Water Parameters?

[sondaar]

OK guys here what I have so far:
Alk 3.43 meg/L
PH 8.2
Calcium 420
PO4 .03
SG 1.027
Temp. 80.3
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 5
Nitrite 0

Im confused on the Alkalinity. The test kit is a Salifert Alkalinity/Carbonate hardness test. The Alk transfers over to 9.9 dkh on the carbonate scale is that something to be worried about? Nitrate is probaly a little lower but my weak API test only goes in 5s.

Thanks for any advise!

 

[Sk8r]

You're a bit high alk, no great worry: it will fall, .02 high on salt, Temp good, nitrate allowable. You don't give mg. Your alk and cal will skip around without that stabilized in lock with those 2 elements. Set mg at 3x the level cal you want, plus a little. The minute it drops below that floor, the cal will allso fall---that's the way it works.
A kalk drip can maintain (but not appreciably raise) the alk/cal balance with no other dosing except mg. This means just putting 2 tsp per gallon of ro/di into your topoff water and letting topoff add the filmy (not the white) water. Ask further if you're interested. You don't need a kalk reactor, just a prop to keep your ato pump off the white goop in the bottom. Can automate your tamk dosing for weeks of no worry, particularly good when you're on the road.

 

[sondaar]

Thanks for the info Sk8r. I'm still in studing phase on making an ATO. As of now I manually add about 1.5g a day but have to get my head right on the ATO as summer is on the way. I've read that with a float valve and pump you can't have the water in your holding tank higher than the water in the return portion of you sump. Is that correct? If it is, I'll have to rig some kind of gravity ATO because water level in sump is only aroun 1' above floor level. Any info on how do that would also be greatly appreciated. Oh and I do not have a mg test kit yet.

Thanks

 

[WaterKeeper]

I'm with C.J, that looks good. Here is a good guide to the range to maintain Reef Parameters. Just remember not to go into hyperventilation if yours are a little bit low or high. Slight abnormalities are not life threatening and can be corrected with ease.