water parameter question

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by sufunk
I HAVE THE 30" CORALIFE AQUALIGHT 2X65
I just tested the water i use for changes and the Alk is 2.63 and the dKH is 7.4
Is that bad?

Yes, that is bad. This is why your pH continues to drop....no "buffer capacity."
I know in the next post you said you dont want to dose anything, but dosing b-ionic is not what I consider "dosing" in the resects of a negative way...in other words, I am not a fan of dosing things either-the medicine man fixes that are on the market to cure all.
B-ionic is a needed SUPPLEMENT. You really MUST go get some kind of alkalinity buffer...and imo the b-ionic is the best. You dont need to calcium (part 2), but get a small one just in case.

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by sufunk
well temp went down overnight w/o the hood and the circulation and surface agitation are better but my PH seems even lower, like 7.7
I want to get it to 8.0

This is getting annoying

Get your buffer working....then do a few good water changes. You will get to 8.0, trust me. But first, you must get some b-ionic, or similar poduct.
Do this slowly...

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by sufunk
Just tested my phosphates and they are like .5, anyone else have any advice? :help:
Would running chemi-pure help to bring my Ph up?

Kents phosphate sponge is effective and the safest to bring this down.
Phosban ( ithnk thats it...) by two little fishes is also good, but is a little more risky if you are not careful with it, but it last a LOT longer than kents. (Kents lasts about 3 days...the phosban works for like a month or so)
Phosphates, like nitrates, are controlled by the same solutions...

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by sufunk
I just took off the back 60% of my hood, only the bowfront cover is on now. Also moved the powerhead up a little for more agitation. Would really like to get my Ph and Alk up without having to dose anything

Good so far....you must do the other things now to get the pH up to where you want it...the open top will help, but without proper buffering, it will only do so much.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by sufunk
1)I dont smoke
2) 1.5" clown, 2"blue tang, 1"basselet, 2" midas blenny, 1" convict blenny , overstocked but they are all small except the tang, I will be getting a 210 by christmas
3) Like 4pm and then 10 pm before lights out
Thanks for any help Bangguy
Well, there's really nothing wrong with your system. I have a few additional suggestions;
1 - the powerhead for sure.
2 - a skimmer will help a LOT in many ways.
3 - Don't stress about your PH. It's a bit low but not too bad at all. Don't feel like it MUST be fixed. IMO you just have excess CO2 in the tank.
4 - Add a couple teaspoons of Baking soda to each gallon of your topoff water until ALK is closer to 3.5Meq.L

 

[sufunk]

thanks for the help guys, the powerhead and skimmer should be here by the end of the week. I guess i need to get some baking soda and some of that b-ionic ( not sure what that is, havent seen it at my lfs, gonna have to look more carefully)
Bangguy or ctgretzky, should i do anything to my water im using b4 changes since its alk and dkh are so low?

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by sufunk
thanks for the help guys, the powerhead and skimmer should be here by the end of the week. I guess i need to get some baking soda and some of that b-ionic ( not sure what that is, havent seen it at my lfs, gonna have to look more carefully)
Bangguy or ctgretzky, should i do anything to my water im using b4 changes since its alk and dkh are so low?

I dont know if you should use both the baking soda AND the b-ionic...my opinion would be to use the bs for the top off water to get instant reults and raise it (but still...do this slowly) and then take over with the b-ionic for just adding to the tank, and not worry about the top off water parameters. I never used baking soda...(Guy? what do you think?)
What I do: before i do any top off water, I add my 15 ml (or sometimes 30 ml if it is in the summer say, and I am topping off even more water) of alk, then my 15 ml of calc (though you dont need the cal, yours is already high), let it mix up good in the tank (about 10-15 min or so) then add my top off, which is usually around 3/4 to a gallon.
My parameters stay pretty much rock on at 4.0 alk, 440 calc.
No, dont do anything to your salt water mix. But I would test it, see where the parameters are every once in a while, to make sure lfs is keeping consitent, and be pro-active...ASK them if anything has changed.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by ctgretzky9
I dont know if you should use both the baking soda AND the b-ionic...my opinion would be to use the bs for the top off water to get instant reults and raise it (but still...do this slowly) and then take over with the b-ionic for just adding to the tank, and not worry about the top off water parameters. I never used baking soda...(Guy? what do you think?)
B-Ionic is an excellent product but I'm not recommending in in this case because of the high Ca level of the store bought saltwater. There would rarely be a need to use part B of the product so that's a lot of $$ for just raising ALK.

 

[sufunk]

Thanks guys,im adding 1 gallon of topoff today so ill put like 2 teaspoons of baking soda in it and see if that starts working. If my calcium drops any ill start with the bionic but i guess for now ill try baking soda to get my alk and ph in line.
Hopefully my aqua c remora will be here soon!!, ordered it on friday

 

[bang guy]

Just for reference: 1 teaspoon of Baking Soda will raise the alkalinity of 20 gallons by about 1.0 meq/L.

 

[sufunk]

I just got my aqua c skimmer and hooked it up. Should i ditch my penguin 170 filter now or keep it running too. Its a pain and puts out too many micro bubbles since the last time i cleaned it. Do i still need it? and if so has anyone had the same problem with their penguin making alot of microbubbles after cleaning it?

 

[bang guy]

I would keep it for use with carbon a couple days a month. If you turn it off you might want to get a powerhead to replace the waterflow.

 

[sufunk]

im gonna get a mj 600 or 900 tonight. Id like to keep the filter running just for the extra filtration but these microbubbles are ,alom ,e
I got enough from the new skimmer , the filter micronubbles are too much. It never had any till this cleaning. Any idea why now??

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by sufunk
I just got my aqua c skimmer and hooked it up. Should i ditch my penguin 170 filter now or keep it running too. Its a pain and puts out too many micro bubbles since the last time i cleaned it. Do i still need it? and if so has anyone had the same problem with their penguin making alot of microbubbles after cleaning it?

I agree with guy...keep it to use to put carbon or other "hard goods" into.
Also, it makes a great place to dose the b-ionic etc.
I dont know about the micro bubbles, sorry. Maybe you have an air leak somewhere?

 

[sufunk]

Thanks for the reply. Ive checked for a air leak but cant find 1. Its not like theres alot of places for air to leak on the penguin 170. Its really getting annoying but maybe itll stop after a few more days hopefully otherwise its off.
Ctgreztky, if i only keep it on to run carbon and dose every once in a while do i just ditch the bio-whell or keep that on as well?

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by sufunk
Thanks for the reply. Ive checked for a air leak but cant find 1. Its not like theres alot of places for air to leak on the penguin 170. Its really getting annoying but maybe itll stop after a few more days hopefully otherwise its off.
Ctgreztky, if i only keep it on to run carbon and dose every once in a while do i just ditch the bio-whell or keep that on as well?
Ditch it. It is trapping particulate that breaks down and rots. With a good skimmer, you are doing more than the bio wheel could ever do.