dosing problem

[SIJoe]

I recently bought some kalkwasser to start using with my ato and apex. I also bought a red sea reef foundations test kit. I do regular weekly 5 gallon water changes on my 40breeder tank and my sps have been losing a bit of color although my polyp extension has been great. My growth has also started to slow. This is why i decided to try dosing. After testing my levels for the first time ever the results are as follows:

salinity:1.026
Temp:78
ph:7.85
Amonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:0
Phosphate:.003
Mg:1600
Ca:500
Alk:7

My levels seem very high yet my ph is low. Is this the cause of my sps discoloring? My tank has been setup for 1 year now. Zoas and palys have been melting recently as well. What can and should I do to either fix my Alk/ph and my issue with zoas/sps?

 

[IBEW41]

are you dosing anything for mag for it to be that high

 

[SIJoe]

No I am not dosing anything at all. I just do weekly 5 gallon water changes on my 40breeder with reef crystals. Is this normal? do I have a faulty test kit maybe? Is it possible to have these levels just from water changes? I have a heavily stocked sps and lps tank as well.

 

[IBEW41]

with a 40g tank and doing 5g water changes every week what was your test results before you started kalk? also do you have good water flow to get rid of co2?

 

[SIJoe]

I havent dosed kalk yet at all. I simply bought kalk in preparation to eventually use it because I thought my sps were fading due to low perameters. When I bought the test kit my parameters ended up being very high. So far I have not dosed a single thing in the 1 year the tank has been running. I have 2 mp10s that run 100% on reef crest mode.

 

[IBEW41]

can you go to an lfs and have them ck your results?

 

[SIJoe]

The closest lfs is about 45 to an hr away depending on the traffic. I may buy an api reef master kit just as a safety backup. I have heard mixed reviews but I just need to know general range at this point. I just can fathum why my calcium and magnesium would be so high when I only do water changes and dont dose

 

[ritter6788]

Are you using the Red Sea test kit for mag?

 

[ritter6788]

Are you using the Red Sea test kit for mag?

I re-read your post and see that you are. That test always comes out to 1600. It's a horrible test IMO. Doesn't matter what you test it always comes out to 1600.

 

[SIJoe]

Thats good to know. Like I said I am going to try api since its cheap and i need a basis. Hows the calcium test kit? accurate?

 

[ritter6788]

Thats good to know. Like I said I am going to try api since its cheap and i need a basis. Hows the calcium test kit? accurate?

I haven't used the calcium test. I have used the mag test and thought it odd my mag was always so high. If you google "red sea magnesium test 1600" you'll see what I'm talking about. I stumbled across another post with the same problem and after some digging I found it was a common occurrence.

 

[glb]

Thats good to know. Like I said I am going to try api since its cheap and i need a basis. Hows the calcium test kit? accurate?

I wouldn't use API, especially if you have sps. I used them in the past and they're just not accurate. My 0.02.

 

[SIJoe]

I realize its a cheap test kit but thats exactly what I am looking for. I need a cheap quick test kit that I can compare to the red sea in order to figure out if I have a faulty red sea test kit. Will the api test kit give me a general range as too where my levels are? I also find it odd that nobody can figure out why my calcium levels are so high

 

[ritter6788]

I realize its a cheap test kit but thats exactly what I am looking for. I need a cheap quick test kit that I can compare to the red sea in order to figure out if I have a faulty red sea test kit. Will the api test kit give me a general range as too where my levels are? I also find it odd that nobody can figure out why my calcium levels are so high

What salt mix are you using?

 

[SIJoe]

reef crystals

 

[RacinRevo0818]

My Red Sea kit tests out fine. I have different test gets just incase my numbers seem a little out of wack but Red Sea has never been a problem for me and I'm on my 3rd kit.

Looking at your numbers alk seems a little unbalanced for the amounts if cal and mag. 7 is about the lowest I would recommend not knowing more about your particular system. I would recommend getting some baking soda and bake it to create sodium bicarbonate. This will raise your alk and also have a slight rise in ph level. Look up Randy's diy if you need some help. If your not into diy just purchase some seachem reef #2 I believe or any other company.

As far as API test kits cal and alk are usually pretty useful as a backup and great for beginners. Ammonia test kit works great also so might as well pick one up. I think almost ever reefer has had one at some point.

As far as using kalk in your ato I would say go for it. Just start off will maybe 2 teaspoons per 5 gallons. Kalk mixed in your ato if going to mainly affect your ph to help bring it up a bit. Just don't go to crazy trying to chase the magical number of 8.3. You won't see a large change in alk and cal without going with a kalk reactor where you are basically added saturated kalk which is a while other ball game.

Brown corals are probaly high nutrients in system causing the problem. What's your feeding like? Also skimmer, gfo to help remove unwanted nutrients is alway great. When I started in the hobby I was told to wait 1 year for sps. Well like most of us I didn't wait. Sps can be tricky till you get everything stable and a system figured out.

 

[Greenstreet.1]

I would say don't trust the Red Sea mag test I had the same problem was not dosing mag cause the Red Sea would tell me 1500 all the time and I was still losing color and soon after some frags went and got a full elos test kit and my mag was way off 1100 retested with the Red Sea still told me 1500 the cal and the alk was good I will say that for them. Since I went to elos for my cal,alk and mag tank been great.

 

[SIJoe]

I have been reefing for 7 years now I am just new to this particular site. I have a dual carbon, gfo reactor plus a lot of chaeto on a reverse light cycle than the display. My corals arent browning they are appropriate color just faded colors as in my pink lemonade if now light pink to white but still with all its flesh intact and great polyp extension. I just cant figure out why my calc is so high when I never dose and have over 20 sps frags and 20 lps frags. I am drawing a blank. I will be getting the api as backup and will keep everyone posted. Thank you everyone for the helpful answers you have responded very quickly to me. I just cant find the answer to the calc issue. I will eventually dose kalk once I figure out my problem but until then I wont dose anything I dont think I can test appropriately for. At this point I wish I would have splurged on a hanna digital reader but now that black friday is over its way out of my price range lol

 

[RacinRevo0818]

A good read!!
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-04/rhf/feature/

Also I would test your freshly mixed salt. See what your numbers are.

Also with the red sea mag kit when adding the drops, you add one and shake for 15 sec in between drops. I always get a timer out because you have to also wait a min. Not saying it but user error could be the problem with mag kit as the steps are a little harder then most.

Just keep an eye on alk, your not going to want to go much lower then 7.