Parameters help

[foley588]

Hey everyone, once again I am asking for some help. I am measuring my parameters and honestly they don’t make much sense to me. So about 2 weeks ago I tested and my parameters were as follows: Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0 Ca 280 Mg 1200 KH 6.2 Specific Gravity 1.025

I went to the LFS and got them retested. Everything was the same except for calc and KH. They were 390 and 6.4 respectively. I got Red Sea reef foundations and started dosing for ca, mg, and KH.

I did the max recommended dosage for one day. I waited a day and then sampled again with the following parameters:

Gravity 1.025 Salinity 34 NH3 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 0 Ca 350 Mg 1300 KH 6.8 pH 8.2

So I added the recommended again. Today I sampled and my parameters were KH 8.7 Mg 1200 Ca 340

This was one day after the last addition. I feel like my parameters shouldn’t be going down this fast? Am I messing up the tests. I’m using the Red Sea testing. I have a torch coral, a bta, a ricordia, a lepto, and a goni in a 20 gallon. Basically I am asking if my readings make sense or if I am messing up the analyses. Any insight would be super appreciated. Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I'd stop dosing calcium for the moment, since it may already be quite high now.

What salt mix are you using?

Try your test kits on some new salt water to get a handle on whether they are accurate.

I'm wondering, for example, if you may be reading a calcium titration syringe backwards?

 

[foley588]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I'd stop dosing calcium for the moment, since it may already be quite high now.

What salt mix are you using?

Try your test kits on some new salt water to get a handle on whether they are accurate.

I'm wondering, for example, if you may be reading a calcium titration syringe backwards?

Thanks! Tons of good info on here it is almost overwhelming. I haven’t dosed in three days. He uses either instant ocean or pro reef. He does say he uses the inexpensive salts. But he also uses the same for his tanks and he doesn’t dose. I will test their water and check what the parameters are. I don’t think that I am reading it backwards. I normally triple check my numbers and then redo it to make sure. Also, in college I was a chem major so I have done a fair share of titrations. Would you recommend doing a water change and starting from there?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks! Tons of good info on here it is almost overwhelming. I haven’t dosed in three days. He uses either instant ocean or pro reef. He does say he uses the inexpensive salts. But he also uses the same for his tanks and he doesn’t dose. I will test their water and check what the parameters are. I don’t think that I am reading it backwards. I normally triple check my numbers and then redo it to make sure. Also, in college I was a chem major so I have done a fair share of titrations. Would you recommend doing a water change and starting from there?

Many people read the Salifert syringe backwards because the instructions are not clear to everyone. It's not lack of knowing how to titrate, but how to get the value when done. Be sure that a near full syringe of titrant added to get tot eh color end point means high calcium, not low calcium.

I would not recommend a water change yet. I would recommend tesing either of those two salt mixes for calcium to validate the test.

There's no simple way for calcium to get down to 200 ppm. It takes a concerted effort of extensive alk dosing and no calcium.

 

[jimk60]

How old is your tank and how long have you had your torch? How do the corals look? I would not expect the torch especially to look good at all under these parameters.

 

[jimk60]

Also there's numerous YouTube videos on proper testing procedures. Just saying

 

[foley588]

Many people read the Salifert syringe backwards because the instructions are not clear to everyone. It's not lack of knowing how to titrate, but how to get the value when done. Be sure that a near full syringe of titrant added to get tot eh color end point means high calcium, not low calcium.

I would not recommend a water change yet. I would recommend tesing either of those two salt mixes for calcium to validate the test.

There's no simple way for calcium to get down to 200 ppm. It takes a concerted effort of extensive alk dosing and no calcium.

Ok thanks. I will get their water today and test it. I’m currently using a Red Sea reef testing kit. I can’t remember exactly how many ml of torrent I added but it was definitely low. Less than .4. I will continue to retest. Could the kit be bad?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Also there's numerous YouTube videos on proper testing procedures. Just saying

I agree there are many good reefing videos around, but there are also some not good videos around. The advantage of a live forum is that bad info can be corrected by other members, an action that does not happen with videos and blogs.

 

[jimk60]

I agree there are many good reefing videos around, but there are also some not good videos around. The advantage of a live forum is that bad info can be corrected by other members, an action that does not happen with videos and blogs.

I agree that there's a lot of bad info around so I should have been more specific. Red Sea has posted videos on you tube on how to do proper testing with their kits. BRS also has videos on red sea, salifert and Hanna on you tube.

 

[jimk60]

Ok thanks. I will get their water today and test it. I’m currently using a Red Sea reef testing kit. I can’t remember exactly how many ml of torrent I added but it was definitely low. Less than .4. I will continue to retest. Could the kit be bad?

Yes test kits can be bad or expired. That's why I asked how your corals looked. If everything looks good that could mean inaccurate test results

 

[foley588]

How old is your tank and how long have you had your torch? How do the corals look? I would not expect the torch especially to look good at all under these parameters.

The tank is about 6 months old. I have had the torch for about a month, and it looks great. I will upload a picture later. All of my coral look healthy and are all growing pretty well.

 

[foley588]

Yes test kits can be bad or expired. That's why I asked how your corals looked. If everything looks good that could mean inaccurate test results

The corals all look good to me. I will post a picture when i get home from work.

 

[foley588]

I agree there are many good reefing videos around, but there are also some not good videos around. The advantage of a live forum is that bad info can be corrected by other members, an action that does not happen with videos and blogs.

I have watched the videos on the red sea kit and i am reading it correctly. I will bring a sample to my lfs to verify.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I agree that there's a lot of bad info around so I should have been more specific. Red Sea has posted videos on you tube on how to do proper testing with their kits. BRS also has videos on red sea, salifert and Hanna on you tube.

Ok, yes, the Red Sea videos would be a good place to go.

 

[foley588]

The corals all look good to me. I will post a picture when i get home from work.

 

[foley588]

How old is your tank and how long have you had your torch? How do the corals look? I would not expect the torch especially to look good at all under these parameters.

I posted some pictures of my coral. In your opinion does everything look happy/healthy?

 

[Uncle99]

Look fine to me. Good extension, nice bubbles on that nem.

Nitrate very hard to get to zero.

I had no luck with the tests your using, fluctuating widely.
Low MG if true can result in fluctuations in AlK and CA testing. Bump that first to 1350-1450 and retest.

I’ve had great luck over years with these:
Hanna Alk, HR nitrate and UL Phosphorus or Phosphate.
Salifert or Aquaforest for MG and CA.

 

[foley588]

Look fine to me. Good extension, nice bubbles on that nem.

Nitrate very hard to get to zero.

I had no luck with the tests your using, fluctuating widely.
Low MG if true can result in fluctuations in AlK and CA testing. Bump that first to 1350-1450 and retest.

I’ve had great luck over years with these:
Hanna Alk, HR nitrate and UL Phosphorus or Phosphate.
Salifert or Aquaforest for MG and CA.

Thanks so much for your help

 

[jimk60]

I posted some pictures of my coral. In your opinion does everything look happy/healthy?

Yes I would agree that your tank and corals look good. No red flags for bad parameters. Follow the advice given and get a second test from LFS.