75 Gal Reef Build

[Dano.]

I have coralline starting to appear on my power heads and back wall today!

 

[Pizza101]

I have coralline starting to appear on my power heads and back wall today!

Always an exiting time! Purple up works great for me!

 

[Dano.]

Very exciting! But I have never used purple up? Does it make a big difference?

 

[Pizza101]

Very exciting! But I have never used purple up? Does it make a big difference?

Yes sir, I use it once the tank is seeded and already some growth on pumps, rocks, glass etc. it really takes off when you start dosing it. On a regular basis it literally multiplies overnight! If I put some cured rock in my tank a month later it's covered but watch your calcium levels because it has some in it and if your already are dosing with some calcium you might get so e really high levels!

 

[Jaketit]

Well if your coraline is going ape ****. Shouldn't your calcium be lower? Ever since my switch to LED my coraline has been taking off but my calcium levels have been real low, I've been dosing but I can't seem to get it up.

 

[Dano.]

My calcium levels are good I test them a few times a week and dose accordingly. I want to make sure my lps continue to grow well.

 

[Jaketit]

Well mine aren't and I can't figure out why. People keep telling me its because my coraline is using it all up.

 

[Dano.]

Generally coralline is sign is a healthy system, how often do you check your calcium levels?

 

[Jaketit]

Every week and I've been dosing but they're still low. I can't figure out what is depleting it.

 

[Dano.]

I had that issue in my last set up. I tested like every other day for a few weeks to find out how fast the calcium was being used. Then you just have to figure out how much and how often to dose the tank.

 

[Kio707]

Every week and I've been dosing but they're still low. I can't figure out what is depleting it.

How often and how much do you do pwc?

 

[Pizza101]

I dose calcium twice a week and purple up three to four times a week.

 

[danbstrong]

Every week and I've been dosing but they're still low. I can't figure out what is depleting it.

If calcium wont go up its usually caused by low magnesium or low alk the 3 go hand in hand

 

[Jaketit]

I do 8 to 10 gallons weekly on a 55 gallon with a 20 gallon sump. the lfs never mentioned anything about the alk and mag. You would think they would check that too if my calcium was low. I don't have any kits yet as you can tell. They just told me to dose twice a week with calcium, and I haven't seen a difference in a month now.

 

[Dano.]

Test kits are a great thing to have. You can keep track of where you are and what your dosing is doing to those levels.

 

[Pizza101]

If calcium wont go up its usually caused by low magnesium or low alk the 3 go hand in hand

I second that..

 

[Jaketit]

I totally agree, I've been trying to do some searching on kits I'm not sure what to get. Everyone says like 10 different kits are more accurate. How much is a decent kit? Seems like most kits don't come with everything. Just kind of confused on the right kit I need to test everything.

 

[Dano.]

I just have the API reef master to test for calcium, alk, and phosphate. And the saltwater test kit for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and ph. Some people don't like API but they have not steered me wrong yet.

 

[danbstrong]

I totally agree, I've been trying to do some searching on kits I'm not sure what to get. Everyone says like 10 different kits are more accurate. How much is a decent kit? Seems like most kits don't come with everything. Just kind of confused on the right kit I need to test everything.

I like salifert test kit

 

[Pizza101]

Salifert is the most accurate in my experience Andi always order mine off eBay, it's much cheaper than the LFS.