Okay Guys I Need Your Help, SPS taking a HIT!

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b_rad_G said:
If the salt mix you use has levels close to what you would like to maintain then water changes are a fine way to bring levels up. Obviously the current levels are not very good and personally I would use whatever supplement you like to bring them up. You could add 25 ppm per day of calcium for a few days to get the number around 410. Alkalinity of 7 is a little low but I run mine between 7.8-8.4 and have occasionally seen 7.4ish numbers. I would go higher on mag. You can run much higher than 1340 with no side effects. Also mag has very little to do with coral health compared to alk and ca. You can easily raise mag by 100 ppm per day and be fine. Don't be afraid to run 1450-1500 mag. It will help with the chance for precipitation.

I would raise mag to 1450 then add calcium. The addition of calcium shouldn't change alk levels unless you dose to fast or in a low flow area.
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Ok cool thank you! I will do that.
 
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Deltec
Water Check Update:

Seems like one step forward, two steps back lately.

PO4: .25
Ca: 330
Kh: 8.6
Mg: 1240

This was even after a 30% water change 16 hours later...

Thinking about adding another 10grams of Mg to my tank. That increases by 80ppm in my water volume. Not sure where Mg is depleting too....

AND do I get this right? Say from 1240 Mg to 1380 Mg, would the increase in Mg have a less reduction of Alk when I add Ca?

I want to increase my Ca but trying to get Mg stable first.
 
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What are the levels of the water you're using for the water changes? The water change could have brought the levels down depending on the levels of the new water before adding it to the tank. Your PO4 definitely needs to come down some though. Are you seeing any precip anywhere? The big can be hard to bring back in to balance sometimes. I'd recommend testing the parms in your new water to make sure things are mixing up correctly. Also this is something very handy I keep around for troubleshooting balance between Alk and Calc.

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
 
feh said:
What are the levels of the water you're using for the water changes? The water change could have brought the levels down depending on the levels of the new water before adding it to the tank. Your PO4 definitely needs to come down some though. Are you seeing any precip anywhere? The big can be hard to bring back in to balance sometimes. I'd recommend testing the parms in your new water to make sure things are mixing up correctly. Also this is something very handy I keep around for troubleshooting balance between Alk and Calc.

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
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Iv'e read this article before. I am in zone 3. The article does not mention Mg measurements though. I want to raise my Mg and Ca with my alkalinity being the same.
 
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Tidal Gardens
So I found my problem. You have no idea how much I want to curse. I lost an awesome SPS colony called Smurf Boogers due to this issue...you ready?

My refractometer, somehow, was thrown off. While I was reading 1.025, my tank is really at 1.018. NO WONDER MY LEVELS ARE DOWN. That 30% water change last night nearly wiped my tank.

So I am mixing 2.5 gallons of 1.050 to try to make up some balance. I want to get to 1.021 with a Mg level of at least 12. I am currently at 1000 MG!!!!!!
 
Acro said:
That'll do it :( I'm sorry man
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Yeah it's a hard pill to swallow. The bottom of my other acro colony is losing tissue. Hopefully I can fix this. I jumped my water from 1.018 to 1.020. My plan is to get mag above 1300 and use 1.050 water as my top off for a few days.
 
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sps just want to be back to "normal" i feel you need to saliniy followed by phos and cal in check thats your biggest issue. but if your salt got below 1.021 your sps is gonna get hit hard. you need to get that fixed first immedialtely. after that is done retest and see where you stand. your phos is the next biggest issue followed by cal just my opinion with last posted parameters. good luck bro

dont worry about the mag for now it is least of your worries. but do water changes(1.026) rather than a salt slurrry for sps
 
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Gotta keep those refractometers calibrated. Your Mg is the least of your worries. Po4 and calc are the big ones.
 
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Thanks guys. New day and ready to continue to fix this.

Out of curiousity, what do you guys use to eliminate PO4? I know not over feeding, gravel vac, water changes, carbon... What do you guys do?
 
just wondering how your tank is doing now? Because of this post i found out my refractometer was off as well. I have had on going problems for a while know and never even thought that my refractometer could have gone out of calibration, but I bought a new one and some calibration fluid just in case. When i calibrated and checked my tank I couldn't believe how much it was off. I slowly corrected the salinity levels, but my LPS and SPS don't seem to like the correct levels completely yet. (maybe they got accustomed to the low salinity, if that is even possible) I still am not 100% convinced i have solved my all the way yet, but it has only been a few weeks since i found the problem
 
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