Alkalinity/Calcium too high?

[FriscoTX]

Here are my water results:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.1
Nitrate 25
PH 8.15
Alkalinity 8.5
Calcium 436

 

[Devilishturtles]

Seems fine to me. Your calcium and alkalinity are right in the middle of what anyone would consider a good range for those readings. A water change will bring your nitrates down.

 

[melosu58]

I agree that your calcium is sitting pretty. Mine stays around 450 with weekly PWC`s. As DT said it will also bring down your nitrates.

 

[fishman]

Also looks like the tank is still in the process of cycling..TRITE at .1?? You should have 0 Ammonia and TRITES..just an observation.

 

[melosu58]

And a good one at that. He`s right they need to be at 0

 

[FriscoTX]

thanks for the info guys - I'm new to saltwater and was concerned about the alkalinity, I had read that it should be lower than that - but maybe i need to re-read that chapter

I have this green film of algae growin on the sand and window (and rock), I had read that it's normal with higher nitrates. Will the green stuff dissipate with the reduction in Nitrates, or will that be taken care of by the cleaning crew?

 

[roka64]

Your nitrAtes are probably contributing to the algae bloom, phosphates will also contribute. I wouldn't put any living animals in your tank until the nitrItes are at 0 and your nitrAtes are less than 20ppm.

 

[rubikcube]

What units is the alkalinity measurement in?

 

[FriscoTX]

It's meq/l

http://thereefshop.com.au/index.php...id=785&zenid=3edf9d0391def0804380a4cb5e03cbf6

 

[rubikcube]

Yeah, that's really high. Have you been adding anything to the tank?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Nice catch rubikcube. I assumed dKh. I guess because that is what I measure in and that's an average reading for dKh.

 

[FriscoTX]

I don't have plans to add anything till i can get the water set. I wonder if it was the ammonia that I used to cycle the tank - hydroxide variety, but with no additives. The other thing that has me puzzled is that my phospate level is at 2.3. I've only used distilled and ro water and the salt mix was Instant Ocean.

Wierd

 

[rubikcube]

You might try an alkalinity test on a fresh batch of saltwater. The ammonia wouldn't cause an alkalinity or phosphate reading like that. If the only thing you have added is the water, then I'd check that first.

 

[FriscoTX]

I was able to perform a phosphate test and found that my RO water had more albeit in miniscule amounts, phosphate. However, it was still registering less then 0.15 or less. The seawater registered even less and I assume it is because of the buffers in the salt. My tank is still coming in at a whopping 1.0 - 1.5. Could the substrate (crushed aragonite) cause a higher phosphate level?

I didn't have time to do the alkalinity test - that will be next.

 

[rubikcube]

The phosphate numbers don't make much sense to me. Are you using the seachem test?

 

[FriscoTX]

Yes - the lfs uses them and they came highly recmended and a cheaper alternative to Salifert that uses similar technology.

It comes with a reference so I could use that to see if the kit is off

 

[Guest]

First of all, what kind of RO/DI are you using, and have you tested it with a TDS meter?