cmbreitenbach Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 is it possible for phosban to lower alk. ive been using phosban for two weeks now and cannot maintain a kh above 6. all other params are good. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 Perhaps indirectly. What livestock do you have? How much, how often and what type of alk do you dose? Could it be possible that the phosban is keeping your PO4 low and thereby allowing your corals to calcify at a greater rate? Link to comment
scubasteve2580 Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 do you have a film at the top of the water? Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 What is your calcium level? +1 for what livestock and dosing levels. Link to comment
cmbreitenbach Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 cal is at 480, currently have frogspawn, toadstool leather, gsp, and some zoas, not too much for my tank. and there is no film on the water Link to comment
davidr2340 Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 What salt brand are you using? Link to comment
cmbreitenbach Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 red sea coral pro Link to comment
davidr2340 Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 red sea coral pro Hmmm... I always had low ALK with Oceanic. Sorry, as usual, I'm not a heap of knowledge!!! glass2.bmp Link to comment
scubasteve2580 Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 how old is your tank?? mine is now 4 moths old and it seems to me like my system is finally buffering. my alk stays something like 7.5. Link to comment
cmbreitenbach Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 i bought it used but ive currently had it set up and running for about a year now Link to comment
Lawnman Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 NAh phosband isn't making your Alk low. It kinda goes like this you need to have Mag right or your alk and calcium won't be right. Get your Mag level right then your Alk right then calcium and your PH will follow.You using a 2 part like B-ionic? Not a big fan of Red SEA SALT OR IO. I like Oceanic it dissolves great and my calcium and my levels are always great. But I do still dose a 2 part between WC. With a little Iodine here and there. Brad how old is your tank?? mine is now 4 moths old and it seems to me like my system is finally buffering. my alk stays something like 7.5. That is LOW you need to get it up my friend. Brad Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 What's your Mg? If it is 1200 ppm or above, you know you can keep dosing until you get your alk up where you want it, right? 1350 ppm Mg is pretty ideal. If you are having trouble getting the alk up because of precipitation, Mg is the solution. If you are worried about bumping your pH too high, mix up some baking soda and dose that in addition to your regular alk supplement. As always, use a good reef chem calculator when doing these manipulations. Link to comment
scubasteve2580 Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 That is LOW you need to get it up my friend. Brad i tried my damndist to keep it around 9 and it kept falling back to 5 and then 5.5 etc. well i read somewhere and i think it was randy holmes that only like 5.7% stays in the system.. now dont flame me. im not sure if im stating that right BUT!!! ive read various articles where sea water is between 7 and 8 alk. i dont ever have a problem with my ph and my coral seem to be growing good. not sure i buy into all that 9-12 dkh stuff but hey, im new. ive learned that im probably wrong. anyway somethign interesting kept happening after i dripped my alk. i was using oceanic so i wasnt worried about calcium dropping to much since its like 580ppm out of the make up container.. but i kept getting this film on top of my water 2 days after i reached a 9 on my test. i would test and the params were falling from 9 to 5 or 6 in 24 hours. the white film had to be carbonate. why it would do that i have no clue. i was only raising alk 1 point per day. once i hit 9, the system threw it back. the wierdest thing was that my calcium was going back up as this was taking place. any ideas??? ive done several water changes with IO since then and my alk stays at 7.5 calcium 420. ::knock on wood:: Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 ... not sure i buy into all that 9-12 dkh stuff... Well, I know I don't. 8-10 dKH is where my tank needs to stay or things look unhappy. any ideas??? Mg? Link to comment
scubasteve2580 Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 wierd huh???? everything looks alot better when im not tanpering. man i got tired of tinkering with water everyday. if everything looks healthy and it wants to stay at 7.5 by GOD so be it. ive been enjoying a beautiful sight and not working my a$$ off all the time like i was for 4 months. ive had my tank close to 10 before but everything looked really stressed.. then it really stresses after a big fall back down to 6 overnight. im going to try kalkwasser out pretty soon. now that im using IO the calcium is supposed to be like 380 out of makeup tank but mixing with the old water has slowly made it down to 420. i wont let it go past 400 Link to comment
Lawnman Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 I am not flaming you or will I start to. If your system is doing good at 7.5 then let it be. I did not know it was A.O.K at 7 before you told me so. If your PH is not swinging at that level then let it be if you want. The article about 5.7 Alk is BS. My alk usually runs 8-9 and my system is SUPER happy. I like Oceanic but ALK isn't always where I want it after a WC but it is ok because I dose everyday.I like oceanic for the way it dissolves,calcium and my corals have never looked better. But to each there own if your system is running good and looking good then let it be. Brad Link to comment
scubasteve2580 Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 I am not flaming you or will I start to. If your system is doing good at 7.5 then let it be. I did not know it was A.O.K at 7 before you told me so. If your PH is not swinging at that level then let it be if you want. The article about 5.7 Alk is BS. My alk usually runs 8-9 and my system is SUPER happy. I like Oceanic but ALK isn't always where I want it after a WC but it is ok because I dose everyday.I like oceanic for the way it dissolves,calcium and my corals have never looked better. But to each there own if your system is running good and looking good then let it be. Brad hey im with you. oceanic has high mag and calcium and its easy to buffer the dkh using a bicarb such as randy holmes. i think my system is just still real young and it takes time to build the buffer up. yeah the water changes drop everything considerably. water change, let mix for day, adjust params accordingly... and you know, ive test my ph at mid day and mid night (literally) and its the same. 8.3 Link to comment
scubasteve2580 Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 i use chemipure elite and i dont think its much different from phosban and i dont have any problems. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 If your system is doing good at 7.5 then let it be. I'd agree here, but I am curious about why this would be the case... It makes me wonder about your test kit/methods. Link to comment
scubasteve2580 Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 I'd agree here, but I am curious about why this would be the case... It makes me wonder about your test kit/methods. well i test my alk and calcium with api. about a month ago a friend of mine tested my magnesium with red sea i think it was.. that was the make up water. i stopped using oceanic a few weeks back and started using IO which has a lesser value in mag and cal. the makeup water reads 420 cal, 7 alk. anyway im curious if the test doesnt read wrong Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Your Mg was tested a month ago and it wasn't the tank water that was tested? That means you have no idea how much (or little) Mg is in your tank. Red Sea test kits are not known for their accuracy, though API aren't as bad. Have you compared your API results with another brand of kit such as Salifert? Link to comment
scubasteve2580 Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Your Mg was tested a month ago and it wasn't the tank water that was tested? That means you have no idea how much (or little) Mg is in your tank. Red Sea test kits are not known for their accuracy, though API aren't as bad. Have you compared your API results with another brand of kit such as Salifert? my alk. tested pretty much the same. as far as mag goes.. i do 2 or 3 water changes per week so the mag should be about the same as makeup water Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 That seems intuitive but it's not a good assumption. I dose 15+ mL of Mg additive per day because my tank uses it up. Link to comment
scubasteve2580 Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 how much do the salifert kits run? Link to comment
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