Major elements out of whack using afr

[collinnelson9]

Was wondering why my torches hammers and frogs were losing their flesh band.
Salinity 34.5 using refractometer

Nitrates 12.9 ppm
Phos .12 ppm
Alk 9.4 ppm
(All tested with Hanna eggs)
Then went out bought a Hanna ph wand the result was 8.3
Then went out and bought Hanna magnesium and calcium eggs.
Calc 358 ppm
Mag 1110 ppm
As of now I’m going to be dosing 155 mL of Red Sea mag and 15.3 mL of Red Sea calc daily which while raise mag 48 ppm daily and calcium 9.5ish daily until desired results around 6-9 days to reach 1450 mag and 425 calc.
I’ve had 4 reef tanks over 6 years and have used AFR for almost 2 years now. Has anyone else had issues with major elements getting out of whack using afr.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

AFR cannot ever be responsible for low calcium unless you do not dose enough. If alk is maintained with AFR, it adds more than enough calcium.

I suspect the magnesium is test error or low salinity, which can also explain low calcium.

IMO, magnesium testing is too inaccurate to be generally useful, and the Hanna calcium checker causes more problems for users than all other Hanna devices, and I do not recommend it.

 

[collinnelson9]

AFR cannot ever be responsible for low calcium unless you do not dose enough.

I suspect the magnesium is test error or low salinity, which can also explain low calcium.

IMO, magnesium testing is too inaccurate to be generally useful, and the Hanna calcium checker causes more problems for users than all other Hanna devices, and I do not recommend it.

Thanks I’ll recalibrate my refractometer

 

[rtparty]

Throw both the Hanna calcium and magnesium testers away. Sorry, they are a waste of money. Constantly inaccurate and unreliable.

I would not make any decisions based on results from them.

Salifert calcium has always been good for me and I don’t test magnesium at all these days

 

[collinnelson9]

AFR cannot ever be responsible for low calcium unless you do not dose enough.

I suspect the magnesium is test error or low salinity, which can also explain low calcium.

IMO, magnesium testing is too inaccurate to be generally useful, and the Hanna calcium checker causes more problems for users than all other Hanna devices, and I do not recommend it.

Went to recalibrate using my ro water and it’s showing it’s still dialed in at 0 ppm do refractometers go bad over time?

 

[collinnelson9]

Throw both the Hanna calcium and magnesium testers away. Sorry, they are a waste of money. Constantly inaccurate and unreliable.

I would not make any decisions based on results from them.

Salifert calcium has always been good for me and I don’t test magnesium at all these days

So you’re saying I should go with an icp, I had the full salifert test set and I just couldn’t see the color well enough to compare so I tossed them awhile back

 

[collinnelson9]

AFR cannot ever be responsible for low calcium unless you do not dose enough. If alk is maintained with AFR, it adds more than enough calcium.

I suspect the magnesium is test error or low salinity, which can also explain low calcium.

IMO, magnesium testing is too inaccurate to be generally useful, and the Hanna calcium checker causes more problems for users than all other Hanna devices, and I do not recommend it.

Freshly calibrated Hanna salinity checker read 32.8 which I don’t trust even seconds after calibrating. (Haven’t used it in 2 years) Which isn’t far off from the “desired” 33-35 ppt

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Freshly calibrated Hanna salinity checker read 32.8 which I don’t trust even seconds after calibrating. (Haven’t used it in 2 years) Which isn’t far off from the “desired” 33-35 ppt

Well, that will contribute to low calcium and magnesium. Natural seawater at 32.8 ppt has only 394 ppm calcium and 1200 ppm magnesium.