Raising SG & Alkalinity

[tram]

Hi
Next week I'm planning to do a 45-50% water change to reduce my Nitrates, currently about 16 with red sea test. My alkalinity and SG also need adjustment.
My current test results are
pH=8.04 SG=1.0234 Alk=7.3 Ca=410 Mg=1290 No3=16 Po4=0.02

Id like to raise Alk to 8.5 and SG to 1.025

I'll be using Red Sea salt ( blue bucket ), tank is RSR 425xl ( 425 litres ) and I have a few LPS frags.

How do achieve my goal, is there any dosing I should do now before the water change.

Thanks
Tony

 

[mta_morrow]

Do you currently have any fish, coral, or inverts in the tank?

If so, please provide a list so that we can answer correctly and that no harm will be done to the inhabitants.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Age of tank, number of fish will help. Feed sparingly also.
Question is how many fish youre feeding and how often.
Type of filtration and media used if any.

 

[miPapareef]

Go slow and be consistent. Your parameters are in acceptable ranges already and no need for big urgent changes. Is there a reason you want to change?

I would top off with saltwater until sg is where you want it and retest parameters. You find parameters raise also with sg. I don’t think your n and p levels are too high and require immediate or large water change. Then I’d make sure to match new salt water to sg and temp and do the usually recommended 10 to 20 percent weekly water changes.

 

[tram]

Thanks for your interest,
The current tank I have had set up for 3 months, the 25kg of rock and 4litres of siporax came from my previous tank (RSR 250) which was setup 6 month prior to the upgrade, so the rock & siporax are 9 months wet. When I upgraded tanks I used the tank water from the previous system and added freshmade salt water to needed volume, so about 200 litres old plus 200 litres new. I have a Clarisea 3000 filter in the sump together with skimmer. + Bag of carbon
I feed 1/2 cube mysis everyday, maybe up to 1 at weekends. no water supplements at moment.

Livestock wise I have;
Eibli mimic tang ~ 2 1/2inch
Wrasse
v Small fox face
v small bicolour goatfish
v small possum wrasse
Algae blennie.

x2 astrea snails

small lobo ~2 inch
Acan rock 8 heads
Acan rock 2 heads
Gonio ~ 1 inch base
1 inch frags favites x3

Tony

 

[lapin]

So are we talking about your new 450 you got in July ?
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/50-water-change.442891/

In my effort to reduce nitrates in my system I plan to do a 50% water change using Red Sea coral pro salt. I am aware that I should prepare it at same salinity & temperature but is there anything else I should worry about. Current specs are
SG=1.024 pH=8.1 No3=16 Po4=0.012 Alk=8.6 Ca=420
RSR425xl (425litres)

I have 2 small acans & 3 lps frags
1 small lobo & goni frag

Thanks
Tony

If it was me I would do 3ea 20% water changes in a weeks time. Not knowing why your nitrates are at 16 if you are not feeding fish is something we need to know. Do you feed your tank? Did you use the NoPox? What were nitrates when you started your tank in July? If you have a cheato reactor and the chaeto is not growing maybe you dont have an issue with nitrates.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Mix your new saltwater and test it for salinity and alk. If it close to what you have now, or close to what you want, do the water change.

Now go after the parameters you want.

a) IMHO you are being OCD over the salinity. There is a safe range and you are in it at the low end. You don't want it to go up or down quickly, but since you are in a safe range, I wouldn't worry about it. After you have done the water change it will probably be a bit higher. The next few times you need to add top off water to replace evaporation, add saltwater rather than fresh water. That will raise you SG at a good slow pace.

b) Alk is easy. Mix up some alk in fresh water and add it to your system. Add it slowly and in an area where you have good flow. You might split up the increase into a couple of additions rather than doing it all at one time. But I dose once a week and have to bump mine from 7.5 dKH or 8.0 dKH to 9.0 dKH and I do it by slowly adding it to my DT in the flow of the return pump and dribble it in over a few minutes.

c) Are you familiar with the chemistry calculators that help you figure out how much to add? You tell them what you have and what you are adding and they tell you how much to add. I use this one:
http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

 

[lapin]

It looks like you have added 5 fish since July. Your tank might not have enough bacteria to process that nitrate yet.
Dont worry about the nitrate. The Red Sea Coral Pro will raise your alk over time with normal water changes. Salinity will rise with normal water changes if you mix your salt at 1.026 for a few batches.