Water Parameters: Advice please

[andrew.james]

Water Parameters in new tank:

 

Salinity: 1.025

Temp: 75 degrees F

Nitrite:0

Nitrate:0

Ammonia:0

Phosphate:0

 

Ph: 8.3

Calcium: 460-520 ppm (shifts)

Alkalinity: 3 meq/L

 

Alkalinity seems low and will not raise. Right now, I am just doing weekly water changes. It is a 45 gallon system. I am not running a Protein Skimmer. It is a frag tank. I started to dose Kent A/B. It says 8 drops per 4 gallons which would be roughly 80 drops each. Is that correct? Am I suppose to be dosing this EVERY DAY? or every other day?

 

Also is there something I should be testing for other than that, and any other tips are welcome.

 

Thanks

[andrew.james]

bumpy bump

[MikeTR]

You could raise the alk a bit to 3.5.. 4.0 meq/l max.. you can multiply by 2.8 to get the dkH which is what I go by and should be in the 9-11 range. The only other thing to test is pH.. but that should be fine considering your alk/calc readings. I'd start with half the dose (45 drops ea) and measure what it does to your alk and calc over a 2 week period.. and I'd dose it every day. Test like twice a week. Use a test tube or something to measure the 45 drops so you don't have to count drops every time. If your alk continues to rise, then you need to back off to every other day or just dose less, if it drops, then increase the amount you dose. You only need to dose as much as it takes to keep your alk and calc at a stable value so a bit of patience is needed to find out what your system requires, every one is different. If you have a bunch of calcifying species (LPS, SPS) then you'll need to keep up with dosing it more.

[andrew.james]

You could raise the alk a bit to 3.5.. 4.0 meq/l max.. you can multiply by 2.8 to get the dkH which is what I go by and should be in the 9-11 range. The only other thing to test is pH.. but that should be fine considering your alk/calc readings. I'd start with half the dose (45 drops ea) and measure what it does to your alk and calc over a 2 week period.. and I'd dose it every day. Test like twice a week. Use a test tube or something to measure the 45 drops so you don't have to count drops every time. If your alk continues to rise, then you need to back off to every other day or just dose less, if it drops, then increase the amount you dose. You only need to dose as much as it takes to keep your alk and calc at a stable value so a bit of patience is needed to find out what your system requires, every one is different. If you have a bunch of calcifying species (LPS, SPS) then you'll need to keep up with dosing it more.

 

 

Ph updated above, sorry: Ph is 8.3

 

I actually thought the Alkalinity was low, but that's what this forum is for right? Thanks

[Lawnman]

I would get that temp up to 78-79 if I was you.

 

I use Bionic in my top off water to keep my KH up.

[SherifBart]

your Cal is high. 380-420 is plenty. when your Cal gets that high you will have a difficult time getting your Alk in check. water can only hold so much when it comes to Cal-Alk, they go hand in hand.

 

here is an elementary way of thinking of it that was described to me when i started out. ie, a 1 gal bowl can only hold 1 gal. if you fill the bowl from two cups that are filled with 3/4 g Cal and the other is 3/4 g Alk. the bowl still will only hold 1gal. how you fill that 1 gal from a total quantity of 1.5gal, is up to you. the point is that the quantity the bowl can physically hold/contain is exactly 1 gal. the same is true when it comes to the chemistry makeup of our Cal/Alk levels in our tanks....the water can only hold so much before it falls out------->precepitate

 

in order to do this your going to have to do some water changes to reduce the Cal, so you can get the Cal/Alk levels in check. once you get the two in check you will want to determine the amount of dosing req'd to maintain these levels. start with a complete test of the water. then i typically go 3-7 days (depending on bioload) without dosing and then test again. from these two sets of numbers now you will be able to better know what your tank and critters require. doing this will keep you from overdosing and possibly having a crash

 

agree with reducing your Cal dosing. do you have anything in the tank at this point, or is this a new start up? if is new, or light bio-load you can likely get by with no to minimal dosing. your make-up/water changes will supply plenty of Cal to maintain the tank.

 

get your temps to 78-80, your pH is good

 

check your Mag level also. should be in the 1250-1400ppm range. also vital for the Cal-Alk equation

[lakshwadeep]

Read this:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php