Coral Growth Updates

Refractometer Issue

I have been using the same refractometer for 7 years and calibrate it regularly. Despite that I started to  notice something off with the amount of salt I needed to reach my desired salinity in new batches made for water changes. Recently I purchased an electronic salinity tester from IceCap. The tank was measuring 1.026 with my hydrometer but was actually 1.022! The ability to maintain elevated levels of calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium amongst other trace elements at lower salinity's is nearly impossible. Returning my reef back to the correct levels should have a very positive reaction.

Part 2: I read about where the instrument was reading well below actual salinity. After a factory reset the aquarium was reading 1.026, same as the rwfractrefrac. This will like measurements much faster.

FTS 01.21.19 - YOY Comparison

January 2019

January 2018

Radion Schedule and Layout

January 2019 Tank Photos

Tank Update 01.07.19

I made a few changes to the water chemistry and lighting this past week. The calcium reactor was adjusted to bring alkalinity up towards 10 DKH versus where it has been for the past several months (8.6). I had noticed slower growth of which this may have been the limiting factor.

A reefing friend of mine stopped over with a light meter and we were able to determine PAR readings at various depths and positions in my tank. We found readings of 300 at the top of the live rock structures and maintained lows of only 100 near the bottom. Since then I have reduced the overall intensity of the Radion G4 pro's to 45%, with an actual max intensity of just 37% in the Radiant Color pre-program. This was formerly running at 50% overall maximum intensity.

The final change has been to the refugium. With very low nutrients I have not been seeing much algae growth on the reverse lighting schedule from the main display. The goal here was focused on maintaining PH between the morning and evening hours, but since coinciding the schedules there has been no change to this range (morning 8.10 - evening 8.22). The refugium photo period has also been reduced to 7 hours from 12 (1 PM - 8 PM).

We will see how these changes impact coral growth and color in the coming months.

Other observations:

- Small patches of Cyanobacteria in high flow areas

- Burnt tips on Birdsnest coral but no other SPS effected

Radion XR30 Pro Gen 4 Schedule

January 2019 FTS