- Joined
- Feb 9, 2010
- Messages
- 31
Update
Thought I would update my status- so here is my tank after 42 days. I finally thawed my large pieces of aragocrete and put them in last night in preparation for the arrival of my new pets; 25 cerith snails, 20 blue leg hermits, 1 large chiton and one Harlequin star. I have had no detectible toxins for a week.
Temp; 78
SG; 1.023
N02; 0
N03; 0
Ammo; 0
Dkh; 6 (a little low today, down from 8 yesterday)
Ph; 8.2
So far I believe the Aragocrete to be working better than even I expected. Doesn't look like much, but a gallon of water will drain out of the bigger piece, and if the diatoms swarm on it in a period of 5 hours, I’m assuming so is the beneficial bacteria. I used roughly 4 parts crushed oyster to 1 part portland cement, nothing else. Mixed the dry cement and oyster shells well before I added any water, and then slowly added until I reached the proper wetness of the cement. And you need gloves, because I have tough hands and those oyster shells rubbing on my fingers sliced and diced! I believe curing in hot water greatly reduced curing time also. 50 lbs cured within a month, I detected no harmful affects adding it to the tank. So far I think Aragocrete is 100%
The params have been really stable with the exception of Alk, which seem to be the only things that fluctuate (just a little). I am pretty sure that my API Ca test is no good. The bottle was leaking when I got it in the mail and it tests off the chart; like 580 ppm. I have a 3200 power head coming tomorrow, and cleanup crew on Tuesday.
Also, can somebody confirm that the smaller rock with the pink specks in the picture is coralline growth? I have a piece of coral rubble that died and now is completely covered in coralline again. There are Diatoms (chiton heaven hopefully), little pink patches and now bright green specks (too small to see in crappy Iphone picture).
And a side note; Gawd I love this site! all weekend!
Thought I would update my status- so here is my tank after 42 days. I finally thawed my large pieces of aragocrete and put them in last night in preparation for the arrival of my new pets; 25 cerith snails, 20 blue leg hermits, 1 large chiton and one Harlequin star. I have had no detectible toxins for a week.
Temp; 78
SG; 1.023
N02; 0
N03; 0
Ammo; 0
Dkh; 6 (a little low today, down from 8 yesterday)
Ph; 8.2
So far I believe the Aragocrete to be working better than even I expected. Doesn't look like much, but a gallon of water will drain out of the bigger piece, and if the diatoms swarm on it in a period of 5 hours, I’m assuming so is the beneficial bacteria. I used roughly 4 parts crushed oyster to 1 part portland cement, nothing else. Mixed the dry cement and oyster shells well before I added any water, and then slowly added until I reached the proper wetness of the cement. And you need gloves, because I have tough hands and those oyster shells rubbing on my fingers sliced and diced! I believe curing in hot water greatly reduced curing time also. 50 lbs cured within a month, I detected no harmful affects adding it to the tank. So far I think Aragocrete is 100%
The params have been really stable with the exception of Alk, which seem to be the only things that fluctuate (just a little). I am pretty sure that my API Ca test is no good. The bottle was leaking when I got it in the mail and it tests off the chart; like 580 ppm. I have a 3200 power head coming tomorrow, and cleanup crew on Tuesday.
Also, can somebody confirm that the smaller rock with the pink specks in the picture is coralline growth? I have a piece of coral rubble that died and now is completely covered in coralline again. There are Diatoms (chiton heaven hopefully), little pink patches and now bright green specks (too small to see in crappy Iphone picture).
And a side note; Gawd I love this site! all weekend!