Aquarium Chemistry Question? Ask the Doctor!

[Lp1977]

Need Help my sps are slowly bleaching and dying from base up and some have tissue loss at tips with slow progression. Just got ICP and AG Silver 0.3308 and BR 81.23 with a Fiji reference of 0.001???? what could possibly make it that high and is this what is causing the stress??? Try not to run ULN so I dose with nitrates hovering around 12 or so and Po4 is noted in test. There are no blocks in my fuge and I don't dose anything but feed AB+ every other day or so. Use reactor for alk and calcium. Alk steady at 9

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Need Help my sps are slowly bleaching and dying from base up and some have tissue loss at tips with slow progression. Just got ICP and AG Silver 0.3308 and BR 81.23 with a Fiji reference of 0.001???? what could possibly make it that high and is this what is causing the stress??? Try not to run ULN so I dose with nitrates hovering around 12 or so and Po4 is noted in test. There are no blocks in my fuge and I don't dose anything but feed AB+ every other day or so. Use reactor for alk and calcium. Alk steady at 9

I don't think either of those (silver or bromide) are the issue, and in general, I do not have confidence in this company. The bromide is only a bit above natural levels (35 ppt seawater has 67 ppm). I suspect the silver is not really that high, unless you have added it somehow.

 

[Lp1977]

I don't think either of those (silver or bromide) are the issue, and in general, I do not have confidence in this company. The bromide is only a bit above natural levels (35 ppt seawater has 67 ppm). I suspect the silver is not really that high, unless you have added it somehow.

yeah was already gonna try ATI or triton, need to know at this point. Somethings going on and I can't finger it. Thanks for the reply and I hate to pester but if the silver level is true what would have been add or could possibly be the cause? I've searched and can't find pertaining info on AG Silver pertaining to aquariums.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

yeah was already gonna try ATI or triton, need to know at this point. Somethings going on and I can't finger it. Thanks for the reply and I hate to pester but if the silver level is true what would have been add or could possibly be the cause? I've searched and can't find pertaining info on AG Silver pertaining to aquariums.

I've never heard of someone having elevated silver. Certain medications have colloidal silver, but I don't know if they are ever used in aquaria.

 

[Bpfor3]

I dose Aquaforest 1, 2, and 3 in my 150 gallon mixed reef. about 180 total gallons. My calcium consumption is about 8 ppm per day. when I use the aqua forest calculator it is telling me I need to add 311ml per day to make up for the 8 ppm lost. I currently dose 80 ml per day. this just seems way off to me. The total of the aqua forest container is 5000 ml. just seems odd. based on these calculations I would go through it in 16 days. Any insight appreciated.

 

[Gonzo74]

Don’t use the calculator. I have a 150 gallons also and does 210 a day. I never used the calculator, I went off my own consumption and addition.

also, much cheaper to buy the ingredients and make it yourself.

 

[Bpfor3]

Don’t use the calculator. I have a 150 gallons also and does 210 a day. I never used the calculator, I went off my own consumption and addition.

also, much cheaper to buy the ingredients and make it yourself.

Thanks for the reply. I’m just lazy and was
Hoping to avoid that but I’m cheaper than I am lazy.

 

[Gonzo74]

Don’t use the calculator. I have a 150 gallons also and does 210 a day. I never used the calculator, I went off my own consumption and addition.

also, much cheaper to buy the ingredients and make it yourself.

Thanks for the reply. I’m just lazy and was
Hoping to avoid that but I’m cheaper than I am lazy.

it took me 4 minutes to make the calcium mix today. It does not take long to make.

 

[duberii]

Is it true that GH-KH~Magnesium? Of course it would simply be an estimation but I'm sure it would be a good starting point for reefers who want to test magnesium

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Is it true that GH-KH~Magnesium? Of course it would simply be an estimation but I'm sure it would be a good starting point for reefers who want to test magnesium

No, that is not true.

GH in seawater is the sum of calcium and magnesium and strontium (and a few much more minor contributions), rolled into a very strange unit that is hard to disentangle.

 

[Futuretotm]

@Randy Holmes-Farley
Are products that bind metals ie Cuprisorb, just deionization resin in fancy packaging?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

@Randy Holmes-Farley
Are products that bind metals ie Cuprisorb, just deionization resin in fancy packaging?

I'm not sure exactly what polymer they use, but it is likely different than many ion exchange resins. Many cation exchange resins will be sulfonic acid salts, which are not good for heavy metal specificity in the presence of large amounts of sodium, calcium, and magnesium.

It may be soemthing like a Dowex chelating resin:

https://www.dupont.com/content/dam/dupont/amer/us/en/water-solutions/public/documents/en/45-D01449-en.pdf

Copper Recovery Using Chelating Resins. Chelating resins are available which have functionality based on picolylamine derivatives (DOWEX M4195 and developmental chelating resin XFS 43084). These functionalities form very strong complexes with various transition metals, and particularly so with copper, even at low pH.

Wikipedia discusses the concept here:

Chelating resin - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Futuretotm]

I'm not sure exactly what polymer they use, but it is likely different than many ion exchange resins. Many cation exchange resins will be sulfonic acid salts, which are not good for heavy metal specificity in the presence of large amounts of sodium, calcium, and magnesium.

It may be soemthing like a Dowex chelating resin:

https://www.dupont.com/content/dam/dupont/amer/us/en/water-solutions/public/documents/en/45-D01449-en.pdf

Copper Recovery Using Chelating Resins. Chelating resins are available which have functionality based on picolylamine derivatives (DOWEX M4195 and developmental chelating resin XFS 43084). These functionalities form very strong complexes with various transition metals, and particularly so with copper, even at low pH.

Wikipedia discusses the concept here:

Chelating resin - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

thank you for the detailed reply

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

thank you for the detailed reply

You're welcome.

Happy Reefing.

 

[K1ng]

I have a 220 gallon with an 80 gallon sump. Ive estimated that my total volume after rock displacement and all that that im sitting around 180 gallons on the safe side. My alkalinity is 6.4 and calcium is 480. I have bought 2 part dosing (soda ash and calcium chloride). I dont have a magnesium test kit but I will get one. Ive used a calculator to determine how much soda ash I need to raise my alk to 6.9. Im shooting for 0.5 alk raise a day. Do I throw the recommended dose all in at once and do I only dose the the alk for the moment until I reach my desired levels?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have a 220 gallon with an 80 gallon sump. Ive estimated that my total volume after rock displacement and all that that im sitting around 180 gallons on the safe side. My alkalinity is 6.4 and calcium is 480. I have bought 2 part dosing (soda ash and calcium chloride). I dont have a magnesium test kit but I will get one. Ive used a calculator to determine how much soda ash I need to raise my alk to 6.9. Im shooting for 0.5 alk raise a day. Do I throw the recommended dose all in at once and do I only dose the the alk for the moment until I reach my desired levels?

I don't understand that last sentence, but dosing 0.25 dKH in the morning and the same in the evening is a fine plan, then see what happens in the future and dose more accordingly.

 

[K1ng]

Sorry about the last sentence. Should I only be dosing alkalinity until I reach my desired levels?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sorry about the last sentence. Should I only be dosing alkalinity until I reach my desired levels?

It's fine to dose just alk for a while, then dose both, or just dose both. The benefit of a two part is it allows you to dose based on alk readings and avoid a roller coaster that often comes from constantly jiggering the calcium dosing.

 

[canadianeh]

According to Trident test my Alk is 7.41. Cal is 522 and Mag is 1345.

First question, if I dose only Alk to bring it to 8 - 8.5 level, will this effect Calcium level in anyway?
Second, what is acceptable normal Alk swing? I never get the same Alk test result from Trident. I don't dose anything right now.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

According to Trident test my Alk is 7.41. Cal is 522 and Mag is 1345.

First question, if I dose only Alk to bring it to 8 - 8.5 level, will this effect Calcium level in anyway?
Second, what is acceptable normal Alk swing? I never get the same Alk test result from Trident. I don't dose anything right now.

No, it will not impact calcium.

it may impact demand for alk and calcium going forward, but an alk addition has no immediate impact on calcium.

There is no "normal" for alk swing. Daily alk demand is usually 0.5 to 3 dKH per day. The swing varies with how often you supplement. I'd try to keep it stable within a 0.5 dKH range.