Hello forum....
I have what I think is an advanced water chemistry question. Maybe it isn't that tough, but it's way over MY head.
I have a 75g FOWLR tank with 80 lbs of LR and 55 pounds of crushed Florida coral for a substrate. This tank has been established for almost a year now, and the readings are pretty good. Ammonia and Nitrites are zero, Nitrates are less than 10, pH is 8.2, phosphates are 1.0, SG is 1.023, kH is 9, calcium is 340, temp is 78. This tank is pretty stable.
Sitting right next to it is a 35g refugium that I am building. It contains 60 pounds of LS (40 of Nature's Ocean Bio-Active Aragonite Reef Sand and 20 of CaribSea Arag-Alive Aragonite Reef Sand, if that makes a difference) and sitting on top of that is 22 lbs of freshly-cured LR. Ammonia/Nitrites are 0, Nitrates are 5, SG is 1.023, no phosphates (it's not stocked yet), pH is 8.2 but tends to drop, kH ranges from 11 to 14, and calcium is also 340.
The fuge is not yet spliced into the main tank, because my pH and kH are still fluctuating. The pH has dropped as low as 7.8 and I've added Sea Chem's pH-raising product, which fixes the problem, but only temporarily, then it starts to fall slightly. I intend to house detritivores (snails, crabs, sea cucumber, sand-sifting star and whatever else makes sense) in the fuge, as well as cultivate pods and perhaps grow some algae for the final stage of nitrification, all of which is to benefit the main tank.
My question is, what can I expect to happen when I splice the fuge into the main tank's sump? Can I expect that the stability of the main tank will carry over into the fuge (remember, it's just over half the total volume of the main tank), or will the unstable pH problems in the fuge start causing my main tank to have pH/kH problems? And if it does, do I treat the water in the main tank, or the water in the fuge? How should I treat it? Boost the pH/kH only, try to increase calcium or.....?
I've put a lot of time and money having a custom fuge built to help the main tank, and at the same time make the fuge a showpiece in it's own right (the intent is to make it look like a little reef tank, but with no coral or fish). The LAST thing I want to do is screw up the chemistry in the main tank and cause the bio-filter to crash. I've never really paid attention to the kH and calcium before this, so I'm a little confused on what to do next.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. TIA,
--Aquabear
I have what I think is an advanced water chemistry question. Maybe it isn't that tough, but it's way over MY head.
I have a 75g FOWLR tank with 80 lbs of LR and 55 pounds of crushed Florida coral for a substrate. This tank has been established for almost a year now, and the readings are pretty good. Ammonia and Nitrites are zero, Nitrates are less than 10, pH is 8.2, phosphates are 1.0, SG is 1.023, kH is 9, calcium is 340, temp is 78. This tank is pretty stable.
Sitting right next to it is a 35g refugium that I am building. It contains 60 pounds of LS (40 of Nature's Ocean Bio-Active Aragonite Reef Sand and 20 of CaribSea Arag-Alive Aragonite Reef Sand, if that makes a difference) and sitting on top of that is 22 lbs of freshly-cured LR. Ammonia/Nitrites are 0, Nitrates are 5, SG is 1.023, no phosphates (it's not stocked yet), pH is 8.2 but tends to drop, kH ranges from 11 to 14, and calcium is also 340.
The fuge is not yet spliced into the main tank, because my pH and kH are still fluctuating. The pH has dropped as low as 7.8 and I've added Sea Chem's pH-raising product, which fixes the problem, but only temporarily, then it starts to fall slightly. I intend to house detritivores (snails, crabs, sea cucumber, sand-sifting star and whatever else makes sense) in the fuge, as well as cultivate pods and perhaps grow some algae for the final stage of nitrification, all of which is to benefit the main tank.
My question is, what can I expect to happen when I splice the fuge into the main tank's sump? Can I expect that the stability of the main tank will carry over into the fuge (remember, it's just over half the total volume of the main tank), or will the unstable pH problems in the fuge start causing my main tank to have pH/kH problems? And if it does, do I treat the water in the main tank, or the water in the fuge? How should I treat it? Boost the pH/kH only, try to increase calcium or.....?
I've put a lot of time and money having a custom fuge built to help the main tank, and at the same time make the fuge a showpiece in it's own right (the intent is to make it look like a little reef tank, but with no coral or fish). The LAST thing I want to do is screw up the chemistry in the main tank and cause the bio-filter to crash. I've never really paid attention to the kH and calcium before this, so I'm a little confused on what to do next.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. TIA,
--Aquabear