Coralife Sea Salts

[cj10488]

Has anyone else noticed that when using coralife Sea Salt mix that their CA is high... I finally tested a fresh mix of coralife and CA read the same as the readings in my tank CA = 480... I did a search on the web and noticed that the tested levels for Coralife sea salts are around 478.. Why so high??? How can I lower this as I have about 20gals left of mix for my water changes and dont really want to waste the Mix.. I plan On switching to IO after this batch but find it extremely frustrating.. I have emailed info@esuweb.com which is the maker of Coralife to inquire about this but have not heard anything as of yet.. Can someone please help me..


Thanks In advance..
James

 

[reefrunner69]

Well....coralife is ione of the most inconsistant salts there is, so the next bag will probably be very low....

What is the alkalinity?

 

[cj10488]

Alk is 2.5meq which I know is low as well With 480 It should be like 4.5meq I believe... My Corals seem to be doing awesome and almost growing while you watch them but having it high is bothering me... My LFS recommended that I use Sea-Lab No 14ph to correct a low alk and ph issue... I have not really noticed a difference since using it and have stopped using it... It was supposed to restore the natural buffers and control alk...

James

 

[reefrunner69]

I would raise the alk to a level that is in a closer balance and then let the critters in the tank lower the CA and the ALK for me. The biggest danger with that high a CA is a preciptiation event. Ugly but not harmful.

 

[cj10488]

I figured that the Corals would drop the CA to acceptable levels Like 430 or so but they have not.. I have been constantly monitoring the levels only to have them stay at 480.. I do water changes weekly which I figured out was probably keeping them there..I am going to try the Sea-Lab No14ph to control the Alk and raise it and see if it works to raise it... Or is there another better way to Raise alk???

James

 

[reefrunner69]

6 parts Arm & Hammer Baking Soda and 1 part Arm & Hammer Washing soda. Mix well and add one table spoon of the mix to RO, RO/DI or Distilled water per 25 gal of tank water to raise DKH 1.0. Again always check pH and Alk.

 

[cj10488]

Is this the washing soda you refer to??? It states


Arm & Hammer Detergent Super Washing Soda

picture attached below

James

 

[reefrunner69]

It should not be detergent, and I don't see the word detergent on the box.

 

[cj10488]

ok yeah thats the stuff i need.. For a proper balance Alk should be 6 meq/l isnt that quite high?? should I take it that high???

James

 

[reefrunner69]

I think as you raise the ALk some of the CA will precipitate, which is kinda what your hoping for. You'll need to monitor the CA ans you raise the ALK, so you don't end up swinging too far the other way and overshoot the balance in the opposite direction. I think if the CA remains at 480 and you bring it up to 6.0 meq/L alk, you will definitely have a large precipitation event (snowstorm) instead of the small one we're shooting for.

 

[cj10488]

so if i shot for 3.5 or 4 that would be best correct??? I have also found another article on the web that talks about this issue as well..

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

I hope this gets things straightened out..

James

 

[cj10488]

BTW Kudos to you RR

James

 

[cj10488]

I recieved the email back from Coralife about the salts.. This is what they had to say..

Dear James,
I surprised that you having problems with slow growth in your corals and coralline algae with the calcium level being so high. In a very active tank most people find that the calcium level drop rather quickly, due to the assimilation by the corals. One of the hardest things for people to maintain is there calcium level, usually they can not keep the levels up.
Sorry, but we currently have no plans to drop the calcium levels in our salt due to the success that we do have with corals. The level of 480 is at the upper limit of our calcium levels, typically we target 450 as the norm. I would suggest that you actually keep the higher levels and let the corals and algae grow as they should flourish with the levels that you described.
Dave Troop II
Energy Savers Unlimited, Inc.
910 East Sandhill Ave
Carson, CA 90746
dave@esuweb.com
877-267-2543

James

 

[reefrunner69]

Dear James,
I surprised that you having problems with slow growth in your corals and coralline algae with the calcium level being so high.

All the calcium in the world don't mean diddly without the proper ALK level to go with it

 

[cj10488]

Ok well I was able to get the CA down some.. I just tested and CA was 470 and ALk is 3.5meq/l I have tried to bump up the Alk a little bit more to 4.0-4.5 and see if it will drop the CA.. I am hoping that with an ALK of 4.5 it would bring the CA down to about 450ppm right about where it should be balanced.. I know the ALk would be creaping towards the high side but it seems to drop as the CA drops.. So hopefully I will be right on target until I do my next water change..

Does this sound right Kev?

TIA,
James

 

[reefrunner69]

Yep looks like your on the right track

 

[Biggen]

I have talked with Dave Troup several times on the phone. Once today in fact. A very knowledgeable and helpful person. But I get the feeling that he may know more about lighting than reef chemistry... At least he is sending me out a replacement bulb free of charge since the first Coralife bulb I had worked for about 3 days and then failed (can't wait till my Hamilton 14K arrives). One thing I like about Coralife/ESU is there great customer service.

Glad to see you are getting your alk/ca under control cj.

 

[cj10488]

Ok so I Just tested again and found that my levels were as follows..

pH 8.3
Alk 5.0meq/l
Ca 480

Should the Ca levels start dropping after a few days??? Or what should I notice..

Any other suggestions RR???

TIA,
James

 

[reefrunner69]

Should the Ca levels start dropping after a few days???

If there is enough calcium consumers in the tank, your CA and ALK will begin to drop, if not, they will pretty much remain where they are.

Any other suggestions RR???

Either leave it be and let it fall naturally (adjusting to maintain a balance), or start doing small water changes with a different brand of salt.

One thing that has been said before, and I strongly agree with, is don't get to hung up on the numbers, if your tank is healthy and your corals are happy and growing, your in decent shape.

 

[cj10488]

well I started to do a water change but someone unplugged my heater and I had decided to go With IO.. So my tank is about 5gals shy right now and I am going to pick up a 200gal bucket of IO first thing in the morning.. I as well since my Wet/Dry is empty due to this I took out the biobale from the wet/dry... I am hoping that doing a 10-15gal water change is going to help out quite a bit... I will update as far as my progress goes.. Do you think 90lbs in a 55gal aquarium is enough LR to do without the Biobale.. My Nitrate with the biobale has not really gone above 5ppm but as you stated before its probably due to the Algae.. Which should be completly gone within a week or so thanks to my soon to be new friend "Lettuce Nudibranche" I pick him up tomorrow as well... So far everything seems to be fine and am quite pleased with my progress as this is my first saltwater tank.. BTW in my wet/dry there was a filter right above the Biobale.. I should get rid of that as well correct???

Thanks Again,
James