112.5 gallon build

[chavez]

Hi here is another update of my tank. Today i started dosing marine buffer to try and stabilize my ph levels. I also started dosing reef builder to try and stabilize my kh. I will test daily to monitor my levels extra closely. I also bought a red sea magnesium test kit im not sure i like it are there any better ones to use? In the mean time i snapped a few pics hope you like them.

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P.S. can anyone id the crab in the last pic?

[chavez]

hello anyone?

[Original Fin]

Nice pics Chavez.

The only magnesium test I've used is Salifert. It works great, but there are a few steps involved. You need to mix your water with a reagent, a dye, and then a buffer. It's very easy to read and accurate though.

I think my LFS had one of those hermits once...I asked about it, but forgot the name. I remember not buying it because they said it wasn't reef safe, and that it would basically keep growing and growing.

[chavez]

Thx fin, well i got the red sea kit to work and according to the results my megnesium is somewhere above 1600ppm is that possible? Also are the reef builder and the marine buffer safe?

[Original Fin]

Is that the top of the scale on the Red Sea kit, and did you do the test a couple times to make sure you get the same consistent result? 1600 is high enough to cause problems over time, but it would be good to know if it's actually higher than that.

To answer your question about those products being safe, I'm afraid the answer is depends on how you use them. If you dose those products without first knowing what your baseline levels are for Ca, Alk and Mag, it's not safe. You may not be Dosing enough for the consumption rates of your system, or worse, you end up overdosing. Remember the golden rule...don't dose it if you cant test for it.
Even if you did have all the appropriate test kits up front, the problem with those buffers and essential elements concoctions, is that they are not ionically balanced. You'll want to read up on that...2 part Dosing, tech AB from Kent, etc, but it basically means that the recommended doses won't and can't have the desired/expected impact that they claim. You end up chasing your tail. When you get one level where you want it, another will end up going too high or too low as a result.

To fix the situation, you should cease dosing those products immediately, and do a series of moderately sized water changes until your Mag levels get back into the normal sea water range. Don't try to do this too quick, because your system has become somewhat accustomed to higher than normal mag, and suddenly dropping it back down could be detrimental.
After you get that squared away, I would switch to a 2 part Ca/Alk Dosing product, along with a magnesium supplement, and forget about using PH buffers ever again. If you get those three in balance, PH naturally follows.
I dose those three items daily, but my goal is to keep my levels balanced and rock steady without fluctuation. Your system may do fine with a little rise and fall, and it may not be consuming as much as my tank does. This is why testing is so important...every tank is different, and they are always changing as you add corals and the corals you have grow out.

Lee has this all covered in his stickys on water quality, I suggest brushing up on that and not just taking my watered down laymans word for it.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

hello anyone?

Looks like the tank is coming along nicely Chaves! I haven't used the red sea kit but the Salifert kit is relatively easy to figure out and has the reputation of high accuracy. Because it involves multiple component adds and lots of test tube swirling, it also has the mad scientist feel . I almost feel like I should be wearing a lab coat when using it.

How's the nem doing?

[chrisfont23]

Tank looks great! Congrats on getting a hockey team back

[chavez]

thanks guys, the nem is doing much better for awhile i thought i would loose it but he turned around woooohoooo!

About the high mag i did another test today and its still high. I checked one of my doing agents a kent strontium supplement, this stuff has magnisium in it as well so i stopped using that so i hope it helps. And just how bad is a 1600 ppm of mag? i think the actual level is a bit higher than 1600. The red sea kit does work it also has 3 steps to it so its really acurate. Also what kind of problems can a high mag cause?

[chavez]

Hi everyone, i'm finally back. I got really busy in the last year. It started off with me crashing my truck and not being able to work due to my injuries, So need less to say my financial situation was not great. I finally made it back to work and have been working a pile of hours almost to the point of burning out, but i had no choice i needed to catch up on my bills. Enough about me and here's an update on my tank. My magnesium balanced out and all my other levels are good as well. I got a few new adds a yellow/green carpet anemone, a green leather toadstool, some GSP, blue clove polyps(which my crabs ate ),cactus coral, and a various bunch of polyps, i also had a blue acro which was doing good for about a month and then just out of no where died over night. thats it for corals.

I also had a few new fish an aptaisa eating file fish, a blue tang(dorey which my carpet nem had for a mid night snack), a six line wrasse which just dissapered for no reason. I also picked up a sexy shrimp that is doing really good it's almost doubled in size since i got it a few months back. That's about up to date. Oh i also started growing a batch of my own phytoplankton as well, its been brewing for almost a week now and starting to turn a cloudy green so i think thats good!

Now im wanting to add a display Refugium. It's going to be a 45 gallon hex tank which will over flow to a 30 gallon rectangle tank creating a water fall effect. In the hex i wanna house some sea horses and other delicate fish. In my 30 gallon i wanna grow a variety of macro alga and some red mangroves.

Now for some future fish add i wanna get are some blue chromis, a sargassum trigger, an achillies tang, coral beauty, a diamond watchman goby along with a pistol shrimp. I also wanna get a red blood shrimp but have a hard time finding it. My camera is busted so i can't post any pics at the moment ill hope to have a few pics up soon.

[chavez]

Here are a few pics of my tank their not the best quality pic but thats ok i guess. The yellow carpet with the skunk fish is what i ordered and pre paid, and the green carpet is what i got i tried to get my money back but lost that fight. So now i have a green carpet which is nice but not what i wanted LOL. The GSP i got as a frag and it just took off and what you see is about doubled what i originally got. The mushrooms are kinda weird some days they are huge and the next all shriveled up not sure why. The green and purple thing not sure what it is but it stays the same size and never changes. and my war coral is growing pretty fast as well but is now starting to get a few spots where it is dying also weird. I got my display fuge in and am starting the setup as we speak but need some info i guess as to what i should use a a substarte. i have heard some people use kitty litter but that sounds kind of sketchy. Let me know your thoughts, thanks.

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[twisted]

Looking good!


Twisteds 180 Reef