Buffy's 1st Ever SW Build - Reef Tank

[kurtyboh]

yeah hopefully, technically speaking they've been out since like the 80's... there was no need for them or something and it was shelved until like 8 or nine yrs ago. But if you factor the cost over the life of the bulb currently its approx. 200 a yr, not including the t5 which are attatched like some mh's have. then in 15 yrs when it needs to be replaced the bulb will be hecka cheap.

 

[Gregcoyote]

Plasma is great if you have a thousand gallon reef and the budget a public aquarium has. On a smaller scale, modern LEDs are becoming the best solution. If you are hard core, and simply don't believe in the LED fairy, buy MH, actinic fluorescents and a chiller if wanting a hard coral reef.

 

[kurtyboh]

i agree, the cost is extremely prohibitive kind of what i was getting at. even at 200 a yr you can buy a new fixture every 3 yrs and replace bulbs every 6 months as scheduled for a 400w mh at nearly the same cost. while 200 a yr is easier to swallow than the initial 3500 it still a tech that has a ways to go, but for those that have to have the best, it certainly is a contender.

 

[Gregcoyote]

If you want the best, you put in light tubes to your roof and use mother nature most of the day. Check out some of the natural light reefs on this forum. If I am lucky enough to build a new home, the reef tank will use at least three of these light tubes. Sorry, Buffy, it's your thread, but it was an interesting conversation.

 

[Buffy]

oops, see next post, hit post instead of advanced. sorry

 

[Buffy]

pH

No sweat guys, keep going with the conversation as I'm learning too. I like the back and forth as it's not just one opinion and that's it. So the more the merrier.

Sorry didn't get online like I wanted to.

pH's don't match up enough to put in my fishies. Now as you guys said if my RO/DI and such are working right then I would have to raise the pH more than likely. Well guess what........... I have to raise my pH. So that's good right?

pH - dt tank - 7.8 but the corals are still okay. That maybe why they aren't doing as good as I think they should be. (Expanding that is)

pH - ro/di water 7.8
pH - qt tank 8.1

So the best pH so far that I've read has been 8.1 - 8.4, and 8.2 about being optimal. Questions:

1. Is that for reef and fish combined? I have both. Fish are one pH and coral another pH.

2. What should I use for optimal/goal pH numbers 8.2?

2. Do I buffer the ro/di in the ro/di container or do I buffer in the dt tank itself? (I do not have sump or refugium YET).

3. What is the brand you all recommend for buffering?

4. What parameters do I need to keep an eye on that pH buffering affects?

5. Will I end up playing cat and mouse with the pH buffering and say for example calcium/magnesium, phosphates and stuff?

6. How long should it take or should "I" take to buffer from a 7.8 pH to 8.2 pH? I saw a link about this, that was posted previously but got awfully confused on all the EXCELLENT and INDEPTH information, unfortunately was far too excellent and indepth for me to understand at the moment. I need a little help til I can grasp all that please.

Don't know if I should post this but I feel this is important to everyone and if you could just make a note of it in the back of our full SW brains so Moderators would you please leave this information in this post. Thank you.

Had to take my dog to vet yesterday, started drooling out of one side of his mouth a couple weeks ago, mouth sagging, eye sagging alittle and he stumbled like he was drunk and gonna fall over and he was diagnosed with Bells Palsy, which we believe he got from lyme and anaplasmosis diseases which he tested positive for both (since the rest of him showed he was healthy). Both diseases are tick born. The tick is the deer tick (Ixodes spp) also known as black-legged tick and the western black-legged tick. However Bells Palsy is not just from lyme's diseases and ticks, it can be gotten from a virus, injury or any number of things. So just please be ware. Am posting this because humans are also susceptible to Bells Palsy, Lyme's Disease and others from various sources.

Bells Palsy symptoms for my dog resembled a stroke (see above). Lyme's is now treatable and so is the Anaplasmosis using the same anti-biotics. Treatment is a month long. Full recovery is under debate. Tests will show posts for years. And of course the longer you wait for treatment, the more the end results could differ.

They would not treat him unless he was vaccinated (which I am against-but had no choice because of the law) and now he can hardly move his hind end, is very stiff, off balance and in obvious pain, after researching I believe he is having a reaction (to his law enforced shots) and am waiting to hear back from vet, so I have been pretty busy caring for him and helping him outside and onto and off furniture.

Thanks for reading the above and making note If it helps anyone then I'm happy.

Back to aquarium:

Have some more running to do today and dang it I hope to get all parameters tested this time. I have yet to do my pwc for this week. I'd like to know about the pH buffering if possible before pwc so that if I need to do it prior to, then I can buffer the water before using, unless I should do pwc, then buffer. IDK so any help with the process would be great.

I don't have any pH up or down buffering at all. I will stop at store on way home if someone can post what I should buy. Thanks again everyone and so sorry so long a post.

 

[Gregcoyote]

IMO, I would work on raising the KH first to at least 8-10. That buffering will help control the PH swings. If you are keeping corals 8-8.4 is okay, I prefer 8.3 or 4, but it is sometime difficult (especially in an old tank) to keep PH this high.

Seachem makes a buffer that works nicely, I would dissolve it in RO water and drip the dose into my tank over a few hours. Never raise more than .05 at a 24 hour stretch if possible. I personally use baking soda for minor PH tweaks. It is a solid acid neutralizer and cheap to use. There is some argument over it's use, but look at the forums, it has been used for PH adjustment for decades. But to be non-controversal, I would use the prepared PH/buffering products.

You will, after establishing some harder corals, need constant calcium supplementation. This is done with lime water (Kalkwasser) addition, generally at night, because it raises your PH and the addition of a two part calcium/alkalinity supplement like B-Ionic, or the generic brands BRS sells. These additives will also raise your KH and stabilize your PH.

PH is always going to drift up and down slightly, but should not vary more than .2 in a 24 hour time frame. Just My opinion. Move slowly here as these changes if too abrupt can cause harm.

I have a house full of dogs on a 300 acre wildlife reserve full of deer. We keep our dogs dosed with tick medication all year long. I feel your pain as my dogs are my best friends.

 

[coffeetwitch]

Sorry to hear about your pup. The more you care about something the harder it is to see it suffer. Best of luck Buffy. Hope things get better

 

[rdnelson99]

sorry to hear about your pup. The more you care about something the harder it is to see it suffer. Best of luck buffy. Hope things get better

+100000000

 

[Buffy]

Thanks guys, I'm sure he will get better. Long day but time to get my testing done on my water so I can see where I need to start dosing and get back on track with my tank.

Am looking forward to a new stand for a sump/refugium so I hope when my friend gives me the cost for building it that it won't be too expensive and I can "get 'er done" lol.

Anyone else got thoughts on the pH questions?

 

[kurtyboh]

ph is tricky stuff, higher at night, because the co2 is down. I should have minored in chemistry to figure it all out

 

[Buffy]

ph is tricky stuff, higher at night, because the co2 is down. I should have minored in chemistry to figure it all out

Ya LOL me too, to bad I barely passed Biology in 10th grade, they say you wish you had and you will use it, well I didn't believe. chuckle, jokes on me now.

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, well I say you can....it just might take a tad bit longer to undo what has been done to redo what was never been done to do what needs to be done.

lol

 

[huma-huma]

Imo I would do everything possible to remedy the ph without using chems... atleast at this point. The issue I have with using chems to alter ones ph is that there's a decent chance it could simply d-stabilize the ph even more. There's also a bit of outside mitigating factors in what determines your ph... surface agitation for one, but not only that but also gas exchange as well. I do know kh is one of the ingredients in determining buffer capabilities.

 

[kurtyboh]

you're right with the cat and mouse thing though, im not an expert by any means, but the way i understand raising your ph lowers mag and cal. bringing those levels back up lowers the ph. you can get tehm all in the acceptable range, but there is some back and forth to get it.

 

[Buffy]

I raised my powerheads a little and had turned the emperor 400 back on and the pH is now 8.1 and bumping 8.2.

I also pointed the powerhead on the ro/di water toward the surface more and it's coming up too.

So now just a tad bit more waiting game for them to stabilize and I can do the pwc.

I didn't want to do pwc with such a difference in pH.

 

[Buffy]

Orange Polyps gone?

Over the last week my orange polyps had been getting smaller and smaller. They were still opening and I thought they were gonna start growing. Well today I got up and they were gone. I can't find a single polyp anywere on the branch they came on. Are they gone gone? What do I look for to see if any are gonna come out of that branch?

The elegance's tentacles are not as long as they have been either. I saw my fire shrimp poking at him the other day and the elegance kinda shrunk back a little and the fire shrimp scurried past to his cave. I thought he was just telling him to move i want to pass. The fire shrimp hasn't done it again from what I can tell.

3 other corals are doing great. As well as all the cuc and the fish which are still in quarantine. They have been in qt for a tad over 3 weeks. I may move them to dt mid week but not sure yet. If i don't they won't be moved til 2 weeks from now as my work sked doesn't give me enough time off to accclimate them. That weekend I would have 3 days off to move them instead of trying to do it in my 24 hour quick turnover.


So basically any input on my orange polyps would be awesome. Thanks everyone, again you guys always seem to come to the rescue.

 

[mr_X]

i think those orange polyps are history. if you saw a shrimp near the tentacles of the elegance, i would imagine he smells a meal coming.

 

[kurtyboh]

how many polyps did you have? cuz i believe fire shrimp are known to eat them at times.

 

[mr_X]

i've never seen fire shrimp eat any healthy corals. i doubt they had anything to do with it.

 

[kurtyboh]

in the pocket expert guide Marine invertebrates by ronald shimek, it says under aquarium suitability/reef compatibility for firre shrimp: Nocturnal, reclusive, often not visible. Some may eat only polyps, such as soft corals, zoanthids, and stony corals.