Multiple concerns.

[Notsolostfish]

Im honesty at the point of just like having so many questions, and im just mad at myself for not finding an answer. My tank is 5 months old almost 6 months. I have duncans. Candy cane, 2 hammers, 1 torch, mushroom, zoas.

2 months ago i had 0 nitrate, and 0 phosphate. So i had dinos, and cyano. So i started dosing them. Till like a month ago i stopped. And my tank is catching up on phosphate, and nitrate alone.

My nitrate is 5, and my phosphate is 0.06 without any dosing.

I do water changes every 3-4 weeks. Because i dont want to bottom out my nitrate back to 0.

So heres whats happening during that period to do water changes. My alk is dropping from 7.5 (tropic marin pro salt)
To 7.0. So i dose that up no problem.

Now heres where im confused. My calcium is at 390. Should i dose that up back to 450?

My PH takes whole day to get to 8.1 legit whole day. My basement have no windows (old house) should i raise my alk to raise PH or should i leave it alone?

My third concern. Should i change the salt to other salt witj higher alk, and higher calcium, and mag? So i have room for errors? Or my alk, mag, and calcium is fine?

 

[SchrutesReefs]

I think some would say to leave your salt alone. Have you considered dosing Kalkwasser? It would help raise ph, alk, and cal. And might be the easiest to dose.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

So how are the corals doing? Are you asking this to chase numbers or is there a problem?

 

[Notsolostfish]

So how are the corals doing? Are you asking this to chase numbers or is there a problem?

My corals are doing fine. But i dont want my calcium to keep dropping.

 

[SchrutesReefs]

So how are the corals doing? Are you asking this to chase numbers or is there a problem?

If I understood correctly, op was concerned with the lower levels of the big 3. So, yes. It seems maybe it’s a number chase…?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Im honesty at the point of just like having so many questions, and im just mad at myself for not finding an answer. My tank is 5 months old almost 6 months. I have duncans. Candy cane, 2 hammers, 1 torch, mushroom, zoas.

2 months ago i had 0 nitrate, and 0 phosphate. So i had dinos, and cyano. So i started dosing them. Till like a month ago i stopped. And my tank is catching up on phosphate, and nitrate alone.

My nitrate is 5, and my phosphate is 0.06 without any dosing.

I do water changes every 3-4 weeks. Because i dont want to bottom out my nitrate back to 0.

So heres whats happening during that period to do water changes. My alk is dropping from 7.5 (tropic marin pro salt)
To 7.0. So i dose that up no problem.

Now heres where im confused. My calcium is at 390. Should i dose that up back to 450?

My PH takes whole day to get to 8.1 legit whole day. My basement have no windows (old house) should i raise my alk to raise PH or should i leave it alone?

My third concern. Should i change the salt to other salt witj higher alk, and higher calcium, and mag? So i have room for errors? Or my alk, mag, and calcium is fine?

Let your corals talk to you. If they look good - Stability is more important than targets But alk needs to be at least 7.8. Look at the container for your salt mix. It should show expected alk and calcium levels. Ones like reef crystals and Red sea pro are typically higher.
Assure your test kits are not delivering false results- What test kits are you using?
Targets are CA- 400-450. . . . Alk - 8.0-11 . . . . mag 1300-1350
If youre going to raise these, do so VERY slowly and do not chase any numbers if you dont need to.
IF CORALS ARE THRIVING WELL- I WOULD LEAVE IT ALONE AND LET WATER CHANGES DO THE ELEVATIONS.

 

[vetteguy53081]

If I understood correctly, op was concerned with the lower levels of the big 3. So, yes. It seems maybe it’s a number chase…?

I personally recommend taking a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your water and compare readings with yours - then you'll know

 

[bushdoc]

Good advice above, from vetteguy.
I know that many do not recommend changing salts, but this particular brand of salt is designed for ULNS ( ultra low nutrient system) and might not be suitable for your needs. Choosing salt with dKH around 8+ might be a better option. If you decide to do that, your transition should be gradual And slow.
.
I

 

[Notsolostfish]

Good advice above, from vetteguy.
I know that many do not recommend changing salts, but this particular brand of salt is designed for ULNS ( ultra low nutrient system) and might not be suitable for your needs. Choosing salt with dKH around 8+ might be a better option. If you decide to do that, your transition should be gradual And slow.
.
I

Got it. So tropic marin pro salt is no go?

 

[Spare time]

As long as calcium is above the minimum then it's fine. I personally don't like tropic Marin salt because tiher the calcium or alk are at the bare minimum and I'd rather have some buffer room. Red sea salt would be a middle of the road alternative in terms of element levels if you were looking to change salts. I think changing salts is way less of a big deal than people make it out to be. The pH is fine.

 

[bushdoc]

What Spare time said and as I stated Tropic Marin Pro Salt is designed for specific group of reefers who like their Nitrate and Phosphate to be 0 and that is not what many here likes. If you choose to run ULNS you need to control your parameters in very narrow range and have no room for error. I also caution you that there are salts with dKH of 11-12 and for many that is also too much. Spare time mentions Red Sea brand-I recommend their "blue bucket " salt as their "Coral Pro" salt has very high dKH, which might balso be problematic.

 

[vetteguy53081]

What Spare time said and as I stated Tropic Marin Pro Salt is designed for specific group of reefers who like their Nitrate and Phosphate to be 0 and that is not what many here likes. If you choose to run ULNS you need to control your parameters in very narrow range and have no room for error. I also caution you that there are salts with dKH of 11-12 and for many that is also too much. Spare time mentions Red Sea brand-I recommend their "blue bucket " salt as their "Coral Pro" salt has very high dKH, which might balso be problematic.

I’ve been using TM pro for over 3 years and salt has nothing to do with low no3 or p04
The advantages of TM Pro is the high amount of major and minor traces and ph buffering and the elevated CA and mag content.

 

[Lou Ekus]

What Spare time said and as I stated Tropic Marin Pro Salt is designed for specific group of reefers who like their Nitrate and Phosphate to be 0 and that is not what many here likes. If you choose to run ULNS you need to control your parameters in very narrow range and have no room for error. I also caution you that there are salts with dKH of 11-12 and for many that is also too much. Spare time mentions Red Sea brand-I recommend their "blue bucket " salt as their "Coral Pro" salt has very high dKH, which might balso be problematic.

I don't mean to sound pushy here at all. But it is important to clear up a missunderstanding... Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt is NOT " designed for specific group of reefers who like their Nitrate and Phosphate to be 0"! I'm not sure where this informaiton is coming from, but it is not correct. In fact, we we are not proponents of running ULNS. We acknowledge that many people have good results running systems in thqat way. But is it not our recomended optimum method.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I forget sometimes how this hobby is (and always has been) an echo chamber of nonsense that is repeated oft enough to become bible and verse to the masses. Thanks @Lou Ekus that was refreshing

To the "must use this salt" guys - There are differences in salts with regard to their trace element makeup. Some brands may have better quality control or less impurities, but it is all salt in context to this thread and the OPs question.

Much of the "hobby" does not dose trace elements, alkalinity, or anything else. Different brands of salt make a difference for those people, as the only replenishment is from water changes. Hardcore reefers that are concerned about certain trace elements and don't want to dose them... same thing, it may matter to them.

To the rest of you that dose and in context to this thread - the brand is not an issue. The OP is dosing Alk and Ca - so what comes in the salt (in context to the OPs question) is really not relevant once the Alk-Ca levels are dosed up the first time.

Remember Randy's good ol' chart? Circa 2002?

Sure looks to me like the OP is in the target zone and really doesn't need to do anything. The corals look good... so why chase numbers?

What to do when you are outside of the target zone?

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems

I hope this article proves useful is understanding and dealing with the different types of calcium and alkalinity problems encountered by reef keepers. Once you get calcium and alkalinity under control, you are far along the road to having your tank chemistry optimal for its inhabitants.

reefs.com

 

[bluerider098]

How are you testing calcium? I test every batch of TM Pro I use, and the calcium is usually around 500, so I am puzzled how doing a waterchange is lowering your calcium.

 

[DanyL]

How are you testing calcium? I test every batch of TM Pro I use, and the calcium is usually around 500, so I am puzzled how doing a waterchange is lowering your calcium.

It's the lack of doing them combined with it being consumed.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I don't mean to sound pushy here at all. But it is important to clear up a missunderstanding... Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt is NOT " designed for specific group of reefers who like their Nitrate and Phosphate to be 0"! I'm not sure where this informaiton is coming from, but it is not correct. In fact, we we are not proponents of running ULNS. We acknowledge that many people have good results running systems in thqat way. But is it not our recomended optimum method.

Not pushy at all and thank you for clarifying as I too posted the same and got my Info from you. We speak at many shows and both Russ K and myself from Wi. are in touch with you regularly.