Hardest parameter to stabilise
- Thread starter scotty333
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Yes, patience is not easy to keep up with.
The reef tank will hit it’s own levels if you have an automatic water top off and some way to keep up with Alk, Ca.
Then you have to keep abreast with changes as coral grows and demands more.
The reef tank will hit it’s own levels if you have an automatic water top off and some way to keep up with Alk, Ca.
Then you have to keep abreast with changes as coral grows and demands more.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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My Tank Thread
Back to the original question, the hardest things to stabilize are those that deplete rapidly, and if you couple that with the difficulty of measuring them, I think iron and manganese are the hardest to stabilize.
That said, it is not at all apparent that any particular level of these is needed, so stability may not matter.
That said, it is not at all apparent that any particular level of these is needed, so stability may not matter.
scotty333
Valuable Member
Manganese is something I’m toying with currently but don’t have enough icps done to get a reading yet , iron I’ve not played with but probably will be on my list when I’ve sussed out manganese , molybdenum and vanadium
Strontium and iodine I have spot on but the others still to early yet
Salty_Northerner
Valuable Member
My hardest level is po4. It's a pita to be frank! It goes down down down so I'll add Randy's favorite Brightwell neophos lol sorry Randy I couldn't help myself 
So back to it, I shoot for .1 and will settle for .07 but satisfied with .08. at .07 I'll add the mathematical dose to bring it up to the .1 and the next day it's back to .07 so go figure. If I let it sit at .07 for a few days it'll just suddenly plop down to .01 and like I said a real pita. I find reefroiding the tank will bring the po4 up to .13 or so and slowly come down but then again within a few days it's dropping and dropping so who knows. The system is over a year old now and I figured it was mature enough to figure itself out but apparently not.
So back to it, I shoot for .1 and will settle for .07 but satisfied with .08. at .07 I'll add the mathematical dose to bring it up to the .1 and the next day it's back to .07 so go figure. If I let it sit at .07 for a few days it'll just suddenly plop down to .01 and like I said a real pita. I find reefroiding the tank will bring the po4 up to .13 or so and slowly come down but then again within a few days it's dropping and dropping so who knows. The system is over a year old now and I figured it was mature enough to figure itself out but apparently not.
scotty333
Valuable Member
Po4 is my nutrient I’m balancing too, not the same problem as you thank god,My hardest level is po4. It's a pita to be frank! It goes down down down so I'll add Randy's favorite Brightwell neophos lol sorry Randy I couldn't help myself
So back to it, I shoot for .1 and will settle for .07 but satisfied with .08. at .07 I'll add the mathematical dose to bring it up to the .1 and the next day it's back to .07 so go figure. If I let it sit at .07 for a few days it'll just suddenly plop down to .01 and like I said a real pita. I find reefroiding the tank will bring the po4 up to .13 or so and slowly come down but then again within a few days it's dropping and dropping so who knows. The system is over a year old now and I figured it was mature enough to figure itself out but apparently not.
For me is more straightforward
Po4 start point was .05 so added 12g food
Next day .10
Added 8g of food and I’ll measure today, hoping for .06-.08 to give me the ideal of 10g so let’s see
Salty_Northerner
Valuable Member
Yeah I hear ya, I can feed and feed and the fish can dump clouds of dust outa their **** and still won't effect the po4. I had a small 13.5 fluval tank oh in January of 2023 and started with Carib Sea life rock. It was in the fluval for 5 months and then upgraded to a 35.2 WB and this tank has been up and running since July of 2023. You'd think the rock would be mature enough to be in equilibrium but I dunno. Nitrate is also low, the highest I've seen it in the WB has been 6.8 and after experimenting with TM bio-actif salt like adding a cup of it to the pro reef salt it'll knock the po4 down a bit but the nitrate takes the biggest hit. I tested today and it's sitting at 4.6. I've got 2 clowns, 2 Pavo Damselfish. A six line wrasse and an orchard dottyback in the tank with a small cuc and I don't know if I need another fish or what the deal is.
You know a funny thing that happens in my tank is the dottyback will knowingly p me off by spitting the sand onto my large colony of sunny D's and my large red plating Monti, which is just beside the zoa's. He'll carry the sand from his home on the left side of the tank and spit it all over the corals on the right side of the tank. It dawned on me that he wants food. Like no kidding, he's a little turd that tries to control me and feed more. I'll pull the turkey baster out, blow the sand off and 5 min later he's back at it. If I feed them he's fine. So ppl tell me to feed more! How much can I feed a day where the po4 stays put, and he stops his attention grabbing pita attitude? Ahh the love/hate relationship we deal with lol.
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