Help dosing red sea coral colors b

[Scotty Fraiser]

I have a 110 gall reef with a 30 gall fuge. My potassium has consistently tested low. Last week sent sample to water testing Svc ( I don't have a potassium kit) but just about everything else. K level tested 208 mg/l. The dosing chart on bottle is in ppm. Therefore not sure where to start. And not smart enough to convert mg/l to ppm. Ha. Thanks for any help.

 

[mr_X]

Are you having trouble keeping corals? I've never tested for potassium on any tank I've kept or looked after and have had some pretty successful reefs. If your tank isn't broke, I wouldn't fix it.

 

[Scotty Fraiser]

No not really. Corals seem to be happy except for pulsating Xenia. It shrank from six inches to a white spot on a rock now. I am testing for almost everything and every other month I am sending water samples to a Svc out of colorAdo. K levels are always low according to them. I don't test for k. I don't have that test. Main problem is phosphate. Algea problem is also a problem. Bought a nextreef msr1 and have been running phosguard in it for about two weeks now. Trying to lower phos and silica. Just changed the phosguard in reactor a few minutes ago. Parameters tested
Amm .01
Nitrite .015
Nitrate 2.1
Phosp 1.0
Silica .7
Potassium 208
Moly .3
Sr 6.9
Mag 1200iodine.07
Alk 2.5
Ca 2.5
All in mg/l !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mr_X]

Then look to lowering the nutrient levels and don't bother with potassium. Xenia doesn't do well in certain aquariums, and no one has ever found out why, but that is not a curse, but a blessing. It's one extremely invasive species, if it likes your tank.

 

[sanderson417]

Listen to X. I was like you and worked and worked to get my Xenia to thrive in my tank. Now I can't rip it out fast enough. It's growing everywhere. I have made some money selling it off , but it grows way too fast and all over everything. I hate it now.

 

[Scotty Fraiser]

Mr x

I am running 3 cups of phosguard in a reActor in the sump. Trying to lower phosphate and silica. Have had an ongoing issue with silica in the past. I do 25 gall water changes every two weeks with ro water. I am also running an oversized reef octo skimmer. Any suggestions with exactly what media to run in the skimmer. Do you prefer one over another? I try to hold off to every other day for feeding but I cheat sometimes. Can I mix media such as carbon and phosguard. Thanks a bunch for your help!!!!!!

 

[mr_X]

Media in the reactor you mean? I would just cut back to feeding 2 times a week for a while and up water changes to every week. It won't hurt anything, I promise.
I don't know about the mixing carbon with phosban, but If I had to guess, I would say it should be fine, hwoever, I believe you should be running a lot more than 3 cups of carbon for a 140 +- gallon system. Would it even fit in the reactor?

 

[Scotty Fraiser]

Wow. My water is clear and beautiful but I still run 2 small bags of carbon in filter bags in bubble trap. You are right about fitting in reactor if you should run that much. I am running 3 cups of phosguard in reactor and it pretty big. It Is a rextreef msr1. Not sure how much it will hold but I always buy oversized so I don't run into a problem. Will try the weekly water change although that is going to get expensive! This hobby is too darn expensive!!! By the way. How long does the phosguard usually last. I know just to watch the phosphate level but in general. A month? A week? 2 months???? Thanks again for your help.