Just curious on Test i just ran

[Budman's Corals]

My Mag is like 1600 Calc is 520 alk is 8.6

Not dosing anything just my regular 10% water change every 2 weeks.Why are these levels so high,

I do have coral that use Cal but just strange to me its this high

Does it hurt to have levels at this

Thanks

 

[skinz78]

As long as they are all in line then you should be fine.

Can you mix a fresh bucket of ASW and test it before adding it to the tank? I once got a bad bucket of salt and my mag got up to 1950ppm....

 

[Budman's Corals]

As long as they are all in line then you should be fine.

Can you mix a fresh bucket of ASW and test it before adding it to the tank? I once got a bad bucket of salt and my mag got up to 1950ppm....

Would that be bad if it was that high the mag..

 

[mcarroll]

To a large extent you can let your tank tell you if things are OK or not by how your animals look.

Short of being there to see your tank, I can say that those params (Ca and Mg) rarely cause issues....don't panic, just figure out the cause and get things to "normal".

My guess is that you're using an overfortified salt like Oceanic (one of several) and have little to no stony coral growth in the tank. If that's a lucky guess, then I'd switch to Instant Ocean (or another with very similar numbers) and your numbers should just fall into line within the span of a few water changes.

If the guess was not so lucky....do you have any idea what's messing with the numbers? More info needed! :-)

-Matt

 

[Pappy]

What salt r u mixing? Guessing the salt has high elements and you don't have enough coral to absorb them.

 

[Budman's Corals]

What salt r u mixing? Guessing the salt has high elements and you don't have enough coral to absorb them.

IO Reef Cry....Been using it for a while and havent had that problem..i guess i should test the batch i have mad around 20 gallons in the station....

How long can Saltwater stay in the mixing station before i have to use it

 

[Budman's Corals]

Just tested water i made up a couple days ago..
Mag=1240
Calc.= 425
Alk =10.1

Is that good reading for fresh salt mix

 

[Budman's Corals]

Just tested water i made up a couple days ago..
Mag=1240
Calc.= 425
Alk =10.1

Is that good reading for fresh salt mix

just did the main display tank and readings are
Mag=1440
Calc=430
Alk 8.1

How are these?

 

[Downbeach]

What are you using to measure your salinity? If you're using a swing arm type of hydrometer, there is a good chance that it's giving your erroneous readings, and you could be adding too much salt mix, which would give you elevated readings for both Ca and Mg. If you're using a refractometer, is it calibrated with calibration fluid (35ppt)? What kits do you use to check your Ca, Mg and Alk?

The readings in your last post look fine.

Mixed artificial seawater can be stored for as long as needed without continuous stirring or heating when made from adequately pure freshwater.

 

[Budman's Corals]

let me check the Sal I do use a refracto also have the Red sea kit for Mag,Calc,Alk

 

[Budman's Corals]

let me check the Sal I do use a refracto also have the Red sea kit for Mag,Calc,Alk

Display tank 1.024

 

[Budman's Corals]

Display tank 1.024

fresh Batch Saltwater 1.025

 

[EpicWin]

just did the main display tank and readings are
Mag=1440
Calc=430
Alk 8.1

How are these?

Levels are just fine. Here are the more or less accepted levels:
Mag 1100-1650
Calc380-500
Alk7-11

 

[Budman's Corals]

Levels are just fine. Here are the more or less accepted levels:
Mag 1100-1650
Calc380-500
Alk7-11

just not sure why the mag dropped so much ,I guess i should of tested twice to see if i got the same the first time

 

[reeferdale]

just did the main display tank and readings are
Mag=1440
Calc=430
Alk 8.1

How are these?

These are spot on. No need to mess with numbers like that

 

[Trex-on]

Just tagging along!

 

[Budman's Corals]

Just tagging along!

Tag along..Greatest forum out there.....

Learn alot here..

 

[skinz78]

What brand test kits do you use and how old are they?

 

[Budman's Corals]

What brand test kits do you use and how old are they?

Red Sea for the Mag,Clac,Alk, and its about a month old,
PH i use the beginner type api (I think thats the name)

Will be ordering Apex system tomorrow
to give me better ph reading which now its 8.0

 

[Trex-on]

I totally agree Budman, have found a wealth of knowledge here, all at the touch of a button or two, and I hope before long I will be able to give some input as well!