new school

keep doing research, those numbers are pretty normal and a good start. with higher quality salts becoming more available over the last few yrs, your higher end aquarists and breeders are more and more leaning towards nsw numbers. the elevated numbers calcium numbers arent really needed. look at other forums too as im sure you probably already do. reports of elevated methods are available, just do a few google searches. even on salt comparisons. i run mine at 8.5 alk and 365 cal along with mag at 1450. elevated my mag as "independent" studies note a clear decrease in problem algaes. after you start dosing you will notice a large alteration or jump in your parameters each time you water change, dont stress. this is because of all the extras packed into salt we buy, coupled with just adding new salt water into the aquarium as normal. it will fall off quickly and your tank will consume these quantities and in 2-4 days your parameters will stabilize. no need to re-adjust your doseing rates at all!! success is very easy and once your set' no more work! its been the best thing i ever did!

profilux doser/off brand doser- any powerhead will work, almost any high powered light will work, granted that does not mean you get the flow or color you need however if your reactor fails, overflows, or regulator dumps your in for a surprise. my vote is doser...

looks like mine i have. similar color when i first got it. when you mount it give it some angle, if it starts to table immediately then you now it is. it will grow wider then longer at prob 10 times faster. mine is 9 wide, about 2" tall, if it came from tim at west side then you know it is. he has two dif ones. one is the real one i got from atl and traded to him and the other one, who knows?!

im choosing ufc and im with r-3...........

i think nick @ rose city has a nice used one for sale in his back room, actually a couple, hahaha.

i used neo mag when i had my reactor. crushed dolomite, it worked very well and isnt like some of the other brightwell products now being scrutinized by fellow reefers. the key is raise the alk in your tank to your desired level, then follow instructions. also remember some tanks use a little more mag than others, so its really a guide for a starting point. you may find you need a little more or little less, but will only know over the course of a month or two. only add or subtract a very small amt when doing so! a few rocks will do. the c02 will begin to dissolve it immediately, test daily for a week then once weekly for a month til you find your tanks usage point. mine was 12% not the 10% specified. i no longer use this, i went to a doser because i had large alk swings, my reactor was just too hard to adjust however the mag levels were super consistent and i would tell any reefer using a reactor to add this product inside it. makes life nice and easy. frank....... you should read those articles and a few others on r.c, chris brightwell is making claims about several of his products that are not possible. while not being a chemist i do understand the complaints. while originally believing this could be an oversight, after looking into it, i realize this guy is not repairing his labels or even offering answers as to why this took place. i like to make recommendations based on my own personal exp. my exp with them also has been positive. however i see outright deception in their mag claims and choosing to avoid or resolve this is lame. in time people will learn more as always. later buddy. hope this helps.

someone somewhere named something and then taxed a dude because the other one desired his own. then that dude decided to sell his for a profit. nothing outta the norm, happens everywhere, every time, every day. i think ima start a second identity so i can cry about one thing and then argue the other. someone wanna buy my new handturkey chalice le. by the way, no ones better than no one else. you may have a nicer camera with le flashomatic or this another dude has more money or can run faster then the next dude, maybe attended a nicer college but blah.....blah....blah..bunch o crying goin on here. thought these forums were to help each other around here?!

i hated my reactors. always a problem, and then my regulator would die or my tank would dump....... love my doser like no other equipment in my tank!! its so easy to have a nice tank now and no stress.

i use alk at a rate of 30% more over my calcium. i use kent salt and it mixes very high in calc so my calc canister always looks full to me. i really got worried at first but after much reading i learned this is normal. seems a lot of r.c. dosers like instant ocean because its low in calcium. grassi......how do you like that bubble magus skimmer? is it as nice as it looks? the finsh work is very clean, i seen these and a their doser on a tank in san jose last month. both worked excellent but the shop was pumping the skimmers way too hard for me to take their advice. the one i looked at was just installed with no skimmate?? looked like it was about to foam the shop a foot deep thru the cap holes but nothing seemed brown?

the profilux is very nice and parts are readily available. thats why i traded some nice frags to score this. looks like the power outage issue is fixed, however the reason they are not readily available in quantity is they cant get the peristatic pump parts together. this made me nervous, if it jammed or broke it would be a while before i could fix it. there are several people using them, all seem pretty happy with it. the bulk reef unit on the rk controller is very nice for the price. little tough to use on a small tank because you can only control it in seconds and not a entirely accurate ml rate to my understanding. i might be wrong but i remember reading some info on this @ r.c. again balling light is a simpler approach to full balling and different to randys advanced diy 3 part......with balling you have part1, 2, 3, then you mix up other separate elements and add them directly to your mixes. http://www.reefdreams.de/lang_eng/info_3_eng.html these are like measured vitamins and added only to specific mixes because some will not mix completely into the cal or alk solutions. its fairly simple though light balling is the exact same program but less of it, hence light balling. fauna simplified it even more by making complete packages but they do not last long!!! believe me. also note that this has been used in europe for about 14 yrs with excellent success and hit mainstream europe about 6 yrs ago. now its the major calc alk system in use. i read somewhere at a rate of 85% vs other methods. second is the kalc reactor and then the calc reactor. some use both kalc and dosing at the same time as its less expensive to use on larger tanks. they dont have the same high concentration powders available for dosing mixes as we do in the u.s. but they can buy it at the pharmacy in bulk very cheap to my understanding. kinda funny. we can use randys system and get the high concentration mixes in bulk. in the u.s. its the exact opposite, we use way more calc reactors then kalc and lastly automated dosing. but dosing is growing now at such a fast rate it will be interesting to see what happens in the next 3 yrs. i learned talking with riddle and sprung that calc reactors were actually designed for a different purpose, to control alk, the calcium released was just a byproduct, yet quickly caught on and now called the calc reactor. they progressed quickly and caught on over here fast.

bubble magus has yet to release one that keeps memory after power outages. always out of stock but do pop up on ebay .http://www.nuocean.com/pumps vertex has one on their web site but no picture. sup to be around 400. an insider mentioned fauna is working on several models but will be pricey and released next yr. several other mnf are currently building as well but no releases as of yet. buckeyefieldsupply has the dow flake, mag flake, and calcium in the formula in super cheap bulk purchases for you...... along with other really cool items for reef application. highly recommended on r.c. from the high end sps guys! also, i keep my mag around 1400 at all times and use my fourth head to dose bio fuel even though brightwell seems to be taking a lot of heat on other boards for inaccurately posting some supplement values? i have done tons of research into this and the chemicals used in balling and even the owner of fauna says on r.c. his chemicals are the same deicer and blah blah blah at buckeye! just additional supplements. what most americans fail to realize is that in europe fauna has an actual salt mix they sell for this balling system. it contains less salts and elements. hope some of this helps and you find it interesting/Users/benhogan/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/Roll 170/0828091904.jpg

there are some differences between- balling full (dr heinz balling created a full supplemented additive method) balling light (a simpler and easier method minus a ton of other supplements) std 2 part (like b-ionic or any part a and b system) 2 part advanced. (includes additional a balanced magnesium) i tried 2 part, then balling light "fauna marin". i now use randys diy advanced 2 part which includes his balanced magnesium.http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php there have ben major heated discussions in r.c forums for yrs now, also zeovit forum nanoreef.nl. thru my own personal investigations ive learned all use the same basic foundation of calcium and sodium bicarbonate chemicals, albiet mixed to different strengths. all the balling methods seem to be, an overpriced excess elements alternative to a good balanced method. the reason i say this, is...... our salt mixes already have higher concentrations of these same elements (vs n.s.w.) that are now being additionally added in conjuntion with balling formulations. why exceed the elements found to be high in salt mixes already....i try to stay close to n.s.w. it works already you know. i use the profilux 4 head stand alone with randys high ph diy and have had excellent results. over the yrs i used precision, koralith, and other high quality reactors. between all the constant adjusting and c02 tanks emptying never found my tank to be more stable than this year! 8.3 day 8.1 eve. alk 9 calc 480. every single day, except water change week then its high or a few days but always balances out nicely. this thing has been the best item ive purchased. not to mention c02 is unhealthy for reef animals and drives ph down. after learning what i now know and talking to many others, things are really starting to change in regards to calcium reactors.

i got some quotes on this last week, nick at rose city can get all-glass/marineland for cheap. yet he also has a "private builder" in cali that does them in glass too, with or without overflow. i dont know if i can post the price because its less than local p.n.w. wholesalers cost, but i will say i got prices (395&435) from 2 local shops and they were over the retail quote by more than 150.00 dollars. thats a chunk..... not even close to nicks prices! i know drunk reefer found the same prices i did. acrylic was quite higher than all these. hope it helps some of you

photoshop? thats a pretty good representation of what i would expect in a quality photo/

+1 andy too many variables, however do make sure your mag is 1350-1450 with your current calc numbers and dkh at 10, your meter is off. re setup your calcium reactor and make sure your regulator is not fluctuating by keeping a close eye on the stability of your bubble counter. too much c02 will drive your ph down as well. is your reactor undersized for the tank? if so this could effect it as well.

200 DD the new larger 200 gallon DD.

if the liquid is red then just replace your carbon. the issue here is that in some thermometers, the metal balls are made of lead...... some stainless steel. if the magnet doesnt pick any up, then you will know they are lead. this can be a problem but dont stress yet. if lead, take a good (plastic) dust pan and in one firm scoop clean out the sand bed spot where these fell. try to do it in one very firm scoop while keeping the sand "in" the pan...... move slow and firm.... it will be difficult. the dollar tree off i205, mill plain in vancouver has mini dust pans if you need a smaller one. i just picked one up. after you dump this scoop then turn off all your moving water, pumps, heaters, let the dust settle for 10 minutes. take some time and look around. be sure you scooped the area these fell in. the less scoops the less these will travel on the bottom and the less you will disturb your sand bed. 2-3 scoops is enough (unless you want to entirely tear it down). now, re_add some sand, turn on our pumps, etc... and admire your handy work, again its always best to run some "fresh" carbon after an accident. also a 10 % water change would be good. ive seen this happen, had it happen. no biggie all fish and corals should be fine and open up in a day or two, when feeing over the next couple weeks watch to be sure they all eat. lead poisoning will cause fish to not eat. mercury is n/a, and lead is also typically n/a, unless the thermometer was made in china. hope this helps you. should be fine. dont wait past a day if its lead!!!!

+1 randy-s, and some shops that should not be open still are.

dont sweat it.

some metals wont effect your aquarium at all. this might make you feel better, in the old school days we used the auto radiator hose clamps, metal ones. in sumps, on hose returns, then we went to the plastic ones that just click together. run some carbon, poly filter like andy suggested, or even some chemi pure. if the poly turns real black then you know it was pretty toxic, but rust is everywhere on reefs, only toxic when it reaches a certain point. if your tank has been fine thus far then dont stress. listen to some heavy metal and bang your head.

try buck eye field supply. its very popular on r.c. be sure to look ate the reef ready ones.

the basic plastic components are almost always the same. some filters will be to different microns, and somtimes types of carbon can be a little different. some are hi silica vs std de-i silica. an excellent cheap r.o system can be found at buck eye field supply, its a well know web page on r.c. that sells all the components we use to make our diy 2 part program and own balanced mag supplements. by far the cheapest r.o. systems ive ever seen!! be sure to look at the reef ready ones..... they have the better de-i, carbon, and micron filters. brand ones will cost 30-50% higher. i bought a kent r.o. 10 yrs ago but get my refills from buckeye and sometimes bulk reef supply if buckeye is out. they also have the floats, flush kits, and storage tank for home use as well. hope this helps

nsw is the goal or aim point nowadays. used to be 10-14 back in the day. calcium any where from 380- to just under 500, 500 being the point for supersaturation. salts have certainly gotten better, we would run dkh higher back in the day because we were less aware of how minor elements broke down or were consumed in aquaria water, it was better to keep a higher dkh being that ph was less likely to fall out if you skipped a couple water changes. now we understand magnesium effects the balance within ph and dkh. if your magnesium levels are around 1350 then nsw level is excellent. i dose 2 part with magnesium and other additives and my dkh is steady at 8 along with my calcium at 420-430. corals grow fast, colorful, and healthy. if i skip a water change its not a problem but typically i dont. also you my want to contact a store to have them maintenance your tank say once a week for an hour to keep stress levels in check! hahaha i stress every time i leave mine for a week. dang!

finch 6013, if you go on r.c and do some searches you will find exactly wha your looking for.....i seen several threads on vho par from different bulbs at diff depths and the same info with t-5 bulbs.

+1 coralreefer and grassi, if you have phosphates and nitrates in your aquarium keep in mind they will most likely be consumed by the problem algea at the level they are entering the aquarium explaining why you have very low levels on your test kit. a lg water change may only aggravate your algae problem if its coming thru your supply water. 1.test your supply water and makeup water for phosphates. 2.test your reactor return water to see if your media is relasing phosphates if no reactor disregard. using phos-gaurd is a quick reacting media and you must remove or swap it around a week. gfo lasts longer but can cost more, tests have shown it can also leach back very small amounts over time. typically this is not an issue. thus the more preferred media. i use both, the phos gaurd when i notice something needing quick attention, this works very well in removing phophates quickly. i will even add 3 times the necessary amount to expedite the process. 3. slow or stop all feeding, supplements. at least for a week or two 4. only perform the water change after you know for sure its not the supply water. if it is. find a better supply. aquarium store or r.o.? also note some frozen foods even though they advertise purified water w no phosphates are used during manufacturing are misleading so you can also perform a test with food run off for phosphates as well. 5. do increase flow. 6. check the light schedule. 10-12 hrs is normal but can be too much if excess nutrients are available for problem algae, you can shorten this to 8 hrs but you want to find the entrance point for excess nutrients soon as you can, then bump em back up. 7. if you have a skimmer, clean it and re dial it in as this exports phophates via precipitation. it is important to know if your by a window. i didnt see a reply. the sun can def cause algae to go off! kitchen or vent, also sprays and dust can aid in causing nutrients to enter your tank. but typically not a big issue. hope this helps.