Parameters

Eventually, you'll know your tank. You'll establish a routine and you'll understand it's behavior. You'll know if somethings wrong. Your corals will tell you everything.

I can honestly say I don't test anything outside of salinity - and only when I perform my weekly 5 gallon water change. I also dose 2 part every 3 days (you will need to test to find out how much you need to dose) and magnesium every 3 weeks.

If any algae, diatoms pop up, I know my Po4 is creeping up and I need to do a water change soon. If the sticks aren't extending, I know something is wrong. If I start smelling any odors, I know I need to replace my carbon (every 2 months roughly)

Establish a good routine, and you most likely won't have to worry about parameters...Your water changes will replenish any elements and put things back in line if performed consistently. Now if you have some Clams and are sps heavy, then water changes may not work any longer and you have to dose.

Just practice a good husbandry, consistent routines and your parameters should always be in line. I guess Mr saltwater tank refers to it as tank personality.

 

Nice detail. I do have a routine. I test Monday, 5% wc on Tuesday along with Mix saltwater. I check my salinity very often. I feed daily about 11 or 12. I just started dosing mg. I may need to dose other things who knows

 

Yep, Cheryl and the others here,
who needs another forum?

3Reef forever!

 

I also searched endlessly for AI settings with nothing solid. I am running 26s, not 52s, but settings should be very similar. The main reason light settings are very complicated to provide, vs, your original question, is that the light spectrum is different for every single person. You might like one, I like another. You might like a more whitish tank, I like a more blue tank, etc. So that basic guide I read on another forum is: take starting settings, and then tweak them to your personal liking. Having said that I will give you my settings, see where they get you:

9:30 am:
RB (Royal Blue): 1%
UV: 1%

1 pm (3 hour ramp up):
R: 18%
G: 8%
RB: 50%
DB (Deep Blue): 50%
V: 50%
UV: 20%
W: 18%

7 pm (1 hour ramp up):
R: 0%
G: 0%
RB: 50%
DB (Deep Blue): 50%
V: 25%
UV: 25%
W: 0%

11 pm (1 hour ramp up):
RB (Royal Blue): 1%
UV: 1%

 

I agree. There is no solid guideline/starting point for the reason you said. There are to many variables from tank size, height of light off water line, number off lights. Then you have personal preference such as which end of the spectrum a person likes whites or blues.

Now someone I've been talking to suggested a run my lights as such

Whites, violets, red, greens at 30%
Royal blues, dark blues, ultra violet at 60% with 2 hr ramp time . I did the adjustment last night and it was to white so I tweaked it a bit.

8 am 2hr ramp up
Whites, violet, red, green at 15%
Royal blues, dark blues, ultra violet at 60% ramp down at 4:30pm for 2hrs

And I like the settings so far

 

As far as led lights go I can't help out, I'm a halide/T5 guy. Params are a different story. Like others have said you will learn your tank in time as it matures. It will take time for values to become more stabilized. Now as far as dosing goes I follow the rule of not dosing anything that I cannot test for. I keep an eye on my big 3-calcium, magnesium and alkalinity and phosphate as well. Quality test kits are a must and I like red sea. As your reef tank grows and you keep adding coral you'll need to adjust your dosing. You'll start to see how much alkalinity or calcium your corals use up. In the past year my dosing has changed considerably due to the addition of lots of corals. Bottom line is this...know your parameters and adjust to keep them stable. Stability is the key to keeping a happy tank. Cheryl gave you a great guideline and soon you'll know what your tank likes best.

 

Thank you.

 

I have been working on learning my tank with the help of someone from rc. Starting with the salt mix I'm using and the failure for me to read instructions thinking I could mix up 25 gallons and let it mix for a week. Yes I now know it's no more then 4 hrs for mixing. So I now have 25 gallons of red sea coral pro salt mixing. I decided to start of by seeing where the big three are for my dt and the pre mixed salt.

Here's the results.

Dt

Kh = 3.4 meg/L 9.5 dKH
Ca = 390 ppm
Mg = 1280 ppm
Sg = 1.025
Temp = 77°F

Salt mix after 24 hrs of mixing

Kh = 4.8 meg/L 13.7 dKH
Ca = 440 ppm
Mg = 1320 ppm
Sg = 1.025
Temp = 80°F ( room temp )

I working on raising my sg up to 1.026.

I'm adjusted my leds as listed aboved to see how my corals like the change. I will not touch them for a few months and go from there.

Once I make a mix new saltwater only enough for a wc then I'll test and see where the big three are and test my tank to see where the big three are and go from there. I may need to do wc every three four days to get things to stabilize. So that's where I'm at right now

 

dKH seems a little high after 24 hours, no?

 

If you do not have an ATO try for a lower SG.