Tested water for the 1st time today...help please ;)

[Ikin Nave]

I tested with my Instant Ocean hydrometer & grav was at 1.026 which I am assuming is because I added another 20 lb bag of Nature's Ocean Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Reef Sand...because before that it was perfect.

 

I wanted to become familiar with using the testing kit so I tried the calcium test. It took 16 drops to turn blue! I have the API reef testing kit.

 

I'm assuming I should do a water change...but how much do I change...and if the gravity is reading high how do I know how much salt mix to use?

 

Thanks!

 

Edit: I put the water & live rock in my tank on July 2nd.

[franklypre]

.026 isn't really high. I would just mix the salt up and add a cup or two more water than normal. You may also want to get a 2 part dosing system any brand A & B are what most people use. Or if you want to get a lifetime supply you can make you own using pool calcium and baking soda.

[LostinWater]

In my opinion I would keep it about 1.025-1.026. That's not really high. I keep mine at that level and everything does just fine. Water change, that depends on your tank and personal preference. If it's a smaller tank, I would do a 25-50% weekly to bi-weekly water change. If it's a larger tank, you could do a 25-30% change bi-weekly to monthly.

[Ikin Nave]

Thanks! Well this is my first saltwater tank so I have no personal preference yet. I will read about what to do with high calcium...and do the other tests too. I just figured since calcium was off I shouldn't bother doing the other tests. I have a 29g Biocube.

[Timanator]

Man thats some really high calcium, over 800? Can you do some water changes to lower it?

[Nano sapiens]

Man thats some really high calcium, over 800? Can you do some water changes to lower it?

 

16 drops using the API kit = 320 mg/l calcium. This is not high. Not so important for a softies tank, but its a bit on the low side for a tank with stony corals.

[Maddevil1]

I tested with my Instant Ocean hydrometer & grav was at 1.026 which I am assuming is because I added another 20 lb bag of Nature's Ocean Bio-Activ Live Aragonite Reef Sand...because before that it was perfect.

 

I wanted to become familiar with using the testing kit so I tried the calcium test. It took 16 drops to turn blue! I have the API reef testing kit.

 

I'm assuming I should do a water change...but how much do I change...and if the gravity is reading high how do I know how much salt mix to use?

 

Thanks!

 

Edit: I put the water & live rock in my tank on July 2nd.

 

Your hydrometer could be off, those things arent really that accurate. Buy a refractometer or take your water to your LFS to get it tested. If its different that what your hydrometer tested, then you'll know by how much and could compensate the reading until you get a refractometer.

 

I have heard that the API Calcium test kits arent that good. Consider buying Salifert or Elos to test calcium and magesium.

 

For water changes, do 10%-20% weekly.

[Ikin Nave]

16 drops using the API kit = 320 mg/l calcium. This is not high. Not so important for a softies tank, but its a bit on the low side for a tank with stony corals.

 

 

Thank you for your responses. The instructions only went up to 13 drops so I was a little freaked. This will be a softy tank as I don't have the lighting upgrade...but won't add any corals for a while. Gonna go to the LFS and see about adding my CUC then.

[gabe_j]

yeah i thats not high cal. i'm running about 500 mg/l so thats about 27 or 30 drops i don't remember exactly

[zemuss]

Wait so the tank is still cycling? If so I wouldn't do any water changes and basically just test for Nitrates / Nitrites / Ammonia and PH but PH really isn't needed until your going to add live stock.

 

Let the tank cycle.

 

"Z"

[Timanator]

man alot of people dosing new tanks lately. Is this some sort of new trend?

[Ikin Nave]

Yes, still cycling. Just put the water & live rock in on 7/2. I'm sorry...I thought I made that clear.

[kthehun89]

yeah take amount of drops x 20 and thats your calcium

[zemuss]

OP let the tank cycle. When I cycled my two tanks I didn't change the water at all.

[Degener8]

Just incase you had not read it yet

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/articles/?article=8

 

There is generally no reason to change water during the cycle. The exception to this is if you have hitchhiker coral ont he rocks you wish to save.

 

For softies I would nto worry about calcium. For LPS/SPS you should probably check for the calcium levels.

Right now ammonia/nitraite/nitrate are all you should be concerned with.

 

Once you read all zero's for those do a water change, give it a week, and get your cuc. In a weeks time after that things should be looking alot better visually and tests should still be zero. Then SLOW addidtion of coral and or fish. Go slow with fish addition so your bacteria can adjust to handle the load as it increases.

 

HTH

[littlelacho]

16 drops using the API kit = 320 mg/l calcium. This is not high. Not so important for a softies tank, but its a bit on the low side for a tank with stony corals.

 

+1...that is low, not high. I use API and normally hit around 21 drops and that is 420.

 

If your tank is still cycling, your params are going to be all over the place, don't even bother testing ca at this point. I also wouldn't worry about dosing anything if you are using a good reef salt and doing weekly 20% water changes. I was using a basic salt and needed to dose but chaned to a reef salt and my ca stays at 420.

[Pickle010]

Don't worry about calcium or any of that right now... while you cycle paramiters will swing. You will just be chasing your tail.

 

Watch your cycle - 1.026 is fine - watch your temps, test for amonia, nitrates, nitrites. When your cycle is complete and you have diatoms / algae. Do a large water change - 30% or so then start regular weekly water changes. After you've done your large water change then go pick out your CUC.

 

In the mean time, relax and enjoy the tank.

 

You do not need to buy any additives or 2 part mixes at this time. Your stocking plans do not even include any corals that demand high levels of CA. I see people on here all the time freaking out because CA is off the charts or high (which yours isn't) and right away they want to bring it down - there is no need to freak out about it. You can shock your tank by quickly changing anything and that can cause more harm then having too much CA. Regular water changes will be your best friend and help keep your tank stable. I never needed to dose for CA or anything else until I started keeping SPS. Also remember never dose for anything you are not testing for.

 

Ultimately, what you are shooting for is stability. You don't want your temps to fluxuate more then a couple of degrees every day - watch your evaporation so it doesn't throw your salinity through the roof and if for what ever reason it gets away from you and water level gets low - start adding fresh RO/DI slowly and get it back to where it needs to be.

 

Nothing good comes from fast in this hobby.