Do I have sufficient amounts of Strontium additive in my tank?

[lessans]

I've had a Torch coral in my tank for about 3 months now and just recently have I started dosing 6mL of Kent Marine Strontium & Molybdenum every 4 days. My calcium level is a steady 440ppm almost all the time. Am I dosing enough Strontium & Molybdenum in my tank? I ask b/c I thought I noticed the Torch coral tissue is slightly higher on the Ca(CO3)2 skeleton than when I bought it. If I don't what should I do to keep the coral on its skeleton? BTW, all tentacles are inflated, I have plenty of light( 36" 2x96watt PC), it's placed about 12" from surface of a 24" tall tank. It gets plenty of flow. Do I need a Strontium test kit, b/c those are expensive?

 

[nanoreef58]

what salt are you using? what size tank? the reason I ask is with normal water paramaters there is no reason to dose either and according to Randy Holmes Farley (chemist) the only thing most of us need to dose in our tanks is Ca and Alk.

 

[lessans]

I use Kent Sea Salt in a 65 gallon tank with about a 7 gallon sump.

 

[Sk8r]

What are your parameters, salinity, temp, cal, alk, mg, water-source?

 

[lessans]

salinity: ~1.026
temp: ~79.8Ã"šÃ‚º F
Cal: >520ppm
pH: 7.7 ( I just checked it and I didn't realize it was that low). I put a pH buffer in so pH should go up in a couple days.
alk: less than or equal to 5Ã"šÃ‚º KH( yikes! Like I said I put pH buffer in)
NH3: 0ppm
NO2: 0ppm
NO3: a non-fluctuating 20ppm
I don't use a Mg test kit.

I use an RO/DI filter for water

 

[Reefrookie2006]

Your calcium looks high to me.

 

[ALTI]

you are dosing too much calcium.what r u dosiing with? 520 is way too high. thats the reason the ph and alk is off. stop dosing calcium and just add some alk buffer till the levels stabilize.

forget about strontium. those additives are completely worthless. if u dont change your water often enough to replace the strontium you will have worse issues to deal with. the 20 ppmof nitrate has to come down as well. do some water changes and stop dosing.

 

[lessans]

I don't dose any calcium. my salinity is only 1.026 so I don't know why it's so high.

ALTI: I take it you're unfamiliar with Acids and Bases, because Calcium bonds with certain ions to make a base. Bases don't make pH go down.

 

[ALTI]

i think i know a little bit about balancing my cal and alk, lessans.

i could offer some more helpfull info, but if u r so educated in acids and bases i think u can probably figure it out on your own.

good luck

 

[lessans]

I apologize ALTI. That was arrogant of me and I shouldn't have said that if I'm trying to receive helpful info. Please forgive me.

 

[ALTI]

no need to apologize. i like a little attitude.

just do some water changes and u will be fine. some saltmixes have high calcium levels. what kind r u using.

 

[XeniaMania]

Strontium is one additive I would not add without testing because, although NSW levels are between 8-12ppm, 16ppm is enough for it to become toxic. Your 3 major unknowns are
1) What's my starting strontium level?
2) What's the rate of absorbtion?
3) Where's it at now?
I do not agree with Sr levels been adequate with water changes as I've tested the Red Sea salt that I use which tested out in the 0-3 range. There are stuff out there you can get away w/o testing for before adding, but I wouldn't say Sr is one of them. Also, I've noticed adding Sr into my tank elevated my Ca test levels as well, so even though you're testing 520ppm, it could be the elevated Sr levels messing w/ the test due to the similarity of both elements.