- NH3/NH4 (ammonia): 0 ppm
- NO2 (nitrite): 0 ppm
- NO3 (nitrate): 0 ppm
Here are the test tubes with those readings:
I did a 10% water change and replaced the stock carbon filter with Purigen for stronger chemical filtration. While the use of activated carbon in reef aquariums (there's a link to a good article on the right) is debatable depending on who you speak with, I think it's an important component in order to maintain stability in a tank this size. It removes dissolved organics and selected chemicals from the water by absorption and adsorption.
Anyway all geek talk aside, Purigen comes highly recommended by people as it's supposedly 500% more effective than your ordinary activated carbon.
I got a 250 mL bottle of Purigen that's formulated to treat 250 gallons of water which means that a gallon of water can be treated with 1 mL of Purigen.
Purigen has the consistency of tiny little beads so I got a filter media bag to put the stuff in.
They recommend you rinse the filter (with RO/DI water, of course) prior to placing it in the filter. Doing so didn't release any residue or debris in the water so I'm not exactly sure why they tell you to do this.
I also got a mini Mag-Float which comes in handy for cleaning algae off the glass. Up to this point I've been doing it ghetto style—sticking my hand in the tank and scraping the algae off with my fingers.
Copious amount of debris have settled on certain parts of the live rock where the diatom bloom use to be, trapped under a layer of biofilm. This is a perfect time for me to pick out a clean up crew to help clean some of that mess.
Today's expenses after a recent trip to Petsmart:
- API Ammonia Test Kit: $7.49
- API Nitrite Test Kit: $6.99
- Seachem Purigen: $6.98
- Aqua-Pure Filter Media Bag: $0.89
- Mini Mag-Float: $7.99
TOTAL COST: $32.69 (plus tax)
No comments:
Post a Comment