P
pcollins
Guest
so i have the KH test. i dont really know a whole lot about hardness. so it came up to 10dGH. good or bad? what levels should it be?
reefreak29
Active Member
i think u meen 10 dkh and thats good u want to be 8 to 12
P
pcollins
Guest
k how do i get it to lower? thanks in advance!
pyro
Active Member
Keep
It
Simple
Stupid
Kiss... found it a great thing to go off with these forums.
Really hardness is one of those things you don't want to mess with. Its tied into that whole Ph ordeal. If you are using a decent salt mix or getting good premade stuff and doing regular water changes, you should be great. Buffers and the such really are very tempermental and normally don't fix the real problem. I've killed many freshwater fish trying to get the knack of pH and hardness buffers and the such - powder ones aren't bad, but still are very up and down.
Best just left untouched in my opinion =)
Happy reefing.
It
Simple
Stupid
Kiss... found it a great thing to go off with these forums.
Really hardness is one of those things you don't want to mess with. Its tied into that whole Ph ordeal. If you are using a decent salt mix or getting good premade stuff and doing regular water changes, you should be great. Buffers and the such really are very tempermental and normally don't fix the real problem. I've killed many freshwater fish trying to get the knack of pH and hardness buffers and the such - powder ones aren't bad, but still are very up and down.
Best just left untouched in my opinion =)
Happy reefing.
P
pcollins
Guest
cant seem to figure out why my rock wont turn purple. only about 6 pieces are purple. using purple up. does it have alot to do with lighting?
reefreak29
Active Member
has alot to do with calcium
pyro
Active Member
the purple (coralline) is kinda more of a thermometer in my opinion. It will grow when everything (lighting/temp/chemistry) is just inline. Regular water changes and good lighting (I'm not sure about the lighting on coralline, I have a reef so already have strong lighting) will cause it to grow.
That purple up stuff really isn't good for your tank in my opinion. If I remember right, it is basically just a calcium supplement for your tank; and most likely if you are doing water changes your calcium will be fine unless you have a very high amount of hard corals.
Just to clarify, when hard corals or I beleive coralline grow, they use 2 carbonates (alkalinity is a measure of carbonates) and 1 calcium. So really adding excess calcium/purple up won't do much good.
I've never used purple up, but if you do a search for it on the boards, you will probably find a lot more first hand expirience and positive or negetive results with it.
I would just wait and keep up on water changes. It'll grow. Keep algae down too - it won't grow on algae covered rocks.
Good Luck
That purple up stuff really isn't good for your tank in my opinion. If I remember right, it is basically just a calcium supplement for your tank; and most likely if you are doing water changes your calcium will be fine unless you have a very high amount of hard corals.
Just to clarify, when hard corals or I beleive coralline grow, they use 2 carbonates (alkalinity is a measure of carbonates) and 1 calcium. So really adding excess calcium/purple up won't do much good.
I've never used purple up, but if you do a search for it on the boards, you will probably find a lot more first hand expirience and positive or negetive results with it.
I would just wait and keep up on water changes. It'll grow. Keep algae down too - it won't grow on algae covered rocks.
Good Luck
anonome
Active Member
Originally Posted by pcollins
cant seem to figure out why my rock wont turn purple. only about 6 pieces are purple. using purple up. does it have alot to do with lighting?
Post the rest of your perameters of the tank, maybe something else is a miss. Also, how old is the tank? What kind of rock do you have? Some rock, dead rock, is very stubborn to turn colors, but not impossible with age. What kind of lights do you have? How long do you run them? Water movement? How much?
cant seem to figure out why my rock wont turn purple. only about 6 pieces are purple. using purple up. does it have alot to do with lighting?
Post the rest of your perameters of the tank, maybe something else is a miss. Also, how old is the tank? What kind of rock do you have? Some rock, dead rock, is very stubborn to turn colors, but not impossible with age. What kind of lights do you have? How long do you run them? Water movement? How much?
P
pcollins
Guest
Originally Posted by Anonome
Post the rest of your perameters of the tank, maybe something else is a miss. Also, how old is the tank? What kind of rock do you have? Some rock, dead rock, is very stubborn to turn colors, but not impossible with age. What kind of lights do you have? How long do you run them? Water movement? How much?
125g
am 0
ni 0
na 0
ph 8.2
sg 1.026
ca 500
temp 79-80
rock is year and a half. only about 5 pieces were live. not anymore. probably about 7 months ago i had ich. couldnt catch all fish with as much rock as i have. so i med the tank.
open brain
xmas tree
pulsing xania(new doing well)
lighting 96w 2 50/50 power compac-runtime 10 hours a day
water movement not much. 2 mag 350s and sump.
Post the rest of your perameters of the tank, maybe something else is a miss. Also, how old is the tank? What kind of rock do you have? Some rock, dead rock, is very stubborn to turn colors, but not impossible with age. What kind of lights do you have? How long do you run them? Water movement? How much?
125g
am 0
ni 0
na 0
ph 8.2
sg 1.026
ca 500
temp 79-80
rock is year and a half. only about 5 pieces were live. not anymore. probably about 7 months ago i had ich. couldnt catch all fish with as much rock as i have. so i med the tank.
open brain
xmas tree
pulsing xania(new doing well)
lighting 96w 2 50/50 power compac-runtime 10 hours a day
water movement not much. 2 mag 350s and sump.
P
pcollins
Guest
kinda limited on mula for the lighting but the more i read, its about lighting. ive see some high dollar lights on these tanks. my little 2 96w 48in 50/50 bulbs isnt much. what do you recommend on more lighting? two more 50/50 or go with something different? alk is same as GH right?
anonome
Active Member
Originally Posted by pcollins
kinda limited on mula for the lighting but the more i read, its about lighting. ive see some high dollar lights on these tanks. my little 2 96w 48in 50/50 bulbs isnt much. what do you recommend on more lighting? two more 50/50 or go with something different? alk is same as GH right?
Your lighting is ok, for now, but start saving for an upgrade. I would get a 72" unit. Look at the aqualight, or current orbit. Or at the least, change out one of the 50/50 bulbs on each unit for a 10,000K bulb. Usually put one in the front, and one in the back, stagger the bulbs.
Your calcium is high, so stop dosing with the purple up.....does more harm at this point.
Alkalinity is a measure of the buffering capacity. Keeps the ph, and cal in check. With your reading of 10....this is actually a reading of the hardness of the water. 7-12 dkh is the rule for a reef. Your hardness is just fine. As is your ph.
Now, we have to look at your water movement.......not too much. Add a powerhead to move the water around.
What did you dose the tank with to get rid of the ick? Something reef safe I hope. Eventhough, I don't like to dose the main tank for anything. I feel it does more harm than good in the long run.
How often do you do water changes?
kinda limited on mula for the lighting but the more i read, its about lighting. ive see some high dollar lights on these tanks. my little 2 96w 48in 50/50 bulbs isnt much. what do you recommend on more lighting? two more 50/50 or go with something different? alk is same as GH right?
Your lighting is ok, for now, but start saving for an upgrade. I would get a 72" unit. Look at the aqualight, or current orbit. Or at the least, change out one of the 50/50 bulbs on each unit for a 10,000K bulb. Usually put one in the front, and one in the back, stagger the bulbs.
Your calcium is high, so stop dosing with the purple up.....does more harm at this point.
Alkalinity is a measure of the buffering capacity. Keeps the ph, and cal in check. With your reading of 10....this is actually a reading of the hardness of the water. 7-12 dkh is the rule for a reef. Your hardness is just fine. As is your ph.
Now, we have to look at your water movement.......not too much. Add a powerhead to move the water around.
What did you dose the tank with to get rid of the ick? Something reef safe I hope. Eventhough, I don't like to dose the main tank for anything. I feel it does more harm than good in the long run.
How often do you do water changes?
P
pcollins
Guest
Originally Posted by Anonome
Your lighting is ok, for now, but start saving for an upgrade. I would get a 72" unit. Look at the aqualight, or current orbit. Or at the least, change out one of the 50/50 bulbs on each unit for a 10,000K bulb. Usually put one in the front, and one in the back, stagger the bulbs.
Your calcium is high, so stop dosing with the purple up.....does more harm at this point.
Alkalinity is a measure of the buffering capacity. Keeps the ph, and cal in check. With your reading of 10....this is actually a reading of the hardness of the water. 7-12 dkh is the rule for a reef. Your hardness is just fine. As is your ph.
Now, we have to look at your water movement.......not too much. Add a powerhead to move the water around.
What did you dose the tank with to get rid of the ick? Something reef safe I hope. Eventhough, I don't like to dose the main tank for anything. I feel it does more harm than good in the long run.
How often do you do water changes?
i have another roommate now so ill be saving for one.
thought about getting a couple of magnet pumps that move water 360degrees. cant remember what its called. starts with a k and not sure how much water movement i need also
used "rid ich" but that was like 7 months ago
water changes every two weeks
im getting red alge on my crushed coral and some on back glass
Your lighting is ok, for now, but start saving for an upgrade. I would get a 72" unit. Look at the aqualight, or current orbit. Or at the least, change out one of the 50/50 bulbs on each unit for a 10,000K bulb. Usually put one in the front, and one in the back, stagger the bulbs.
Your calcium is high, so stop dosing with the purple up.....does more harm at this point.
Alkalinity is a measure of the buffering capacity. Keeps the ph, and cal in check. With your reading of 10....this is actually a reading of the hardness of the water. 7-12 dkh is the rule for a reef. Your hardness is just fine. As is your ph.
Now, we have to look at your water movement.......not too much. Add a powerhead to move the water around.
What did you dose the tank with to get rid of the ick? Something reef safe I hope. Eventhough, I don't like to dose the main tank for anything. I feel it does more harm than good in the long run.
How often do you do water changes?
i have another roommate now so ill be saving for one.
thought about getting a couple of magnet pumps that move water 360degrees. cant remember what its called. starts with a k and not sure how much water movement i need also
used "rid ich" but that was like 7 months ago
water changes every two weeks
im getting red alge on my crushed coral and some on back glass
P
pcollins
Guest
send me some links if you would on lighting setup.....dont think they will let you post link...pcollins249@bellsouth.net