Fubar H20 Chemistry

[shozbot]

Hi,

Tested following paramaters last night. Need to get chemistry back to normal and will deal with nitrates & phosphates with a large water change. What should I do about my high alk and low Ca and is it harmful to have such a high alk and low Ca?

Steve

Nitrate- 15ppm
Phosphate- 0.1ppm
Calcium- 210ppm
Ph- 8.0
Alk- 13.6 dKH
Salinity- 1.022
Temp- 77.8

[renogaw]

i use the chemistry calculator from RC's DIY section. just add it slowly and you shouldn't have an issue.

check your salt for calcium levels though. I use reef crystals and my calcium is relatively decent (about 380 out of the mix) but my alk is always fubard so i have to add more alk than calcium.

[PL-Reef]

ive had my system out of balance before too. its a pain to get back on the right track. i did massive water changes and buffered that water to the prams i wanted. once they were set i continued adding 2 part equally. i finally ended up buying a CA reactor.
now with the new 30g nano i'm setting up i switching back to 2 part running through a LM3.

PS--- i always found that if my Mag was low i would loose the balance in my water chemistry. have you checked that yet?

[craiglanda]

i always yse this site....hope it helps

http://reef.diesyst.com/

[hans1976]

Steve,
Is this your main tank or your 20G quarantine tank? Salinity seems a bit low for main tank.

[chirocato]

What brand test kits are you using. Salifert has been having lots of problems with off-the-wall readings in several of their kits. Alk, Ca and Mg are 3 I've recently seen multiple threads on in their forum.

Oh yeah, for those of you using their Alk ref solution...the ones I have are also crap. Supposed to read 6.5 (+/- .3). When tested against my Elos kit and LaMotte kit it was in the low 5 range. I tested 4 different vials. 1 I got from Habib himself at MACNA, the other 3 I got from Fintastic a couple weeks ago. Granted all were free and past the "expiration" date so who knows. Just sharing my results. You be the one to ultimately decide.

[Obi-dad]

Originally posted by chirocato
...When tested against my Elos kit and LaMotte ...

After using those kits, which do you recommend, and are they available locally?

[justincognito]

do you deal with magnesium at all? Low mag will cause some issues. Although higher alk is more important than higher calcium.

[shozbot]

Justin,

Don't normally test for Mg but will tonight! Will the high Alk effect coral growth?

Steve

[chirocato]

Originally posted by Obi-dad
After using those kits, which do you recommend, and are they available locally?

Greg I have no prob with either. I recommend both. Elos are a bit less expensive.

[renogaw]

Originally posted by chirocato
What brand test kits are you using. Salifert has been having lots of problems with off-the-wall readings in several of their kits. Alk, Ca and Mg are 3 I've recently seen multiple threads on in their forum.

Oh yeah, for those of you using their Alk ref solution...the ones I have are also crap. Supposed to read 6.5 (+/- .3). When tested against my Elos kit and LaMotte kit it was in the low 5 range. I tested 4 different vials. 1 I got from Habib himself at MACNA, the other 3 I got from Fintastic a couple weeks ago. Granted all were free and past the "expiration" date so who knows. Just sharing my results. You be the one to ultimately decide.

i believe habib explained that you would get different results since his kits are supposdely the only test kits designed and calibrated for salt. i will say though that i use the salifert test kit, put the result into that website, do the addatives per the website, and retest and i'm dead on.

[shozbot]

Mg tested at 840 ppm if after the 12g h20 change I did on my 75g last night with Instant Ocean!

[pecan2phat]

I'm sure that your Mg is a culprit. Should be 1300 to 1350 ppm.
I would continue to do daily water changes of at least 10% to 15% until some of the parameters are near normal range before adding supplements.
The numbers are too far gone and you will most likely shock the corals if additives were used to bring up the levels by that much.

Are you positive that your test kits are still good?
I've haven't seen Ca & Mg ever get that low.

[ctreefer]

Steve, I'd agree it sounds like your Magnesium is the culprit. Do you supplement for Mg? I'd recommend Randy's Magnesium formula using magflake and epsom salts if you haven't done it yet. BTW, I was in your neck of the woods yesterday at Cabelas. Had a nice juicy Bison burger.

[shozbot]

Vince, You were at Cabelas for a bison burger and you didn't invite me when I work a stones through from there. What kind of club is this that I belong to. LOL! Been to Cabelas but not at the restaurant yet.

Tried to boost Mg last night, but the chemistry calculator said that I'd have to add something like 5lbs of epsom salts to get back to the right level. Only added 1/2 a pound and that felt like a lot!

How did things get so off???

PS. We should have an informal get together at Cabelas for CTARS members in the area to see their fresh water tank and EAT BUFFALO!!