coraline help test kit results

[MorayMadness]

ok my ca is at 380 ppm alk is 400mg/l and my kh is 214.80ppm i am using tap water in a 30g holding tank for 24hours before pwc using tropic marin salt .

what should my readings pref be at ? and what additives should i get to get the right results? thanks

want to get a good coraline growth and get xenia and lps corals.


55g reef ls 80lbs lr
mushrooms polyps,
4 x65 pc lights
1 x 28 w t5

 

[MT79]

alk is 400mg/

I assume you mean 4 meg/l? If so your current params will do just fine.

 

[MorayMadness]

i mean my dkh is 12

i have a seperate alk kit tested 9meg/l or 450mg/l is it one in the same ? or different ?

shouldnt my ca levels be around 400 ?

i have had this setup for years and still no coraline. .

is my alk out of wack ? i havent teste for mag yet.

 

[melosu58]

shouldnt my ca levels be around 400 ?

380 is close enough. Here are some links to help

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rhf/index.php

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

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

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

i have had this setup for years and still no coraline. .

Coraline algae needs to have a "seed." If you never had any to start with - like if you had ALL base rock - then none will grow.

Your parameters are good enough for it to form. I had my Ca at 360 and Alk at 8 dKH for the first 2-3 months and coraline grew just fine. It wasn't until it was depleted down to about 320ppm (unknownst to me at the time) that it stopped forming and I started figuring out the whole Calcium deal. Now that I'm back up to 380-400, it's coming back great!

 

[MT79]

i have a seperate alk kit tested 9meg/l or 450mg/l is it one in the same ? or different

I'm not familiar with readings in mg/l, or how to convert one to the other. If your Alk is coming up 9 meg/l that is very high. I'm not sure you could get that high with out having major issues. What brand test kit are you using? Does it have a reference test to see if it's still good? If so I would run a reference.

 

[MT79]

shouldnt my ca levels be around 400 ?

350-450 is fine. Somewhere in the middle, 400-425, is just a good medium. It allows for any inaccuracies in the test kit along with natural fluctuations with out Ca being too high or dropping too low.

 

[Sadielynn]

i have had this setup for years and still no coraline. .

Coraline algae needs to have a "seed." If you never had any to start with -

That is not exactally true ....In my tank all of the LR I had NONE had coraline algea . After a year keeping the CA stable it started to grow.
While it is true that seeding it will help to get it started it is not needed .
I have had mine up for almost 9 months in the Living room and still only get it on the rocks , and a few specles on the glass . The one in the BR is going crazy(it was till it leaked ) Now it is just a matter of time for it to go crazy again..... It also depends on what you have pulling CA from your system , if you have a lot of corals(LPS) that use CA it is not that far fetched to not have it going wild crazy on equipment and glass , or even the rocks , you may need to suppliment CA to give it a kick .

 

[MorayMadness]

yes thanks, i had some coraline growing on specs on glass and rock. from time to time. i just started using tropic marin salt before i was using IO. this is actually the first day for my new complete pwc with TM salt. i tested for a high amount of alk, i will retest my tank and my pwc before i do it. ill post up the results again and see whats up. thinking about getting kents turbo calcium. as i stated before i am using tap water not ro/di. ill keep you posted,

thanks all



ok test results are in


pwc water holding for 48 hrs. with tropic marin
ca 320
8-9 dkh
5-6 alk
8.2 ph


Main tank water test

ca- 400
5-6 dkh
alk 4-5
ph - 8.4- 8.5


surprisingly my ca went up from last night. seems my ph is a bit high and my DKH is low. but from my new pwc its almost perfect except for the low ca levels., maybe i need to boost my ca in my pwc?

any ideas?

i am getting a seachem mag test kit today or tomorrow. thx

 

[MT79]

except for the low ca levels., maybe i need to boost my ca in my pwc?

Boosting it to 400-425 would be a good idea. Turbo calcium would be perfect for this. I've heard TM salt is on the low side for Ca so it's not surprising. I would recommend getting a better Alk test kit. Increments of .5 meg/l or less would suit a reef tank much better. 4-5, 5-6 meg/l is kind of a broad range for getting Ca/alk levels balanced.
Have you used the online calculator for dosing measurements? Makes life easier, I can post a link if neccessary.

 

[MorayMadness]

thanks ! yeah i have the calculator from another post i have it all set . going to dose it.

my alk kit is from seachem that has it in meg/l each drop is .5 meg/l and i had 10 drops or 11 so i took that divided by half since its .5 and got 5-6 meg/l

 

[MT79]

my alk kit is from seachem that has it in meg/l each drop is .5 meg/l and....

Gotcha- I've done the same thing. Seachem is a good test kit, no need for another then. 5-6 meg/l Alk is definitely on the high side. I did not know TM was so high.? I'm not sure I'd like that too much. 4.5 meg/l would be about the highest I'd comfortably go in the tank. 3-4 meg/l is about average IME.

 

[MorayMadness]

if i boost my ca will that drop my alk ?


i need to lower my alk and raise my ca so maybe i can balance it out by raising my ca? is this true ?

 

[MT79]

if i boost my ca will that drop my alk ?

No. Lowering numbers is often more effort than it's worth or impossible.
Like I said, I've never heard of TM salt having issues w/ high Alk. Maybe you should try another Alk test on new SW to be sure of your original result. A reference test, supplied w/ the kit, may be a good idea as well to be sure it's not bad.

 

[MT79]

That is not exactally true ....In my tank all of the LR I had NONE had coraline algea

It had to be introduced into the system some how. Maybe it was in a nook on a piece of rock or bleached/faded and you missed it, possibly on a coral frag you added, or spores floating in some LFS water that was introduced to your system. It has to come from somewhere.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I think the tap water may be causing the high alk readings. I've been having the same problems, having a reading of around 16-17 dKh (and around 500 ppm Ca). But it seems a few days after a water change the levels balance out fine to around 12 dKh and 450 ppm Ca.

I also use tap water in my tank.

 

[MT79]

I think the tap water may be causing the high alk readings.

Great catch DT. Very possible.

 

[MorayMadness]

ok so i tested my tank the day after of my pwc with tropic marin salt. 55 reef did a 20 percent change roughly 10g,

ca 360
dkh 9
ph 8.4
mg 1100

no3, no4 po4, 0.0


i bought some kents turbo calc. going to try to get my ca up there to 420 ish

i have a question i havd a KH test kit that measures DKH and i have a alkalinity test kit that measures in meg/l

is these one in the same ? dkh is alkalinity?

 

[rubikcube]

dKH and meq/L are both units of alkalinity. 2.8 dKH is equal to 1.0 meq/L.

 

[MT79]

bought some kents turbo calc. going to try to get my ca up there to 420 ish

Do that and your ready go. Good luck