chimera

makes me wonder if the writeup by 'tang' in the phosphate thread is true - it shares some resemblence to my tank, potential phosphate increases all of a sudden because of too much LR. the drop in pH in those areas breaks down the insoluable phosphate on the rocks, the sudden and unexpected addition of phosphate into the water column causing algae growth and a backwards step in acro colour. many of my acro's shown signs of colouring up and do so to a point, then take a backwards step all of a sudden. as those that have seen my tank, even though the LR is sitting on reef rack, its quite "packed" with LR. partly the reason I might strip it down and take half the LR out (plus the aesthetics of less LR IMO looks better too)

I need a smaller mortgage and bigger fish tank,... story of my life... anyways, a little off this threads topic but cant be arsed starting a new one... i removed a dead acro today, it had completely RTN'd over the past couple of weeks, is entirely bleached now and brown algae growing on it. it was about the size of my fist although had never shown any sign of colour (perhaps a slight blue tinge). no idea what happened. was doing well til i decided to move it down lower in the tank as i thought it was getting too much light. didnt move that much down to make a difference so think it's just coincidence. i think it was an o/d on zeovit food at one stage my bad. i also got another purple acro about half a fist size that is bleaching (no sign of TN, just going mega pale) dunno whats happening to the tank, getting pissed off with it in all honesty. considering a 50% water change on the weekend as i can only attribute it to lack of one or more trace elements because of infrequent water changes. will probably strip the display tank down completely and halve the amount of rock in the next few months. i think there are many areas that are lacking flow coz of too much LR. also got a heap of diatom growth after I did 2 x 20% water changes in a week (previous change was 20% about 6 weeks earlier). might stick to 10% a week for 2 months and see what happens diatoms feed mainly on silicates right? things were going best when i was running rowaphos :-? might go back

and on the 8th day, god created phosphate and god placed that phosphate in the sea with all the fish and all the corals. but god was a jovial chap so he decided not to add too much phosphate. a considerable time later, god created layton. and god said to layton, you shall be the bearer of trivial numbers and scientific babble

quite possibly. im comparing auckland with mangawhai

Most aucklander's would not disagree one bit. drives me up the wall too at times. Have often considered quiting I.T., moving to Mangawhai, become a builder and go fishing and diving every weekend It's only the money and good schooling for when the kids grow up that keeps me here. Trade off I guess :-?

:lol:

did you get up to the part where you bought the chiller? if not petplanet has some at a good price, $800 i think

just a little bit? give it a week...

a lesser life than you had before

mark - i never have and dont think most do (although a few definately wish they did after the losses they've had), probably should but often too difficult to setup a separate QT. half of the problem can be addressed by knowing how a sick fish looks/acts at the LFS, making sure it eats etc before you even decide to buy. i "sort of" QT'd my regal angel for about 2 weeks - although he (she) was in the same system, just in the refugium. probably did it good coz when it went into the display the blue tang harassed it. if it had any diseases then i'd be screwed, always a potential risk but as i say, monitor the fish at the LFS first. ask how long they've had it, maybe even ask to put it on hold and see if its still alive a week later

a heap of photo's, some basic info etc. quite an interesting site done by a lady from switzerland... http://www.starfish.ch/

but does nz nsw have differing levels of potassium than say around typical tropical reefs? or is it the same level worldwide? (coral reefs probably get it from when poachers use potassium cyanide to stun fish for export and we get it from fertiliser run-off ) whats the typical uptake of potassium by corals? im sure its still possible to have a deficiency even when using NSW - especially if you only change your water every 6-8 weeks :lol:

already got some. just coz its stated that "you need some form of potassium for good coral growth and colour" doesnt mean you have a defficiency in your own tank. from a basic diagnosis of my tank - taking the colours of some corals and not others plus other BASIC research, I came to the general consensus that it could be due to lack of potassium. so far so good FOR MY TANK. doesnt mean its going to be the same results for anyone elses. im sure most of you have worked out by now that something thats good for one persons tank does not mean its going to work for another.

brilliant, thats what im after

Fair point, but if that is the case then it's poor or misguided marketing from Zeovit. The pamphlet reads and I quote: "Potassium is a major element in sea water. K-Balance contains multiple potassium salts in high concentration. Our tests in several tanks have shown the benefits in colour and growth after dosing a few days - Polyp expansion within a short time - Enhances growth and colouration of all corals, especially in SPS like Montipora, Stylophora, Seriatopora, Pocillopora, Acropora - Recommended in any tank system" So, based on the above, it says what perhaps the main ingredient is, but if it contains other ingredients it has not been disclosed. To call a product "K-Balance" which suggests specifically a potassium supplement and not state any other additives in it seems a little far fetched.

Just did a 20% water change using NSW - thought I'd test the water before I added it. I got the water from Arkles bay on the Whangaparoa - this is in the same "region" as Takapuna which is where a good portion of reefers in Akl get their water from. Results are: Salinity = 1.029 (refractometer with ATC) pH = 8.24 (Pinpoint pH meter) Ca = 380 (Salifert) Mg = 1170 (Salifert) kH = 7.0 (Salifert) NO3 = undetectable (Salifert) PO4 = undetectable (Salifert) I think most of us know that NSW is under the range that most of us keep our parameters at - for those that don't you've just learnt something Point to make is water changes will obviously pull these figures down so best to top up, not just freshwater, but Ca / Mg Chloride and any other additives you use after each change.

I will add my 2 cents here since I've recently started dosing potassium. I bought some Pohl's K-Balance (high concentration of multiple potassium salts) from zeovitnz. I started dosing 10ml daily for the first 4 days (which I've just finished dosing) and now I'm about to reduce to 10ml twice weekly. Dosing potassium is supposed to bring out deeper colours, especially in SPS. After 4 days dosing thus far, there are slight improvements in SPS - but not enough to justify a direct correlation to potassium and purple... yet. However, contrary to what the concentrate pamphlet says, what I have observed is quite a dramatic improvement in my LPS. I have a frogspawn of which the green is now insanely flurorescent (compared to what it was before - I have made no other changes to the tank other than normal weekly kH, Ca and Mg "top ups") All other LPS (euphyllia etc) are much more "full" looking. As I say, these are merely changes i've noticed, no scientific evidence but at the end of the day, proof is in the pudding. The only other change I've made is a 20% (NSW) water change as of 5 minutes ago

very true. scrub them off the glass or blow off the rocks and watch how your corals react!

im going to melbourne for work next week, whats the aquarium they got there? a mate went not too long ago said it was quite good

because with out it you aint gonna know exactly what your phosphate level is. so, do what most of us do and get an approximation and judge the amount of phosphate on how well your corals are doing

best you buy that 10's of thousands of dollars test equipment then

i believe to correctly quote what was stated above, it said < 0.04, thats less 0.04 as in 0.03, 0.02, 0.01, 0.000005, 0.0... etc

no. dont ever try it like this! if anything, mount the sump above the main tank and pump up to it and gravity feed back.