algea problems before, although never severe, were an annoyance. But in the last couple months, they have practically dissapeared, and this is the one major thing I've done differently in that time period.

[jlscrug]

I agree. I would be disheartened if I did not learn something new every day. I read one time that if you read about a subject for just 5 minutes a day, in 5 years you would be a leading expert in the field...only 4 1/2 more years to go. Usually the more I learn the more I realize how REALLY ignorant I am.

I have learned these lessons in the last two weeks.

1) I had a terrible time with falling Alk. One day I got the bright idea to test my top off water. DUH! Alkalinity was '0' and I am adding 1/3 to 1/2 gal of this to a 16 gal aquarium per day. No wonder my Alk/pH was really low by the end of the week. Started buffering my top off up to 3.0 and have not had a single Alk. issue since.

2) I feed mostly frozen food. Diatom algae dustings were almost daily with minimal feeding. I bought one of those measuring cup strainers and now rinse all the 'juice' off the food. Lesson #1 - I learned quite quickly that most of the frozen 'food' is actually frozen water. Lesson #2 - Eliminating the 'juice' is synonymous with eliminating algae, and I even have a HOB Remora toilet...I mean skimmer, that suddenly stopped producing so much skimmate...amazing.

[goodfortune]

Hey Chris:

I've stopped running my Ca reactor as well, and my pH has gone from 7.8-8.0 to around 8.28 (night) -8.37 (day). I have a Kalk reactor that replaces ~2-1/2 GPD, but I still have to dose Part 1&2 to keep Ca and Alk w/i range. I've never had a problem with algae, but I was not getting the growth I was expecting.

I'll let you know how it goes as well...

- Michael

[bob30329]

I'm trying to avoid mistakes when I set up a reef tanikn in a month or so. - learning a lot.

So should I not run a CR on a new tank? How can i avoid PH and Alk problems from the beginning?

[Margi]

Bob -

Just a note - one of our outstanding ARC BoD members (Ray) who was ALSO last years Vice President - is going to do a workshop at Saltwater U for beginners regarding Tank Set-up! That would be a great place to learn more - and get started right! (While you are at it - you should see Eric Borneman's talk "Identifying and Caring for Corals"; Scott Michael's "Ideal Marine Aquarium Fishes", Jeff Swanagan's "Teaching the Heart - the Georgia Aqurium's strategy for reaching our guests with meaningful messages" & Dr. Sylvia Earle's "Sustainable Seas: The Vision; The Reality". AND either James Hrynyshyn with Project Seahorse or Chris Hetlage regarding Digital Photography.

This May 21st - sign up soon!~

Go to www.SaltwaterU.com for more information.

[bob30329]

Already signed up, thanks!

[Margi]

I THOUGHT you screen name sounded familiar!!!

[georgiajams]

So should I not run a CR on a new tank? How can i avoid PH and Alk problems from the beginning?

I don't think that is the moral of the story at all. CA reactors may actually help stabalize ph and alk. But, they work by lowering the ph of the water inside the chamber (via CO2) to dissolve the media. This lower pH water (effluent) is introduced at a fairly slow rate into the tank. Typically this doesn't have a great effect on the pH, but it can have some effect. I gather that frequently people do get lower pH from this, but not enough to be outside acceptable ranges.

For me, even w/o the reactor, I have a tough time getting high pH. I'm not sure why, as I have an open top tank, lots of circulation, skimming (which provides mixing of oxygen and dispersment of C02), etc. Perhaps the inside of my house has lots of CO2. As I mentioned above, dosing kalk has helped a bunch.

I think the moral of the story is that sometimes we get so wrapped up in this and that, that we forget the fundamentals.... water chemistry can make a big difference. While 7.9 pH was "ok" it wasn't as good as keeping it up at 8.1-8.2. Ideally, I'll try to figure out how to get it to 8.3 consistently (which may simply be recalibrating my pH meter!).

-Chris

[Ray1214]

Well the aspect I have learned is to use a Kalk Reactor (The kind you just dump Kalkwasser in) and a Calcium Reactor at the same time. I didn't have to add buffer very often but I still did if I saw Alk take a dive. I found that a pH controller was a very important piece of hardware though.

Ray

[georgiajams]

I found that a pH controller was a very important piece of hardware though.

Yep. I'm going to invest in a pH monitor for my other tank too. No more sharing...

[Jessezm]

Speaking of calibrating pH monitors--does anyone have a milwaukee pH controller? If so, I'm not quite sure how to use the second calibration setting on the back of the monitor--do you just need a really small flathead screwdriver? I haven't been able to get it to turn...
Thanks,
--JEsse

[goodfortune]

..Another side lesson picked up along the way:

Do use the Borax Calibration Check; 1/2 teaspoon of Borax mixed with 2 cups (= 1 pint) of RO/DI water. If your probe doesn't read ~9.18, it's time to recalibrate .

- Michael

[goodfortune]

Amen !!!

Once I started running the reactor a few months ago, I could literally turn my back on the tank as far as levels were concerned (not suggesting to anyone to do that, LOL). My levels were consistently 400+ on Ca and 12+ dKH for alkalinity. Thing was, my pH never got above 8.1, and I got little growth considering the high and steady levels I was able to provide.

I think I'll go about a month reactor-less to see how it goes...

- Michael

Originally Posted by georgiajams

...CA reactors may actually help stabalize ph and alk. But, they work by lowering the ph of the water inside the chamber (via CO2) to dissolve the media.

-Chris

[georgiajams]

Do use the Borax Calibration Check; 1/2 teaspoon of Borax mixed with 2 cups (= 1 pint) of RO/DI water. If your probe doesn't read ~9.18, it's time to recalibrate

I assume any Borax residue left on the probe after rinsing it off is ok? Probably not much after a rinse... but isn't that stuff used in pesticides (and cleaners, etc)?

[goodfortune]

Yes, It should be safe. In fact, some aquarium salt and additives manufacturers will put borate into thier products to help with buffering.

- Michael