YYCGUY's Red Sea 500S

[denny_CC]

if you need a second opinion joel i believe i threw my ph test kit out last spring should still be in or around the back yard:P:P:P

[kien]

Originally Posted by yycguy

Thanks Kien, I guess it's my Apex displaying my PH that brings it to my attention. I just don't get why it appears low? When others say there's is 8.2 or higher? Does the salt blend have something to do with it? I used to use Reefers Best and I am planning on going back to that once I finish up the RC
What should I be aiming for Alkalinity ?
Is 8 ok or should it be closer to 9? Remember for me to get it there I was dosing more DkH and that caused my pump problems
My tank is mainly SPS

What you should be aiming for Alkalinity is partly a personal choice. Many people like to run high alk levels like 9-11. So long as you know what you're donig and your levels are in balance (with Calcium) then that's fine.

If you want to play it safe, generally speaking most people target 8 as a comfortably manageable level. I keep mine at 8 because if it slacks and slips to 7 it's not the end of the world. If it slips up to 9, still not the end of the world. The danger of keeping alk lower or higher is that your margin for error decreases at either end.

[yycguy]

Thanks again guys for the advise.

I adjusted the Doser before I left home this weekend and swapped out the Calcium as it looked like it was settling in the bottom of the doser container. I have been checking my Apex and surprise the PH is up to 8.17 !

I guess I'll just try to maintain stability and see how it settles out.

I increased my feeding schedule to get my P04 up slightly from 0 and see if the corals colour up some more.

[yycguy]

Question about Zoas ?
I have about 6 colonies of Zoas in my mixed reef. Last we one of the colonies that I have had for at least three years of 50 plus heads just closed up pretty well over night and died! There is another smaller colony (doing very well) right next to them and the only other thing next is a Monti Cap that has been there for over a year or two as well. Any ideas what happened?

[Bblinks]

I have heard that some zoa can just melt over night for no good reason. I know levi was talking about some sea stars can chump at them and those little zoa eating nudis are a pain too. I would inspect the colony and the surrounding and see if its caused by pest and maybe contact zaoelite and see if he has any thoughts on this.

[yycguy]

Originally Posted by Bblinks

I have heard that some zoa can just melt over night for no good reason. I know levi was talking about some sea stars can chump at them and those little zoa eating nudis are a pain too. I would inspect the colony and the surrounding and see if its caused by pest and maybe contact zaoelite and see if he has any thoughts on this.

Bblinks
Thank you for the help, I am thinking after talking to Deny at concept, he thought it might be my flame angel

[Bblinks]

That doesn't really make sense to me. They will consume the zoas regardless of the time of day and most likely it will be during daytime rather then at night. just a thought.

[yycguy]

My other thoughts were to keep a eye on the flame and for other pests around the Zoas. See what happens I guess

[yycguy]

Hanna P04 Ultra low question.
Just ran my Hanna P04 tester and got a reading of "0.00" that's ok as last was .04
Now just tried my Hanna Ultra Low P04 test for the first time and the reading was simply "5" in the far right side of the window. So what does that mean .005? I would have thought I should have seen a decimal place in there?
Only ran the test once as I only have the 6 reagents.

[kien]

Doesn't that meter read in parts per billion? So wouldn't that be 5 ppb ? The regular phosphate reads parts per million (ppm) and I've seen that give me non decimal values.