brojj

Bro ASHWIN, u will need to research & look again on your own. So far IME, tropic marine reef KH is quite low but Ca is higher. But the price is a bit.....

For seachem PO4, i am struggling with that too.

And API test kits, i find them user unfriendly due to the colors. Difficult to distinguish.

I would prefer using saliert test kit for Ca & KH. They use the titration method which i think is quite good in accuracy. A few steps involved but after constant use, u will get the hang of it. For low PO4 & NO3, D&D is one of the few that can detect very low concentrations with different colors which u cannot go wrong. However, they re higher in price, diificult to get the refills with a longer shelf life & not so good for high concentrations. Example for NO3 > 20, all red colors. Hanna checkers, i find them difficult to handle, especially during pouring of reagents into their small bottles. U will need to have very delicate & agile fingers to do that. For others like pH & ammonia, i have no experience, so no comments.

Or, try building & running a Algae scrubber.

Try polylab reef resh. Another option is biofuel from brightwell, combined with their MB7.

Did u consider other brands? Those reef salts high in Ca yet not so high in KH? Example: Brightwell aquatics.

Use the full spectrum. Good for growth & color or in other words, balanced for corals growth & color. IMO, I would use 3 PAR38 LED for 3ft lenght, 1 for every 1ft in tank lenght for sufficient coverage. How high to hang above your water level, that would be dependent on the corals. It is good to start higher, slowly lower down, 1 to 1/2 inch per week. As long as no corals bleaching, it is good. Any negative signs, put back at the previous position or slightly more & observed closely again. Most hung @ 10-15 inch above water level but it really depends on the optics of that LEDs & for those controllable LEDs, the intensity.

Your PAR38 LED consists of which color?

What is the dimension for your tank?

Most good quality LEDs fixture that is now selling on the market should have no problem supporting tanks that is housed in our homes (for depth). Length should be more of an issue.

Watts per gallon rule is not applicable for LEDs. A good quality LED will give u more than 1 Watt per gallon. This rule is more for T5 or metal halide. For depth, 120 degree optics for LED will give more spread but less depth penetration, 90 degree less spread but more depth & follow by 60 degree. 60 degree will produce 'disco' effect. Most commonly used is 90 degree optics. What is the depth u had in mind when u ask about how deep the light will penetrate & what u intend to keep on the lowest point?

Full spectrum meaning the light set gives light in the range of 400nm to 700nm, important for corals or plants photosynthesis. Hyperviolet, ~415, blue, 450 to 460nm. Green & yellow falls in the range of 500 to 600mm, Red @ 660 to 670nm. Some LEDs even goes down to 380nm. Anything lesser than 380nm will get more & more dangerous to living cells.

Good sand shifters, sand dollar or sea cucumber. The later has to be careful as it could wander too near to a wavemaker & get suck in, come out in cucumber bits. But with the latest design of wavemakers & bigger size cucumber, it should not be a problem. Btw, one sea cucumber for one tank. This is to ensure it has enough food to get from the sandbed for survival.

Thks for the correction.

Most of the task of removing TDS is done by the resin.

Thanks for those who have given advices so far. Seems like limewater is not that consistent in performance.

They are known to nip at zoas. Not sure about duncan.

It is a value for $ skimmer. It produces one of the most smelly, yucky skimmate i have ever come across. Good for those on a budget yet wants a decent & powerful skimmer. Make in Singapore, here, meaning in the event of breakdown, spare parts can be obtain in the shortest possible time.

Does it alone able to maintain Ca & KH? Apart from using it as a top up?

Limewater is also known as kalk.

Hi fellow reefers, i wished to know whether limewater is effective on maintaining Ca & KH? I know that limewater pH is very high and has to be dose drop by drop. It also helps to keep the PO4 in check. Moveover, my 2 parts dosing has reach around 60ml per day for each & is currently looking for alternatives in the near future, when my SPS frags gets bigger. Limewater is one i am considering now. Mine is a mixed reef, 3x2x2, including sump, 90 gallon of water. I have a total of around 10 sps frags, 1 clam, 1 candycane, 1 blasto, 1 acan, some zoas. Thanks in advance.

It seems to be very troublesome but the corals will appreciate the steps you have taken to reduce their stress and reward u with the colors & growth.

For my case, only SPS (i find them to be more fragile) i will first put them into a container with the water they come with. I leave in the sump (without lights) for half an hour. Then i take out, pour away 10% of the water in the container and replace with 10% of my tank water, then put back into the sump water for another 15 -20min. I will repeat the above whole procedure for another 5 times. Before put into the tank, i will ensure only 2 T5 tubes will be operational, regardless whether the lights are already on or not. The other 4 tubes off for at least another 2 days. The T5 lightset, i will raise another 6 inches, then i will drip ultra fauna pest treatment, following the procedures stated on the bottle, also depend on species. Then i will introduce them into the tank. Over the next few weeks, after one week after the new sps are stable, i will slowly lower my lightset slowly, monitoring their reactions. I have achieved 95% success. The other 5%, depends on stability of tank parameters.

I still trust my ehiem. 6 years already, cleaned 2 times only & still going strong.