how are these numbers?

no controller on the ca reactor:
sunday today
temp 80 temp 78.6
sg 1.0255 sg 1.0255
ca 420 ca420
effl rate 40ml/min effl rate 17 ml/min
effl 15 dkh effl 17 dkh
16 bpm 11 bpm
tank dkh 7.5 tank dkh 7.5
ph 8 ph 8.3
phosphates .5 phosphates .25
i know i'm on the right track; pretty close to good??
excessive bubbling in reactor has stopped

yeah that looks really good. Maybe I need to check into one of those systems.

i'm tellin ya!!
i had the system on a rke controller last year; what a pita!

Why two sets of numbers Paul?

Originally Posted by shmoliken

i'm tellin ya!!
i had the system on a rke controller last year; what a pita!

dmn! when i wrote it i had 2 columns, sunday and yesterday, but the post made it into 1 column
to clarify
sunday
sunday temp 80 tuesday temp 78.6
sunday sg 1.0255 tuesday sg 1.0255
sunday ca 420 tuesday ca420
sunday effl rate 40ml/min tuesday effl rate 17 ml/min
sunday effl 15 dkh tuesday effl 17 dkh
sunday 16 bpm tuesday 11 bpm
sunday tank dkh 7.5 tuesday tank dkh 7.5
sunday ph 8 tuesday ph 8.3
sunday phosphates .5 tuesday phosphates .25
i know i'm on the right track; pretty close to good??
excessive bubbling in reactor has stopped

Yes those numbers look fine. Your fine to keep the dkh at 7.5 if you like but if you want it a little higher then add a little bit of baking soda to raise it and dont try to raise it by changing anything on the reactor. The only reason your going to want or need to make adjustments to the reactor is if you start to see the dkh rise or fall. If its holding dkh steady then its set. You still may need to add supplements for Ca, Mg or alk from time to time because different corals will use those three at different rates. When and if you need to bump one of those three up just use calcium chloride, magnesium chloride or baking soda. To find out how much you need use the calculator on the front page.

thanks another million.

finally got a hanna ph probe. calibrated it and did 2 sets of readings, lights on 7 hrs and lights off 10 hrs so here are the latest numbers. remember, these are with no controller on the ca reactor
18 bpm
effl rate 40-50 ml/min
effl dkh 18
tank dkh just under 8
effl ph 6.97 lights on, 6.93 lights off
tank ph 8.34 " " 8.01 " "
sg 1.0255
temp 79.5
ca 430-440
phosphate .25
mag not tested, but 1200 the last test
amm, trite, trate 0
yep, i am happy

Looks great to me.

thanks. it seems great here also. i'd just love to get and keep the alk above 9

If you want to do that then add baking soda. There is a calculator in the front page. Your alk and Ca usage shouldnt change any by bumping up Alk so no adjustments to the reactor.

temp 81
sg 1.0255
alk 10+ [new api kit]
ca 430
ph 8.21 [hanna probe]
phosphate 0 [new load of phosguard]
new addition of ROX8 carbon
0 nit's and ammonia

Do you still have the old Alk test kit? If you do do a test with the old and new and see what they say.

i did the test and got under 7 and 15 for the effluent
i forgot to list 27 as the effl on the new kit
no controller and everything is working perfectly!
12-15 bpm. been using a small cylinder for a month and the needle hasn't moved a bit

wow thats a big difference in results. How old was the old kit? Was it out of date?

api dated 0709. this old one had been backed up and confirmed for about 2 months by a newer tetra kit, but the tetra is now empty, since i was using them during the trial period for the no controller.
new api dated 0910 and they should be good for a year after opened, according to fishbowl. i am spozed to get a replacement reagent for alk from seachem [alk kit came with their mag test kit] so i'll use it to confirm.

Found this out on the web

Comprehensive and speedy reply from Gary Jones corporate and scientific affairs manager for Mars Fishcare

''Your question is one that we always welcome. All test kits have a shelf life in which the chemicals degrade. No competitor can say that a test kit will read correctly forever.

Mars Fishcare is the industry leader in testing without exception. Many of our solutions are used for both freshwater and saltwater testing while some are designed exclusively for freshwater. Many of our reagent bottles are used in various kits under API and PondCare brands. In some situations you will notice that two color charts are provided one for freshwater and one for saltwater while other kits have one color chart for both. The need for two color charts is based on chemistry. However you can read the lot number on any kit and determine the manufacturing date. The last four digits represent the month and year of production. So 26a1007 would be produced in October 2007.

Our determined expiration dates are established under extreme conditions. The test kits expiration dates are first established under constant conditions of 40 degree Celsius with 75% humidity for an extended period of time. Our retention samples, which we have for five years of every batch of every product that we make, are also kept in a room with elevated temperatures. This ensures that if the test kits or water conditioners are kept under less extreme conditions that they may exceed our established expiration dating but we suggest following the recommended expiration dating listed below. Some retailers feel using worst case conditions are too conservative, we do not. Some retailers and distributors of our products continue to insist that expiration dates not be placed on the product for this reason. We continue to evaluate this and requests like yours helps us to guide our decisions in the future, for this I thank you.

Test Solutions Expiration Date

PondCare Wide Range pH Test Solution - 3 Years
Ammonia Test Solution # 1 - 3 Years
Ammonia Test Solution # 2 - 3 Years
High Range pH Indicator Solution - 3 Years
Nitrate Test Solution # 1 - 3 Years
Nitrate Test Solution # 2 - 3 years
GH Test Solution - 3 Years
Calcium Test Solution #1 - 3 Years
Calcium Test Solution #2 - 3 Years
Phosphate Test Solution #1 - 3 Years
Phosphate Test Solution #2 - 3 Years
Copper Test Solution - 3 Years
KH Test Solution - 4 Years
Nitrite Test Solution - 4 Years
Fresh Water pH Indicator Solution - 5 Years

thanks. however, i don't see in that report any differentiating between opened and unopened reagents. i have no doubt that a sealed bottle of KH can last 4 years before they " may exceed our established expiration dating." Opened and exposed to air may be quite different. how they actually keep their their retention samples is left unexplained, except temp and humidity. not saying they are wrong, just pointing out that their methods are not fully detailed.

wow that's some good info Chris, but I would like to know about them being opened and not opened.

Im sure they are stored closed. If they were open im sure what ever is in there would evaporate away in no time.