Its official, I've converted to the dark side!

[OgreMkV]

Everything in salt should be done slowly... The corals will get used to the lower salt levels. I believe (though I haven't seen any studies) that reef salt mixtures contain other things that corals need (like strontium, magnesium, etc.)

 

[gatotsu77]

As promised, picture time. A couple of these may require some explanation, as they are macro photos, and the proportions in the photos are difficult to grasp without a baseline. So I present to you, the same magnification factor used in a couple photos, to demonstrate what the sand looks like. (if your browser is resizing the photos, you'll need to view the full sized photo to grasp the concept I'm presenting here)

Now that you've seen just how coarse the sand looks... (and believe me, there are plenty bigger pieces in the sand too, I tried to get an even mix of really fine and medium grit stuff in that crop) here is something I've no idea what it might be, but I figure might be alive. Looks like, to me anyway, a cluster of creatures which might function like a tube-worm does, but all closed up in their "shells." I did notice one or two which didn't have the dark spot in the middle, but rather were hollow... so I presume something is inside.

Now, onto the "big" find. Again, keep in mind how large the grains of sand looked. I believe this is a baby feather duster. (what is hidden from view in this photo is how long the little tube it protrudes from is... perhaps 1/4 or so of it is shown in this photo, if you look to either edge of it in the photo.) Its getting a good bit of flow over where its at right now... I might move the koralia a little bit so the little bugger doesn't look like a palm tree in a hurricane.

I decided to have some fun with this one. I've intentionally placed my koralia near the surface of the water, so it'll get a bit of surface agitation and help draw oxygen down into the water. Well, it does this quite literally at times. It forms a siphon, so to speak, which always seems to get close to getting a tiny bit of air down to the koralia, but never manages to reach it. I caught a photo (although not the best) of this happening, and you can see the distorted refraction of my liverock in the "funnel."

Last but not least, a full tank shot, now that the water's clearing up a bit more. (also showing the vortex)

 

[OgreMkV]

I want a macro lens...

The top critters... barnacles?

 

[gatotsu77]

I can see how they closely resemble the shape/structure of a barnacle... but man I tell ya, they're tiny!

 

[gatotsu77]

Ok, decided to do a quick first test on the tank. Water params were as follows: 1.023sg, 0.25ppm Ammonia, 0.00ppm NitrIte, 5.0ppm NitrAte, 7.8 pH. (tested about an hour after topping off with approx. 8 oz RO/DI water) I thought the evaporation on this tank would be slightly higher than its currently presenting itself to be. Highest salinity test I read on the tank this afternoon was 1.0235. I've tested this against water from their coral tank, which read out a very definitive 1.025. (the water from the coral tank was put in a bucket with the live rock I bought) I don't believe the refractometer is miscalibrated, I think somehow the salinity in the main tank is slightly low. I don't know why the pH would be so low either. Proper reef pH is 8.2 - 8.4, isn't it? Anyway, calling it a night. I'll keep up the updates tomorrow.

 

[OgreMkV]

Check the hardness (kH)... that should be 10-12. If it's low, then that's why the pH is low (probably) and you might want to add a buffer solution to the RO water that you're using for top-off.

 

[gatotsu77]

I'll need to order a hardness test kit, or go check around the store and find one. Is there an drop-test for calcium levels as well, or are those all electronic? Water is further clarifying. I didn't happen to test the params tonight, I'll do that tomorrow after work, but I did check the salinity again. I must not be getting much evaporation, because as best my eye can discern, the salinity rose from 1.023 to 1.02325, perhaps as much as 1.0235. (still closer to the 1.023 side though) I wonder, on a daily basis, how much does the salinity of most systems you guys run change, if at all? I imagine you have at least a bit of evaporation, especially in systems with MH lighting and the such. I topped off once again with another ~8oz of RO/DI water, and added a bit of salt-water to bring the tank to a very easily measurable level. (the top of the suction cup on my koralia) Now I'll have an easier time visually inspecting how much the water level may have changed.

 

[OgreMkV]

Yes, there is a titration kit for calcium. It's a lot like the hardness kit. Each drop is 50ppm of calcium (usually).

As far as the salinity. I lose about a quart a day to evap and, as far as I can tell, the salinity does not change within that range. I also have a bit of salt creep (water splashing depositing salt on the surfaces of the filter and hood... no appreciable change in salinity.

That's not to say I ignore salinity, but it's not nearly the issue I thought it would be.

 

[gatotsu77]

Ok, time for a huge photo update. I've seen some new life in the tank... some of which are the "featherdusters" or "tube worms" I'd identified a couple days ago, a few things that look like pieces of coral, some small sprouts of macro algae, one object which I think might be a small sea sponge, a couple spots of what looks like red algae, and some other various stuff. Enjoy.

 

[OgreMkV]

Very nice pics... don't know what they are, but very nice.