New to testing.

Bradsreeeftank · Jan 3, 2014

So this is my first time testing for something other then nitrates and nitrites. So i got the red sea kit and i dont think i did too bad on testing but it was a little difficult too do for some reason, anyway the ruslts i got were crazy i got 1,000 ppm for mag ( i want it up to 1500 ppm to kill my byropsis algea), my alk was 2.0 and my calcium was 515! So right now im dosing kent tech m magniusm to raise and kill my algeaa problem. But i dont think my results for any of these are good... how do i fix alk and calcium?

Zero Nitrates · Jan 4, 2014

Maybe test once a day for three days and use the average of the results.

J062682l · Jan 4, 2014

Dose something for kh and do water changes. What's your spec gravity

mtnrunner · Jan 4, 2014

Make sure your testing procedures are good since you said it was a little difficult. You have to have accurate test results otherwise you only complicate and likely mess up your parms even more when you try adjusting to to possibly inaccurate test results.

I was just recently convinced to switch from Hannah Checkers for Alk and Ca to Salifert brand. Salifert is very straightforward and easy to use and I did get very different Ca readings after switching. Now using Salifert and dosing with its results, I'm seeing positive results from my corals.

glb · Jan 4, 2014

mtnrunner said:
Make sure your testing procedures are good since you said it was a little difficult. You have to have accurate test results otherwise you only complicate and likely mess up your parms even more when you try adjusting to to possibly inaccurate test results.

I was just recently convinced to switch from Hannah Checkers for Alk and Ca to Salifert brand. Salifert is very straightforward and easy to use and I did get very different Ca readings after switching. Now using Salifert and dosing with its results, I'm seeing positive results from my corals.

I agree. Some of these tests are hard to do correctly and any deviation in method can affect the results.

JMSKI333 · Jan 4, 2014

From what I understand, your Alk can't be 2.0 dkh and your Calcium be 515 ppm .

-It looks like if your Alk is 2.0 dkh then your calcium should be around 374ppm.
-And if your calcium is 515 ppm then your Alk should be 21.7 DKH
-Big discrepancy

My guess is you may has tested a little incorrectly and I wold run it again before you start adding anything to your tank. I use the red sea test kits as well so I know how hard they are to do. Just take it slow and following the instructions to a "T". (I use a stop watch for the timed steps)

What salt are you using in regards to your Mag problem? Most inexpensive salts seriously lack Magnisium.

Bradsreeeftank · Jan 4, 2014

instant ocean reef crystals.

saltyhog · Jan 4, 2014

Yep review your testing procedures. Those numbers don't seem possible.

Are you using a refractometer for mixing your water? What kind of substrate do you have? How old is your tank and what kind of corals are in it? How do they look?

Chris_FLA · Jan 4, 2014

I had to ditch the Red Sea kits and go with salifert. I know that not what you want to hear but I got some crazy readings with the Red Sea

mike007 · Jan 4, 2014

Chris_FLA said:
I had to ditch the Red Sea kits and go with salifert. I know that not what you want to hear but I got some crazy readings with the Red Sea

Redsea are some of the most reliable test kits there is. You have to read the instructions carefullyand they will give you accurate results. If you go to redseafish.com they have excellent videos that will instruct you on how to test with there products.

glb · Jan 5, 2014

For the alk, was the measurement in milli equivalents/liter? If so, a reading of 2 is normal according to my Red Sea testing kit. I use hanna checkers which is ppm and other tests use kh. This could be causing the confusion.