thinking of getting coral is my tank parameters safe to get some?

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Dmon1123

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jan 25, 2010
Messages
52
Location
Long Island
hey everyone. i just did my water change today and after that i tested my water it is

calcium is 360 its low i add supplements in everyday it doesnt seem to get any higher

phosphate is 1.0
kh is 14 dkh its a little high i think
ph is 8.4
alk is 2.0
ammonia is 0
nitrate is 0

is there any corals i can get or is my water parameters not good enough for them and they will die? is some of these need to be higher or lower before i get anything then let me know any help will be appreciated :)
 
I would hold off on corals, not necessarily because of your water parameters, but because it sounds like you need to get your feet grounded a little more about water chemistry. A couple reasons I say that...

kh/dkh and alkalinity are the same thing, but you're listing them twice - and the two values are not equal. 14 dkh is equal to 5.0 meq/l. You list your alkalinity as 2.0 (I assume meq/l) which is 5.6 dkH. The 2.0 value is very low. The 14 value is a little high. It's one or the other... but not both.

What supplements are you using to increase your calcium? And what salinity are you at with that 360? Unless you have a huge load of coralline algae sucking the calcium out of your water, most likely you have very little daily calcium "load" - in other words, not much is being used on a daily basis. I've found the trick with getting your calcium levels where you want them is to start with your source water and make sure THOSE calcium levels are where you want them. If your fresh salt water is at 360, you're going to have to add calcium to it at every water change. I use "TurboCalcium" and this calculator...

Reef Chemistry Calculator

... to figure out how much TurboCalcium to add.

Do the same with your display tank and elevate that calcium level. Most stuff I've seen says not to raise calcium levels more than 20ppm per day.

Once you have your calcium levels where you want, and your PWC water is at the same level, the calcium levels should stay stable until corals start using it. THEN, you should start supplementing with something like a 2-part calcium/alkalinity solution... in equal parts. But only dose what you need to keep the levels stable.

Your calcium levels may not be increasing because of low magnesium levels. You don't really need a magnesium test kit, but if you're trying to correct chronically low calcium levels, sometimes low magnesium is the culprit. Magnesium levels should be about 3x your calcium levels - so in your case, about 1080ppm.

My concern about your parameters is that a lot of times when you see people dosing with ProductX "as instructed", they're just focusing on on single parameter... like calcium. They keep adding and adding and things don't budge. In the mean time, alkalinity levels and pH levels go bonkers and in quick order bad things start to happen.

Not saying that's what you're doing... just saying the high alkalinity when trying to correct a low calcium level seems to be one of those warning signs. Until you get your levels where you want them and can keep them there without supplements, THEN I'd consider a coral or two.

My main concern is that your water parameters are going to swing more as you try to get your levels where you want them, and rushing to get corals may end up causing you to throw away money you don't have to.

Ahh... the phosphates aren't good. That's really high. You're shooting for something less than 0.03ppm - preferable not even detectable. I'm not sure if phosphates of 1.0 will make them die, but they won't thrive like that. Are you using tap water? Cheap carbon and not rinsing it? Just wondering where that amount of phosphate is coming from...

PS... Here's a good article about correcting calcium/alkalinity problems:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm
 
thanks so much first of all and wait i dont get it tho im have test kits for all the ones listed like on for kh and one for alk but they are the same thing? and on the alk test sheet it says anywhere from 1.7 to 2.8 is normal so mine is fine? and i have kent liquid calcium and i put 1/4 teaspoon in everytime and then i put kent essential elements in everyother day or every 3 days and then every nite i put in kent purple tech and also with the phosphates it was a lot higher like 5 or 6 and i had tons of hair algae but there really isnt any now its because i used to use tap water i used distilled water now prob for a month now. would you recommend me getting a chemical to lower my phosphate? i just need some help i dont wanna ruin my tank everything was messed up im trying to get it back to normal my salinity is 1.21 1/2
 
I would use some GFO (granulated ferric oxide) in a flow through bag somewhere to remove those phosphates. Going from 5 or 6 (ouch!) to 1 is great, but you really want it to not even be measurable.

Salinity... do you mean 1.021? Not sure what your number is meaning, but for corals, you want it closer to 1.025 or 1.026. That is closer to natural sea water. Also, by elevating your salinity level (assuming you're at 1.021 now), your calcium levels will go up because you're using more salt. Get your salinity adjusted to the correct levels before you start trying to get your calcium levels where you want them. What brand salt mix are you using?

kH and alkalinity are the same thing. kH stands for Carbonate (or Karbonate if you're in Germany, where the abbreviation came from) Hardness. Alkalinity can be measured in many different ways, the two most common are in dkH (degrees karbonate hardness) or in meq/l (milliequivalent per liter). They both measure the same thing. To convert between the two, take your dkH and divide by 2.8 and you'll have your meq/l. I'm not sure if you're alkalinity levels are low or high, as the two numbers you posted are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Stop with all the supplements. All of them. If you have no corals, you don't need all that junk. Just let your tank settle down for a month just doing your normal water changes and top offs. Then you should have a good handle on where your actual numbers are. Then follow that link I mentioned for correcting calcium/alkalinity problems. The Kent Liquid Calcium, I believe, is just a liquid version of their TurboCalcium that I use, so that stuff is fine. But you don't need any of that other stuff.
 
thanks so much im gonna do exactly wat you say no more extra chemicals like purple up. i think maybe im reading the alk wrong maybe its actually higher then i thought and maybe its a 2.8 or higher which would make the dkh rite and that means there both too high so how do i lower that and for the salinity i did mean 1.021 lol im gonna boost it up to 1.025. hopefully i can get corals in a month or so
 
okay good i hope it will go down and i bought something thats like gfo i guess lol the guy at my fish store didnt even know wat i was talking bout haha but i got kent phosphate sponge i put that in a day ago and it went down even lower to .5 hopefully in goes even lower
 
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