I don't think it is as long as you know what to look for, i.e. indicator corals, and you are testing on a regular basis. I'm guilty of being a lazy tester but when I do test often, I'm much more in tune with my tank.
No, I think once you understand the main parameters you have targets to strive for. The difficult part is understanding what products to use as there are a plethora out there to help achieve idea tank chemistry. As a newbie to mixed reef tanks, BRS has been very helpful with informative videos and forums on reef keeping. What I have discovered and as a chemist myself is to stick to a regiment of maintenance and limit switching products until you have a fundamental understanding of the effects of the products used on water chemistry. Thank you for the support BRS, you have a new loyal fan!
Absolutely love these guys, the information they give you is amazing, it's free, they have spent thousands in educating themselves, they are helping for free, amazing!!!
Nope - what's weird is having an empty tank in the corner while reviewing products. Come on Thomas, when are you going to get that thing up and running? The amount of equipment that passes through your hands for reviews, just throw some of that stuff on the tank. Ryan totally won't mind. I think you are one of the only people who work for BRS that doesn't have a running tank. Now that's weird.
I would recommend a temperature controller above most things even frequently replacing the heater. I've had a tank crash with a new heater. There are very few things that can wipe your tank out in a matter of hours and that's one of them
Awesome idea! We can pick up a dual probe Inkbird 306A temperature controller along with a Lifegard Aquatics Digital Temp Alarm for under $100, both dependable products, and a small price to pay to protect our pets and avoid total disaster!
Hi Ryan. What you recommend about new mixed water with salt for weekly changes? Should we add anything else beside the salt to keep new water chemistry similar the tank water?
I thank you guy's for sharing your knowledge with us. Billy Henry stated. Keep them coming. I would like to see how to program a doser ( not made by Neptune ) but connecting it to my Apex. el. .Thank you all.
Had to pull that heater out of my tank a week ago because it started to leak copper to the tank. Apparently the top is not waterproof and the point where the earth cable is connected to the titanium housing has some copper in it.
On a nano tank, LPS's, are these chemicals needed? I can do a 50% water change with 3-4 gallons. Calcium, magnesium etc being in my salt (orginal/normal source for these elements)....is water changes the answer for nano tanks?
Ultimately, it will depend on how much coral is in the tank. Water changes will likely keep up in the short run, but keep testing your alkalinity and calcium and if your water changes are no longer keeping up, you'll have to start dosing.
Without a doubt one of the most informative videos I’ve watched in RUclips. I will watch this another two times to take notes. I will be buying a backup heater and schedule in my APEX a yearly change. Dosing is something I’m scared off but as I add more corals i see my tank parameters become stable at new measurements. I will stop adding corals until I can slowly manage the parameters to recommended parameters. To be honest dosing is something I don’t know enough about. I’ve had a DOS and pair of tanks since last November that I’ve been putting aside until I get more confortable with the trident. Than you again for such a great video.
I live in florida and cant keep temp below 81 in summer sometimes winter as well since it dosnt get cold here much. What should I do? The inside temp is around 77 but the lights put out a lot of heat and they are leds? Chillers are crazy expensive! I hate having an ugly fan clipped to the top of tank. How bad is 81 degrees on health and growth of fish and corals??.Also wanted to say that my hubby bought me a 4stage rodi by brs for xmas!!!! I cant waiit to get it hooked up and not have to go to my lfs every 2 weeks for water! I have made a early new years resoltuion and that is to wear gloves when my hands go into tank which is pretty much everyday since I bought these large fighting conchs that knock off my corals constantly! A another good recommendation is to buy 2 under size heaters intead of one in case one fails! I had one get stuck on and luckily caught it or it would have crashed my tank I noticed it by my fish behavior and swimming franticly! I guess he/she was trying to keep cool!
81 degrees F is pushing it, but you should be ok as long as it doesn't get much above that. The fan is always a good option for keeping the tank a degree or two cooler, but it can be a little unsightly.
We have not done any videos on Aquavitro salt, but you can find a number of great salt related videos on our channel at the link below! ruclips.net/p/PLBaMLrfToJyznX2stpOkHt_PNLB1NtidZ
What dosing system would you be most likely to recommend for a tank in the 10-20 gallon range? Or at that small is it best to stick with frequent water changes to replace elements?
I think frequent water changes will get you a long way down the road in that small of a tank. Maybe a year or two later when your corals have higher demands for Alk/Calcium than what your waterchanges can maintain, you could look into hand dosing 2-part to keep them up. :)
Although there may not be a "minimum" tank size, Just A Reefer brings up a great point about tank pH effects that a calcium reactor might pose for smaller tanks (especially those that already struggle with pH issues). I think for most reefers who decide to go down the Calcium Reactor rabbit hole, it's more of a decision based on high demands for Alk/Calcium, easy low maintenance supplementation options, and a desire for reef gear with a "cool" factor attached to it.
Bulk Reef Supply high 3 part dosing here, I’ve used CalRx for years on larger tanks and saw a small one from aquamaxx. I can tell you it was a little harder to dial in then a typical sized reactor, that said I’m super happy with the outcome and she runs steady and true. Now I I just turn up the effluent as they grow.
Great Video thanks a lot!Any opinion concerning the suggestion to work with low alkalinity value (~7dH) in low nutrient tanks ? I have a 250 gallon tanks mostly populated with SPSs. I work with ESV B-ionic 2 parts solutions (amount of ~40 ml each/day) tropic marin A- and K+ solutions (4ml each a day), Tropic Marin bacto balance (2 ml/day) - my tank is doing well with this low alkalinity but I wonder what would be the impact of increasing it to 9 dH for example ( my Phosphate=0.00 Nitrate=none Salinity:1025.5, calcium 420 Mg: 1350)?
Our production team is targeting 6/2 for more Soda Ash. We're working as fast as we can, I promise. Can't wait to be back to a full staff once this Covid-19 situation dies down a bit. On the flip side, keeping our staff safe is priority 1.
WILL THE RECOMMENDED 10% WEEKLY WATER CHANGES AND A HOB PROTEIN SKIMMER BE ENOUGH FOR HIGH QUALITY REEFING, OR WILL WATER TESTING AND CHEMICAL ADDITIVES STILL BE REQUIRED , IF SO CAN YOU RECOMMEND A WATER TEST KIT THAT WILL DO THE JOB,
For a reef tank, some amount of testing is unavoidable. If you want a nice kit, Red Sea's Foundation kit tests what I like to call the "big three" of coral health. Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium. There are a ton of other brands and kits available too depending on what you'd like to test.
I had a frustrating situation with Alkalinity that caused a lot of stress on my SPS. I used a Hannah alk checker and a Nyos test kit, and both reported the same numbers, which were 7.8-8.0. Upon going through weeks of sps tissue loss/death, I found out through the making of some red sea Part B check solution of 10dkh that both kits were off by 1.5-2dkh. When I used a red sea coral pro alk kit, the numbers were spot on to the reference solution and found that my tank has an alkalinity of 5.5-6. When I brough it to a red sea reported 8.0dkh, everything is now healed and growing very well. Very frustrating that sometimes you can go through these inconsistencies with test kits.
Anyone run their tanks hotter than 78 without (or with) issue? I gave up trying to keep mine below 82/83 without a chiller a month ago and my corals look healthier than ever.
78-80 degrees F is pretty normal. If you're having an issue with high temps, you may want to try a fan blowing over the surface of the water. Evaporative cooling works really well. Just be aware that this will mean that you'll have to top off the tank more often, so an auto top off situation is recommended.
The thought of the tank crashing really puts me off getting in to saltwater. I've been keeping freshwater for years and I don't really have to worry about calcium, alkalinity, phosphates, etc. Routine water changes from the tap has always been enough to keep things stable. If the water chemistry is slightly off, or the heater fails, I'll lose fish that cost significantly less to replace, and I won't need to worry about the several hundred dollars worth of corals that would have died had it been saltwater. I really really want to get in to saltwater, I just can't get past the fear. Heard too many horror stories of people coming home from work or waking up in the morning to find disaster in their tanks.
That's fair enough. There is a lot that goes into protecting a tank from crashing. Truth is, most of the saltwater species that we're caring for are just more sensitive than the average freshwater fish.
@@BRStv Thanks for the reply! I've been thinking about going with a 15-20 gallon as my first reef tank to keep the overall cost low, but I've heard that it's much harder to keep stable water conditions in tanks that size. The water chemistry doesn't seem overly complex unless you plan on keeping SPS corals though, so maybe it isn't as difficult as it seems. My current plan is to keep mostly softies, some red macro algae and a limited number of LPS. Would water changes with a high quality salt be enough to meet the calcium and alkalinity needs for a set up like that?
Why isn't there anything like this for freshwater? Obviously not from BRS but I mean, isn't ocean water pretty much the same all around? The freshwater fish hobby is seriously lacking. I "make" water for all my different fish and it was a real PITA trying to figure out how to do it. That's how I found BRS. My >3,000 US gallons of aquariums collectively say, "thanks BRS."
Im just waiting till the day i beat dinos. 4 months and all corals dead and still cant beat them, from dosing phosphates and nitrates to dr tims to vibrant to removing sand to raising temp to 83f nothing. After only being 1 year into the hobby im ready to call it quits. Or just leave the tank be and just feed the fish, maybe just keeping it fowlr for a year or so itll resolve on its own.
@@michaellash4050 thanks for the tip, mines bloomed when i added a refugium and rescaped my tank ( i removed the rocks for 24 hours so that probably caused a massive die off of the bacteria) indeed my alk consumption has fallen dramatically to the point where im only dosing 4 ml of alk a day to my 90 gallon which is almost nothing. Good idea with the only adding enough food to feed the fish. I was always told to feed alot and let the tank get "dirty". Also whats your opinion on dosing phytoplankton? Also isnt keeping phosphates above 0 needed or else the dinos will never leave?
Be honest... Do you think Reef Chemistry is difficult? :)
I don't think it is as long as you know what to look for, i.e. indicator corals, and you are testing on a regular basis. I'm guilty of being a lazy tester but when I do test often, I'm much more in tune with my tank.
Thanks to the information you provide it's not difficult. Figuring all this out on your own would be extremely challenging.
It sure is at first! But if you listen to the trusted experts it begins to sink in over time.
No, I think once you understand the main parameters you have targets to strive for. The difficult part is understanding what products to use as there are a plethora out there to help achieve idea tank chemistry. As a newbie to mixed reef tanks, BRS has been very helpful with informative videos and forums on reef keeping. What I have discovered and as a chemist myself is to stick to a regiment of maintenance and limit switching products until you have a fundamental understanding of the effects of the products used on water chemistry. Thank you for the support BRS, you have a new loyal fan!
Super scary
Absolutely love these guys, the information they give you is amazing, it's free, they have spent thousands in educating themselves, they are helping for free, amazing!!!
They get paid.
I'm learning so much!! Thanks Ryan and all of the staff at BRS! ❤️
SO EXCITED FOR THIS SERIES!!! Can I fanboy over BRS; is that weird? lol
Nope - what's weird is having an empty tank in the corner while reviewing products. Come on Thomas, when are you going to get that thing up and running? The amount of equipment that passes through your hands for reviews, just throw some of that stuff on the tank. Ryan totally won't mind. I think you are one of the only people who work for BRS that doesn't have a running tank. Now that's weird.
Ya get that empty tank up and running
You guys helped me set up my reef 2 years ago best thing I have ever done your my main research channel but shout out to other you tubers
Good to see you again Ryan
I would recommend a temperature controller above most things even frequently replacing the heater. I've had a tank crash with a new heater. There are very few things that can wipe your tank out in a matter of hours and that's one of them
Awesome idea! We can pick up a dual probe Inkbird 306A temperature controller along with a Lifegard Aquatics Digital Temp Alarm for under $100, both dependable products, and a small price to pay to protect our pets and avoid total disaster!
You all answered my prayers. This is the video I needed !! Thanks!
Very excited for this series!!!
Ph.. expect it to swing throughout the day. One of the reasons testing is recommended to do at the same time for comparison purposes.
Hi Ryan. What you recommend about new mixed water with salt for weekly changes? Should we add anything else beside the salt to keep new water chemistry similar the tank water?
I thank you guy's for sharing your knowledge with us. Billy Henry stated. Keep them coming. I would like to see how to program a doser ( not made by Neptune ) but connecting it to my Apex. el.
.Thank you all.
I’m really looking forward to this series UK
Great video Ryan. Definitely helps the Reefer avoid mistakes which can be preventable.
Hi is that possible salinity 1026 and magnesium 930 and Alk 5.1
Had to pull that heater out of my tank a week ago because it started to leak copper to the tank. Apparently the top is not waterproof and the point where the earth cable is connected to the titanium housing has some copper in it.
I was going to say , they have fully submerged the heater and its not submergable
Looking forward to this series!!
I have been waiting for this video!
On a nano tank, LPS's, are these chemicals needed? I can do a 50% water change with 3-4 gallons. Calcium, magnesium etc being in my salt (orginal/normal source for these elements)....is water changes the answer for nano tanks?
Ultimately, it will depend on how much coral is in the tank. Water changes will likely keep up in the short run, but keep testing your alkalinity and calcium and if your water changes are no longer keeping up, you'll have to start dosing.
Without a doubt one of the most informative videos I’ve watched in RUclips. I will watch this another two times to take notes. I will be buying a backup heater and schedule in my APEX a yearly change.
Dosing is something I’m scared off but as I add more corals i see my tank parameters become stable at new measurements. I will stop adding corals until I can slowly manage the parameters to recommended parameters.
To be honest dosing is something I don’t know enough about. I’ve had a DOS and pair of tanks since last November that I’ve been putting aside until I get more confortable with the trident. Than you again for such a great video.
I live in florida and cant keep temp below 81 in summer sometimes winter as well since it dosnt get cold here much. What should I do? The inside temp is around 77 but the lights put out a lot of heat and they are leds? Chillers are crazy expensive! I hate having an ugly fan clipped to the top of tank. How bad is 81 degrees on health and growth of fish and corals??.Also wanted to say that my hubby bought me a 4stage rodi by brs for xmas!!!! I cant waiit to get it hooked up and not have to go to my lfs every 2 weeks for water! I have made a early new years resoltuion and that is to wear gloves when my hands go into tank which is pretty much everyday since I bought these large fighting conchs that knock off my corals constantly! A another good recommendation is to buy 2 under size heaters intead of one in case one fails! I had one get stuck on and luckily caught it or it would have crashed my tank I noticed it by my fish behavior and swimming franticly! I guess he/she was trying to keep cool!
81 degrees F is pushing it, but you should be ok as long as it doesn't get much above that. The fan is always a good option for keeping the tank a degree or two cooler, but it can be a little unsightly.
is there a review of the salt "salinity" from aquavitro?
We have not done any videos on Aquavitro salt, but you can find a number of great salt related videos on our channel at the link below!
ruclips.net/p/PLBaMLrfToJyznX2stpOkHt_PNLB1NtidZ
What dosing system would you be most likely to recommend for a tank in the 10-20 gallon range? Or at that small is it best to stick with frequent water changes to replace elements?
I think frequent water changes will get you a long way down the road in that small of a tank. Maybe a year or two later when your corals have higher demands for Alk/Calcium than what your waterchanges can maintain, you could look into hand dosing 2-part to keep them up. :)
What is the minimum tank size that a calcium reactor would be worth installing on?
It must be a large tank perhaps since the low pH will dramatically affect Coral
I have one on a 50 gallon tank ph is 8.1 to 8.3 throughout the day. I also am using brs’s co2 scrubber on my skimmer intake.
Although there may not be a "minimum" tank size, Just A Reefer brings up a great point about tank pH effects that a calcium reactor might pose for smaller tanks (especially those that already struggle with pH issues). I think for most reefers who decide to go down the Calcium Reactor rabbit hole, it's more of a decision based on high demands for Alk/Calcium, easy low maintenance supplementation options, and a desire for reef gear with a "cool" factor attached to it.
Bulk Reef Supply high 3 part dosing here, I’ve used CalRx for years on larger tanks and saw a small one from aquamaxx. I can tell you it was a little harder to dial in then a typical sized reactor, that said I’m super happy with the outcome and she runs steady and true. Now I I just turn up the effluent as they grow.
Great Video thanks a lot!Any opinion concerning the suggestion to work with low alkalinity value (~7dH) in low nutrient tanks ? I have a 250 gallon tanks mostly populated with SPSs. I work with ESV B-ionic 2 parts solutions (amount of ~40 ml each/day) tropic marin A- and K+ solutions (4ml each a day), Tropic Marin bacto balance (2 ml/day) - my tank is doing well with this low alkalinity but I wonder what would be the impact of increasing it to 9 dH for example ( my Phosphate=0.00 Nitrate=none Salinity:1025.5, calcium 420 Mg: 1350)?
Thanks for making such an informative video!
You are recommending Two Part dosing...But the soda ash has not been in stock for a few weeks.
Our production team is targeting 6/2 for more Soda Ash. We're working as fast as we can, I promise. Can't wait to be back to a full staff once this Covid-19 situation dies down a bit. On the flip side, keeping our staff safe is priority 1.
Great information as always!!
Another great video! Thanks
I found it's a good idea to give your salt bucket a good shaking before every use to keep the minerals balanced!
You might find this video on that topic interesting :)
ruclips.net/video/dE9qOBO9Ooo/видео.html
very informative thanks
WILL THE RECOMMENDED 10% WEEKLY WATER CHANGES AND A HOB PROTEIN SKIMMER BE ENOUGH FOR HIGH QUALITY REEFING, OR WILL WATER TESTING AND CHEMICAL ADDITIVES STILL BE REQUIRED , IF SO CAN YOU RECOMMEND A WATER TEST KIT THAT WILL DO THE JOB,
For a reef tank, some amount of testing is unavoidable. If you want a nice kit, Red Sea's Foundation kit tests what I like to call the "big three" of coral health. Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium. There are a ton of other brands and kits available too depending on what you'd like to test.
What do you guys at BRS use to measure PH ?
Usually an Apex, but if that's not within the budget, PinPoint and Milwaukee both make some great pH monitors.
@@BRStv Thanks.
@@BRStv Have you looked at the Hanna PH kit ? What are your thoughts on it ? Thanks.
Be honest what brand kh... Mag.. And cal.. Do u use in your tank?
The two most popular around here are the BRS two part or Tropic Marin's All-For-Reef.
“Its not difficult” proceeds to explain exactly how difficult it is
I had a frustrating situation with Alkalinity that caused a lot of stress on my SPS. I used a Hannah alk checker and a Nyos test kit, and both reported the same numbers, which were 7.8-8.0. Upon going through weeks of sps tissue loss/death, I found out through the making of some red sea Part B check solution of 10dkh that both kits were off by 1.5-2dkh. When I used a red sea coral pro alk kit, the numbers were spot on to the reference solution and found that my tank has an alkalinity of 5.5-6. When I brough it to a red sea reported 8.0dkh, everything is now healed and growing very well.
Very frustrating that sometimes you can go through these inconsistencies with test kits.
Anyone run their tanks hotter than 78 without (or with) issue? I gave up trying to keep mine below 82/83 without a chiller a month ago and my corals look healthier than ever.
78-80 degrees F is pretty normal. If you're having an issue with high temps, you may want to try a fan blowing over the surface of the water. Evaporative cooling works really well. Just be aware that this will mean that you'll have to top off the tank more often, so an auto top off situation is recommended.
The thought of the tank crashing really puts me off getting in to saltwater. I've been keeping freshwater for years and I don't really have to worry about calcium, alkalinity, phosphates, etc. Routine water changes from the tap has always been enough to keep things stable. If the water chemistry is slightly off, or the heater fails, I'll lose fish that cost significantly less to replace, and I won't need to worry about the several hundred dollars worth of corals that would have died had it been saltwater. I really really want to get in to saltwater, I just can't get past the fear. Heard too many horror stories of people coming home from work or waking up in the morning to find disaster in their tanks.
That's fair enough. There is a lot that goes into protecting a tank from crashing. Truth is, most of the saltwater species that we're caring for are just more sensitive than the average freshwater fish.
@@BRStv Thanks for the reply! I've been thinking about going with a 15-20 gallon as my first reef tank to keep the overall cost low, but I've heard that it's much harder to keep stable water conditions in tanks that size. The water chemistry doesn't seem overly complex unless you plan on keeping SPS corals though, so maybe it isn't as difficult as it seems.
My current plan is to keep mostly softies, some red macro algae and a limited number of LPS. Would water changes with a high quality salt be enough to meet the calcium and alkalinity needs for a set up like that?
Ryan is back👍 ...can BRStv be revived🤗
How many of you refers have a backup heater??
Definitely!
Nice
like this video, but i do have a PhD in Biology
Boom 😄👍
Why isn't there anything like this for freshwater? Obviously not from BRS but I mean, isn't ocean water pretty much the same all around? The freshwater fish hobby is seriously lacking. I "make" water for all my different fish and it was a real PITA trying to figure out how to do it. That's how I found BRS. My >3,000 US gallons of aquariums collectively say, "thanks BRS."
Im just waiting till the day i beat dinos. 4 months and all corals dead and still cant beat them, from dosing phosphates and nitrates to dr tims to vibrant to removing sand to raising temp to 83f nothing. After only being 1 year into the hobby im ready to call it quits. Or just leave the tank be and just feed the fish, maybe just keeping it fowlr for a year or so itll resolve on its own.
Marcel Rodriguez uv worked for me
Marcel Rodriguez don’t give up..have you been on R2R for help? Lots of knowledge there..
@@rickycranham5780 yea i forgot to mention i have installed a UV aswell i believe o have amphidinium.
@@michaellash4050 thanks for the tip, mines bloomed when i added a refugium and rescaped my tank ( i removed the rocks for 24 hours so that probably caused a massive die off of the bacteria) indeed my alk consumption has fallen dramatically to the point where im only dosing 4 ml of alk a day to my 90 gallon which is almost nothing. Good idea with the only adding enough food to feed the fish. I was always told to feed alot and let the tank get "dirty". Also whats your opinion on dosing phytoplankton? Also isnt keeping phosphates above 0 needed or else the dinos will never leave?
Maybe silica? Have you tried a 2-3 stage di unit? We installed one on my buddies system and the Dino were gone within weeks.
Really need to update this video based on that garbage they sent us from Turkey
Just be a millionaire