Stability and Consistency of a Reef Tank

[boozeman27]

Great article!

 

[SMB]

Great article, thanks.
The rate limiting factors to consistency depend of testing accuracy, and that is no small issue.
For example , I have used Red Sea kits for the last two years. Recently I needed a refill on the Alk. reagent. When I went to test dKH, the reagent was not as red as previous bottles and the color change was to a pale yellow instead of orange, much harder to read. (Is that a change by RS or a bad batch, makes one question of the reliability of the test.)
Had to replace a pH probe after a year. I always zero the probe with standard solutions, still my pH changed from 8.2-8.4 to 7.9-8.1 with the new probe.
Accurate PO4 in my hands is difficult to test regardless of the kit.
I do send off Triton tests but with my small system that becomes costly.
One certainly has to be careful about chasing a number....

 

[pdiehm]

My Magnesium is 1260ppm to 1275ppm

Far be it for me to comment, so take it with a grain of salt, but that seems a little low. I try to keep my magnesium in the 1350-1400 range in the biocube, and coraline just grows out of control

 

[tcarter1936]

Following

 

[Playa-1]

Great Write Up

 

[revhtree]

Thanks Mike!

 

[Jim Bertone]

Thanks Mike! Great article and always enjoy your videos. So where can I buy your book?

 

[Scott Fellman]

On point as always, Mike!

I just think that whatever methodology we follow, whatever our chosen parameters might be, that our reefs will benefit from that "stability within a range." It's been proven over and over. Even those who profess that they've "not made a water change in 5 years" or whatever, no doubt have very stable parameters (whatever those might be), and that might be in part a key to their success in that (I"m thinking Sanjay's tank, or even Rich's -although I think he did/does changes..). The point being that numbers are just numbers...stability is a hallmark of the world ocean environment...

Can't stress this stuff enough....

Such a great topic and points, Mike...Catch you soon!

Scott

 

[Reefiness]

Really nice write up. Consistency is key.... got it! Also those are some sweet pictures you included in the article. I may have spent more time looking at the pictures and all the different corals in each one than I actually did reading the article. haha.

 

[cracker]

This was a great article for me ! Iv, been working hard at keeping things "stable" particularly ALK. Lately I was wondering just what is stable? .2 .3 .5? I didn't know for sure. Can we agree that Mike's opinion that a .5 difference is considered stable? Has he written his next article on alkalinity? I look forward to read what he says.

 

[Ashish Patel]

This was a great article for me ! Iv, been working hard at keeping things "stable" particularly ALK. Lately I was wondering just what is stable? .2 .3 .5? I didn't know for sure. Can we agree that Mike's opinion that a .5 difference is considered stable? Has he written his next article on alkalinity? I look forward to read what he says.

I test every night before bed and its around 8.3 range. I tested one fine day 12 hours later and it was 7.9 dkh. Then at the same time at nght 12 hours later it was 8.2 dkh. This is with 18 doses per day. I would imagine that as long the swings are natural its fine. I am sure there is a difference in stable, stable swings, and unstable forced swings. One time I turned my doser off for few days when I wanted to bring my alk low - it tested at 7.9dkH. I noticed few corals bleaching.. I am sure it was probably at 7.5 during the day - which i was not factoring it and in hindsight ALK swings are normal but when we over adjust is when problems are caused.