Aquavitro products: Thoughts on balance and 8.4

[mr_X]

I'm just setting up a new tank. I got rid of my 300 gallon in-wall, and just kept my sumps and frag tanks. These are a system as they are. I have two 50 gallon shallow stock tanks which i use to hold corals, and they are plumbed into a 100 gallon stock tank.
I just got a 105 rimless for Christmas, so i will be plumbing that to this existing system.
I don't have any reactors. I rely on a protein skimmer and weekly water change to replace used elements and export nutrients.
Here's what I'm using currently-

 

[mr_X]

there aren't any fish at the moment, but i feed the crap out of the LPS so, this will keep the bacteria colony strong until I plumb in the 105.

 

[PrettyFishies]

Cool setup. I guess once I get things under control, I'll be able to see signs of distress.

How much water do you think I should be changing each week?

125g, sump 20g of water, about 125lbs of LR and 2" of sand

 

[mr_X]

20-25 gallons would be good if you can manage that. That is, if you are relying on it to replenish elements. If it's not too much trouble it will make for a healthy tank.
Here's another tank that I've been running for a few years with just weekly water changes. It's a 150 with a 55 sump and I've been doing 24 gallons a week.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f71/anu-fitness-150-gallon-in-wall-diary-289623.html

 

[PrettyFishies]

Sounds good. I've been doing 20g. I'll add 5 tomorrow.

 

[Gregcoyote]

A good salt mix balanced for coral or fish only and a occasional dose of regular inexpensive baking soda if needed, to keep alkalinity up. Surface agitation to control low ph. That's about all it takes.

 

[Pisces3473]

I can't recommend them enough. I only use aquavitro since I started my reef. Great products.

 

[PrettyFishies]

So, a few things...

Did my weekly water change with IO reef crystals and decided to check the water with my pinpoint PH meter - 7.95. So, there's one issue. I need to add Aquavitro to the mix water from now on.

Isn't salt mix supposed to be at the right PH?

Next, I had my water tested by a reputable LFS. The guy actually gives good advice and seems to know what he's doing.

Ca 360 KH 6 Nitrate 30 PH 8.4 MG ?

I then tested at home

Ca 400 KH 12 Nitrate 7-10 PH 8.21 MG 1500

How can the same API tests be so off? I don't know. It's either user error or bad reagents. I will have my wife (a lab scientist) test the nitrate and MG again. Since I use a meter that I calibrated less than a week ago, I trust my PH. The Red Sea MG test we use is difficult but I think I followed the directions to a tee.

Any ideas other than replacing kits?

I was all set to finally get some coral frags and the LFS's test results stopped me.

 

[mr_X]

The PH will change with aeration and environment. I wouldn't worry about it.
API test kits are notoriously inaccurate. Salifert and Elos are better, but cost accordingly.
the only thing I would be concerned with is the nitrate.

 

[PrettyFishies]

So, I added airline tubing from the air intake of the skimmer to the outside of the house. I have two intakes on the skimmer so I added two lines and used a T to connect to one that leads outside.

Am I inhibiting the performance of the skimmer with this setup or diminishing the effect on introducing fresh air?

 

[PrettyFishies]

The PH will change with aeration and environment. I wouldn't worry about it.
API test kits are notoriously inaccurate. Salifert and Elos are better, but cost accordingly.
the only thing I would be concerned with is the nitrate.

Bought a salifert BTW

 

[mr_X]

If you put the 2 airlines from the skimmer into one that's the same size, yes, you are impeding the performance of the skimmer. Don't do anything to reduce air intake.

 

[PrettyFishies]

Ok. Good thing I asked. I have enough tubing leftover to run a second line or do you think one is enough and leaving the other intake along will help my PH issues?

 

[mr_X]

I have no idea. What are you seeing now? What is Salifert telling you?

 

[PrettyFishies]

The salifert is for nitrate. It's on it's way.

The PH meter showed a .02 increase after I added the tubing but I don't know if that just coincided with the lights coming on. It's at 8.10 now after going down to 8.05 overnight but it was up to 8.3 yesterday because I was adding 8.4 and Balance

 

[Fozzy225]

I was told to stay away from them buffers.

 

[PrettyFishies]

It seems the airline worked. My tank went up to 8.21 yesterday and is hovering around 8.19/8.20. Last night it dipped to 8.05.

I also bought dosing pumps from BRS for my EVS 2 part dosing. I'm anticipating that by dosing the alkalinity at night I can suppress the decline in PH.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Try not to chase the PH. Add some alkalinity and that will help buffer the PH swings, but don't go overboard. Make adjustments very slowly. Improving gas exchange, which you have done, is the first step. Many of us add a bit of baking soda daily to increase alkalinity and to improve buffering, but you need to know your magnesium and calcium levels as well to get the proper balance needed. Unless your tank is old, like mine, or is heavily saturated with hard corals, water exchanges will probably be sufficient to maintain a good ph balance.

 

[PrettyFishies]

Still having PH issues and it's going down. Now it's 7.85 during the day. All is 10.1, Ca is around 500, MG 1300, temp 77, Sg 1.0245

I don't know what's going on but everything looks good in the tank. I did notice my IO Reef crystals comes in at about 7.95 PH despite aerating the mix water. I have the DI unit on my RO water as well.

I'm at a loss.

 

[mr_X]

Calcium is not 500 if Alk is 10. I think those numbers are incorrect. Reef crystals will never give you a calcium level of 500, and adding such will drop your alk considerably.