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test kit / calcium question
hi
this may sound like a retarted question but i was wondering, does the time u test the water change the results of the test kit? heres wut happened, i tested my water for calcium, i tested it at 11:20 pm Cal - 300 ppm alk - 9.1 dkh ph - 8.4 no2, n03, ammonia - all zero i use to test in the morning, the last time i tested for calcium was like a week ago and it was at 10 am Cal - 390 Alk - 8,4 ph 8.2 no2, n03, ammonia - all zero at first i though i tested calcium wrong so i did a second test, and got the same results i thinking of retesting the water level tomorrow morning and see if there is a change anyways, if my level is low , what additives should i add to raise the calcium level will any one of these 3 work E.S.V. B-Ionic lKent Marine Liquid Calcium Turbo-Calcium i just did a 3 gallon water change today, i use reef crystal salt, which is suppose to add calcium, so it doesnt make sense that my calcium level dropped, right now in the tank i have 1 torch, 1 xenia, 1 green mushroom, 1 zoa, 1 blastomussa, 1 sinularia, 1 sun cora Thanks Orbit Last edited by orbit; 12/08/2007 at 11:47 PM. |
#2
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The pH will vary throughout the day, but alkalinity and calcium will only drop, unless something's dosed.
The Liquid Calcium and the Turbo Calcium are the cheapest of the supplements listed. The calcium part of B-Ionic is fine to use, but tends to be more expensive.
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Jonathan Bertoni |
#3
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as of right now im not dosing anything
i am adding this to my water everytime i do a water chage Kent Marine Superbuffer-dKH but that only affect ph so it doesnt affect calcium right?and i just using a tiny bit not even one teaspoon so which of the two kent product do u think is better? Thanks |
#4
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Anything that changes PH WILL effect Alk, CA, and possibly MG
Why are you adding buffer?
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#5
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you should add calcium and sodium bicarbonate on opposite days. To keep the CA and KH stable. As your CA goes up your KH will go down and vice versa.
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Sweetie this is the last thing i need for my tank i swear! David My Photo Bucket ~~> http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t23/D_KSac/ |
#6
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Quote:
Reef Crystals is already high in alkalinity, if you add the alkalinity buffer calcium will precipitate lowering it.
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Did I write what I wrote? What the heck am I talking about! Well..... Nevermind. |
#7
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I don't see any reason to dose alkalinity and calcium on alternate days. I dosed B-Ionic for years at the same time in the morning.
Adding alkalinity isn't going to affect calcium or magnesium measurably unless the parameters are out of bounds enough to cause significant precipitation, as jdieck stated. The same is true for dosing calcium.
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Jonathan Bertoni |
#8
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If my CA levels are fine but ALK is low what can I add to raise ALK? Baking soda?
Bob
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The difference between a reef tank and a money shredder the tank will trip the GFI! |
#9
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so basically if i get turbo calcium, since they are both power can i dose the water change at the same time to balance both alk and cal?
let me get this straight so when ph and alk goes up, cal will tend to down meaning when cal goes up alk goes down as well right? |
#10
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Quote:
or course i add it the salted water and not the main display tank |
#11
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Your PH can be low for basically two reasons: a) Excess Carbon Dioxide in the water due to high concentration in the indor air or b) low alkalinity. A PH buffer (again alkalinity buffer) can only help when your alkalinity is low (case b above) something you should regularly test for and do not use the buffer is the alkalinity is already at or close to the high level of the recommended range which is 11 dKh (200 ppm or 4 meq/lt) If your alkalinity is already at that level then CO2 is most likely your problem, to solve you need to find a way to get some fresh air near your system, opening windows, bring a hose from the outside to feed air to your skimmer etc.) Now regarding the relationship of calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. When alkalinity and calcium are high and the PH increases, the alkalinity and calcium tend to combine (precipitate) forming calcium carbonate then lowering both levels. Magnesium helps prevent this to happen up to certain level so you need to try to maintain your magnesium at the recommended 1300 ppm. People say that adding alkalinity drops calcium and viceversa but again that is a half truth. That effect does not happen when the levels are within acceptable ranges, say your calcium is at 420 ppm and you increase your alkalinity from 2.5 to 3.5 meq/lt, the calcium will not drop. When either the calcium or alkalinity are beyond the recommended range say your calcium is at 550 or 600 ppm then increasing your alkalinity from 3 to 4 meq/lt will precipitate some of the calcium and some of the added alkalinity if your PH is relatively high (8.3 to 8.5) I personally try to adjust one by adding the other, artificially creating a precipitation unless done carefully and with lots of monitoring can create a chain reaction precipitation were the initial precipitation avalanches forming more and more creating the "snow" effect which may suddenly decrease both levels and the PH to a point were it can shock your system. For additional information there are excellent articles on calcium, alkalinity, PH and magnesium in the sticky at the begining of the chemistry forum.
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