fishmanmike01 Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 So testing results have me a tad confused lately. Alk. 101, 5.6 dkh / Hanna Ultra low phos. 8 / Hanna Calcium. 569 / Hanna Mag 1120 / Red Sea. The calcium is high is it not? How can it even get that high without alk following being its dosed via a reactor? Any help is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 Nobody? I'm sure someone's been here before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsonmfg Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 (edited) I'd re-test with different kits compare, then come back with your results. Is that .08 or .8 on the phosphate? Edited June 14, 2015 by Arsonmfg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 (edited) I'd re-test with different kits compare, then come back with your results. Is that .08 or .8 on the phosphate? 8. It's parts per billion. The calcium checker is brand new and 4 tests all read the same. Edited June 14, 2015 by fishmanmike01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 I'm not super savvy on it, but I've picked up some stuff from Randy Holmes. When the alk drops too fast, I think the calcium shoots up because it can't be utilized at a proper rate. Something like that. Increasing mag will help stabilize things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsonmfg Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 Maybe I'm just having a total brain fart here but if you convert 8 ppb to ppm which is the traditional measurement of phosphates that would make it .008 which a checker isn't capable of measuring that low... Your mag is low, which will lead to calcium and alk imbalances, although I don't know if it's necessary low enough to cause that major of an imbalance. Think of the the big three as a teeter totter, ALK on one side and CAL on the other with MAG in the middle, if the MAG get's too low the teeter totter doesn't work properly and you can see what you're seeing. My guess is that you started with low alk when you fired up your reactor... When was the last time you tested and what were the results? I'd raise your mag to 1300 and you could supplement your alk with a buffer, baking soda or kent super buffer or the like to get things back in balance and go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 Maybe I'm just having a total brain fart here but if you convert 8 ppb to ppm which is the traditional measurement of phosphates that would make it .008 which a checker isn't capable of measuring that low... Your mag is low, which will lead to calcium and alk imbalances, although I don't know if it's necessary low enough to cause that major of an imbalance. Think of the the big three as a teeter totter, ALK on one side and CAL on the other with MAG in the middle, if the MAG get's too low the teeter totter doesn't work properly and you can see what you're seeing. My guess is that you started with low alk when you fired up your reactor... When was the last time you tested and what were the results? I'd raise your mag to 1300 and you could supplement your alk with a buffer, baking soda or kent super buffer or the like to get things back in balance and go from there. It's an ultra low phosphorus checker. It's testing for phosphorous not phosphate. Range is 0-200 PPB. Much more accurate. I test every weekend. Alk has always been a bit low as you guessed however the calcium has been on a steady very slow rise. What's best for raising mag? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexinverts Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 Don't worry about the high Calcium---Worry about the low Alk. High Calcium does not usually cause issues, whereas low Ca, and high or low Alk will. I agree that you should raise your Mag to 1300-1350-ish and then try to raising your Alk. The Ca should eventually balance out, on the teeter totter that Arson mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsonmfg Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 Kent Tech M is an easy way to get your Mag back up... Just a heads up so people that don't know the conversion, you should post your po4 corrected to PPM so people will understand. .8 ppm would be like if a couple people took a dump in your tank lol. For those that don't understand the conversion it's done like this. In this case ---> 8 x 3.066 = 24.528 now divide that by 1000 = .024528 Anyways, keep a close eye on your ph as you raise your alk and do it slowly, no more than 1 - 1.5 dkh per day is what I would recommend but definitely get that back up to a acceptable level. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 Kent Tech M is an easy way to get your Mag back up... Just a heads up so people that don't know the conversion, you should post your po4 corrected to PPM so people will understand. .8 ppm would be like if a couple people took a dump in your tank lol. For those that don't understand the conversion it's done like this. In this case ---> 8 x 3.066 = 24.528 now divide that by 1000 = .024528 Anyways, keep a close eye on your ph as you raise your alk and do it slowly, no more than 1 - 1.5 dkh per day is what I would recommend but definitely get that back up to a acceptable level. Haha. I've only pooped in my tank once. lol. Thanks for the help. I figured mag was a tad low but really wondered if the reactor was to blame as I have it set. I will bring up mag first then bring up alk. Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsonmfg Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 Haha. I've only pooped in my tank once. lol. Thanks for the help. I figured mag was a tad low but really wondered if the reactor was to blame as I have it set. I will bring up mag first then bring up alk. Thanks guys. Anytime! Definitely get that Alk up if you've got corals, you're in the danger zone at 5.6! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 Could this be why a lot of my corals color seem dull? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsonmfg Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 Depends on the corals, if it's sps I'd be concerned about them starting to RTN. Lack of color can be lots of things... get your numbers in order then we can try to figure out the dull colors. Right now you just need to have your chemistry straight so things will live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 Take some water up to Upscales and have them test it there before you start adding anything to the tank, I dont use my Hannah calcium checker it always test 600. You could always send in a Triton or AWT and see what they come back as. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 It's an ultra low phosphorus checker. It's testing for phosphorous not phosphate. Range is 0-200 PPB. Much more accurate. I test every weekend. Alk has always been a bit low as you guessed however the calcium has been on a steady very slow rise. What's best for raising mag? Not to nitpick but it's not "more accurate" it's simply checking a different parameter "phosphorus" being what phosphates are made up of, so it will get you a much closer number to 0 as its Parts per Billion. The phosphates Checks is just as accurate but not so detailed as its parts per million As for your imbalance read this article and it will describe the issues and off balances http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/11/chemistry My personal suggestion would be to do a huge water change (ensuring the water you just mixed is at correct params) Ideally you want Calcium 450ish, Alkalinity 9-11dKh and Magnesium around 1300-1400, give an hour after water change and check the parameters see if they go back to normal. If so keep checking the magnesium/Calcium/Alkalinity daily marking down your results and you should be able to see which parameter is leading the imbalance giving you a good idea where to start. Sorry to hear your having the issues I have dealt with messed up parameters and it can be a nightmare to get things back in swing, if all else fails you can always flush the system back to correct levels by performing water changes twice a week for a couple months as long as you are taking your corals consumption into consideration (i.e dosing properly) and the system will fix itself but that can be very time consuming and their maybe an easier solution. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 Mike, if you swing by my place I'll test your water for you to double check the params. Pm me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 Update. So in hesitation of blindly adding Epsom, I was working close to upscales today and took advantage of that by taking water in for testing. Picked up some continuum mag powder to be safer. Not sure how much the 50 gal water change made a difference but they tested everything at Alk 6.5 Cal 480 Mag 1200. Which is way diff from what I had a day prior. I've re-tested with my kits this evening and came up with close Params to these other than cal. Smann posted that your Hanna for cal always tests at 600, which made me think. (Thank you) I tested water from three sources tonight, make up water, display, and qt. All read 600 on the Hanna. I'm pissed. $70 for what? Bad results? I've had this thing a week. Someone's getting chewed on tomorrow! Is it just me or is testing/ trusting a test, seem to be extremely frustrating. I'm currently trying to still bring mag up a bit along with alk. Updates to follow. Exodus, I've read the article before and thank you. Mandinga , thanks for the offer, I may take you up on that soon enough. Extra thanks for all the help from everyone. You guys rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Ah, bummer! Hanna calcium is notoriously difficult I found out when considering purchasing one. I love the alk and phosphate test, can knock out consistent results in no time flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arsonmfg Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Personally I think all the Hanna checkers are junk... If you want a real po4 test, take it into upscales and have them check it on their lab grade Hanna or buy a Hach PO-19. Only other tests I trust are the Red Sea kits and that's because they've proven to always be accurate for me. Always good when you get suspicious readings to have an outside source or a different test kit handy before adding anything to your tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 Personally I think all the Hanna checkers are junk... If you want a real po4 test, take it into upscales and have them check it on their lab grade Hanna or buy a Hach PO-19. Only other tests I trust are the Red Sea kits and that's because they've proven to always be accurate for me. Always good when you get suspicious readings to have an outside source or a different test kit handy before adding anything to your tank. My Red Sea kit seems to be pretty much on, other than the mag. Strangely more the API is even closer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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