Water Parameters

[robalv]

OK, having some high reading even after water changes, did 25 gallon water change last night , kh went down from 20 but calcium stayed the same.
tank footprint 60x18x24 plus sump 35x15x12 roughly 150 gallons
API Test kit

Salinity 1.023
PH 8.4
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
ammonia 0
phosphate 0.5
calcium 500
kh 15


I am running a phosban reactor, skimmer and using ro/di any suggestions to bring ph,kh and calcium down.... thanks in advance...

[Neptune@gabesfish]

why do you want to bring it down?

[robalv]

why do you want to bring it down?

thought they were a little on the high side ...
thanks for the info Gabe...

[StevenSeas]

what salt mix are u using? kh is a lil on the high side imo. my speculation is that you dont have enough strontium and magnesium in your tank which is making it so your inverts cant absorb the calcium. (these three get taken up in an ionic ratio, w/o 1 u dont get absorbtion) Problem is if you add strontium and mag u might make calc precip out due to the high kh value. b/c water can only be soo saturated with minerals. just my guess. so i think bring down your kh to 8-12 preferably, then does mag and strontium would be my course of action.

[robalv]

what salt mix are u using? kh is a lil on the high side imo. my speculation is that you dont have enough strontium and magnesium in your tank which is making it so your inverts cant absorb the calcium. (these three get taken up in an ionic ratio, w/o 1 u dont get absorbtion) Problem is if you add strontium and mag u might make calc precip out due to the high kh value. b/c water can only be soo saturated with minerals. just my guess. so i think bring down your kh to 8-12 preferably, then does mag and strontium would be my course of action.

Thanks Steve,

Oceanic have a little bit left before I go to reef crystals or something around that. was dosing kalk all last week as top off dripping 1 per sec. with my home made dosing system I made from an IV works sweet. can make more if anyone is interested.... pics in a bit

[StevenSeas]

ya that kalk was probably a shock to your system if you started it right away... (idk its possible right) what kalk mix are you using? I recently became a fan of Brightwells Kalk 2+ (its Kalk so calcium hydroxide plus strontium and magnisium) all in one all of which are in the proper ionic ratio so you limit what additives are needed and decrease risk of over dosing. IMO i would stick w/ the Oceanic or go to just Instant Ocean, RC seems to me to be too high in calc which is a prob for you right now. I know there are charts out there w/ the break downs of the "indgredents" of our salt mixes just dont have time to search for it (supposed to be studyin o-chem lol) Where did u get your IV system for kalk? I am currently runnin the most ghetto rig to drip mine, (and it isnt even good at doing it) and was thinkin of makin one outta acrylic or just buying the lil dripper made for keeping up the humidity in tanks that have chameleons and stuff. might be worth my time to check out this IV system of yours lol only have to does 26 ml of my kalk a night might be over kill... but then I can just dilute it and lower the risk of pH jumps right.... anyways im lookin forward to those pics and there is my advice as to what i would do if it were my tank.

[StevenSeas]

rob - just ran some math (have no idea if its right or not but seems like it should be) but I would do 2x more 10-15 gallon water changes over the course of the next week. but not all at once of course cuz you dont want another huge drop in kh in case your pH decides to swing and plus more stability and less change is good once your numbers are good, and even more important when trying to get there so your fish dont go to shock

[robalv]

ya that kalk was probably a shock to your system if you started it right away... (idk its possible right) what kalk mix are you using? I recently became a fan of Brightwells Kalk 2+ (its Kalk so calcium hydroxide plus strontium and magnisium) all in one all of which are in the proper ionic ratio so you limit what additives are needed and decrease risk of over dosing. IMO i would stick w/ the Oceanic or go to just Instant Ocean, RC seems to me to be too high in calc which is a prob for you right now. I know there are charts out there w/ the break downs of the "indgredents" of our salt mixes just dont have time to search for it (supposed to be studyin o-chem lol) Where did u get your IV system for kalk? I am currently runnin the most ghetto rig to drip mine, (and it isnt even good at doing it) and was thinkin of makin one outta acrylic or just buying the lil dripper made for keeping up the humidity in tanks that have chameleons and stuff. might be worth my time to check out this IV system of yours lol only have to does 26 ml of my kalk a night might be over kill... but then I can just dilute it and lower the risk of pH jumps right.... anyways im lookin forward to those pics and there is my advice as to what i would do if it were my tank.

made it myself was thinking about making a few and putting up for sale I think they go for about 60 bucks or so. but I found a way to do it for less.. check it out.. let me know what you think...

[robalv]

By the way I am using th same kalk

[StevenSeas]

looks to be pretty sweet, only no way that is gonna fit where i want it to. I am wanting it to go in the right side of my tank on the filter side of the false wall where my fuge is. my canopy gives me bout 6 inches of height...maybe and then i have about a 6x6 footprint of where it can sit and drip down. so thats gonna be a no on the made up one, maybe you could post pics of the conponents and i check out if i would wanna pick some up and make my own settup for an acrylic and eggcrate setup.