tell me if my alk and ca readings are right in tank and coming outta reactor

[murphreef]

just checkin to see how these readings are

my tank readings are now 400Ca and 8.3 dkh

i checked the effluent of the reactor and its at 470 ca and alk is off the charts so its higher than 16dkh

im using salifer test kits

my tank doesnt have tons of sps but 3 clams and one is a fast growing big squamosa

i have about 7 other pieces of sps and some other lps

is this alk supposed to be so high coming outta the reactor?

my ph in the reactor holds at 6.75 using ARM media...

im doing about 1.5 bubbles per second of co2 and about 3 drips per second of efflunet

thanks for any info

 

[wife no likey]

here is a great resource for help:

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/reactor.html

You need to determine your alk consumption over the course of a day and adjust accordingly.

Take a half sample of effluent output and then multiply the reading x2 in order to get actual alkalinity via Salifert.


Pete

 

[franklinbeens]

your tank values are ok for sps. it might be a wee bit unbalanced
on the ca. side. a little turbo ca. to bring it up a bit to 420
look at this also
http://www.kademani.com/reefchem.htm

 

[murphreef]

thanks for the sites im guna check them out and go from there

anyone else?

 

[chadfarmer]

the true test is testing than compairing the test to a week and see if it is holding, rising or falling (adjust from there)

 

[murphreef]

its been staying pretty stable since the tank was setup

staying around 400-425 ca

alks always been around high 7's to low 8's

 

[Znut Reefer]

You want to keep the alk between 8.5 to 9.0. Your sps will do alot better.
I always test my tank water for alk and adjust the CO2 as needed. JMO it's always worked well for me.

 

[murphreef]

so do i up the CO2 if i want my alk to be higher??

sorry i thought i had it set right but ive been mesn with 4 a while

 

[Znut Reefer]

Yes, just alittle at a time. Just slightly turn the knob a little bit. Wait 24 hrs and test the water from the tank. If needed adjust alittle again. You'll get it.

I just tested mine and it's reading 9.6 so I have to keep a check on it. Don't want it any higher. My ca is 460

 

[chadfarmer]

i never had good luck until i lowed mine down to 7-7.5

but every tank is different

 

[zapata41]

when testing the alk with the salifert kit, once the first syringe is empty, fill it back up and keep dripping until you get a color change. my effluent runs about 50dkh out of the reactor, takes a lot of test solution to get the dkh to turn pink so i rarely test it. znut told you a good way to test everything out. for me when i need to up the alk in the tank i lower the reactor ph. i have found that increasing the drip rate over a fast fast drip, similar to yours, doesnt bring the alk up in the display. usually i have to lower my reactor ph about once a month and i ahve to drop it down a tenth each time. running at 6.2 right now. just go slow sine some media will melt at low ph's

Tim