Skip to main content
Being a reef Keeper involves quite a bit of responsibility and discipline.

Monitoring levels and controlling them on a regular basis saves many problems.

Every reefer has there problems one issue i had was a massive outbreak of green algae, a massive problem and very difficult to get rid of. After finding it was down to negligence, it was my fault.

This made me realize i had to be more involved

It was down to high nitrates and lack of regular water changes that was to blame.
Now i am a changed reefer. Now i do a 10% water change weekly and now i have minimal nitrates and best of all no algae!

Having gone on ultimate reef forum i found that this is a big issue and many go through similar problem.

With this in mind i decided to post a thread on how to become a successful reefer, with very positive comments around the forum community.

To help me overcome the problems I've been having i decided to write a diary, to help me keep track of things that need doing and the things that I've done. So i decided on this blog so i can keep a log of stocking, corals, and probably most importantly checking the appropriate levels and share them with the reef community.

Here are my latest results

Salinity 1.026
nitrates 10ppm
phosphates 0ppm
alkalinity 7.0
Calcium 350ppm
Magnesium 1050


From these results my aim is to increase Alkalinity, calcium and magnesium slightly using suitable buffers.



Please feel free to add any comments, all are welcome.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Yup, your Ca is a bit on the low side and you need to get it up to 420-450, but you also need to keep the Mg and alk in balance. Look to some of the forums (e.g. MFUK) for advice on how to do this more cheaply than using expensive buffers.

The low readings are due to the lack of water changes early on, the levels became depleted and weren't being topped up.

Is that a typo on the salinity?

Off to a good start, the tank looks good.
28 August 2008 at 14:26
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vauxhall vivaro movano heater blower motor not working. How to fix, repair

So it’s a cold winters morning your frozen to the bone, you jump into your vauxhall vivaro and turn the heaters on, it doesn’t work. In this article I will explain how to repair. There are commonly three things that can go wrong and it true to be said with most vehicles. These are the fuse, the motor, and or the heater resister. These should be checked in this order. Not only to keep costs down but is a good methodical way to solve the problem. A little contradictory but before you do anything just check if the motor works on any speeds at all. If it does, particularly the fastest speed. It safe to say the fuse and motor are working fine, and would probably mean that heater resister if faulty. If this doesn’t do anything you should grab the owners manual and locate the fuse. This can be checked visually by removing and looking at the fuse element or the use of a power probe and checking a power at both sides of the element. If the heater still doesn’t work, remove the motor a...
3 comments
Read more

Six thing to avoid as a new Reef Keeper

So what should you avoid when keeping a reef aquarium when new to this fascinating hobby? Lack of knowledge. This is very important, you should learn as much as possible before even thinking about buying anything. Books are expensive, but there are many other Articles and Informative Forums on-line packed with information and help. Hard corals. These should be avoided until a full understanding of water chemistry and a confidence in maintaining these levels are achieved. These corals require more intense lighting requirements and feeding. Compatibility also creates issues too. As above really, learn about water chemistry, then research your coral selection carefully. Expensive unnecessary equipment. As a newbie to Reef Keeping it is totally unnecessary to purchase Computers, Reactors, Top up devices, and any other fancy items that may arise. I say this because as a new Reef Keeper you need to understand and manage a Reef Aquarium. Having fancy computers and reactors will create load...
3 comments
Read more

Fish Idea is up

It was about this time last year that the ground-breaking Coral idea free guide to corals was available. After a really long year of development and content production they are now very pleased to present you to the Fish idea free guide to reef fish. With over 500 species including many rare and unusual species, the digital file is just 15 Megabytes. Whereas the Coral idea guide originally only provided coral identification, the Fish idea guide includes Latin and common names, average maximum size in inches and centimeters as well as symbols to represent hardiness, food preference and fish coral and coral compatibility. There is a quick and intuitive English symbol legend in each fish chapter and they have also included a germantranslation of the symbol legend which was kindly provided to them by Rainer Schindwolf .
1 comment
Read more