Water Parameters

[Nolan99]

I have had my reef tank up and running with live rock for almost 5 months now. I have recently had a green hair algae outbreak that I have begun solving by adding more flow to the tank and adding carbon and PhosBan. I have noticed that the green hair algae is beginning to die. This is a 27 gallon display tank with a 7 gallon sump. I right now have an acan frag and a zoanthid frag. I am a beginner to reefing and I want to now that the algae is beginning to die off, get ready to add more corals. I have talked to a person at my LFS and he told me that the key to keeping corals is making sure you have low to zero nitrates and phosphates, and most importantly to make sure the pH, Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium are in the ideal ranges. I have just recently tested my water parameters and I have noticed all are low except the Alkalinity which is in the ideal range. Here are my parameters, and please let me know what I can do to fix those that are wrong. If you see anything else that is wrong please let me know how I can fix it. Lastly, how do I know when PhosBan is used up? All help is appreciated, Thanks!
Temperature: 78.5 degrees F
Salinity: 1.024
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Calcium: 340 ppm
Alkalinity: 9-10 degrees dKH
Phosphate: .25 ppm
Magnesium: 1170 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen: 7 ppm

 

[Sniperhank]

Well you'll want the phosphates to go lower, but you are on the right path. .03 is around the area people who keep sps corals like to aim for. I keep my tank around there.


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[reefnoob01]

Get yourself a bio reactor

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[Nolan99]

Get yourself a bio reactor

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What does a bio reactor do? I don't have much room in my sump to add a reactor and I don't have much money to spend on a reactor. Are there any supplements you would suggest instead to help with calcium magnesium and the pH?

 

[Reefing Madness]

Calcium needs to be above 380
Magnesium needs to be between 1250-1350
Phosphates need to be between .05-.03

For Calcium you can dose, Calcium Carbonate
Calcium and Alkalinity by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Magnesium, dose, Magnesium Chloride
Do-It-Yourself Magnesium Supplements for the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
And for Phosphate removal, you can use a reactor with GFO.
Or you can dose a Liquid Lanthanum product, such as the one I use, SeaKlear.

 

[reefnoob01]

You can use it as a hang on or externally, basically it's a chamber with pearls or pellet type media inside that sucks nitrate an phosphates out of the tank. It's cheap too, Google tmc bio reactor 500 an to top it off its real easy to use

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[54seaweed]

I'm assuming you are looking to start with easier corals correct ,
If so basic water changes on a weekly basis will get you on your way
also lighting is a factor of what you can keep too, start off with easier corals than work your way from there , learn the basics before even considering to start dosing ,
people always tend to push dosing when indeed it's not needed until you start into the harder corals like SPS , learn with the easier corals and once you feel more comfortable than take the next step ,
The one thing I hated more when I started my first tank was being pushed to the next level before I even got my feet wet with the basics ,
go on your own pace get comfortable with what your doing and go from there
you will whined up with a nicer tank with less casualties both fish and coral