An Alaskan Reef (38G)

[Frankie]

Sounds good koffee! Keep us updated.

[PEMfish]

I like the new scaping. Definitely go RO/DI or at least RO soon. Soon as possible.
RO filters are 3 stage purifiers that go for $100-$250. The DI is a 4th stage.
RO/DI are 4 stage purifiers that are a bit better and go for just a little more.
Coralife ( good brand ) makes a 4 stage for about $130 witch is a good deal.

[koffee]

Frankie asked me in chat yesterday how much water I add to my system every day.

Excactly 2 and 3/4 gallons... but that is when I dump the skimmer cup before work and don't notice that the O-ring fell on the floor until I get home from work.

The first clue was seeing my return blowing bubbles. The second clue was the fact that my socks (feet, not filter) were getting wet while staring in awe at the bubbles.

Sigh.

[koffee]

I didn't change the Magnum micron last night because I was dealing with the mess, so changed it this morning. I now have 3 carts to rotate.

Not surprisingly, my pH and alk were down again this morning (7.8 and 3.0). What else could this be besides a Mg problem? I really will order the test kit this week.

Ammonia is still hanging around 0.5. I know all the work over the past month (large WCs, moving rock, adding sand) could have kicked off a cycle, but I really think that would be dropping by now.

Nitrates are still stuck at 20. At least they don't often climb past that.

[koffee]

Well, no leaks tonight. There is a bucket below the skimmer just in case.

But, I come home to a tank at 85.5! And I'm only running a 24" PC with two 36" NOs. Another sigh.

Can someone remind me why I wanted a reef?

[tbittner]

Originally Posted by koffee

Frankie asked me in chat yesterday how much water I add to my system every day.

Excactly 2 and 3/4 gallons... but that is when I dump the skimmer cup before work and don't notice that the O-ring fell on the floor until I get home from work.

The first clue was seeing my return blowing bubbles. The second clue was the fact that my socks (feet, not filter) were getting wet while staring in awe at the bubbles.

Sigh.

ROFLMAO!!!

Oh man, sorry to hear about that. I don't have a dry pair of socks in my house either!!!

[tbittner]

What is your return pump? If it's a Mag, then that is most likely your source of the heat. Clamp a small desk fan onto the side of your sump and let it blow across the water. That will help to keep it cooler.

[Frankie]

Also, if your having a high temp problem try removing the heater. Most reef tanks are best kept at room temperature or lower. I have yet to need a heater in my tank.

[koffee]

My tank stays at 79-80 nearly all of the time. Early on, I've had occassional drops to 77-78, but those were rare. I have the heater set to keep the tank at the average minimum to prevent any major drops.

The house was very warm last night. I noticed it as soon as I walked in the door. Our house heat gets flaky when we're inbetween seasons. Hopefully we are right around the corner from turning off the heat for good until next winter.

If the tank gets hot because the room gets hot, I'm not sure how much a fan would do. I will keep that in mind, though. The tank is close to the back door, so last night, I just kept the door open for a while, letting the cool (c. 34F) night air in.

p.s. A couple of years ago, before I had this tank, we went away for the weekend and forgot to shut one of the windows. I dropped to 15-20 below for the whole weekend, and we came back to a room temperature of the upper 40s to low 50s! We normally try to keep our house in the upper 60s.

[koffee]

I wish something would die already... well, not really.

This moring, pH and alk are down (7.8, 3.0), ammonia is still stuck at 0.5, there are no nitrites, but nitrates are back up to 40 or more. I'll try to have the LFS test my water soon, but I can't make it to the good LFS today. At least the temp is back to normal and SG is steady (1.025).

I just did a WC on Sunday. Then I added the Magnum canister, then cleaned and swapped out the micron yesterday. I've only feed once (just a small bit of gamma shrimp) since the WC.

Yet as bad as my water is, my fish are fine, as are my shrimp and snails. My mushrooms open up a lot soon after the lights come on. Although my GSP isn't threatening to take over my tank, I think I can see some expansion. My few zoos open up. Even my xenia, which developed a bunch of white tips soon after introduction, seems to have stabalized. I have obvious coraline growth. I only have minor algae and hardly any/no cyano. Even the fuge, which has a tiny CUC, looks relatively clean.

I've been fighting high nitrates for over a month, and the ammonia for at least a week. I don't really want anything to die, but it is frustrating to not see what should logically be a downhill trend if my water is really this bad.

[tbittner]

What ammonia test kit are you using? I remember that the first kit I used, I believe it was a red sea test kit which a bunch of tests in it, would never read below .5. It was a false reading.

Also, the Tufa rock...

I don't know much about it but I found this:

TUFFA ROCK

Tuffa rock is a white dense but yet soft rock that can be sculpted with a little care into various shapes. It is not really suitable for the freshwater aquarium. It can be used in a marine set up but not in great quantities as it will over time slowly start to dissolve.
The best and most popular use for this rock is for the ancient art of cultivating Japanese Bonsai.


I don't know what it's made out of but that could be the reason for some of your readings.

[koffee]

API test kit, which was always reading 0 until a week or so ago. I have to check the lot number, but it is not that old. Same API test kit for the nitrates. And again, I get different results depending on how much and how recent of a WC. So the tests don't seem stuck regardless of the results, although they certainly could be off. Btw, I tested today with a much older FW API test kit (as far as I know, the stuff is the same), and got identical results. I also have tested my new water, and got 0 ammonia and nitrates.

My search shows that I'm not the only one using tufa. It is (or supposedly is) calcium carbonate deposits. Wouldn't that act as a good buffer? (And a bad buffer in FW, hence it not being recommended.)

It will be a pain if I need to remove it since it is mostly base rock, buried in the sand, and supporting the LR. If my ammonia and nitrates really are high, I think I could cause more problems by disturbing the sand bed than I'll solve unless 100% of the ammonia and nitrates are coming from the tufa itself, and I doubt that.

Perhaps I'll remove the big hunk in the fuge as soon as I can get some cured LR at the LFS to replace it. More importantly, I'll get the LFS to test my water.

It is just frustrating to work so hard at fixing my water when everything looks healthy and happy.

[tbittner]

I'm not suggesting that you remove it. I don't know what it is. And I don't know that it disolving over time is a good or bad thing either. But you also have your structure sitting on top of it and one of these days, in a hundred years, it might collapse.

[koffee]

Originally Posted by tbittner

one of these days, in a hundred years, it might collapse.

Not a problem. I've started to put away 25 cents every week towards a 125G, so I'll be upgrading in about 34 years... long before the rock collapses.

[Frankie]

Hey, if the tank looks happy and healthy stop testing for a few weeks. Just enjoy it and stop sticking your hands in there. some tanks have high nitrates and that is that. If the corals and fish seem healthy i say leave it alone for now. It just might need to work it self out.
How ou doing with the sump mod? or is that done? were you abe to find a micron sock?