Help with 2 part
- Thread starter FB
- Start date
FB
New member
To make a long story short. I took out about 90% of my shallow sand bed yesterday. The rest to come out soon.
So in all I did about a 35% water change.
My readings are now as follows
Cal 480.
Alk 12.8 dKH
I also checked my nitrates to see if the removing the sand bed caused any jumps.
Nitrates - 0
I am using Red Sea Coral Pro Salt. Last time I checked the salt @ 1.026 Cal was 480 and Alk was 7.5 dKH (however this was with my test kit that we know is inaccurate).
I will resume dosing again tomorrow.
Thanks again for all you help
FB
So in all I did about a 35% water change.
My readings are now as follows
Cal 480.
Alk 12.8 dKH
I also checked my nitrates to see if the removing the sand bed caused any jumps.
Nitrates - 0
I am using Red Sea Coral Pro Salt. Last time I checked the salt @ 1.026 Cal was 480 and Alk was 7.5 dKH (however this was with my test kit that we know is inaccurate).
I will resume dosing again tomorrow.
Thanks again for all you help
FB
jdieck
New member
Usually if the bed was relatively old you might get a drop in ORP and an spike of hydrogen sulphide. Nitrate might show up later if you had de-nitrification in the bed and the rock can't take the additional Nitrates for processing.
Check the salt mix next batch and check your aquarium water again. It is not normal for a water change to spike the Alkalinity from the 10s to the 12s. During removal some nitrification should have lowered it instead.
My best guess is that there were some sand particles in the sample that may have skewed the reading by dissolving during tritration.
If alkalinity is that high you may need to skip alkalinity dosing a couple of days.
The good thing is that you got the hang of it but is imperative to get reliable alk measurements.
Check the salt mix next batch and check your aquarium water again. It is not normal for a water change to spike the Alkalinity from the 10s to the 12s. During removal some nitrification should have lowered it instead.
My best guess is that there were some sand particles in the sample that may have skewed the reading by dissolving during tritration.
If alkalinity is that high you may need to skip alkalinity dosing a couple of days.
The good thing is that you got the hang of it but is imperative to get reliable alk measurements.
FB
New member
Well something screwed up my ALK test last time.
I just did it again and got 10.2 dHK
However,
I just went a bought a salifert Calcium test kit and got a reading of 670ppm when my Hagen was @ 480ppm.
Those Hagen test kits are obviously garbage.
I guess I know why my corals are ****ed at me all this time.
Just a note to anyone buying test kits. Make sure you buy the good one it just not worth a couple of bucks you could save.
I am now in zone 4.
Any suggestions on correcting it.
Thanks
FB
I just did it again and got 10.2 dHK
However,
I just went a bought a salifert Calcium test kit and got a reading of 670ppm when my Hagen was @ 480ppm.
Those Hagen test kits are obviously garbage.
I guess I know why my corals are ****ed at me all this time.
Just a note to anyone buying test kits. Make sure you buy the good one it just not worth a couple of bucks you could save.
I am now in zone 4.
Any suggestions on correcting it.
Thanks
FB
sellout007
New member
Forgive my ignorance, whats this two part we are talking about? Something home made?
Point me in the right direction? I have a thread somewhere on this forum about my mess of trying to raise my calcium lvls. Apparently I was using the wrong thing.
Point me in the right direction? I have a thread somewhere on this forum about my mess of trying to raise my calcium lvls. Apparently I was using the wrong thing.
FB
New member
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php
The one I am using is homemade. However there are many commercially available products.
One part adds calcium and the other alkalinity. They are ionically balanced so you should not run into situations where one is to high and the other to low.
FB
The one I am using is homemade. However there are many commercially available products.
One part adds calcium and the other alkalinity. They are ionically balanced so you should not run into situations where one is to high and the other to low.
FB
FB
New member
Here are my weekend test results
1.026 (Refractometer)
Temp 81
Cal 580 (Salifert)
Alk 11.6 dKH (Salifert)
Mag 1185 (Salifert)
Phosphate 0 (No Colour) (Salifert)
Nitrate 0 (No Colour) (Hagen)
I have not dosed anything yet today. It looks as thought my alk is a little bit higher than I expected I will try and dose 25 ml/day this week. My Mag looks like it is starting to drop as well. The reef calculator says to add 110 grams of Epsom Salt to bring it back to 1300. I will do this over two days.
FB
1.026 (Refractometer)
Temp 81
Cal 580 (Salifert)
Alk 11.6 dKH (Salifert)
Mag 1185 (Salifert)
Phosphate 0 (No Colour) (Salifert)
Nitrate 0 (No Colour) (Hagen)
I have not dosed anything yet today. It looks as thought my alk is a little bit higher than I expected I will try and dose 25 ml/day this week. My Mag looks like it is starting to drop as well. The reef calculator says to add 110 grams of Epsom Salt to bring it back to 1300. I will do this over two days.
FB
FB
New member
I skipped the dose on the weekend and have been adding 25ml/day of alk. I also added 1/2 cup of epsom salt over 2 days. This was not enough. I am heading out of town for the weekend. I have someone coming in to feed, topoff and dose 25 ml of alk every day.
1.026 (Refractometer)
Temp 80
Cal 560 (Salifert) My calcium decent rate has really slowed down.
Alk 10.8 dKH (Salifert)
Mag 1200 (Salifert)
Phosphate 0 (No Colour) (Salifert)
Nitrate 0 (No Colour) (Hagen)
FB
1.026 (Refractometer)
Temp 80
Cal 560 (Salifert) My calcium decent rate has really slowed down.
Alk 10.8 dKH (Salifert)
Mag 1200 (Salifert)
Phosphate 0 (No Colour) (Salifert)
Nitrate 0 (No Colour) (Hagen)
FB
