Eyore
New member
quite
so no 3rd part to explain the sulphur? (assuming used in excess)
(forgive me i know very little of american products)
interpreting Triton test results
- Thread starter bbaz123456
- Start date
quite
so no 3rd part to explain the sulphur? (assuming used in excess)
(forgive me i know very little of american products)
Yes, but that just means chloride is way low. Sodium and sulfate cannot offset each other in terms of salinity as they have opposite charges.
Eyore
New member
true
but it does mean that either what the tank started on, or what has been added is not in a ratio akin to nsw
if it was it would be reasonable to expect sulphur to be approximatley 750 from that sodium level in terms of salinity
Yes, it is certainly off, and for reasons that we do not know, but may be due to the salt mix or additives. I thought you were suggesting that it helped offset the apparent low salinity from the sodium.
Eyore
New member
Yes, it is certainly off, and for reasons that we do not know, but may be due to the salt mix or additives. I thought you were suggesting that it helped offset the apparent low salinity from the sodium.
No
tbh i was suggesting /expecting given the levels of sodium and magnesium that an excess of magnesium sulphate had been used at some point, which is why i asked re bionic
bbaz123456
New member
Definitely will stop dosing. I would add when macro growth started to slow or colors started to fade.
I was under the impression that it would be hard to overdose iron. I know you did not specifically say that in your articles regarding iron, but I figured I was being cautious by dosing much less than Kents recommended dosage.
If some macro algae is dying off would that iron be released back into the water?
I mentioned I grow the majority of it in a greenhouse...I may or may not have mentioned I live in Ohio and it is winter time. I do supplement lighting with approx an additional 1000 watts of LEDs over the winter but that does not compare to the summer sun.
I did have a major crash last winter where I lost 90% off SPS corals that I attributed to a heater malfunction but it may have been more than just that.
bbaz123456
New member
Also....my problems this year actually started late summer when I was still getting plenty of sunlight. I have never had an issue with keeping NO3 under 10ppm and PO4 under.2-.3, usually less. Now NO3 is 50+ and PO4 is 2.5ppm.
bbaz123456
New member
What would be suggestions on getting back on track? Bite the bullet and do some large water changes? I have my refractometer with me today and plan on stopping at a lfs to get some calibration solution and test against theirs
bbaz123456
New member
I may have an idea where these came from. A few years ago I had a major briopsis outbreak that I battled by raising mag levels. To do this I used epsom salt (mgso4) and mag chloride at the same ratio they occur in nsw. Like I said I am no chemist but I could guess that "s" in mgso4 means sulfur?? And they were farm grade so it is likely they had other contaminates in them.
What salt mix are you using?
bbaz123456
New member
Instant ocean. Normally I do 2 very small 50 gallon, 2%, water changes a week. The reason for that is That I have two small breeding systems that I change about 20% and put that water into the main tank.
Hmm. I use IO too and didn't have such an imbalance. The magnesium, if used in the NSW ratio should not have caused a bump in sulfate.
What ratio did you use?
What ratio did you use?
bbaz123456
New member
I looked but do not have it in my notes...that was before the flood...when I lost about 600 gallons of saltwater in my living and flooded out the basement, that notebook got tossed. But I know I just looked up the natural levels in seawater and went with that ratio
bbaz123456
New member
I tested my salinity today. 1.0200!!
I now have a bottle of refractometer cal solution in my arsenal.
What surprises me, is that I have been maintaining a somewhat healthy reef for quite a few years at that level. I am fairly certain it has always been there since I calibrated my $8 Instant ocean hydrometer against my refractometer. The hydrometer always read 1.020 but I assumed it was off by .005.
To raise salinity, would the best option be to dose pure NaCl or would it be ok to top off with mixed salt water and let evaporation do it's thing?
I now have a bottle of refractometer cal solution in my arsenal.
What surprises me, is that I have been maintaining a somewhat healthy reef for quite a few years at that level. I am fairly certain it has always been there since I calibrated my $8 Instant ocean hydrometer against my refractometer. The hydrometer always read 1.020 but I assumed it was off by .005.
To raise salinity, would the best option be to dose pure NaCl or would it be ok to top off with mixed salt water and let evaporation do it's thing?
Eyore
New member
for me, i differ
given the levels of sodium and potassium (very low), and mg ca etc
i would top up with nacl and kcl
topping up with saltwater mix will elevate everything as per the saltwater mix
admittedly previously as hobbiests we would correct low salinity with saltwater mix, however you have an icp to analyse your water- why would you not use this information? it is what it is for afterall, to use to correct.
given the levels of sodium and potassium (very low), and mg ca etc
i would top up with nacl and kcl
topping up with saltwater mix will elevate everything as per the saltwater mix
admittedly previously as hobbiests we would correct low salinity with saltwater mix, however you have an icp to analyse your water- why would you not use this information? it is what it is for afterall, to use to correct.
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