Low DKH

[Navi]

My tank is 3 months old and all the parameters are stable other than Dkh which always stays on the low range I had it drop as low as 3 once now its at 6. I'm not dosing anything just doing my regular water changes. Also I have green film of algee develop on my glass within 30 min of me cleaning it.. I tested for phosphates 0 Nitrates are 0 SG 1.025 Ph8.2 Calcium 430 ammonia 0. I'm just curious what's going on with my tank

 

[theMeat]

First guess is your test or testing is no good

 

[Navi]

my test cant be wrong every single time. test with red sea

 

[Navi]

my test cant be wrong every time. I test with red sea test kit

 

[reef lover]

With nothing to uptake your dkh I would say test a fresh batch of salt water and see where it' at...if nothing wrong there it must be a test error.

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

it could be a bad test kit or expired.

 

[mahindra.dev]

Did u say 30mins of cleaning your glass? 3 is very low. I lean towards expired test kits. Btw, does the chart even reference 3? I havent seen something that low on my charts. Check for what you are seeing, you are referring to DKH but is it Meq/l?

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

Did u say 30mins of cleaning your glass? 3 is very low. I lean towards expired test kits. Btw, does the chart even reference 3? I havent seen something that low on my charts. Check for what you are seeing, you are referring to DKH but is it Meq/l?

i was thinking the same thing but 3 meq/l will be normal (8.4 dkh) and 6 would be very high (16.8 dkh)

 

[mahindra.dev]

i was thinking the same thing but 3 meq/l will be normal (8.4 dkh) and 6 would be very high (16.8 dkh)

Agree. I just looked up the charts. So to be at 3, you should not have used any titrant and to be at 6 should have used up everything and did not see the color change.

 

[Navi]

I'm using Instant ocean regular salt. Going to test fresh batch n see where I sit

 

[Navi]

Did u say 30mins of cleaning your glass? 3 is very low. I lean towards expired test kits. Btw, does the chart even reference 3? I havent seen something that low on my charts. Check for what you are seeing, you are referring to DKH but is it Meq/l?

Yes with in 30 mins of cleaning glass I got a green film on it again

 

[mahindra.dev]

Yes with in 30 mins of cleaning glass I got a green film on it again

Got it... now about the units. Is it Meq/L or DKh??

 

[madweazl]

I'm using Instant ocean regular salt. Going to test fresh batch n see where I sit

Instant Ocean should mix up to approx 10.5-11.0 dKh (usually 10.7 for me).

 

[Navi]

Instant Ocean should mix up to approx 10.5-11.0 dKh (usually 10.7 for me).

Got it... now about the units. Is it Meq/L or DKh??

It's in dkh. I'm using the test kit that comes in Red Sea marine care kit

 

[madweazl]

It's in dkh. I'm using the test kit that comes in Red Sea marine care kit

So have you mixed up a batch and tested it? If it's outside of 10.5-11.0 dKh (within reason), your test procedure or your test kit is the issue.

 

[Navi]

So have you mixed up a batch and tested it? If it's outside of 10.5-11.0 dKh (within reason), your test procedure or your test kit is the issue.

Havnt made a fresh batch yet. Will post the results when I do

 

[Navi]

As far as the algee film on the glass with in 30 mins. Doesn't anyone have any thoughts on that

 

[reef lover]

Do you run a skimmer??

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I don't think 3 dKH is likely to be an accurate measurement.

 

[Navi]

Do you run a skimmer??

Yes