Should I wait ... or should I play with chemistry?

[Seriak]

Originally Posted by jon in alberta

good call. I was wondering if I needed to by that test kit. I have good salt (with sufficient Mg) and do water changes about every 3 weeks. further, i have Mg dosing solution but don't plan to tie it to an automatic doser like the Ca and Alk.

I recently started having some RTN and STN on some of my SPS and my readings for Mg were in the 1100 range, but I also had a low Alk (5.5dkh). As soon as I corrected these my corals recovered and really started to take off. I did weekly water changes (Reef crystals), but it was not enough to get the extra Mg boost I needed. I am switching to H20 salt to hopefully alleviate my Mg problem without having to dose.

This is why I asked about your Mg.

[jon in alberta]

Originally Posted by Seriak

I recently started having some RTN and STN on some ...

I'm still kinda new: what is RTN and STN?

[Seriak]

Originally Posted by jon in alberta

I'm still kinda new: what is RTN and STN?

Slow or fast tissue necrosis. Its when the flesh of the coral starts to recede. Sometimes it happens overnight and your entire coral is gone or sometimes it's a slow process over many days / weeks.

[jon in alberta]

while the iron is hot ... anyone out there know why ORP would sit around 350mV with my ozone generator sitting unplugged?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by jon in alberta

while the iron is hot ... anyone out there know why ORP would sit around 350mV with my ozone generator sitting unplugged?

Clean water? Dirty probe?

[jon in alberta]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Clean water? Dirty probe?

Clean water: if by that you mean "is your water clean?" to that I say "as far as I can tell"

Dirty probe: that was my first thought too - so I checked the probe as well as possible - it responded to changing water conditions.

[Proteus]

Orp is a tricky subject. I once dug into it and really I don't bother. As long as water quality is good. Nitrate phosphate. Cal alk mg. it's all good. Some coral like high flow some like less. Same as light. I grow sps and a few lps. Due to high light and great water my sps out grows lps 10 to 1. Try moving pices to different areas as long as you have good polyp extension then let time do its thing. Also IMO ozone is good but not a huge factor for me. Orp can and will drop and raise through out the day.

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by Seriak

I did weekly water changes (Reef crystals), but it was not enough to get the extra Mg boost I needed.

Strangely enough when i used RC on my 97 and 404 I rarely ever used any of my Mg chems. It was always at 1400 but I was never sure how lol.

[Seriak]

Originally Posted by lastlight

Strangely enough when i used RC on my 97 and 404 I rarely ever used any of my Mg chems. It was always at 1400 but I was never sure how lol.

Yeah, I have read about RC having MG levels anywhere from 1000 to 1450 over the last few years.

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by Seriak

Yeah, I have read about RC having MG levels anywhere from 1000 to 1450 over the last few years.

and undetectable levels of liquid death apparently.