How is this possible?

[CeeGee]

Started my new tank last sunday. Mixed reef with a few Softies a few LPS and a few SPS.

My old reef was in really bad shape due to obviously incredibly high phosphate. I used a ULNS system for about 3 months that had little effect so it was time to cook my rocks. I started cooking some before starting the ULNS.

Last week I dismantled my old tank and chipped the surviving corals off the rocks and put the cooked (clean) rocks in the new tank along with the corals. I used all new reef crystal water that measured a little high in alk 10 dkh and 490 calcium (older salifert alk and seachem calcium kits).

I figured I would let the tank ride a week to let the alk and calcium drop before starting my two part to get everything where it needs to be. I tested again this afternoon and my alk was at 10.3 and my calcium was at 500. Alk was verified with the same salifert kit and a brand new lamotte kit.

How is this possible when I haven't added anything in a week?

also my water is a little cloudy even though I am running carbon in a phosban reactor and GFO as well.

anyone have any ideas?

I am trying to get started on the right track this time and keep it that way. Lost my exquisite wrasse in the process due to what seems to be immense stress. He just didn't take well to the new tank although he was perfectly healthy in the old tank for over two years

 

[Bri Guy]

With such a small change in your findings, test kit "noise" would account for that difference.

With hobby grade testing equipment you can expect some play in the results.

Or did you test twice for each both times?

And I wouldn't have changed 100% of there water, unless you acclimated them awhile.

 

[CeeGee]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14135413#post14135413 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bri Guy
With such a small change in your findings, test kit "noise" would account for that difference.

With hobby grade testing equipment you can expect some play in the results.

Or did you test twice for each both times?

And I wouldn't have changed 100% of there water, unless you acclimated them awhile.

The corals are doing fine and the fish were acclimated. Still, over a week and no significant drop in alk or calcium? That is really strange to me.

 

[MCsaxmaster]

Agreed, that wouldn't be a surprising result if there was no change in concentration. Both sets of values are (statistically) the same when accounting for testing noise. If the corals are stressed I wouldn't necessarily expect too much calcification from them, so it may well be that their calcification is small enough that it made an immeasurable dent in calcium and alkalinity.

It's also possible that low rates of dissolution in the rock were sufficient to offset low rates of calcification in the corals, especially if pH is on the low end.