Logan's 75g - It's been fun!!

yeah a filter socks gonna be a must i think, i over looked getting one to this point.

got my alk test with the reefcleaners stuff. its my first salifert test kit. My API kits are easy but accuracy is concerning. My red sea test is very nice but it takes some time to do it. the salifert test seems accurate and quick. Probably what I'm gonna stick to when I need to buy more kits.

Speaking of that.. my pH has been stable at 7.8 and now that I can test alk it's 6 dkh. They're both a little low I'll have to look into slowly bringing those up.

 

Honestly if your PH is stable, then it is just fine. 7.8 is where mine is at most of the time and my tank is doing just fine.

 

thanks thats good to hear b/c mines been at 7.8 from the beginning, I even test it in the evening after the lights have been on for awhile.


I think I still need to get my alk up though, around 8-10 dkh. From what I'm understanding this can be raised with baking soda. If you use it straight out of the box it will raise alk and slightly lower pH, since sodium bicarbonate is high in co2. But if you bake the baking soda before dosing, the heat takes out co2 and you get sodium carbonate, which will raise both alk & pH
Am I understanding this correctly?

 

bump for anyone who's had to raise these and has any advice or suggestions for me

 

Coralbuilder is a great product for raising alk. Coralbuilder also has the added benefit of stabalizing your ph if you have problems with swings.

 

Thanks - I don't really have a problem with pH swings though it's held steady a 7.8. I also read about a product called seachem marine buffer. But if I can do this properly without buying products I'd like to

 

Might not be huge help but here it goes..
I used to use Seachem stuff for the 29 before the upgrade, but I took the BRS route after I used up the Seachem Buffer.
Usually, when you dose alk, the pH goes up. I use BRS 2 parts but I really dont have to dose to keep my alk 7~8 since Im not heavily stocked yet, besides Im running the BioPellents. And the pH is 8.2~8.3 (getting sick of guessing the API color tho).

Just so you know, natural ocean is around 8.3 pH, so when something goes south when you have some SPSs in the future, I wouldnt wanna start doubting something to do with the pH being a bit too low. Id say you should kinda start dosing to learn about water chemistry for the near future, get a small bottle of buffer. And go slow.

 

Thanks - I know I'm tiring on the API colors too after usining Salifert and Red Sea kits for other stuff. Did you get the 2 part starter kit? I don't know why my alk is so low, my calcium and mag seem fine. I'll run some more tests tomorrow and see where everythings at

 

Yup, the Two Part Starter kit from BRS. I got it back in Mar 2011, and I still have a lot left!

 

cool - I think I need to get my feet wet in this dosing thing. I do loves me some BRS, those guys got it all I think i saw a december group buy thread floating around too might need to check it out