[charlie]

Is that a purple rim cap on the back right?

[Poseidon]

Yup it sure is, Gene sent me that purple rim cap ages ago! Want some? I don't think red bugs grow on Monti's.... LOL! (I still have to treat for them!)

[charlie]

Gee, YEAH.......................... I don't think redbugs get on Monti's either. I just did the redbug dip last nite at our meeting. Check my 300 thread for a cryptic message aimed at a buddy of mine in Michigan, hint, hint.
I think your monti's are OK, just give them a good look with a magnifying lens.

[Poseidon]

Ya, they are fine. I took a real close look at them earlier. You know it is funny, I have GREAT GROWTH, and the color is coming back, red bugs or no red bugs. I still plan on treating, but I really don't think are as bad of a pest as I have read in the past.

I have a bigger issue with cyano, I have a little area that keeps growing red cyano, that BUGS me!

[charlie]

I don't know what to say about the bugs. Some guys like you are not experiencing any growth problems, bugs or no bugs, then other folks growth just flat stops, and things head south in a hurry. I am going to get some Interceptor from my vet here in the next couple of weeks anyways Mike. I am not gonna take chances. We did 1/4 tablet last nite in a five gallon bucket, if that didn't knock the %^&* out of them, nothing will!!!!

[Poseidon]

I don't blame you Charlie, it is certainly better to be safe then sorry. I jsut have to get the interceptor, I have the carbon already. My skimmer is working very well too, so when I treat I know the carbon and skimmer will be able to remove the product quickly enough.

On a different note, I think I need to get some different test kits, the LFS on had API in stock, and I am starting to think something is not right with them. My Ca reactor is running at almost a steady stream, at pH of about 6.5, and my alk is coming in at 10dKh and Ca at 380ppm. Certainly those numbers are acceptable, but you would think that a reactor that holds 50 POUNDS of media would be able to maintain something around 12 and 425 respectively.

[charlie]

I personally think that you are safer with the lower alk levels Mike, but that is just personal preference. I think you could bump your ca levels up to at least 400 with some turbo calcium, then the reactor will maintain that level, wouldn't it? I still need to get my reactor online, but I don't really see the need yet. I do need to bump my levels tho, as of yesterday, the Ca level was at 360, and the alk was at 2.46 meq/l. Gonna work on them this week for sure.

[Poseidon]

I would agree with that Charlie, except the gray coast is Calcite. I need to keep my Alk higher because the substrate does not buffer like aragonite does. With a Kalk reactor and the Ca reactor going I don't expect that to be an issue though. I don't think I would have used the Gray Coast without the 2 reactors though.

[charlie]

I didn't know that.................. I am thinking about starting up a kalk drip again. Last time I dripped it 24/7. I also need to get my refugium back going again, although my ph has NEVER dropped below 8.0 since I started this thing up again.
You will get it figured out. It is either that, or you have some massive Ca munching corals in there Bud!!!!

[Samper]

My MRC CR2 reactor can't keep up with the demand of my system by itself. With my kalk reactor running I have a much easier time keeping things in check. I still dose small amounts of 2 part weekly but nowhere near the amount I was using before the kalk reactor.

[Poseidon]

I have lots of CaCl left, maybe I will dump some in to try and raise it, instead of trying to pump it in with the reactor.

[zhenya]

Tanks is looking real nice, Mike. I agree with Chuck that reactor alone just can't keep up with the demand no matter how much media you got in the reactor. It is still dissolving at the same rate... I am dripping kalk almost every night to stay close to levels I want, and still, I am barely near the parameters I want. Calcium is never above 380-390 and Alk is Ok at 3.0 meg/L. I dumped nearly half pound of CaCl to raise it from 300 to 380.
My problem is the salt I use, Reef Crystals have been giving me problem with low Ca.
I'm starting to hate this hobby lately.

[charlie]

Originally Posted by zhenya

Tanks is looking real nice, Mike. I agree with Chuck that reactor alone just can't keep up with the demand no matter how much media you got in the reactor. It is still dissolving at the same rate... I am dripping kalk almost every night to stay close to levels I want, and still, I am barely near the parameters I want. Calcium is never above 380-390 and Alk is Ok at 3.0 meg/L. I dumped nearly half pound of CaCl to raise it from 300 to 380.
My problem is the salt I use, Reef Crystals have been giving me problem with low Ca.
I'm starting to hate this hobby lately.

That is kind of funny Gene, I have been using Reef Crystals since I did the big change, and it measures about 400 right out of the box. Maybe you got a bad batch???

[zhenya]

Charlie,
I definately got the bad bucket of salt. I think I;ve read somewhere that they are aware fo this problem and working on getting a better consistency.
I'll go get a new bucket when I get home later on today and test it.

[charlie]

I had better test all the buckets I got from an unnamed source . Maybe that is why they were on sale, I hope not. Aren't Reef Crystals supposed to be IO's answer to Oceanic? More Ca. but pretty stable on the alk side?

[Poseidon]

I just use plain old IO guys. I tried that crystal sea bioassay stuff for a while, and I used Seachem back in the day, but plain old IO works best for me.

Gene, I would think that having that much media would be able to dissolve a little faster, or maybe I should say that the water coming out would be higher in Ca and alk due to the amount of media. I test my effluent, and it is a whopping 35! I thought I read somewhere that I should set my effluent to double my desired dKh, well that would not work for me.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

I just use plain old IO guys. I tried that crystal sea bioassay stuff for a while, and I used Seachem back in the day, but plain old IO works best for me.

Gene, I would think that having that much media would be able to dissolve a little faster, or maybe I should say that the water coming out would be higher in Ca and alk due to the amount of media. I test my effluent, and it is a whopping 35! I thought I read somewhere that I should set my effluent to double my desired dKh, well that would not work for me.

Mike,

I don't think the amount of media inside the reactors matters, personally. You can probably dissolve it faster and have it last you longer but the Ca and Alk coming out would be the same if you dial a small or large reactor. I agree that you need to dial it at the double of the goal dkh, mine is dialed at about 18-20dkh(I haven't tested it lately) and my goal is to have a stable 8-9dkh. Don;t want any higher than that, personally. My big issue is the Ca is because it dropped so low that it took me weeks to bring it near desired levels.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by charlie

I had better test all the buckets I got from an unnamed source . Maybe that is why they were on sale, I hope not. Aren't Reef Crystals supposed to be IO's answer to Oceanic? More Ca. but pretty stable on the alk side?

Charlie,
I have nothing against RC salt, It was probably just a bad batch/bucket and they are working on the problem. And yes, it is supposed to be higher in Ca and Mg and roughly about 10dkh in Alk. In my bucket that I bought last it is about 375pp in CA++, Alk is fine at roughly 10dkh but Mg is also quite low at only 1050ppm. It costing me extra money every water change to bring levels where they need to be before dumping the water in. I hate paying extra for something I shouldn't...

[Samper]

I haven't ever used anything other than IO. The last time I ordered salt I got six buckets in. I have made a water change from each just to test them and they all test the same. Ca 350 ppm dKH 9 Mg 1250 ppm. I manually adjust the Calcium and Alk every time since I try to maintain 450 ppm and 11 dKH but leave the Mg alone. I would like to start using this MEI but am so scared to make any kind of salt switch.

[Poseidon]

Thanks for the heads up Gene, this is my first reactor, I guess I had grand illusions due to the size.

Chuck, that is the salt I tried briefly. I was not happy, I lost a couple of colonies. I tried to go slow, and my change was from Seachem to that Crystal Sea, maybe that had something to do with the loss of colonies... Anyway I am very happy with IO, and I don't see myself switching anytime soon.