SRC Tank build

[William Ho]

swee

[MarCal]

Waiting for more updates 

 

[Singapore Reef Club]

Been missing out the updates.. Due to busy schedule, anyway a latest video to surmised our setup till date

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Some long await tank update on the changes of the tank ..

1) setting up two dosing station that mainly supply the following ;

Dosetronic ; KH,Mg,Ca , Nopox and KCL 

kamoer x5 ; redsea color elements + amino acid

setting up a separate dosing station 

spray painted black for a better look. 

Using 5L and 2L kamoer dosing container

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The kamoer X5 dosing pump will supply ;

Redsea color ABCD and amino acid 

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Added a 3rd set of radion XR 30 pro for better overall light coverage

 

 

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Setting up the alkatronic for auto kh testing and dosing. 

For those existing alkatronic user will know the new focustronic app is much better and easier to use than the previous one 

 

 

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i will share here alittle bit about how we try to bring the PH up as we know those tank in enclosed area in a room is subjected to low ph issues. 

And why is PH important in our reef tank ?

Ph is a measure of the hydrogen (H) ions in solution, and that the scale is logarithmic. That is, at pH 6 there is 10 times as much H+ as at pH 7, and that at pH 6 there is 100 times as much H+ as at pH 8. Consequently, a small change in the pH level can mean a big change in the concentration of H+ in the water.

Typical natural saltwater aquarium hover around the PH of 8.3 , excessively low PH will create some problem for example making it harder for calcifying coral to deposit calcium carbonate in its skeleton thus slowly coral growth. 

if the PH level get too low, it will become acidic and will indirectly affect coral growth and if it get too low, coral health might be affected or eventually die.

In a healthy reef tank, we are aiming for the region between 8.0 to 8.3 ( while there is some study that at a much higher PH level, coral growth is speed up )  

 

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There are a few way that i use to tackle the low PH issue in our reef tank

1) Running a carbon scrubber (AKA C02 scrubber ) that absorb carbon dioxide in the surrounding air before it go into the skimmer.

2) Dosing of kalkwasser (AKA calcium hydroxide) ( Kalk is a very useful to help bring up ph level, at the same time supplying small amount of CA,and KH in your reef tank.) and it does help in reducing Phosphate level in your system. However, the supplying of two part using kalk alone is limited and might not be suitable for sps system or tank with plenty of corals. 

3) Dosing addictive that helps bring up the KH level in tank ;

- Soda Ash ( it is similar to using KH powder or sodium bicarbonate to supply KH ) but it helps bring up ph level as well, however do use with caution as dosing too much per day will cause your PH to spike. 

- Potassium Hydroxide - Potassium hydroxide provide both potassium and hydroxide into the water, and hydroxdie will helps bring up the PH level in the reef tank, however do use as caution as well as overdosing it will cause a spike in the PH level. 

- Sodium Hydroxide - also known as caustic soda or Lye which is used in some food processing or making of soap. The good thing about using sodium hydroxide it does not increase other element unlike potassium hydroxide, but personal experience with it over dosing it will cause some pump impeller to stall so use with caution as well .

4) Attached the protein skimmer air inlet with outdoor air as outdoor air will contain less carbon dioxide in the air as compare to indoor.

 

 

 

 

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C02 scrubber media fit in a DIY DD fluidize reactor that act as a chamber to store the scrubber media and connected to the skimmer air inlet 

 

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Result taken in Feb when i first start to use the C02 scrubber ..

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However, soon i discover that there is an limitation to the effect of using C02 scrubber alone to bring up the PH of the tank, thus i started to imprement the method of continuous dosing of Kalkwasser that not only help supplement the kh,ca consumption in the tank, it also help buffer the ph up together with upkeeping of the daily water top up . 

the 5L Dosing container for the storage of pre-mix kalkwasser. 

for this we are using the Kamoer X1-Pro T stepper motor dosing pump which i started the dosing rate of 1.0ml / min.

 

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However, with using the above two method, the overall PH level during the day time and night time has improve significantly, however i am trying to bring up the " lowest point " of the ph level during the night to try to maintain the overall stability of the system.

Hence, potassium hydroxide is supplemented into the system using the dosing pump during the period when the PH level is the lowest to further help provide additional buffer and stability to the system.

 

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After which has been seeing a beautiful and stable chart then.. 

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Trying out the new Hanna HR Nitrate checker which i compare also with the salifert Nitrate test kit which the result is pretty much similar. 

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Some corals update photos.. 

 

 

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A very useful magnetic stirrer for mixing of the 3 part together with the measurement vase from IKEA.