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  1. C

    Rookie chemistry questions

    Both a Ca reactor and dripping Kalk do the same thing, but in different ways. In a young tank that is not very fully stocked, your Ca and Alk demand will be low. The target is to keep Ca at around 420 ppm with balanced alk. Once the level drops below this then Ca and alk need to be...
  2. C

    Ca/Alk imbalance vs. pH....

    The imbalance itself between Ca and Alk won't cause a low pH issue. However, low alk can. Everything depends upon the buffering system in the salt. If the salt is good, then pH should be about 8.2-8.4 with no adjustments. Then just alk can by used to help keep pH constant. His alk is...
  3. C

    Does anyone add vinegar to their Kalk

    Well, it is food. I'm sure it will contribute to bacterial buildup. Probably not good from that perspective. I think I will stop using it for this reason. Probably not good for long term in terms of what the reward is, a minor increase in delivered Kalk/gallon. Collin
  4. C

    Does anyone add vinegar to their Kalk

    I have done this whenver I drip Kalk for about 5 months now. I don't notice any ill effects. My aragonite is pretty course though so it doesn't clump that much. Here are some things I know. Ammonium acetate salts are quite volatile. I would imagine that some proportion of the acetate is...
  5. C

    Nitrate Removal - AZ-NO3

    I would just suggest to wait until the tank is fully cycled. Patience is a virtue here....Collin
  6. C

    Nitrate problems??

    Oops. I see you have a 55 with a 15, not a 70 with a 15. Load wouldn't be 4x then, maybe 2x...sorry...C
  7. C

    Nitrate problems??

    You are feeding about twice as much as I do and have 1/2 the rock. Thus you have about 4 times the load on your system as I do. I have a 75 with a 15 gallon fuge, feed once per day of shrimp or bloodworms or occasionally a little flake (or often times every-other-day). I also have about 90...
  8. C

    Nitrate problems??

    yea, 5 gallons in 70 isn't much. Only 5/70= 7%. So nitrates will be reduced to 93% of original...35*.93=32.5 or so. Not enough, unless you do it everyday for about a week or two...C
  9. C

    Salt the question, once again!

    Well, baking soda and washing soda are really just two forms of the same thing related by acidity. For instance washing soda can be acidified by one equivalent to become baking soda and baking soda can be further acidified by another equivalent to carbonic acid. They are all really the same...
  10. C

    Salt the question, once again!

    Yes this is true. It just must be heated to about 50-100C. Following is the chemical relationship: 2 NaHCO3(s) + heat = CO2(g) + H2O(g) + Na2CO3(s)
  11. C

    Phosphate build up

    Thanks Mike and good points!...C
  12. C

    Phosphate build up

    Ok, thanks folks. I am convinced I should remove whole algeas from the fuge. Concerning the red slimy stuff though. It is forming in very strange places. On the tips of my halimeda (which is nearly gone now) and on the points of the skeletons of some long dead candycanes. That is the only...
  13. C

    Phosphate build up

    Mine is as well. When I harvest my algea, I just cut it off the top with sizzors. Some stuff oozes out and dries up the next day. I don't really notice any lack of growth in my corals. I only harvest about 1 time/quarter or so. When I try to pull it up by the roots, it disturbs the bed so I...
  14. C

    Phosphate build up

    This may be true in nature. However, in the aquarium I think the macro's can play a different role. In an aquarium, you are going to have excess nutrients. There is no way to avoid it. Be keeping Macro's in the refugium and letting them get established, they will compete with algea in the...
  15. C

    Phosphate build up

    Mike, as regards to your last post. You make the refugium sound like an avalanche or something. Mine seems to be working quite well and I can see it spit out pod oriented food about once every 20-40 minutes. My tang and clarki race to eat it. Sometimes the chromis beat them to it. My...
  16. C

    Phosphate build up

    Yes, I agree. A topic for another thread. I think we accomplished the goals here. To summarize: I think we all agree that a DSB can be prone to problems after some time. Whether the DSB has benefits that outweigh the problems is an individual choice. In any case, it is possible to help...
  17. C

    Phosphates Silicates & Kalk

    It will help with the PO4 but not with the silicate. I suggest you use distilled water from the grocery store. 8 gallons is only about 4$ or so. Collin
  18. C

    Phosphate build up

    Somehow I knew you would say this :) I don't think it matters very much how much detrius gets into the refugium. The main point here is to allow a place for plankton and macroalgea to grow. Also, as bacterial saturation in the main tank becomes near, nutrients will be released to the water...
  19. C

    Phosphate build up

    Yes, I am enjoying the discussion also. However, you are making me learn too much biology! I don't think much unused food will make it to the bottom. I would imagine that what the crabs and shrimp and heterotropic aerobic bacteria don't get fast, that some sort of worm or heterotropic...
  20. C

    Phosphate build up

    I Don't agree with them at all. Lets look at this one for a second. A sediment filter is only as good as the population of the correct bacteria that inhabits it. Its not a function of the size of the bed, but of the ammount of reducing bacteria it has. If a bed is not fed it will not have any...
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