whats everyone keeping their water parameters at?

[verynewatthis]

been messing with mine all day...and im pulling my hair out...if yall could be so kind as to list yours, that would be great. All i need is...

Ph
Cal
Alk
Mag

Sometimes you have to go back to the basics and ask.

Ty so very much..

rich

Stay Cav

[apedroza]

pH 8.3
Calcium 480
alk 9dkh
Mag is around 1300

[glennr1978]

ph - 8.1-8.2
Ca - 420
alk - swings from 9 to 10 dkh per 24 hours.
mg - 1350

[Texreefer]

The following are desired levels and what an acceptable range would be
SG 1.024 1.02-1.026
Temp 78 75-82
Alk 4meq/l 2meq/l - 6meq/l
CA 420ppm 200ppm - 450ppm
PH 8.2 7.8 - 8.6
Ammonia and Nitrite Zero
Nitrates <5ppm up to 50ppm

[verynewatthis]

i dont know what is going wrong. my basic problem is my ph..its at 7.7 or just below. i did add alk yesterday, so i guess ill wait and see how the tank acks. Ill wait tell mid day to test again today. here is what i was at yesterday.

PH 7.7 ish
Cal 425
alk 9.5
mag 1410

oh ya...i use Salfert test kits,...i know someone was going to ask if i was using a probe..lol

ty

rich

Stay Cav

[glennr1978]

i dont know what is going wrong. my basic problem is my ph..its at 7.7 or just below. i did add alk yesterday, so i guess ill wait and see how the tank acks. Ill wait tell mid day to test again today. here is what i was at yesterday.

PH 7.7 ish
Cal 425
alk 9.5
mag 1410

oh ya...i use Salfert test kits,...i know someone was going to ask if i was using a probe..lol

ty

rich

Stay Cav


so long as it's stable, it's probably okay. A little on the low side, but still okay.

[verynewatthis]

im going to check the ph now and at mid day to see how much it moves...

[verynewatthis]

yup yup....just tested it again and its at 7.7ish...im going nuts here....But it is morning...well see at 1200

[Texreefer]

Put an airstone in your sump or point a powerhead at the surface to get some agitation see if that helps

[klondike4001]

Ph 8.2
Cal 310ppm
Alk 11 dkh
Mag 1380

[verynewatthis]

Well my tank is only 58 G....i run a 20L sump with a ER-180 (HUGE i know) Bigger is better right..lol....and the tank has 2 Koralia #3's pointing upwards...my surface moves like crazy...so i dont think im low on air...hmm
its 10:00 and so far no change in Ph...

[Third Coast Tropical]

what are you using to adjust your pH?

[verynewatthis]

Okay...here is the latest.....First ...im using two part for dosing....and alk to raise ph..but now this is what i have..tested at 2:30pm

ph 7.8
cal 395
alk is 9.3-------matched cal should be 425ish
mag is 1400

So...now my plan is going to be to raise both ...cal and alk...cuz the cal is 30ish low..and see what happens...../fingers crossed...
im going to shoot for

ph 8+
cal 430
alk 10

i know i should only do .5 a day on alk...but .7 is close...lol..

rich

[kkralicek]

ph - 7.8-8.2
cal - 450-520
nitrate - 0
nitrite - 0
ammonia - 0
Dkh - 8
Salinity - 1.023-1.025
Temp - 80

I dose iodine 1 drop 2 times a week for my 14 gal biocube and put 1 1/2 tsp of DT's mag in 1 times a week. I do not have a mag or iodine test kit though.

[verynewatthis]

Well it looks like i messed up my math somewhere....as of 6 pm...tests read

Ph 8.0
Cal 450
Alk 10.6.....ops...to much
Mag 1400

lifted the Alk a bit to much....i know the ph is up cuz i dosed Alk...but it only came up to 8....so i know that wont last....hmm.....kinda getting upset now...

rich

[kkralicek]

Dkh is ok till around 12. A good range is between 8-12. The higher the Dkh is the better the coraline will grow though.

[verynewatthis]

ya, i dont mind high ALk...i just didnt want to raise it so fast...

So i came up with a new idea...and it has already made the wife upset....
been doing some reading online...and maybe i have to much C02 in the house...and maybe that is adding to my prob....i do have a new house that im sure is close to air tight...so i thought...why not open all the windows and doors and try and get some new O2 in the house...and see what that does...it may not raise the ph much...but as long as id dosent drop to much tonight ill be happy...will update when i learn more...

rich

[apedroza]

Put an airstone in your sump or point a powerhead at the surface to get some agitation see if that helps

Why not just do what Mike suggested?? It will put O2 in your tank faster, and keep the wife happy.

[verynewatthis]

Okay here goes….i hope this doesn’t sound like im trying to be smart…
trust me …im far from smart

The reason I didn’t do what he said is because I have a huge skimmer…
and that is nothing more then a big airstone in a cup. So air is being
pumped in..

Water flow is okay with 2 Koralia 3’s in the tank. They point up already
and total 1700G of flow in a 58G tank. .thats nearly 30times the water
volume per hr. So I think im okay on flow.

I think you may have misunderstood why I opened the house up. I was
trying to get CO2 out. In outside air the carbon dioxide is at 350 ppm or so…
..inside a house that is well sealed it can get much higher. If this is my case
the carbon dioxide can dissolves into water( when being pumped in)and it
becomes carbonic acid. {Carbonic Acid kills Ph} So If air in my house has to
much C02 in it, it wouldn’t mater how much air I pump in my tank. Because it
would keep doing the same thing. Thus killing my Ph. So that was why I
vented out my house.

But that didn’t last to long before the wife said my test was done.

So my next test will be to take a gallon of water out of my tank and test the Ph.
Then take it out to the back yard with a small air pump and pump it full of
clean outside air. I will let it run for a hr or so and see if the ph goes up. If it
goes up, then I know what the problem is. If not, who knows.

I will keep you posted of what I find out.

V/R
Rich

Stay Cav

[Bill S]

Also note that it DOES take 24-48 hours to stabilize things after adding chemicals. Don't be in a rush...

[verynewatthis]

okay.. the latest..

at 11 am this morning i took 2 cups of water out of my tank. for two tests.

one as a control and one to test.
i put the fisrt cup next to my tank and put a airstone inside it and let it run.

the 2nd i took outside and did the same thing with fresh air.

just got done testing both.

both started at a ph of 8
the one inside didnt change at all, the one outside went up to 8.2...hmm...i will give them a hr or so more and test again....ill post what i get.

rich

Stay Cav

[verynewatthis]

tested at 2hrs.

Cup one inside is testing at 8.1

cup two outside is testing at 8.3

hmm....might have to pump air from outside to my skimmer...dont know yet..going to keep testing thu the day.

rich

Stay Cav

[Aquapod24]

This is the same problem I am having....I also have a new house. I read the same thread here and on reef central about too much CO2 in an airtight home and not enough outside oxygen exchange. My alk(dkh) is at 13 yet my ph is at 7.9. All I am using to try to raise PH is Kent Superbuffer. As I can see the dkh increases but ph stays the same. HMMMM. :confused: