New nano reef diary

Your alkalinity drops after water changes? What salt mix is it? Something that helped to bring my alk up when I was dripping kalk (I use a Ca reactor now) was to add white vinegar to the kalkwasser. It lets more Ca dissolve, and boosts alkalinity a bit. If you're already doing this and I missed it, sorry, but you have a very long and popular thread here.

When my skimmers have stopped skimming it's usually because:
-the venturi's clogged with CaCO3 or salt creep
-there's a temporary change in water chemistry
-there's a snail stuck to the intake
Is there the usual amount of foam in the main chamber?
 
Heya Dave, thanks for jumping in here and helping. I've posted on RC about this, seems nobody has an easy solution.
My alk does drop after water changes (I usually change 20%), I use Kent salt mix. I'm convinced there's something chemically going awry in the tank - it's a softie tank and there aren't many corals, period, yet I'm adding 1/4 tsp of CaCl and 1 tsp of Kent SuperBuffer every day or two and still can't keep up with the drop.
I've never used Kalk before, so I wanted to start simple - I used the maximum suggested amount though, 2tsp to 1g of distilled water. Very little precipitated to the bottom of the container, but next time I am planning to use a little vinegar. I've been told to be careful using Kalk on such a tiny tank, but I was hoping it would be an easy, consistent way to maintain Ca and alkalinity.
The skimmer is full of bubbles, and I've cleaned the injector and PH - it's brand new, so there was really nothing there. It's dumping loads of bubbles into the tank, behaving just as it does whenever I work in the tank or feed the fish. The only difference is it's not perking up after an hour or so, it's just sitting there, spitting bubbles.
 
Okay, it was wierd enough that the skimmer randomly stopped working, but now I think it's randomly starting up again! I shut it off to feed the fish, turned it back on and it looks like it's beginning to work - bubbles are climbing the tower, but they haven't reached the top yet so I'm hesitant to say it's done having it's little holiday :)

ADD--> It's official, I'm a complete moron. New skimmers take time to 'break in' because they're made of plastic/acrylic that has a coating from the manufacturing process, it's oily and stops the skimmer from working (no matter how well you rinse). I just replaced the old modded AC70 with a new, unmodded AC70 filter - FRESH NEW PLASTIC!! No wonder the poor skimmer had a fit. It's coming back now, slowly, but I'm guessing it's essentially 'breaking in' all over again and will take a few days to be up to full power.

I removed the carbon from the filter - it's done its job, and I'm paranoid about it removing too many nutrients from the water. I added a dose of Essential Elements, to replace anything depleted as well as add a little hit of Mg since it appears the tank may be deficient. All looks well. The leather, which was huge earlier (and pink), has shrunk back down to the size it was when I bought it, and is green again. I guess I'll get to enjoy its colour when it's asleep anyway ;)
 
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I've been told to be careful using Kalk on such a tiny tank, but I was hoping it would be an easy, consistent way to maintain Ca and alkalinity.
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As long as you're using a drip, there shouldn't be a problem. I used it on a 20 for years. The pH tended to be a bit high, but not too bad.

In my hands, at least, kalk isn't as good for alkalinity as it is for Ca. The vinegar helps, the idea being that bacteria break the acetic acid down to CO2, which then shifts over to carbonate. You may just have to add a little baking soda occasionally.

The alkalinity drop after water changes is weird. Did Randy H-F have any ideas?

Give the leather a chance. It may "green up" yet.
 
This Ca/alk thing has me confused. I'm going to mix up a new batch of SW and test it, try to figure out what's happening - ATM it seems no matter what I do the Ca is falling rapidly in my tank. I'm adding far more than the suggested amounts of CaCl, dripping Kalk, and can't get it up to 300 now. I'm actually starting to wonder if my kit has gone wonky on me (Hagen, not exactly the best, but it's what we have available at work). Tomorrow I'm hoping to get to Big Al's for Mg & Ca test kits, and a Mg supplement if they have one just in case my tank is deficient. I'll get a handle on the chemistry thing yet :)

I ordered a refractometer from MOPS.ca last weekend, it arrived today along with my Aqua Gloves :D
I tested the salinity in my tank, it registers a spot-on 1.025. My hydrometer shows 1.0225 (I've been aiming for 1.023 since I did know the hydrometer was a little off and that would get me close to an actual 1.025) - holy difference, batman! I've seen posts from people who thought their tanks were at safe levels, only to find using a refractometer that they were actually at 1.019, or 1.030! Hydrometers frighten me - it's nice to have something fast, accurate that doesn't require math/guesswork/finger crossing.

The new leather is perking up, slowly. Every day it expands fully and the polyps emerge more; I'm glad it's settling in and seems to like its spot.

The skimmer put in a brief appearance this afternoon, and has gone back to sulking... it's very odd, but at least the situation seems to be improving.
 
Yeah, it was an eye opener when I learned my hydrometer was off by 0.002. I still use it, but with the error in mind, and I check with the refractometer fairly regularly.

Your Ca problem suonds exactly like what I was dealing with when the reactor was going full blast and I was dumping a ton of 2M CaCl2 in. That's when I learned about Mg first hand. It may not be your problem, but it will be interesting to see.
 
Some fairly big changes today...
I bought a magnesium test kit (Seachem), my tank's level is ~1100. That doesn't seem atrociously low to me, but there was an extremely knowledgeable manager working at the store who mentioned that low Mg levels will result in a lack of purple colouration in corals and corraline. I told him my entire tank is covered in bits of pink corraline, and he said it will likely turn purple once Mg is where it should be. He also confirmed that the fact that I'm dumping in CaCl and Kalk by the bucket and can't get Ca levels up is pretty much a dead giveaway that Mg is low.
I also bought a Mg supplement, but it made me laugh a bit - the ingredients are MgSO4 and NaCl... I have epsom salts and pickling salt (straight NaCl, no additives) sitting in my cupboard, I use them in my FW tanks. If I can figure out the ratio of one to the other, I guess I can make my own Mg supplement instead of buying the expensive LFS stuff :)
I mentioned my skimmer problem, and he sold me a $3 limewood airstone - I threw it into the Remora, and VOILA! we got bubbles. AquaC got back to me and said that if the skimmer's injector is clean and the PH isn't clogged, the only other thing that will cause a lack of skimming is the water itself. She agreed that it's likely the new equipment and suggested a water change and maybe adding a bit of water conditioner to get things going (I had actually thought of that, but wondered if it might cause the skimmer to overskim).
The last thing I bought is some ReefCrew phytoplankton. My pod population has dwindled down to almost nothing, just a few amphipods are visible at night. The store manager explained just how necessary phyto is (I didn't know EVERYTHING feeds on it, or something else that eats it), and that basically my tank is probably missing the bottom of the food chain. I wanted to make sure I have food in the tank for the new leather, so hopefully this will feed the corals and improve the pod situation - I'm sure my wrasse will love that :)
 
Wow Blinky...what a cool thread ! You have so made up my mind about doing a reef tank.....I think I'll stick to fresh for a bit....lol....sounds like loads and loads of things to keep on top of.

I was wondering though if doing just a LR and fish setup..skipping the corals and inverts...would be an easier to maintain system...and doable for me. I really would like to try my hand at SW...(I'd love to get a yellowhead jawfish !)...do you have to worry as much about nasty poisonous critters in a setup without the inverts and corals ?
 
Hi

Tanks looks super. I was reading about your ca. and mg. imbalance. I know that ca. cannot be absorbed if not in the presence of mg. If you look at ca. supplements, you'll note that all come with added mg. (vitamins for humans)
I looked at kalkwasser and the seachem components when I set up my tank and opted for a 'complete' additive, to avoid buying more than one product.
I am using b-ionic for ca. and other traces. My ca. level is hovering around 400 to 420.
Since your tank is small (like mine) the cost to use b-ionic is relatively low on tanks under 50g.
I've read what other users have been saying and its very positive. The only problem that might be encounterd is a drop in mg. but much later if you have tons of ca. loving coral. Apparently, coralline growth is so fast with b-ionic, that it depletes mg. very fast. Likely,I'll need an mg. supplement later on (only a few corals at the moment). Since I've got some sps, I like the alkalinity higher and the b-ionic is keeping it up and stable.
I'm too chicken to mess with kalk because of the effect on ph.



Just a thought...
 
Emg - I'm not sure if it would be a lot less work doing FO or FOWLR, probably a bit, but if you want corals and inverts you can definitely do it. There are dangerous/poisonous fish and inverts (look up mantis shrimp *shudder*), but just as with corals and anemones you'll be fine if you respect them. We have a huge Volitans lionfish at work, people go (barehanded) into the tank to clean it (not me though, lol) with no trouble - they just watch him and move v-e-r-y sloooowly. Likewise, we've got a foxface, tangs, crabs that can pinch - all fine as long as we're careful. I bought a pair of AquaGloves recently, so I can work in my tank worry-free. I also got rid of the brown zoas that sent me running to the ER, they were overgrowing things and just not pretty enough to put up with :)

SF - Chicken? I think not, you dove into reefing headfirst - that's definitely NOT the action of a chicken! I figured I'd try Kalk because I was sick of adding CaCl and buffer separately and the CaCl just wasn't doing it (didn't know about the Mg thing at the time). Apparantly kalk can really drive Mg levels down, maybe I actually exacerbated the problem.

Today is water change day, and on the advice of the people at AquaC it's gonna be a big one. Something's off in the tank, I'm hoping a 50% w/c will rebalance things.
 
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