SHOmuchFUN
11/07/2004, 01:46 PM
Well, I've got the reactor running.
So far, no real problems, except that the MAG pump is pretty loud and leaked. A little GOOP helped the leaking problem, but it's still fairly loud. Personally, I think bubble counters are worthless. It spurts a bunch of different sized bubbles at varying times, it's kinda stupid, so I've just been guaging my effluent PH. I've got it running at 6.8 right now, but that took a WHILE to finally get it dialed in. Those needle valves are VERY touchy and the bubble counter is of NO help at all. It's all about TWEAKING.
Flow rate is controlled with a screwing pinch valve which seems to be working okay. I get about 20ml a minute right now, but it's not 100% constant. The feed pump is a RIO 180 :rolleye1:... Not too psyched about it, but it's what Jeff sends out with his reactors, so I'll try it for a bit, but do have a couple MJ900s for backup.
I bought a calcium test kit for the first time... Is it possible to have calcium above 500? When I worked through the salifert kit, I went all the way down to 0 on the syringe, and the solution only turned a purple color and NOT the sky blue. I had been dosing a LOT of B-ionic, but is it possible to get your calcium level this high? I also tested my ALK and that was fairly low ~6ish
I added some REEF BUILDER to set a standard alkalinity level.
I noticed that my Ph was swinging like a trapeze artist before I started the reactor. It would get to about 7.8ish at night and swing up to 8.4ish at night :eek1: Now it's swinging from 7.8 to 8ish. MUCH better. Hopefully this reactor will inhibit some more stability in the system. This may have to do with the difficulty that I've had keeping fish lately.
So... Sound alright so far?
Anybody recommend any good places to get some fish (online or LFS?) I'm refusing the Pet Dissadvantage's fish right now, although I almost bought an Anthias and Flasher Wrasse the other day.
So far, no real problems, except that the MAG pump is pretty loud and leaked. A little GOOP helped the leaking problem, but it's still fairly loud. Personally, I think bubble counters are worthless. It spurts a bunch of different sized bubbles at varying times, it's kinda stupid, so I've just been guaging my effluent PH. I've got it running at 6.8 right now, but that took a WHILE to finally get it dialed in. Those needle valves are VERY touchy and the bubble counter is of NO help at all. It's all about TWEAKING.
Flow rate is controlled with a screwing pinch valve which seems to be working okay. I get about 20ml a minute right now, but it's not 100% constant. The feed pump is a RIO 180 :rolleye1:... Not too psyched about it, but it's what Jeff sends out with his reactors, so I'll try it for a bit, but do have a couple MJ900s for backup.
I bought a calcium test kit for the first time... Is it possible to have calcium above 500? When I worked through the salifert kit, I went all the way down to 0 on the syringe, and the solution only turned a purple color and NOT the sky blue. I had been dosing a LOT of B-ionic, but is it possible to get your calcium level this high? I also tested my ALK and that was fairly low ~6ish
I added some REEF BUILDER to set a standard alkalinity level.
I noticed that my Ph was swinging like a trapeze artist before I started the reactor. It would get to about 7.8ish at night and swing up to 8.4ish at night :eek1: Now it's swinging from 7.8 to 8ish. MUCH better. Hopefully this reactor will inhibit some more stability in the system. This may have to do with the difficulty that I've had keeping fish lately.
So... Sound alright so far?
Anybody recommend any good places to get some fish (online or LFS?) I'm refusing the Pet Dissadvantage's fish right now, although I almost bought an Anthias and Flasher Wrasse the other day.