55 gallon SPS reef- new additions (12/18/14)

Started putting Kalk (pickling lime) in my top off yesterday. Tested my numbers, all was at 2.73 meq/l and calc was at 375 ppm.

I started with 2.5 tsp in a 5 gallon bucket.

 

Thanks to some locals, yesterday I picked up a:

Red Planet frag
Blue millepora frag
Purple tip valida
tricolor valida frag

Friday I plan on picking up:

Green birdsnest
Green slimmer Acropora
Green Pocillipora sp.

Future addition will be a:

Red tabling acropora (acropora hyacinthus)

 

Would you say at this point that most of your problems with your sps coral were due to your low alkalinity and ph levels?

 

Yes, it was without a doubt due to my pH dipping to 7.2. What survived, is growing again.

 

Kevin, I just read this whole thread. Around the middle I decided your tank is my inspiration. Then the coral started to go down hill and I was on the edge of my seat. Sorry for your loss and your trouble. Glad to see you got it figured out, can't wait to see you get going strong again.

Do you mind if I borrow heavily(read copy) from your LED design? I'm doing a 20 gal with LEDs as well but wasn't sure about the colors. You seem to have put a lot of thought and research into it.

Awesome tank. Truly an inspiration.

 

Certainly. If you have any questions, let me know. Unfortunately, my blue string cut out so I'm having to figure that out. I will say, I eliminated the red diodes and added warm white. I also added another type of blue.

 

I will likely be adding an Aquamaxx Nano calcium reactor in the next week or two.

I tried kalkwasser and my alk. continues to drop slowly (4 ppm/day) while most of the kalk seemingly precipitates out. Baking soda worked better for me, but didn't help with calcium. I don't test calc. Often, but every time I do test, it's in the 390-350 range. I usually dose at that point tobget to 425 using the BRS calc and when I test again, it's down again. I am logging my numbers for the next week to see.

I feel like a system this small will do so much better with strong stability and the reactor would do it.

I thought about dosing pumps, but I can get a used calc. Reactor With everything but the pH monitor for the price of one dosing pump.

 

So this is what I bought:

http://reefbuilders.com/2010/10/20/aquamaxx-cr1-nano-calcium-reactor/

I bought the reactor, CO2 regulator with solenoid, and media for $125. The regulator has an adapter to accept paintball tanks for CO2, which I already have. Not a bad deal considering all of that new is roughly $300.

 

I like those reactors. Watch your pH. I would get a pH controller to hook up to your regulator. Years ago I had a 20 long with a PM reactor on it. The corals went nuts, but the pH was often low. That was my challenge at the time, even with a controller. Reactors have a pretty strong affect on a 20 gallon tank. You can see pics of it at the bottom of my photos tab on my profile page.

 

Nice! Good deal on the reactor.