The Perfect Aquarium

[alton]

After posting to Frogmans thread, I started wondering who here on Maast tries to keep that perfect Aquarium by monoitoring and adjusting things to keep everything stable? Or like me just accept that PH will drop at night, Alk may wander with my calcium levels.

[Jasonb]

I have maybe tested 3 times in 3 years lol. I use kalk and maybe i should test to make sure i dont need to adjust

[FarmerTy]

Are you talking about static water parameters that never move? Or stable as in small, insignificant variances? Like +/- 0.5 dKh for alk, +/- 20 ppm for Ca, etc?

I think the first scenario is realistically impossible with current technology but will be possible I'm sure sometime soon.

[LuckySingh]

Now I might be wrong but I guess when tank matures things are lot more easy and forgiving .... I have every possible test kits that exits but last time I used em was was sometimes in 2015 . I do dose 30ml of cal and alk with some magnesium via LM111 that's just about it . Corals have grown nice and taken over the tank. No filtration or controllers what so ever on this tank . No skimmer no carnon no gfo nothing even the live rock is no more than 15lbs in this a 50gln net volume tank . 4 fishes and I over feed em day and night and corals get fed 2 twice a week heavily with variety of stuff like rods , reef Chillie and roids and guess what no algae what so ever . Thin layer of sand works best for me so critters can churn em in regular basis so no deep sand beds . Every now and than I get maybe some red cyno but that goes away too after some time . Thou I admit I have been using prodibio products on this tank and have been firm believer and used em since years I been in this hobby . Also got couple blocks of marine pure slab in my sump , 15to 20glns of water change every three week Thats what I do and run my tank slightly higher in salary at 37ppt
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161029/da5c54e20205cbc98864547bc35eace6.jpg

Not the best tank and it's grows crazy
However I do admit I wouldn't dare do this with solely Sps tank ... sps in my tank grows slowly and some dead slow but not Montiporas or capricornus these are lot more forgiving


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[alton]

Well with all the probes from PH, Salinity, and now alk. I just wonder if it is worth the constant worry of exact measurements.

[FarmerTy]

That's why I was trying to define perfect. To me, perfect has variations in parameters, just like nature. Here are the variances on parameters I monitor and frequency. To me, static non-changing values are not really practical or needed.

Alk - +/- 0.5 dKh (every 2-3 days)
Ca - +/- 30 ppm (quarterly)
Mg - +/- 100 ppm (quarterly)
NO3 - +/- 2-3ppm (quarterly)
PO4 - +/- 0.03 ppm (quarterly)
I2 - +/- 0.05 ppm (quarterly)
K - +/- 20 ppm (quarterly)
Salinity - +/- 0.002 (quarterly)
pH - +/- 0.2 (constant with probe)
Temp - +/- 2 degrees (constant with probe)
ORP - +/- 40 (constant with probe)

Ideal parameters I aim for:

Alk - 7.5 dKh
Ca - 420 ppm (quarterly)
Mg - 1400 ppm (quarterly)
NO3 - 5-10 ppm (quarterly)
PO4 - 0.03 ppm (quarterly)
I2 - 0.06 ppm (quarterly)
K - 400 ppm (quarterly)
Salinity - 1.026 (quarterly)
pH - 8.0
Temp - 81F
ORP - 260

FWIW, the alk monitor is not a probe, just an automated tester.

For a dominant SPS tank, which is what I run, adherence to stable parameters is key. I find this can be easily acheived with a controller, calcium reactor (or dosers), and some testing. Besides testing alk every 2-3 days, I do very little else on my system. My parameters are usually spot on. If they start drifting, I correct them before they get out of line. That being said, there really isn't any need be this tight with parameters unless you're running a large tank of SPS. I've seen plenty of nice tanks like LuckySingh's that require very little effort and less testing with great results.

I enjoy SPS for the challenge and variety. I say to most that sometimes, its more work than they are worth. I remember being a lot less concerned with parameters back in the day with LPS and softies. Its definitely a form of self torture.

[mkengr45]

No water changes in a year (Ty's fault)
No chasing numbers
Sps dominated tank
I test alk twice a month and just sorta "read" the corals to see what they want.

I top off with saturated kalk and dose 2 part. I also skim very wet with oversized skimmer.

IMO people make it more complicated than it needs to be. 15+ years doing this stuff...I've done some learning. Poo in, poo out, nutrients absorbed, nutrients replaced.....it's all a balancing game.


Oh yeah, I run a controller intensive setup (GHLProfilux) despite the lack of other maintenance
Randy