SBB-New year new sale 250 Auctions +350 fresh WYSYWG corals Added!

[ryshark]

I swapped to aquaforrest after the last sales flurry of people saying it, the all change wasn’t going well for me so I went back to instant ocean reef crystals. Cheap, keeps my corals looking good. No complaints other than bucket cleaning.

Oh no. I just did my very first water change with AF Reef Salt yesterday. What effects were you seeing and how long did they take?

 

[billyocean]

Oh no. I just did my very first water change with AF Reef Salt yesterday. What effects were you seeing and how long did they take?

It was the alk swing they said I think. I'm seriously considering going moonshiners and doing only as much of a wc as I need to siphon sand with a skinny siphon. Maybe 5-10 gallons at a time.

 

[steveschuerger]

Check salinity levels. I use AF Salt, and when I add it I use about 6 ½ cup portions per 5 gallons. It tends to run slightly low for me with salinity .

 

[ryshark]

I should know better than this, but I did it anyway. The last 3-weeks.

Week 1: added more powerheads
Week 2: changed all 8 T5 bulbs
Week 3: changed saltmix.

Now if my corals start looking bad, I won’t know which change is causing it.

 

[ryshark]

It was the alk swing they said I think. I'm seriously considering going moonshiners and doing only as much of a wc as I need to siphon sand with a skinny siphon. Maybe 5-10 gallons at a time.

That makes sense, since their previous salt was so high in ALK. The AF isn’t only a little bit lower than what I was using before.

 

[ryshark]

It was the alk swing they said I think. I'm seriously considering going moonshiners and doing only as much of a wc as I need to siphon sand with a skinny siphon. Maybe 5-10 gallons at a time.

With that method, how often do you send in ICP?

 

[ryshark]

Check salinity levels. I use AF Salt, and when I add it I use about 6 ½ cup portions per 5 gallons. It tends to run slightly low for me with salinity .

Yep, I added 10-cups to about 20-gallons and then needed to add a bit more to get up to 1.026.

6.5 cups for 5-gallons seem like way too much salt??

 

[Thuan]

I should know better than this, but I did it anyway. The last 3-weeks.

Week 1: added more powerheads
Week 2: changed all 8 T5 bulbs
Week 3: changed saltmix.

Now if my corals start looking bad, I won’t know which change is causing it.

Probably a combo of all three. My money is on the T5 bulb. When I had my 4 bulb T5, I change 1 bulb at a time within like a week apart

 

[ryshark]

Check salinity levels. I use AF Salt, and when I add it I use about 6 ½ cup portions per 5 gallons. It tends to run slightly low for me with salinity .

Never mind. So in other words you use 3-cups for 5 gallons

 

[billyocean]

With that method, how often do you send in ICP?

Once a month to start..then every other...then every few when you get the hang of it. My thoughts are with a 300 gallon tank..the moonshiners will be cheaper than using a ton of salt and kz 1234 in the long run.

 

[ryshark]

Probably a combo of all three. My money is on the T5 bulb. When I had my 4 bulb T5, I change 1 bulb at a time within like a week apart

I’m not having any issues. I meant, if I do, it will be hard to pin point it. But I’ve always changed out all 8-bulbs at once and lower the duration by 1-hour then ramp it back up slowly and haven’t had issues in the past.

 

[ryshark]

Once a month to start..then every other...then every few when you get the hang of it. My thoughts are with a 300 gallon tank..the moonshiners will be cheaper than using a ton of salt and kz 1234 in the long run.

Makes sense. Keep us posted

 

[billyocean]

Makes sense. Keep us posted

In this case...it makes cents.

 

[ryshark]

In this case...it makes cents.

That’s right. Sense and cents.

 

[billyocean]

I mean really...its about 330 gallons I'm figuring after sump and displacement of rock and sand. So 33 gallons is just a 10% wc....at a 15% change every week to 2 weeks I'm burning through salt like crazy...coupled with what the kz costs. The amount of product the moonshiners uses is pretty small. The initial investment is big (not too bad really) but everything lasts quite a while.

 

[Ado]

I mean really...its about 330 gallons I'm figuring after sump and displacement of rock and sand. So 33 gallons is just a 10% wc....at a 15% change every week to 2 weeks I'm burning through salt like crazy...coupled with what the kz costs. The amount of product the moonshiners uses is pretty small. The initial investment is big (not too bad really) but everything lasts quite a while.

I agree. If you really do the math on how much salt and ro is costing you.. it's pretty close. I like the idea of less to no more water changes, less manual work for me.

 

[steveschuerger]

Never mind. So in other words you use 3-cups for 5 gallons

More or less. I noticed when I was doing ama complete tank fill . My spec gravity was only about 1.012 when doing straight ½ cup fills

 

[billyocean]

It gives me something to do different at least anyways..lol

 

[billyocean]

I just dump 1/2 cup per gallon but dont really care of its level...finish up...wait for temp and check salinity and add rodi or more salt if I need

 

[ryshark]

I noticed my SBB Guilty pleasure is developing different color polyps. It’s getting both orange base polyps and yellow base polyps. I’ll try to get a pic later.