Cheap??? Method of Reefing ...

[lee]

I started with 3 teaspoons w/full LS for my 2.5ft tank.

Now reduce to 1/2 teaspoon(direct into tank) after my NO3 stays <5ppm .

Someone here might want to work out the correct dosage by using dissolved sugar in a bottle (just like those supplements). Then connect it to a dosing pump for auto dosing.

[lizard44]

hi all

this is the result of my use sugar-to-reduce-nitrate experiment

first day

dose 1tsp of fine sugar to mini-dsb (which consists of powder fine sand in a spaghetti sauce bottle 5 inch deep) in refugium

bubbles were observed from the mini dsb

second day

continued same dosage . more bubbles were observed after few hours.

third day

dose 2 tsp of sugar. skimmer stated foaming alot. more bubbles observed from mini-dsb. thin layer of bio-film observed.

fourth day

dose 2tsp. more bubbles observed . tank turn cloudy after a few hours. fishes ok. plate coral, sea fan retracted. skimmer foam like mad. after 1 day , tank clear again. drip kalk , in case pH was low.

fifth to sixth day

dose 2 tsp daily. tank turned cloudy after few hours . lots of bubbles generated from mini-dsb . thick bio-film noticed on neck of bottle. skimmer foaming like mad again, have to empty and clean the collection cup. some whitish film observed on live rock closest to return pump output. plate 's flesh started to receed and dissolve in water. sea fan still not open. but diatoms on glass did not grow back as fast as before. 3 liter of water changed .

all observations were visual , no test kits were used to measure nitrate. this is jus a simple experiment to show whether there is any effect on ls after dosing sugar to reduce nitrates.

conclusion

reduced growth of diatoms and nuisance algae was observed but plate coral and sea fan was affected. Clam and fishes don seem to be affected.

hi all SUGAR DADDIES ...

i happened to read an earlier thread started by bro eric in this forum on the "New to the Marine Aquaria Hobby" - "Nuisance Algae Help Forum" - "Anyone tried the sugar method to combat cyano?". please read this thread carefully as it highlighted some serious side-effects. so do take care ... and tread carefully ...

hi bro Venezia

conclusion

reduced growth of diatoms and nuisance algae was observed but plate coral and sea fan was affected. Clam and fishes don seem to be affected.

thanks for the great report and trial.

but, sad to hear that your plate coral and sea fan don't seemed well.

my seafan looks okie but then i may not be qualified to judge visually.

as a complete trial, i will be getting a tiny plate coral on this coming saturday and try out the sugar dosing again and see if it is really bad for the plate coral. please don't flame me. i am trying to find answers. if true, then we should warn others on this.

GREAT FEEDBACK ... thanks a million

hi bro marble

If aft 4 days of dosing sugar,e no3 still remains around e same,does it means tat i shld add more teaspoons of sugar??

Have being adding 2teaspoon for 4 days liao.Im using redsea test kit.E color seems to be ard e 20ppm zone.

Anyway,my ph doesnt seems to fall aft 4days of test.Its aways at PH:8.2.

Unlike most of e ppl here whereby they have a great fall in no3 n ph aft e 4th day of dosing.Dun noe if tis is a sign tat im not adding enough sugar??huh??

Shld i start to dose 3teaspoon for my 3ft tank???3 teaspoon shld b max liao for 3ft tank rite??

I have carbon in my sump tank,will it obsorb e sugar tat i put in??huh???

carbon will have no effect ... go for the kill ... 3 TEA-SPOONS then. you will see LIGHT at the end of the tunnel. it is a step of faith. go and do the LEAP.

you will like it ...

hi bro ahkit81

maybe it will take some time for your tank to show you result...dont worry......it will drop. sooner or later.....

thanks for the great advice to our bros.

never knew we have a silent 007 Professor here with us. welcome onboard professor, we hope you enjoy your stay here and feel free to dominate

do-a-doodle-do ... thanks a million

hi bro huanjie

hope we can develop a scientific method in sugar dosing fomula in the near future...

"ideally less than 3 for most LPS and LS is a must-have"

How did you derive at that ? As I know Many beautiful tanks with LPS(growing) has nitrate much more than that level...

you doubt me huh?

this data are gathered from the internet and books. the magic number 3 is given by: VINCENT B. HARGREAVES he is a darn famous coral-reef authority.

nevertheless, NICK DAKIN together with JULIAN SPRUNG (ultra famous, the god of reef) also said it is magic number 5. 3 is therefore quite closed to god's word.

scientific measure? ... unless NUS gives me a lab and a government grant of S$5m, i wouldn't bother.

unless, we are really serious about the exact dosage. what we have gotten here is already good enough (hobbyist's accuracy).

to get the correct (or EXACT) dosage; one has to know the exact amount of live sand, live rocks, coral chips, bio-balls, volume of water, number of poo machines, mechanical filters, chemical filters, bio filters, corals and salinity, hence, it is near impossible to know the magic number. so guys, sit back and relax ... just a ball-park will do lah ... otherwise this is no longer a hobby but a chore, man ... i am out of this.

great question ...

hi bro lee

I started with 3 teaspoons w/full LS for my 2.5ft tank.

Now reduce to 1/2 teaspoon(direct into tank) after my NO3 stays <5ppm.

Someone here might want to work out the correct dosage by using dissolved sugar in a bottle (just like those supplements). Then connect it to a dosing pump for auto dosing.

i am extremely guilty now. i confessed that i have not changed water for the last 3 months. sometimes, the tank stinked to 9th heavens. but, still i never change water. i also never remove any dead LS. so to atone my sin, i am trying to find a way to change water and salt and yet not break my back for it. any help?

lizard

[damienkee]

to all the bro out there who had try this method, lets say, if i will only dose the sugar 1 the next day, will it take effect?

[Travy]

Sorry ah been busy,

Update!

Mine's a 2 footer la... No 4 as i wished...

Increased dosage to one full teaspoon for two days liao... Water cloud real bad but clear up after abt 4 hrs. Skimmer is working very hard... tons of foam and smell....

Diatoms greatly reduced so do hair algae. Xenias went up lorry... Star polyps doesnt seemed to open anymore... The rest of the live stocks are doing fine.

Guess the xenias and the stars need a high nutrient environment to survive and do well? Pls advice on this...

Coraline also die back abit... turning white in some areas.... Hmmm...

Test shown NO3 at 10... Used to be at ard 20 plus... guess it work?

[lizard44]

hi bro damienkee

to all the bro out there who had try this method, lets say, if i will only dose the sugar 1 the next day, will it take effect?

please start with 0.5 tea-spoon first before trying more. too much at the beginning will kill some corals. the bacteria is not enough to cope with the extra energy input.

hi bro Travy

Guess the xenias and the stars need a high nutrient environment to survive and do well? Pls advice on this...

sorry for your up-lorry, i really don't know. my stars are opening wide and full.

bro lee's xenia as suggested in his report was not affected. maybe i might also try to get a xenia to try. OR any bros can help out the recording of coral trials.

in my opinion, try to get a turtleweed to help you to get a visual on the tank. if the turtleweed is growing well, one should be alright with the NO3 para. if the turtleweed starts to whiten, then the NO3 level is too low for the tank?

lizard

[Travy]

My Xenias confirm byebye liao... the last colony just turn brown jelly...

On a lighter note, my starts are beginning to open up.

Guess they need time to over come the shock, esp in my small system.

[damienkee]

to all the bro out there who had try this method, lets say, if i will only dose the sugar 1 the next day, will it take effect?

please start with 0.5 tea-spoon first before trying more. too much at the beginning will kill some corals. the bacteria is not enough to cope with the extra energy input.

thanks! bro lizard44. last nite i test my water parameter is...

ammonia= 0

NO3= about 0 ( quite clear)

ph= 8

kh= 9

so do u think i still need to add sugar?

thanks!

[lizard44]

hi bro Travy

My Xenias confirm byebye liao... the last colony just turn brown jelly...

On a lighter note, my starts are beginning to open up.

Guess they need time to over come the shock, esp in my small system.

thanks for the kind words ...

although i have cheong-ed a few LFS today, but i couldn't find a good plate (bro Venezia's report) or xenia (bro Travy's report). ended up buying 2x 5-cent coin tomatoe clowns ($5) and 1x 10-cent coin blue ring angel ($8).

but, i am still keen to find out more by getting these two particular types of coral. i am really very upset over your losses.

hi bro damienkee

last nite i test my water parameter is...

ammonia= 0

NO3= about 0 ( quite clear)

ph= 8

kh= 9

so do u think i still need to add sugar?

congrats on your nice paras. do continue to dose but reduce the amount as at nitrate=zero, it is not too good for most organisms.

tomorrow .... tomorrow ... will be the pH buffer experiment report day ... sorry for the great delay as i have to work as a POPULAR BOOKSTORE promoter in spore expo. lousy pay and time killer

lizard

[Venezia]

my plate started to grow back its tissues after i stop dosing sugar for few days now. actually i tot it will up the lorry as it receded really fast . thou its not fully recovered but recovering. and my mini dsb has turn black with a foul mangrove smell... and i'm still removing the thick mucus bio film everyday even w/o dosing sugar. and i added iodine for my plate to recover, 2 drops a day

[Travy]

Dont worry about it dude!

I bought my xenias at 2bucks... Then it kinda 'AUTO" frag ityself till about 4 small colony.

Now that its gone... I have free space for other stuff!

NO3 still ard 20, 5th day of dosage... hmm... wonder why isnt it going down. Making a change of water this afternoon. Then test again tomorrow.

[dtoh]

any bro here have a pic of how the epsom salt look like so that i can look for it in NTUC. have been scouting around few supermarket but cannot find. if possible, please highlight which section of the supermarket. tks

[lizard44]

hi all CALCIUM REEF BUILDERS ...

hi bro dtoh

any bro here have a pic of how the epsom salt look like so that i can look for it in NTUC. have been scouting around few supermarket but cannot find. if possible, please highlight which section of the supermarket. tks

go to guardian ... ask for epsom salt (magnesium) ... it is only $4.20 per 375g. darn cheap ... can dose for a million years ... i think ...

you are truly advanced. thanks for the effort and trial. do let us know how it goes. i am not so ready to start on the calcium dosing regime yet. so maybe you are more ready do go ahead and perform that magic ...

good luck ... and million

btw, i have contacted a chemical company to help me get Calcium Chloride. it is expected to be pH neutral i.e., it will not affect the pH level of the tank during dosing of calcium.

lizard

[lizard44]

hi bro Venezia

my plate started to grow back its tissues after i stop dosing sugar for few days now. actually i tot it will up the lorry as it receded really fast . thou its not fully recovered but recovering. and my mini dsb has turn black with a foul mangrove smell... and i'm still removing the thick mucus bio film everyday even w/o dosing sugar. and i added iodine for my plate to recover, 2 drops a day

glad to hear that your plate is back in business. hope it will recover well.

why is there a thick black film?

did you use a skimmer?

my skimmer is ultra stinky everyday ...

hi bro Travy

I bought my xenias at 2bucks... Then it kinda 'AUTO" frag ityself till about 4 small colony.

Now that its gone... I have free space for other stuff!

NO3 still ard 20, 5th day of dosage... hmm... wonder why isn't it going down. Making a change of water this afternoon. Then test again tomorrow.

no matter. we still need as many trials as possible. i will still try to get a plate and xenia to try.

ONLY 5 DAYS of dosing, you expect to drop NO3 to ZERO. it is only sugar, not magic powder ... hahahahahaha

have to work harder ... man

lizard

[lizard44]

hi to all MA BAKERS ...

pH BUFFER DOSING EXPERIMENT (REPORT 2):

day 1 (today): pH=8.00 dKH=14

finally took the plunge.

i dosed 50g of baking soda today and the dKH shot up to 19 !!! will now watch the dKH tomorrow.

If you add a ton of alkalinity supplement to stabilize things, you may find that the pH and/or alkalinity later creep higher than you want.

i have found this method of increasing pH very slippery, i.e., the pH will first drop and then it will shoot up again.

i will try to get washing soda. it is more direct.

lizard

[damienkee]

congrats on your nice paras. do continue to dose but reduce the amount as at nitrate=zero, it is not too good for most organisms.

thanks! bro...

[marble]

Hi everyone,aft 10days of test,its my turn now to share my findings n results on sugar dose.

Tank size 3by1.5by2ft

LS n inverts onli no corals.

NO3:20-50ppm at least.

Sugar dose test.Test kit use is reasea.

Day 1 120305(10am)

*Added 2 Teaspoon of sugar

SG:1.021

PH:8.4

KH:10.8

NO3:20-50ppm

Day 2 130305(10pm)

*Added 2 Teaspoon of sugar at nite as e water onli clears at 10pm.

SG:1.021

PH:8.2

Day 3 140305(10pm)

*Added 2 Teaspoon of sugar. Water clears faster.

SG:1.021

PH:8.2

NO3:20-50ppm

Day 4 150305(6pm)

*Added 2 Teaspoon of sugar.Water clear faster.

SG:1.021

PH:8.2

NO3:20-50ppm

Day 5 160305(5pm)

*Added 3 Teaspoon of sugar as no3 doesnt seems to go dw.

Water clear fast.

SG:1.021

PH:8.4

NO3:20ppm

KH:10.8

Day 6 170305

Change 1 pail of water

Nvr add sugar for e day.

SG:1.021

NO3:20ppm n below

Day 7 180305(9am)

*Added 3 Teaspoon of sugar.

SG:1.021

Day 8 190305

*Added 3 Teaspoon of sugar.

SG:1.021

Day 9 200305

*Nvr add as jzt buy LS n wan them to get use to e water 1st.

Day 10 210305

*Added 1.5 Teaspoon of sugar as no3 finally dropped to 10ppm n below.

SG:1.021

PH:8.2

KH:10.8

NO3:10ppm n below

Jzt my own Conculsion n findings of sugar dosing:

-No LS die.Onli 1 feature dust drop its clown.

-Have to wait for at least 1wk b4 u can c results.

-Changing of water aft 1wk might helps to bring dw e no3 faster.I onli change abt 1/5(1pail) of e water for my 3by1.5by2ft tank.

-Having a acceptable KH level b4 starting e dosage will help to maintain PH.During e test,my PH n KH readings nvr drop.Mayb oso due to e fact tat once i c SG dropping below 1.020,i will top up with abit of salt water to stable it at above 1.020 at least.

Planning to kep my no3 at around 10ppm n below.Will slowly decrease my doseage again.

Tks lizard44 n e rest for all e helps.

[kareen]

Seeing you guys so eager on the diy additives stuffs so here to contribute a little.... Here is a little useful link to calculate how much to add.

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

To lizard44 : If you are getting washing soda then it is better to put 6 parts of baking soda with 1 parts of washing soda. Together they are the crude ingredients of the branded buffer we purchase.

[kareen]

This one got the baking soda and washing soda....

http://www.kademani.com/reefchem.htm

[lizard44]

hi bro marble

Hi everyone,aft 10days of test,its my turn now to share my findings n results on sugar dose ...

-No LS die.Onli 1 feature dust drop its clown.

Planning to kep my no3 at around 10ppm n below.Will slowly decrease my doseage again.

it is delightful and a pleasure to see such a high quality and POSITIVE report. because of you, i am really glad that we have indeed made a small step forward in this game of reducing our nitrate to near-ZERO.

just a small thing to share ...

i now dose my super fine sugar at my over-flow column.

at nitrate=1.0, white hair algae and cyano bact are back in business, they start to grow a little on the glass (1 tea-spoon); at nitrate=0.5, these ugly algae and bacteria melt away (1.25 tea-spoon). so happy ...

hi bro(sis?) kareen

Seeing you guys so eager on the diy additives stuffs so here to contribute a little....

To lizard44 : If you are getting washing soda then it is better to put 6 parts of baking soda with 1 parts of washing soda. Together they are the crude ingredients of the branded buffer we purchase.

i always believe in collective wisdom. the west is advanced because of their willingness to publish and share. they also do not bother to copy but acknowledge the contributions of earlier discoverers, and they moved on from that point. great attitude, great progress.

your single act of sharing has advanced this pH buffering thingy by 1 mile.

i (am and the rest of the bros here are) eternally thankful to you. i just heard: the fishy also said "thanks".

:bow:

i have searched this little red dot for washing soda. but, can't get any thing that sounded safe.

i am now trying to bake my baking soda.

lizard

[lizard44]

hi all MA BAKERS ...

pH BUFFER DOSING EXPERIMENT (REPORT 3):

i have measured pH at more or less the same time of the day ... (my pin-point pH meter is shiok!)

day 1: pH=8.00 dKH=14 (cheapo test)

finally took the plunge.

i dosed 50g of baking soda today and the dKH shot up to 19 !!! will now watch the dKH tomorrow.

no impact on LS.

day 2: pH=8.13 dKH=19 (cheapo test)

pH drops to 7.80, later regained to 8.10. no dosing.

no impact on LS.

day 3: pH=8.20 dKH=not tested

pH gained to 8.20. no dosing.

no impact on LS.

day 4: pH=8.30 dKH=not tested

pH gained to 8.30. no dosing.

no impact on LS.

day 5: pH=8.20 dKH=not tested

pH slipped to 8.20. no dosing.

no impact on LS.

day 6: pH=8.10 dKH=18 (cheapo test)

pH slipped to 8.10. dKH drops slightly to 18. no dosing.

no impact on LS.

the sugar dosing will initially drop the pH by about 0.2 immediately after the dose. it will regain back to almost its original pH value. but, on the longer term, the pH will generally slide lower. hence, there will be a need to buffer the pH back to 8.20 - 8.30.

the pH dosing is a slow experiment, i.e., we cannot keep dosing daily. so the results will be much extended in time.

unlike the sugar, baking soda is a slippery tool, i.e., it will cause a drop in the pH first before regaining much higher.

at 50g baking soda for a 4-footer (120g) tank, it will drop by 0.15 and regain 0.30 after.

originally i wanted to try washing soda, but i can't find a suitable "safe" purchase.

therefore, i have decided to try baking the baking soda at 250deg C for 0.5 h. since the baking soda is food-grade. the baking should not have adverse effect on the substance.

the aim is to drive out the CO2 (acidic that caused the initial lowering of pH) and moisture in the baking soda, making it into a sharper pH buffering instrument.

will dose BAKED baking soda ... after this ...

lizard

[kareen]

therefore, i have decided to try baking the baking soda at 250deg C for 0.5 h. since the baking soda is food-grade. the baking should not have adverse effect on the substance.

the aim is to drive out the CO2 (acidic that caused the initial lowering of pH) and moisture in the baking soda, making it into a sharper pH buffering instrument.

will dose BAKED baking soda ... after this ...

I think you may need to bake longer..... not too sure though.... I think I bake it for at least an hour or so, ancient time ago....

[lizard44]

hi bros (and sises) ...

i am back ...

miss me ... :rolleyes:

i cannot return earlier as the tests were slow and results sparse. i needed log-time scale to run these tests fully. hope you don't mind.

okie let's clean up unfinished business and then we can continue to chit-chat ...

hello all MA BAKERS ...

just a recap:

When SUGAR was dosed, the pH would reduce by about 0.3 in the beginning. by 24 hours or shorter, the pH would return back to the same as before but a teeny tweeny bit lower.

long term dosing of SUGAR would drive down the pH from 8.30 to 7.90 (bad).

so i suggested the use of BAKING SODA as a means to buffer the pH drop.

on the average, whenever the pH dropped to hit 7.90, i would dose about 25-50g of BAKING SODA. the pH shot back up to 8.20. after that i waited for the pH to slide down again and the cycle repeats.

but, according to CHEMICAL- ALI bro EKIA, dosing BAKING SODA would add alkalinity to the tank quite quickly.

so i bought a KH test kit to check. my kH shot up from 12 to 19 (12 is best), but i thought not for 19. looked like i have at hand another problem - ultra-high kH.

so i decided to bake my BAKING SODA for an hour hoping for better results. meanwhile, bro Kareen even suggested that i bake the BAKING SODA longer (2 hrs?) for even better results.

the dosing of BAKING SODA continued. but kH remained extremely high in excess of 20.

so i decided to stop the dosing of BAKING SODA. meanwhile, i have also reduced my dosing of SUGAR to about 1 tea-spoon.

due to my laziness, my sg started to drop from 1.023 to 1.016. hahahaha ... because i just add plain water whenever i need to top up. the skimmer skimmed away lots of salt, hence, the drop in sg.

upon a chanced encounter, i have to buy an !@$#$%#$% expensive new salt - mar*** env***. i used cor*** lif*** before this. i never did change water .

i dosed about 3 table spoons of SALT into the sump (not directly into the main tank in case of fish kanna salt burn). guess what ...

my pH shot up to 8.40. i never had such a high pH ever since i dosed SUGAR.

i did not believe in the freak result. i intentionally repeated it by dosing sugar to bring down the pH again (8.00) and then, drain off some water from the tank and refill it with plain water and did the same dosing of salt. the pH shot back up to 8.40.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahaha ...

i finally understood why reefers like and always recommend changing water regime.

by changing water (by NSW or salt mixing), not only it restores the nice and high pH, it actually replaces any missing trace elements that might have used or removed. hence, contributed to the well-being of the tank inhabitants.

so guys, please help me to verify this result, i.e.,

if your pH is low, just try to drain off some water and add plain water and dose SALT. measure pH after one hour ...

due to this, i would like to officially close the sub-thread regarding MA BAKERS DOSING as it does not work well. please don't waste time trying it.

now for lighter moments:

my corals? (i have very little corals), except for squirts and sponges. they are healthy after i learned that i have to feed them (i didnt know previously that i need to feed). my 1-inch clam died after 5.5 months (hahahahahaha). again, i didn't know i need to feed it too. poor fella ...

my LS are fine and kicking, except for a stupid human mistake. i bought LUGOL's solution (iodide solution) and dosed 10 drops. 9 LS killed within 1 day. since then, i have gotten myself cheap iodide powder ($20+ per kg, can dose for at least 10 years), so far so good.

i have rewarded myself further (after my lemonpeel hybrid) by getting the majestic, golden butterfly (wow nice, already feeding at I****) and many cheap angels. i will shower myself with african FBs soon.

hint: there are very nice, very small, very stable and cute "ugly" angels available (less than 1 inch in total length !!! ) right now in singapore. guys, better go grap fast before i finish them when i start to build my "ugly" school. i planned to have 4 only.

lizard

[Gouldian]

Hi Lizard44,

Although I frowned upon your experiements and your getting more reefers to participate in it. I must say that at least you end it well.

You are a man of courage to admit that the above method/s does not work and even came back to post the results! Some will just conveniently ignore their wrong advises given.

Borrowing the words from Thomas Edison, at least now you know that the above really don't work.

With mutual respects for reefing,

Gouldian.

[Ekia]

Hi Lizard44,

Although I frowned upon your experiements and your getting more reefers to participate in it. I must say that at least you end it well.

You are a man of courage to admit that the above method/s does not work and even came back to post the results! Some will just conveniently ignore their wrong advises given.

Borrowing the words from Thomas Edison, at least now you know that the above really don't work.

With mutual respects for reefing,

Gouldian.

Agree with Gouldian fully. At least we understand the rationale and effects of adding certain stuff better. Never try and we never know This is how those well-known bio-logist/aquarist learn as well

[Dispar_Anthias]

hi bros (and sises) ...

i am back ...

miss me ... :rolleyes:

i cannot return earlier as the tests were slow and results sparse. i needed log-time scale to run these tests fully. hope you don't mind.

okie let's clean up unfinished business and then we can continue to chit-chat ...

hello all MA BAKERS ...

just a recap:

When SUGAR was dosed, the pH would reduce by about 0.3 in the beginning. by 24 hours or shorter, the pH would return back to the same as before but a teeny tweeny bit lower.

long term dosing of SUGAR would drive down the pH from 8.30 to 7.90 (bad).

so i suggested the use of BAKING SODA as a means to buffer the pH drop.

on the average, whenever the pH dropped to hit 7.90, i would dose about 25-50g of BAKING SODA. the pH shot back up to 8.20. after that i waited for the pH to slide down again and the cycle repeats.

but, according to CHEMICAL- ALI bro EKIA, dosing BAKING SODA would add alkalinity to the tank quite quickly.

so i bought a KH test kit to check. my kH shot up from 12 to 19 (12 is best), but i thought not for 19. looked like i have at hand another problem - ultra-high kH.

so i decided to bake my BAKING SODA for an hour hoping for better results. meanwhile, bro Kareen even suggested that i bake the BAKING SODA longer (2 hrs?) for even better results.

the dosing of BAKING SODA continued. but kH remained extremely high in excess of 20.

so i decided to stop the dosing of BAKING SODA. meanwhile, i have also reduced my dosing of SUGAR to about 1 tea-spoon.

due to my laziness, my sg started to drop from 1.023 to 1.016. hahahaha ... because i just add plain water whenever i need to top up. the skimmer skimmed away lots of salt, hence, the drop in sg.

upon a chanced encounter, i have to buy an !@$#$%#$% expensive new salt - mar*** env***. i used cor*** lif*** before this. i never did change water .

i dosed about 3 table spoons of SALT into the sump (not directly into the main tank in case of fish kanna salt burn). guess what ...

my pH shot up to 8.40. i never had such a high pH ever since i dosed SUGAR.

i did not believe in the freak result. i intentionally repeated it by dosing sugar to bring down the pH again (8.00) and then, drain off some water from the tank and refill it with plain water and did the same dosing of salt. the pH shot back up to 8.40.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahaha ...

i finally understood why reefers like and always recommend changing water regime.

by changing water (by NSW or salt mixing), not only it restores the nice and high pH, it actually replaces any missing trace elements that might have used or removed. hence, contributed to the well-being of the tank inhabitants.

so guys, please help me to verify this result, i.e.,

if your pH is low, just try to drain off some water and add plain water and dose SALT. measure pH after one hour ...

due to this, i would like to officially close the sub-thread regarding MA BAKERS DOSING as it does not work well. please don't waste time trying it.

now for lighter moments:

my corals? (i have very little corals), except for squirts and sponges. they are healthy after i learned that i have to feed them (i didnt know previously that i need to feed). my 1-inch clam died after 5.5 months (hahahahahaha). again, i didn't know i need to feed it too. poor fella ...

my LS are fine and kicking, except for a stupid human mistake. i bought LUGOL's solution (iodide solution) and dosed 10 drops. 9 LS killed within 1 day. since then, i have gotten myself cheap iodide powder ($20+ per kg, can dose for at least 10 years), so far so good.

i have rewarded myself further (after my lemonpeel hybrid) by getting the majestic, golden butterfly (wow nice, already feeding at I****) and many cheap angels. i will shower myself with african FBs soon.

hint: there are very nice, very small, very stable and cute "ugly" angels available (less than 1 inch in total length !!! ) right now in singapore. guys, better go grap fast before i finish them when i start to build my "ugly" school. i planned to have 4 only.

lizard

Wah seem like you killed many livestocks... and many of them is due to not reading up.... Guess thats what you need to brush up on