My numbers are through the roof.

[BrianB]

Ok so first off I havent been the best in the world about testing my water. PH, salinity are all I really checked often. Well lately I have been gaining interest in the chemistry of reef tanks.

 

And so it begings. As the current BRS group buy came i decided it was time to be more proactive, so i bought some 2 part, some kalk and some of the new redsea test kits.

 

So now before making up any 2 part i finally had some free time today so i checked my current levels.

 

Now this is wbere a bit of concern comes in. Current calcium to high to measure, Alk 7 DKH, and mag too high to measure.

 

I wanted to make sure i didnt get a bad batch of test kits so off to my closest fish store to verify my results. Sure enough my measurements were indeed correct. Now comes the part about what to worry about. I am thinking several med water changes over the course.of the next 5 days and then retest and go from there. Any thoughts opinions, comments, or smart *** replys about my bad husbantry are welcomed.

[Burningbaal]

I'd check a batch of freshly made up saltwater before you bother doing lots of water changes...if those levels are high, check some freshwater (note the scale may be different w/o salt in the water)...if the FW is fine but the NSW is not, your salt is to blame, if the FW is high, you need to look into the RO/DI situation

[BrianB]

I run a 5 stage ro/di unit, I have 0 tds water to start with. As far as salt i use Kent marine. And spg is 1.025.

[matty]

How long has it been since you did a water change? Are you dosing? I think your plan sounds solid. Small water changes with frequent testing. Don't go to fast.

[reefnjunkie]

If the corals are all looking good, I would not worry about getting things dialed into any specific numbers.

 

Corals really adapt better than people thing, its the swings that stress them out to the point of melting etc.

 

Keeping the KH stable is key and although 7 is low for me, if its a number they are used to and all is looking good dont worry.

 

I would however GRADUALLY bring up the KH to whatever you want and the calcium will slowly drop as will the mag.

 

Again the key being if things look ok they are, 7 is not a number to freak on, and if the calcium is around 600 I would not worry about that either, granted I would want it to drop, but I would not start wasting salt by doing drastic water changes, same with mag.

 

thats my 2 cents worth

[BrianB]

Ok that helps alot. Ty Brad. Always helpful..

[Electrokate]

Kent salt made for reefs I have been getting lately has the calcium at least at 550 if not more, and they did that on purpose, it's not a "bad batch". It's annoying to burn through a bunch of test kit reagent on it.

[Jeramy]

I am experiencing similar resu;ts with high calcium and kent I dont have enough lps or sps to use all of it mine stays in the high fives I have stopped testing my calcium because it never goes down. I do have to dose to keep my alk up other wise it would be in the 7s. I have been using part b of the two part kent stuff to maintain my alk at 9