Water Reading...

[oyf709]

Thanks last time for all the help. I just need some advice one my water reading. After 1 mnth cycling ( kinda short but...) My water reading is tested like the following ( not the complete reading but I got most of them)

 

KH ~ 11dKH

PO4(in tank) <0.25ppm

PO4 ( water source) <0 ppm

Ca ~ 600ppm

Nitrate ~ 5ppm

Nitrite ~ 0ppm

Ammonia ~ 0ppm

PH 8.2 lights on and 8 lights off

 

My concern is about the Ca lvl and KH lvl, is that normal I can get a regular KH such as 11dKH and a high ca reading such as 600ppm? I tested in 3 times in the last 3 days, it gives me very stable reading of both. I do have some live stock in there now that why the nitrate and po4 kinda still my issue to solve. I don't do any buffering or Ca dosing. All the Ca should come out of the Live sand and simply my salt mix. Should I be concern that Ca lvl is a bit high here?

 

Also for Po4 and Nitrate, those reading were taken when I had no Skimmer turn on during the cycle and did 10% pwc weekly. Would turning on my skimmer do the trick to lower or even remove them? I do small target feeding my 4 fishes and my 2 mushroom coral so that those brime shrimp or mysis will not fly around and stucked somewhere become waste. I do the feeding every other day. Lights are on for a bit too long until i can get my timer fix.

 

Let me kno if any more info u guys need, thanks in advance.

[tinyreef]

i wouldn't worry too much about the calcium. ca almost always turns out to be an element we need to supplement as it's a basic building block.

 

alk is ok imo.

 

but what's the alk and ca of he source water? what kind of source water are you using?

 

the skimmer will help a little as it intercepts the po4 and other nutrients by pulling them out of the water while they're still in a 'higher' organic form. but you best approach is to keep an eye on uneaten food and dealing with fish/livestock wastes as soon as they appear.

[oyf709]

its just tap water, water quality in Vancouver BC is pretty nice over all i will test silica later when i get a test kit

[RayWhisperer]

Thread moved to water chemistry forum.

[oyf709]

I just tested the source water (tap water) again, ehre is the reading

 

PO4 ~ 0ppm

Alk <2 dKH

Ca <20ppm

 

So I am very sure my Ca comes from my salt mix and live sand now, so that I should consider everything to be balance by itself?

Again I am not buffering anything at this moement at all yet

[tinyreef]

i suspected it was tapwater you were using. right now those readings aren't huge but eventually the alk will be impacted (and from there the calcium).

 

i'd suggest switching off tapwater to RO, RO/DI, or distilled. for nanos it really isn't a huge cost but the benefits in the long-run will become evident.

 

eventually your system should "right itself" by depleting the calcium slowly to the point where you'll likely need to supplement it. but the continued use of tapwater (with its varying content) may throw that off. you might be lucky and it benefits you and you'll never have to supp ca/alk, etc.

 

but more likely you'll end up having an out of kilter alk that messes with the calcium, alk, and maybe even the pH. maybe, maybe not. that's the issue with using tap. you introduce another unknown factor.

 

biomass usage rate is already the largest unknown factor. you need to adjust as the biomass grows or not if it sufficiently recycles itself. unknown tapwater content just messes with that imo.

 

the calcium is probably mostly/all coming from the salt. aragonite sand becomes coated with calcite (less soluable than aragonite) pretty quickly and no longer contributes as much ca/alk as initially (although i suspect it still might in certain circumstances, enzymic dissolution & deeper beds).

[oyf709]

i suspected it was tapwater you were using. right now those readings aren't huge but eventually the alk will be impacted (and from there the calcium).

 

i'd suggest switching off tapwater to RO, RO/DI, or distilled. for nanos it really isn't a huge cost but the benefits in the long-run will become evident.

 

eventually your system should "right itself" by depleting the calcium slowly to the point where you'll likely need to supplement it. but the continued use of tapwater (with its varying content) may throw that off. you might be lucky and it benefits you and you'll never have to supp ca/alk, etc.

 

but more likely you'll end up having an out of kilter alk that messes with the calcium, alk, and maybe even the pH. maybe, maybe not. that's the issue with using tap. you introduce another unknown factor.

 

biomass usage rate is already the largest unknown factor. you need to adjust as the biomass grows or not if it sufficiently recycles itself. unknown tapwater content just messes with that imo.

 

the calcium is probably mostly/all coming from the salt. aragonite sand becomes coated with calcite (less soluable than aragonite) pretty quickly and no longer contributes as much ca/alk as initially (although i suspect it still might in certain circumstances, enzymic dissolution & deeper beds).

 

Yea I understand the Ro/DI is wortha while thing to do, I got the full 4 stage RO/DI unit just that I lost the connector that connecting to the tap. during my move. I am searching for the replacement and soon as I got one I will switch bak to RO/DI. As for now, I am just storage some tap water and let it sit for like a week or so in my storage room until I actrually using it. But yeah for sure i will go w/ the RO/DI water

[bdare]

What salt mix are you using and what salinity are you mixing it to? How are you measuing SG? Are you dosing anything?

[oyf709]

What salt mix are you using and what salinity are you mixing it to? How are you measuing SG? Are you dosing anything?

Salt is the Kent instant ocean salt mix, not dosing anything, SG at 1.025 and messure w/ a regular hydrometer

[bdare]

That could be the problem... If your hydrometer is off you could be adding too much salt which would give you higher readings. I'd either pick up a refractometer or have someone double check your SG.

 

Ben

[oyf709]

That could be the problem... If your hydrometer is off you could be adding too much salt which would give you higher readings. I'd either pick up a refractometer or have someone double check your SG.

 

Ben

 

I just went on ebay and baught a refractometer, should get it in a bout a week, and we will see how the reading goes.

[bdare]

You'll need to make sure you pick up some calibration fluid. Don't just use RO/DI. Should only run you about $1-$2.