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Low dKH and high calcium


YHSublime

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(8.83 - 7.65) / 3 is about 0.4 dKH/day.

 

It also looks like the 1/2 oz of alk solution, taking consumption into account, is worth about 0.81 dKH in your tank volume. Consequently, it looks like you need to dose about 1/4 oz or 1.5 tsp. per day to match consumption at this point.

 

I think it's actually .3 as there was a four day span. 

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You're right. I missed the skipped day there at the end.

 

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You're right. I missed the skipped day there at the end.

 

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So did I ;)

 

 

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My fresh mixed RC comes out to 9.67dKH

That is lower than what I usually get. Typically 11ish dkh after 24 hrs. Did you mix the salt bag/bucket to ensure no settling? Is there any precipitation in the water?
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That is lower than what I usually get. Typically 11ish dkh after 24 hrs. Did you mix the salt bag/bucket to ensure no settling? Is there any precipitation in the water?

I make 5 gallons at a time, pump in the bottom of the bucket.

 

 

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I make 5 gallons at a time, pump in the bottom of the bucket.

 

 

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Meant the salt mix itself settling in its packaging. Sometimes the salt settles and will create inconsistent batches of salt water.
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Meant the salt mix itself settling in its packaging. Sometimes the salt settles and will create inconsistent batches of salt water.

Possible, it’s from a bucket, I just cut the bags from the boxes when I hit the bottom of the salt bucket, replenish.

 

 

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What salinity? I've never had RC come in below 12.5 dKh at 35ppt. Regular Instant Ocean usually mixes up at 10.5-11. Worth double checking whatever you're using to measure salinity. 

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What salinity? I've never had RC come in below 12.5 dKh at 35ppt. Regular Instant Ocean usually mixes up at 10.5-11. Worth double checking whatever you're using to measure salinity.

1.025

 

I have 2 refractometers, both calibrated. If my salinity is off, I’ve got bigger issues thank alk!

 

 

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1.025

 

I have 2 refractometers, both calibrated. If my salinity is off, I’ve got bigger issues thank alk!

 

 

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Have you tried mixing up a control solution just to double check? Even at 33.1ppt, that is still low for Reef Crystals. Edit: Did you check the calcium of the fresh mixed water by chance? It typically mixes up in the 500-575 range (33-35ppt).

 

Randy's DIY calibration solution:

 

For a refractometer:

 

Use 3.65 weight percent sodium chloride solution to match 35 ppt (sg = 1.0264). It can be made by dissolving 3.65 grams of sodium chloride in 96.35 grams (mL) of purified freshwater.

 

For a rougher measurement in the absence of an accurate water volume or weight measurement:

 

1. Measure ¼ cup of Morton's Iodized Salt (about 73.1 g)

2. Add 1 teaspoon of salt (making about 79.3 g total salt)

3. Measure the full volume of a plastic 2-L Coke or Diet Coke bottle filled with purified freshwater (about 2104.4 g)

4. Dissolve the total salt (79.3 g) in the total water volume (2104 g) to make an approximately 3.65 weight percent solution of NaCl. The volume of this solution will be slightly larger than the Coke bottle, so dissolve it in another container.

 

If you have a 100 mL graduated cylinder, use exactly 3.65 grams of salt and 96.35 mL of fresh water. It is tricky to volume measure such a small amount of salt, but that is about 0.59 teaspoons of Mortons.

Edited by madweazl
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Have you tried mixing up a control solution just to double check? Even at 33.1ppt, that is still low for Reef Crystals. Edit: Did you check the calcium of the fresh mixed water by chance? It typically mixes up in the 500-575 range (33-35ppt).

 

Randy's DIY calibration solution:

 

For a refractometer:

 

Use 3.65 weight percent sodium chloride solution to match 35 ppt (sg = 1.0264). It can be made by dissolving 3.65 grams of sodium chloride in 96.35 grams (mL) of purified freshwater.

 

For a rougher measurement in the absence of an accurate water volume or weight measurement:

 

1. Measure ¼ cup of Morton's Iodized Salt (about 73.1 g)

2. Add 1 teaspoon of salt (making about 79.3 g total salt)

3. Measure the full volume of a plastic 2-L Coke or Diet Coke bottle filled with purified freshwater (about 2104.4 g)

4. Dissolve the total salt (79.3 g) in the total water volume (2104 g) to make an approximately 3.65 weight percent solution of NaCl. The volume of this solution will be slightly larger than the Coke bottle, so dissolve it in another container.

 

If you have a 100 mL graduated cylinder, use exactly 3.65 grams of salt and 96.35 mL of fresh water. It is tricky to volume measure such a small amount of salt, but that is about 0.59 teaspoons of Mortons.

Store bought solution was used. I didn’t do calcium check.

 

 

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I think what they are saying is:  Roll the dry salt bucket around to make sure the crystal salt is mixed up before you mix it into your water to make sure that the salt hasn't separated in the bucket and stays well blended.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm not terribly concerned about my salt mix, but maybe I will be after my next water change.

 

I've started dosing a whopping 7ml of alk solution over the past 2 days now. I've seen a consistent drop in 7ppm per day, even with the dosing. I'm going to take it up to 10ml of solution, and see how that does me. I guess I should eventually check the calcium levels again. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm seeing a floating range of 7.5dKH to 8dKH. The height of 9 came from my dosing up to nine by hand. I've been able to hold steady between .50dKH with 7ml of solution a day. It seems to start picking up by about 3ppm a day in consumption, so either my calcium is slowly working itself out, or that's because I haven't done a water change in a few weeks. I think I'm going to up it to 8ml a day, and see if the tank can hold a steady number, although I suspect I'm within a good range already of where I want to be. 

 

Seems after testing, my calcium is now at 380, whoops! 

 

I tested my salt mix on a five gallon batch tonight. 1.025, 9.78dKH. Did not test calcium, yet. 

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9.7x seems really weird for RC; that was the fresh mixed and not after adding to the tank? That combined with the low calcium levels is just so suspect of low salinity for RC. 

Edited by madweazl
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9.7x seems really weird for RC; that was the fresh mixed and not after adding to the tank? That combined with the low calcium levels is just so suspect of low salinity for RC.

Correct, fresh mixed. The low calc was on the tank. I suspect user error in my readings, and I was probably gold to start. Need to bring et up to par now. I plan on running alk low, as I’m seeing decent results at 7.5-8. Just need to balance calcium out now.

 

 

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Alright. So in order to get my numbers back in order (alk staying pretty stable, I need to dose a bit more, as it's still really slowly dropping) I need to get my calcium to where I would like it to be. 

 

Using ESV can I just dose the calcium solution all at once in a fast water moving area of my sump, or do I want to do this slowly? 

 

ESV is setup to dose equally in parts, so if I'm dosing 7ml of the alk solution, in theory I should be dosing 7ml of the calcium solution. Then just keep tracking and balance it out? 

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Sounds right to me.  They're intended to be dosed at the same amounts, but I'd keep an eye on calcium.

 

Alk gets used by things other than just hard corals, so I'd expect the result of dosing them both at an amount that keeps alk stable would tend to cause Ca to go up.

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Sounds right to me.  They're intended to be dosed at the same amounts, but I'd keep an eye on calcium.

 

Alk gets used by things other than just hard corals, so I'd expect the result of dosing them both at an amount that keeps alk stable would tend to cause Ca to go up.

 

I just need to figure out how much solution to get my calcium from 390 to 450-500 then, then I'll toss it all in at the same time. 

 

I'll keep an eye on the calcium. Problem is, I hate testing my calcium, alk has turned into second nature, and is super easy with the hannah checker.

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I find the red sea calcium pro to be pretty easy.  Not as easy as the hanna checker for alk, though.

 

These days I'm using hanna for alk, red sea for calcium, salifert for magnesium, and that's it.

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Understand that you have a very small tank with a ton of SPS. It’s going to take you some trial/error to get your dosing correct. The thing is once you get it stable, the coral will grow faster which in turn will raise the need for additional CAL/ALK.

 

So you might have to dose a little extra once a week until you get everything stabilized.

 

But again, it’s such a small tank, test every few days to make sure your levels are good.

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Understand that you have a very small tank with a ton of SPS. It’s going to take you some trial/error to get your dosing correct. The thing is once you get it stable, the coral will grow faster which in turn will raise the need for additional CAL/ALK.

 

So you might have to dose a little extra once a week until you get everything stabilized.

 

But again, it’s such a small tank, test every few days to make sure your levels are good.

 

Yeah, I get it, the numbers are going to flux, even once dialed in. I'm testing every day I'm home, and keeping a log. As a matter of fact, I've already gone through one bottle of alk reagant already. I've got my alkalinity dialed in sans a couple ml per day, but I know that will change with the calcium as well, so was just wondering how the two ESV mixes play with each other. 

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Isaac, it's generally OK to give a bolus of calcium to bump it up. I would try to keep the bump to less than 20ppt per dose, though, adding it a few times a day if you need more.

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