Need help!!

[Erick Quintanilla]

Came back from home from a 2 week work assignment and I have some unhappy corals. I tested the water and here are my results DKH is at 12, Calcium is at 480, and magnesium is at 1560, I would appreciate if some one could point me in the right direction on how to lower those levels. Thank You

 

[Gonzo74]

Water change? Do it in small portions to lower your parameters slowly.

 

[Gonzo74]

Water change? Do it in small portions to lower your parameters slowly.

what were you parameters before you left? Who took care of your tank? Did it have an auto top off? Was someone dosing first you or do you have a controller?

 

[Erick Quintanilla]

My Alkalinity was at a 10, my calcium was at 440, my magnesium was at a 1280. My cousin was left at care of the tank. I do have an ATO and the only thing I put in my tank is kalkwasser witch I mix in my ATO container

 

[Erick Quintanilla]

Also I think my cousin went to a different pet store to buy the water. I usually use salinity salt and where he went to buy the water I think they use oceanview or something like that.

 

[Gonzo74]

Did he add salt mix water to your tank instead of RO/DI?
I wonder what your salinity is?

i would so various small water changes to get your water to where you want it.

 

[Erick Quintanilla]

Well I buy the water mixed already, I havent had the time to invest in a RODI system so I got to my pet store and buy the water mixed already the salinity is at 1.026

 

[BeejReef]

That's a huge swing in magnesium, even if your tank caretaker was doing big water changes. Guess would be a bad batch of salt or improper salinity of saltwater you purchased. Given that your saltwater source isn't a known value, I'd discontinue kalk dosing and let the alkalinity, calc, and mag come down on their own. Also verify salinity of your tank.

 

[Salps]

Are you putting the store bought salt water in your ATO?

 

[Erick Quintanilla]

No I only use RODI water for my ato. So I shouldn't do any water changes till my levels come back down? I'm sorry for all the questions I'm fairly new at this

 

[Greg P]

What's your tank salinity at?

 

[Salps]

Good that you use only RODI. You can certainly do a water change. If you do a water change you will need to know the DKH of the new water before you decided to do it and be careful not to lower the DKH by more than 1 DKH per day. The calcium is fine and I would not worry about the mag it will come down on its own.

We do need to know the salinity of the tank however.

 

[MERKEY]

Salt mixes are notorious for bad batches....double check the store you are going to get the water. Have them test the water when you get it they might not have noticed the spike. If it's not the water source then I'd be interested to see the culprit!

Just some ideas

+2 to stop dosing

 

[Erick Quintanilla]

Thank you guys for the help. My salinity is at 1.025

 

[Greg P]

I'd take your Kalk out of the equation until you gets things sorted out.
I used it back about 7-1/2 years ago and besides it burning out ATO pumps, I couldn't get a grip on parameters. I use Randy's 2-part DIY method now.

I can't help but keep mentioning Red Sea Blue Bucket salt in recent posts.
WCs with this less than cheap salt will help you reduce your levels.
Mixed/rolled thoroughly, I've used a couple buckets vs IO Regular and found it to be true to it's listed parameters.
This I feel would be your safest/gentlest method of lowering your parameters.

Another Test Post FR

This Tips & Tricks blog will provide you with great practical advice on how to ensure a consistent and perfect mix every time. Advice on how to ensure a consistent and perfect mix every time.

www.redseafish.com

Recommended usage of Red Sea Salt:

​

Aquarium Type	Salinity	Alkalinity (dKH)	Ca (mg/l)	Mg (mg/l)	K (mg/l)	Dose
SPS Dominant	35 ppt	7.5-8.5	415 – 445	1240 – 1320	375 – 405	38.2 g/l
Ultra Low nutrient SPS	33 ppt	7-8	395 – 425	1180 – 1260	355 – 385	36.0 g/l
Marine Fish	30 ppt	6.5-7.5	355-385	1060 – 1140	320-350	32.8 g/l

 

[Erick Quintanilla]

What salt you guys think I should invest in. I use salinity but if there's a better salt out there that can help me I would appreciate you guys feed back. Thank You

 

[Salps]

There is no salt better than any other. The best advice is to pick one that mixes the closest to the parameters you want to keep your tank. Stable water parameters is the key in this hobby and if the salt's parameters are way different than your tank you can be making big changes with each water change you do. I personally just use Instant Ocean and make adjustments to it to match my tank.

 

[BeejReef]

^^ especially true in a SHTF moment. w 10% weekly water change, no salt will have a huge impact on your overall DT parameters, but then one day something goes badly wrong, like a heater melts or nem gets blendered in a powerhead. When you need to do a 50% water change, you don't want 11dkh salt mix when you try to maintain 8 normally.

 

[Greg P]

What salt you guys think I should invest in. I use salinity but if there's a better salt out there that can help me I would appreciate you guys feed back. Thank You

Did you miss the info I quoted a week ago ??

I'd take your Kalk out of the equation until you gets things sorted out.
I used it back about 7-1/2 years ago and besides it burning out ATO pumps, I couldn't get a grip on parameters. I use Randy's 2-part DIY method now.

I can't help but keep mentioning Red Sea Blue Bucket salt in recent posts.
WCs with this less than cheap salt will help you reduce your levels.
Mixed/rolled thoroughly, I've used a couple buckets vs IO Regular and found it to be true to it's listed parameters.
This I feel would be your safest/gentlest method of lowering your parameters.

Another Test Post FR

This Tips & Tricks blog will provide you with great practical advice on how to ensure a consistent and perfect mix every time. Advice on how to ensure a consistent and perfect mix every time.

www.redseafish.com

Recommended usage of Red Sea Salt:

​

Aquarium Type	Salinity	Alkalinity (dKH)	Ca (mg/l)	Mg (mg/l)	K (mg/l)	Dose
SPS Dominant	35 ppt	7.5-8.5	415 – 445	1240 – 1320	375 – 405	38.2 g/l
Ultra Low nutrient SPS	33 ppt	7-8	395 – 425	1180 – 1260	355 – 385	36.0 g/l
Marine Fish	30 ppt	6.5-7.5	355-385	1060 – 1140	320-350	32.8 g/l

Came back from home from a 2 week work assignment and I have some unhappy corals. I tested the water and here are my results DKH is at 12, Calcium is at 480, and magnesium is at 1560, I would appreciate if some one could point me in the right direction on how to lower those levels. Thank You

Red Sea Blue Bucket has low enough levels that you could use to lower your tank parameters through Water Changes (WCs)

WCs in your case would be ideal to bring things back to where you want them.

Look closely at the levels in the chart I inserted

 

[MERKEY]

I feel for you....

I am dealing with this issue right now as well.

Dealing with RODI water as well......

I got a salt bucket mixing to 15dkh before I caught it and it was a 50% WC change for me before I actually notice.

First test I took read 20DKH in my DT...I couldn't believe it.

So I tested everything until I got to the salt mix. I originally started using KENT but The weird thing is I went to fritz and it still mixes at 11 which it says it should mix to Round 8. I doubt I'm getting back to back bad mixes from 2 different manufacturers, however my point is salt mixes can really mess with your tank.

I now test all my pre mixes for all the big 3 before adding to my tank. Luckily I caught it in time and got it down under 11 over a weeks period, but boy was that stressful.

Definetly find a salt mix that you like where it mixes at. This is of course once you start making your own water at home. For now Take is slow and just keep doing water changes daily from your LFS water.

Everything should be ok if not exposed for a really long time.