Kalkwasser info

Thanks for all your help Screwtape. I still test my parameters every other week to make sure they are on point. Luckily, living in Vegas means I don't worry about the weather too much (it's never humid). Just have to make sure the AC in the house is ok.. lol

I feel very confident now stocking my reef with SPS and LPS. A "Rebuild Thread" maybe in the works...

 

Ok so it's been almost a couple months since I posted last.. I want to give an update for anyone who cares or has followed this thread with interest.. Since starting my kalkwasser dosing, reef keeping has been good!! Simplicity is key for long term happiness in this hobby for me..

Throughout the past two months, I have been able to keep my parameters consistantly at :
Cal - 440-460
Alk - 3.5meq/L or 9.8 dKH
Ph - 8.0 - 8.1
Mag - approx 1450
without the use of any supplements!!! I did, however, dose Magnesium twice throughout the two months.. This is what I was hoping for and it has worked out great!

My daily maintenance is an easy, and not soo important, dosage of Potassium Iodide and either AA's or trace elements along with feeding my fish and corals..

I have been doing weekly tests for the past two months and have yet seen much fluctuations.. Probably just test kit fluctuations if anything..

I'm saving a good amount of money and time.. And since putting my first SPS coral in the tank two months ago, I have already seen growth and they are encrusting to the frag rocks I mounted them on nicely..

I "remodeled" my reef to house SPS and LPS corals only.. Here are some before and after pictures..

FTS day of remodel 08-29-09


FTS 10-25-09


I picked up all the corals locally from friends and my awesome LFS. The frags I got were removed from the plugs and discs. I mounted on LR rubble from my sump..

Thanks for following my thread and enjoy the pics!!

 

Oh I forgot to mention that I'm still testing weekly to make sure when the depletion rate of cal and alk increases, I catch it and increase my kalk dosage amount. Testing takes me about 30 minutes, so it's not a big deal for me..

I'm currently dosing 3/4tsp per gallon per day in my top off..