Higher Thinking

I'm not super savvy on it, but I've picked up some stuff from Randy Holmes. When the alk drops too fast, I think the calcium shoots up because it can't be utilized at a proper rate. Something like that. Increasing mag will help stabilize things.

Found it. Give me a call. I sent you my number.

I love that you included the date in your post, hahaha!

If you filled your tank with tap and your tap has those parameters, then no surprise it's in there. When you begin doing water changes with RODI water, the nitrates will go down rather quickly. You could always throw some macro in there to start consuming it. But a few water changes and you'll be good to go. That's of course assuming a lot of stuff (not overstocking, overfeeding, using correct filtration and skimming, etc.). But long story short, I'm confident you'll be able to clear that up. I know people who use only tap water and they have some amazing tanks.

Sent you my number. Call me when you want to work on it and I'll talk you thru.

The only reason would be to control how much flow your return pump delivers. This is pretty unnecessary, but some people use them to restrict higher flow pumps, in order to get the desired flow rate. It's easier to just buy the right sized pump. And definitely go with gate valves over ball valves. They are not even in the same league. For an extra twenty bucks, you'll never regret the decision. I just moved from Albany last week. I'm in Salem temporarily, but let me know if you run into any questions. Also, I know the reef ready tank has two drilled holes, but I wouldn't use one for the return. Just sling the return over the back of the tank so you can use the two drilled holes to set up a Herbie style overflow. If you use one of the two holes for the return, you will not have an emergency drain....super sketchy.

I'm pretty sure I have one you can have. I'm in Salem.

We have it set up for the first 5 posts of new members to be approved. Typically we get them approved within a couple hours, but if everyone just happens to be busy, it might be longer. After 5 posts, you're no longer under any moderation.

Fill up your bath tube to run it.

All you have to do is go to the menu, select "People," click on your own name (it's at the top), and then go to the tab for threads started. Is a breeze, takes about 3 seconds. Hope that helps!

That's really unfortunate man! My stupid doser from Marine Magic has been extremely unreliable lately. It has taken (I'm not even exaggerating) two months for them to ship out the replacement unit. Meanwhile, I've just been limping along. Long story short, they kept saying one thing, then they would say another, then disappear for a couple weeks, then say something else. Eventually it just became humorous dealing with those people. Either way, the past couple months my alk has been on a roller coaster. I usually keep it around 9 and then one day I checked and noticed that it was below 6.5. I thought that it had to be a mistake since my test kit (Salifert) was a bit old....no way it could be that low. Since it was already half used, I got another one and sure enough, it was right a round 6.5. While dealing with this doser, I have had my tank flying around between <7 and just over 9. The crazy thing is, with over thirty acros, I've only lost two. For me, alk drops always seem to show up in my acans before anything else. I have had noticeable tissue lose in the acans during this process and have experienced similar things during prior alk issues. It's crazy that your alk dive had such a devastating impact. Here's to hoping for a speedy recovery!!!

Looks like you'll take the W with authority. Well done!

How are you supplementing? Do you test your parameters before and after a water change? What are they? And be more specific than saying that your parameters "are fine." What are the specifics? That information might help answers some questions. It's also my understanding that RTN is not something that just starts and stops. It's called "rapid" because it can wipe out the entire piece within a day or so.

You're not supposed to add water to your salt, but rather add salt to your water. It may seem like the exact same thing, but it's totally different. When you just start adding water to a pile of salt, the parameters are so concentrated, that you end up with the salt water precipitating. So then you can never really get it to dissolve. How are you measuring salinity?

Thanks for the lead!! I just purchased three containers. I had to have them sent to two different stores though, but whatever, I pass them on my way to work. I got two regular Instant Ocean 160s and one Reef Crystals IO 160. Regular were $23.80 and RC were $29.25. Quite the steal for sure. After using the rebate, I'll get another $10 back. I think it's an error, but who knows?

They've been pumping up this product forever. I'll be surprised if it hits the shelves anytime soon. It will certainly revolutionize testing.

Suspend from the ceiling? Sheet rock hangers are actually pretty strong, you may need a few. Then insert eye bolts.

Pumped for your contribution to this club. Thanks for stepping up!

I don't know about the mobile site, but using tapatalk is a breeze.

Welcome to the club Taylor! Be sure to check out the next meeting at The Premium Aquarium on the 31st. It's a great opportunity to meet people and put faces to names. Glad to have you on board. -Andrew

I honestly think you may be over thinking things. I have never heard of this "well known" issue of having to run the unit for a while before collecting water. Not to say it isn't widely discussed, just that I've never experienced it. I start the unit and immediately start filling up, always have, and water is at 0. Even so, I hardly think a couple minutes of "stale" RO will have any sort of impact.

I watched it and all I'll say is "meh." Nothing really exciting. Yeah, Pac had him up against the ropes during some exchanges, but Floyd was covered up and the punches weren't doing anything. It would definitely have been worse for Pac to exhaust himself throwing a flurry of punches that weren't doing anything. I was really hoping for a better performance overall, but Floyd managed to keep Pac at a distance that favored the longer reach of Mayweather. The last three rounds Pac was barely throwing, but Mayweather looked like he still had another dozen rounds in him. However, I have more of a MMA background so I don't always understand boxing.

Pending for Kris.

Haha haha! Copy that.

Congratulations on the clam looking better and an even bigger congratulations on the new house. Sorry if I missed it, but where are you headed?