Water Chem. Q

[dhraakoxr]

Hey this is my current measurment:

 

Alk: 5.5-6kdh

Calc: 480-500

Mag: 1700ppm

Nitrates/rites: 0

 

I'm wondering if there is anything I need to do here .. maybe adjust the mag? I think the low alk is ok because of the high Calc.. is that right?

 

Ohh and I don't add anything into the system. Just water changes.

[Asureef]

Hey this is my current measurment:

 

Alk: 5.5-6kdh

Calc: 480-500

Mag: 1700ppm

Nitrates/rites: 0

 

I'm wondering if there is anything I need to do here .. maybe adjust the mag? I think the low alk is ok because of the high Calc.. is that right?

 

 

I prefer my Alk at 8-10 and calcium at 400-450. Your mag. seems a bit high also.

[dhraakoxr]

I prefer my Alk at 8-10 and calcium at 400-450. Your mag. seems a bit high also.

 

The Alk I can change .. but the ca and the mg??? Not sure what to do about those .. time to change salt brands maybe?

[dhraakoxr]

Ok so I measured a batch of fresh salt water.

 

Mg: 1800+

Ca: 450

dKH: 5.5

 

So, I guess I found the source of my low dKH and high Mg for sure.. good thing that I'm pretty much done this salt. It's OceanPure VitaAqua ... I wonder what I should change to.. hrm.

[lakshwadeep]

What is your livestock list, and how old is the tank? The values you listed are more important for stony corals than "soft" corals. Alkalinity is slightly low. What's your pH? What happens to the values if you aerate the water for an hour or so?

 

Read this guide to water chemistry:

Part 1: The Saltwater Itself

Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented

Part 3: pH

Part 4: What Chemicals May Detrimentally Accumulate

[dhraakoxr]

What is your livestock list, and how old is the tank? The values you listed are more important for stony corals than "soft" corals. Alkalinity is slightly low. What's your pH? What happens to the values if you aerate the water for an hour or so?

 

Read this guide to water chemistry:

Part 1: The Saltwater Itself

Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented

Part 3: pH

Part 4: What Chemicals May Detrimentally Accumulate

 

I'll check those links out. The tank is over a year old.. as for live stock .. mushrooms (ric's), zoas and SPS (acro/monti) and a clown fish. The water is currently pretty aerated as it is (annoying issue I have with micro bubbles). Do you mean more aerated than that? Not sure about the pH I'll have to check that one out.

[dhraakoxr]

Those are good reads, thanks for the links. I think @ this point I need to get different salt, something with lower Mg and higher alk.. I'd imagine the same Ca of 450 and start from there... I need my tank to balance itself out get Mg down and then go from there.

 

I didn't completely understand the point of using kalk though. Is it simply a method used for maintaining your levels? I typically do weekly water changes .. so given the right salt I figure I should be able to maintain good levels across the board.

 

Anyways.. fun and game fun and games. I'll have to update this when I do my next change and see how the overall chemistry changes. I suppose I could increase the alk easily but I'd rather do it over time instead of over night.

[lakshwadeep]

Kalkwasser is very useful as a regular dosing method (often as part an ATO), but only when the original Ca/alk levels are not imbalanced. In that case, two-part solutions are better choices; two-parts with kalkwasser is a good combination for the long term.

[dhraakoxr]

Can you explain Kalkwasser in a bit more detail please. Pro's for example.

 

Do you know if people just put it in-line with their current ATO setup?

[dhraakoxr]

So I bought some RBS as my new salt... we'll see how that goes.. I just mixed up a "mixed" batch of that and some of my old salt and will be doing like 5% changes to acclimate everything.. the params are much different now which can be expected by RBS... like a 1/4 bucket of my old salt and this new salt resulted in 1500 mg, 450 ca and 7.5dkh.. I'd imagine I'll get 1300-1400mg and 8-8.5dKH with pure RBS. So we'll see what this does over time.. a long time lol.. I'll also have to figure out if I'll dose a bit more alk or not... ahh well my tank will be going from 5.5 to 8-8.5 so I think I'll let everything adjust to that before I try to bring it up more.

[lakshwadeep]

This is a good article about kalkwasser:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php

[dhraakoxr]

Good read, thanks man. I'll just have to wait until my whole system is settled with the new salt and then go from there.. chemistry checking and what not.

 

Hey is it a good practice to mix your salt up before you make another bucket of it?

 

By that I mean like.. stir the actual salt b4 you mix it in a bucket.. to stir up any setting mg, ca etc etc.

[lakshwadeep]

Yes, mixing (the whole bag/bucket) can help; although generally the greatest differences will be between different bags/buckets and usually not within one of those containers.

[dhraakoxr]

Yes, mixing (the whole bag/bucket) can help; although generally the greatest differences will be between different bags/buckets and usually not within one of those containers.

 

I just did a little 5 percent change tonight and will most likely do another this weekend or a little later on.. once the main values in the tank are close to that of the standard salt mix I'll do my usual 10

[dhraakoxr]

did my second 5% today.. the dKH is up to ~6.2dKH and it's been a week so I think and, please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm doing the change slow enough.

 

I've notice no negative changes and in fact since I:

 

A: changed how my tank flows (addition of a MAXI900, and altered where my Koralia is), and

 

B; started doing this water/salt changes, my tri tip coral for the first time ever is getting blue tips.. I'll take that as a good indication.