what could be going on here? (water specs inside)

[sirreal63]

Phosphates yes...troubles not really. One thing that sticks out...alkalinity...that 3.5 is it dkh, meg/l or ppm?

 

[JxMetal]

I think he said that's dkh in a different thread.

 

[latazyo]

sorry, the alkalinity value is total alkalinity, the test kit said that 1 meq/L = 2.8 dkh

so my dkh value is 9.8 approximately

 

[Sk8r]

9.8 is high. But take a sample of your water to the lfs and ask them to run a battery of tests on it, in case one of your tests is off/fallen out of calibration. First be sure you're right about your readings. Alk is one of my first suspects in coral unhappiness and fish discomfort.

 

[Markk96]

I keep my SPS at ALK at 11 dKh and never have any issues.

 

[latazyo]

thanks for the information guys

Jack - I checked all pumps, no sign of rust and no submerged cable ties (no metal in them anyways)

Mark - check your forum over at slashclub

 

[sirreal63]

I keep mine between 10 and 11 and no issues.

 

[JxMetal]

my alk is around 9.5 no problems. I did have problems when I was at 6.5 though.

The only other time I had trouble with my tank is when my tds wasn't reading 0.

 

[zt444a]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10392559#post10392559 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sirreal63
I keep mine between 10 and 11 and no issues.

Got to agree, your Alk sounds fine. Mine is currently testing at about 9.8...

Look for metal and I might just chalk your hawkfish up as a loss to starvation. If all of your other levels balance, I'd do some water changing, get some phosphate remover, and see if you notice any changes...

Howard

 

[Reeferhead]

Your Alk and pH are fine. IMO, standard Phosphate kits are a waste of time. They only measure inorganic PO4 not organic PO4 or particulate PO4. Inorganic Phosphate is used up so quickly by algae that it only registers when in extremely high amounts. This is one of the reasons why countless hobbyists site huge algae problems but no registerable phosphate.

 

[DARKSILENTTYPE]

My bet is on your new salt .

John

 

[latazyo]

so ideally would I mix the half of bucket 1 with the new bucket (2) so that there is never salt from just one batch in the mix?