I Have ##'s 4 U

[Braves Fan]

I am going to do another big water change on my tank next week end ( have company this week end ) , say 60gllons. As I have posted I am wanting to put SPS corals in my tank and I am wanting to know how close I am to getting there.

dKH 8
Alk 2.86
Nitrates 20
Calcium 495

These are all the numbers I have at this time, and all the test kits I have, lol. Any suggestions, need another kit or two, any suggestions would be helpful. Tank is 125 gallons. The dKH and Alk numbers I got form my newest test kit, and I was helped in the General SW section of this forum in getting those numbers. Very helpful people Thanks

 

[reefpeeper]

does not seem legit for dkh and alk

 

[Braves Fan]

It could not be, go to the General reef Duscussion and look under A new test kit. How I used the test kit is sort of documented there as well as the feed back.

 

[cee]

dKH and alkalinity are one in the same. 1 meq/L=2.8 dKH. Your parameters look reasonable to me. Calcium is high, but if you have some way to dose alkalinity only I would just let the calcium come down naturally on its own. That would allow you to skip the massive water change. If you're doing the water change to get the nitrates down, carry on. They are a bit on the high side for SPS corals IMO. I would also test Mg but you only need to do it periodically (not as often as Ca/Alk) and possibly phosphates if you can afford a real quality kit.

 

[Braves Fan]

I use a two part Calcium Buffer so I can use the one part and not the other to raise the Akl., right, lol. The water change was for the Nitrates. So, do I have the go ahead to buy an SPS coral of some kind to put in my tank????

 

[malnurs]

I'm no expert on sps as i only have a few. But i would say after the water change you could add one. I know they can deal with some nitrates as i have some myself but I like to keep it as close to Zero as possible. What I am saying is that mine are doing ok with some nitrates right now but i have had them a while. i wouldnt add new coral with it that high though.
sorry if i might have been confusing lol. just woke up.
Chris

 

[inactive]

When you start, try a piece of ORA greens birdsnest or a orange montipora cap.. both are easy and can be grown under most conditions.

 

[kiraburk]

I agree, start with a more common and cheaper SPS. Most monti's are usually really easy to sustain.
And in terms of kits you should get, I'd get something to keep track of your pH.
Depending on how detailed you want to be, you could consider a magnesium kit as well.
Good luck! SPS is quite addicting.

 

[Reef Pets]

Looks like you are on the right track. The only test I would recommend is a Magnesium test. Having your Magnesium at the correct level will help with keeping the Calcium and Alk levels maintained.
Besides the perameters at the proper levels of course lighting and flow are the other two important factors when keeping SPS.
In all, I would recommend checking Magnesium, doing the water change and making sure you have adequate lighting and flow.

 

[Braves Fan]

Thanks for the advice I will take it.

 

[Braves Fan]

I did the 50g water change today after work. I used 32g of my water and 3 containers of this Nutri Sea Water™ Natural Live Ocean Saltwater by Natures Ocean® I will give it a few days and then check my numbers and see where I am at. I also ordered a Magnesium test kit today from my LFS, he didn't have one in stock and should get it in Friday. Well I did the water change about three hours ago and just tested the water with my cheap quick strips, not my good Nitrate test kit. The number was a tad below 20, which is only slighly better than it was about three days ago when I tested the water.