parameters

ih8needles · Jun 27, 2015

tested my water yesterday and got these readings;

salinity 1.025
ph 8.0
alk 6.6
cal 450
phosphate .11
nitrate 80
mag 1440

just started dosing nopox 2 days ago to help with the nitrates and phos. other then lowering my nitrates what else would you say is outta wack?
should i start dosing something else? i will be making water today for a 10g water change tomorrow. my tank is a 50 cube with swc 120 skimmer, cheato and miracle mud in the fuge.

i have done water changes twice a week and my nitrates will not drop for some reason. i have checked everywhere for something dying and do not see anything.

TankMasta · Jun 27, 2015

Alk is low should be at least 8

ih8needles · Jun 27, 2015

TankMasta said:

yes but not sure what to use to bring it up, as i am trying to lower nitrates also.

watchguy123 · Jun 27, 2015

Ummm, your alk is below normal sea water. Common alk range for many reefers is 8-9, some lower and some higher but probably most aim for that. Typically, 7.5 would be the very bottom edge of anyone's range. Sometimes with Calcium at 450, it may be difficult to increase alk so you may want to lower CA to 420-430 or so. However, two really important points to keep in mind 1.) reef test kits are prone to error, have a wide range of accuracy and each brand has its pros and cons so be very meticulous with your testing 2.) Stability overshadows goal numbers.

This is an old but pretty informative article on parameters: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

TankMasta · Jun 27, 2015

I used the alk and soda ash from brs.. works pretty good

watchguy123 · Jun 27, 2015

ih8needles said:

alk and nitrates not really related. If your are dosing easy to adjust, if your are using CA reactor increase either bubble rate or effluent, and if you are using water changes, make sure you are mixing your salt appropriately or try a brand with higher dKh.

ih8needles · Jun 27, 2015

TankMasta said:

i will look into it thanks.

watchguy123 said:

the only thing that gets dosed into my tank as of this moment is the nopox stuff. i do not have any reactors(not sure what to run). i am using red sea pro salt mix, i mix to what it says on the container. thanks for the link i will read it after the hunny do chores!

watchguy123 · Jun 27, 2015

Red Sea Pro salt should get you dKh over 12 so maybe you just need to retest your alk. Hanna checker for alk is my favorite but salifert makes a nice test kit but everyone seems to have a favorite.

ih8needles · Jun 27, 2015

watchguy123 said:

The tests were done using hanna and salifert kits.

xmas_one · Jun 27, 2015

I would suggest you quit testing altogether, stop nopox and just make weekly WCs your religion. I chased numbers for a year with my last tank, I'm convinced it's counterproductive to running a stable, successful system.

ih8needles · Jun 27, 2015

xmas_one said:

What? Don't test water? So weekly 10g water changes is ok?

newtothis · Jun 27, 2015

RSCP do have high dkh, but if your alk is low I would say to stir the salt first before mixing and test the water prior to doing your WC. RSCP are known to give inaccurate levels if you dont stir the salt prior

ih8needles · Jun 27, 2015

newtothis said:

You mean stir up the salt in the bucket? I have some water and salt mixing already. Should I test alk?

ih8needles · Jun 27, 2015

Just tested my water change water and it was at 9 dkh. I am going to test tank alk and nitrates in 2 hours or so, since I just did a 10g water change.

ih8needles · Jun 27, 2015

Tests came out to 9dkh for alk and my nitrates still at 80

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