lduncan Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 queenstown for 5 days tomorrow morning work or play? Q Town is a great place! Shame property is so expensive down there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 Is your ca reactor still out of action? If so, a greater amount of baking soda will be needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 cheers, in plain english would have been nicer :lol: That was plain english. I would have really confused you with solubility products, pKa, equilibria, and buffer solutions, and all the equations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 reactor is back in action, i turned CO2 off for about the last 3 days though coz it had enough "fizzing" already going on in the reactor. will be turning on tonight though and adjusting accordingly going down for play, got friends wedding to go to, taking the wife and kids, so relaxing, drinking, a bit more relaxing and alot more drinking. not much chance of relaxing though with 2 young kids! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 I am going to queenstown for 5 days tomorrow With KH 4 I wouldn't muck around too long. Howsabout mix a batch of baking soda with water, put in 4 containers, and ask your wife to tip one in each day. Use Crackers calculations to figure out how much, but to be safe only aim to bring KH up to 7 by the time you return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 taking the wife Oh I see! Well maybe bring KH up by 1 or 2 KH tonight, then another couple in the morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 good idea, cheers. getting the old lady to come up and feed the fish saturday (famous last words) so will get her to empty another batch in then too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 I baked 250grams of baking soda tonight. As an initial test, I added 2 small teaspoons to a small amount of water and added it to the tank. I tested a couple hours later (assume it should have mixed in reasonably well by then) and kH came in at 4.5 (was 4.2 last night) not much of a change. I then added 2 tablespoons to a couple litres of water, mixed it up and added to the tank. Crackers formula is in 'heaped teaspoons', which I misread as 'tablespoons' :oops: however, 5 hours after the initial dose, kH is now at 6.1 so it still worked out exactly as his formula shows (1 heaped teaspoon raise dKh by 2 for 300 litres water) :-? Maybe it might mix in a bit more overnight? Perhaps a bit of a rapid increase, but better to be at a respectable level for the next 5 days than not. Will test again in morning and add more if necessary oh, and interestingly my BTA has split a third time - maybe they dont like low kH?! I want to sell 2 of them off, I know jimmy wanted one, if anyone can get the other out you can have it for $50 BTA's are reasonably easy to keep and if you have clowns they make good hosts. wasp - any tips for getting the BTA out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 If he's in an impossible place, point a powerhead at it, don't blow the crap out of it but make it uncomfortable, this may encourage it to move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misnoma Posted March 1, 2006 Report Share Posted March 1, 2006 I'll be keen for the other one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 Well, I'm back from my trip. My green octopus coral is totally dead, my hammer is tan hammer is almost dead, green hammer totally dead, a few scraps of xenia left, my euphyllia coral is covered in dead patches, my brain is looking bleached, one of my finger leathers is covered in cyano, another is all shriveled up. Cyano everywhere and my housesitter says, "Were the lights supposed to be turning off?" It looks like when I reset the timer to cut a few hours off I accidentally switched the timer to "On" instead of "Auto" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 Bumma, I have plently of Xenia and a couple of different leathers if you want some replacements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 At the moment I'm inclined to just give up on corals and make it a FOWLR. Maybe when I start feeling a bit more optimistic I'll take you up on that offer, Suphew. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tel Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeBlog Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 I don't think that there is really anything about having a FOWLR. The reasons for coming to that result are a downer, but this could be an opportunity to finally get a chance to enjoy some really AMAZING fish that we just can't keep in our reefs. Personally, I would be totally stoked if you decided to go that route since it would add some diversity to this forum. Plus, you still have all your mates reef tanks that you can still enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tel Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 about the tank, not the subsequent fowlr decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 i just came back from my holiday and found the old lady hadnt fed the fish (after 5 days) i wrote instructions to dose baking soda mixed with RODI water then feed fish, she added baking soda but didnt feed fish... ... but they're still alive and happy. just bloody hungry!!! checked alk levels and it was 5.4. still way low, even after adding a reasonable amount of baking soda. might get a new test kit to be sure before dosing anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tel Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 seem to remember Pies leaving his tank unattended for 2 weeks ?? with no adverse effects. how long were you away for Ira? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 I was gone for 2 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feelers Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Perhaps a single visit from a reefer halfway through a holiday would definately be a good idea. I'm sure a single visit wouldnt be too much hassle, with the money you guys have invested in your setups it would give a bit more piece of mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 my salifert alk test kit could be stuffed, kH read 4.2 initially, so i dosed baking soda then tested again and it was 6.2, now i test again 5 days later its 5.4. could it drop that much in 5 days? will be testing with another kit to make sure its ok, if it is, is it worth adding more baking soda until its around 7-8? going to do a 20% water change friday. also, is it worth dosing kalkwasser??? if im running a calcium reactor 24x7 and also zeovit, is kalk dosing recommended/useful? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Alk can easily drop that much in a day. It's very unlikely that the Alk kit is off. Unlike other test kits, they are not particularly sensitive to light or temperature. What's calcium doing? If it is at normal levels then adding kalk isn't really going to help. Keep adding baking soda to keep up with demand. If calcium is low as well then crank the reactor up. Layton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Cheers Layton. Ca is good, maybe a little too high. Will grab another kit just to be sure, if its ok will keep dosing baking soda. Already used about 150 grams and only raised kH by 1. Just added another 50 grams. As per this... Spread baking soda (594 grams or about 2 ¼ cups) on a baking tray and heat in an ordinary oven at 300°F for one hour to drive off water and carbon dioxide. Overheating is not a problem, either with higher temperatures or longer times. Dissolve the residual solid in enough water to make 1 gallon total. This dissolution may require a fair amount of mixing. Warming it speeds dissolution. This solution will contain about 1,900 meq/L of alkalinity (5,300 dKH). I prefer to use baked baking soda rather than washing soda in this recipe as baking soda from a grocery store is always food grade, while washing soda may not have the same purity requirements. Arm & Hammer brand is a fine choice. Be sure to NOT use baking powder. Baking powder is a different material that often has phosphate as a main ingredient. ...5,300kH sounds like a hell of alot, even when dissolved into 1,000 litres. How much should I need to raise alk from what it is now, 5.4 to about 8? Based on the initial dose, would seem I'd need at least another 400 to 500 grams? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey Posted March 6, 2006 Report Share Posted March 6, 2006 Yeah I think laytons right . And it would also be a good idea to test Mg if thats low it will be very hard to keep Alk and Ca in check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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