Reef Builders - The Source for Reef Keeping Information

Since we are living in the 21st century what is the current rage? Instead of actually saving money and testing your water yourself. Reef Builders are actually (gasp) sending it out via mail order to a company and they in turn will send you a nice complete test result back. You of course are thinking this might be a great idea, however before you run and jump off the bridge into nitrate regent you might want to know the price, $34.99. To spread the word around about this service, Aquarium Water Testing (what an original name), decided to test “all the salt mixes” to determine their specific parameters. This of course was only done to generate buzz and viral marketing. Being an internaionally read blog that we are, we wouldn’t want to disappoint you by not publishing their findings. We are of course staying on track as a blog and giving you the read link.

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By: CRAIG BINGMAN, Ph.D.

For some aquarists, one of the advantages to having a reef aquarium is that one gets to play the role of a minor god. The fate of a mesocosm of organisms is in your hands, as you control how the system is constructed and populated. All inputs and outputs of the system are under your influence, if not complete control.

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Seems Drs. Foster and Smith, the company that took over Petwarehouse years ago has finally realized that Reef Builders require high end and special products. They have finally added Salifert test kits for saltwater aquariums which are the standard in the saltwater industry. It is puzzling to me why they took so long to add them, granted I do know that stocking is an issue since these come from overseas, still they are a few years late on this.

Vortech Water pumps have been on the market for about 1 year-and they just added them to their product selection. Nutri-SeaWater, which some hobbyists swear by is also available from Drs Foster and smith, just be leary of those shipping charges.

Our official comment here at RB? It’s about time!

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Blue life released the Phosphate control. A drip system that is supposed to rid your aquarium of nasty phosphates. This product interests me a lot. If anyone has tried it, reply in comments and tell us how you liked it.

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The easiest way in my opinion to keeping your calcium and alk levels stable is by dosing kalk. Kalkwasser is really just calcium hydroxide. The way I do this is thru my auto top off device. Kalkwasser is great because it raises your PH, this is really good for me since I have naturally low PH. You can pick up the addition for the Osmolator for around $90, plus the initial unit. This is a great way to keep your levels stable, your corals happier. Just expect to be scrapping off a lot of coraline algae.

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What is Alkalinity?
Alkalinity is a measure of the pH buffering capacity of water. (In this case alkalinity is not used in the chemistry context, as alkalinity is typically used to indicate that the solution has a pH above 7.0, i.e. it is basic or alkaline). It indicates the concentration of carbonate (CO3)2-,hydrogen bicarbonate (HCO3)-, borate (BO3)3-, sulphate (SO4)2-, and hydroxide (OH)- anions.The actually value is determined by the amount of free acid, hydrogen ions (H+), required toneuralise all of the above anions.

Why is alkalinity important?
Alkalinity is what provides the correct and stable pH for a reef aquarium, if maintained at sufficient levels. A correct and stable pH, i.e. nonfluctuating, is important for the health of an aquariums inhabitants. Many authors state that alkalinity is important as it is a measure of the ability to resist a drop in pH. This is true, but it is only half of the story. It is also a measure of the ability to resist an increase in the pH, i.e. the “buffering” of the water works in both directions. Some components of the alkalinity buffer system are also utilized by organisms, such as hard corals, and so have to be present in sufficient amounts for good health and growth.Additionally, the higher the alkalinity, the greater the ability of the system to absorb the addition of an acid or a base with only small change in the actual pH.

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