My three main reef parameters are out of balance

[Jeremy hall]

So my calcium is at 460 470
Alkalinity is higher than I care to mention
And magnesium is retardely low
How do I fix this
I dosed kent tech magnesium 1ml per gal at 32 gallons
It's a bio cube 32 by the way
Had been using poly lab one (black and white bottle in pic )
Seemed to be doing doing well then my new birds nest frag started to whiten and in three days it's what you see in the pic I have a monti cap frag the darker colored one doing the same slowly .
Pleaeese help I got back into this hobby because my six year old loves the critters but ive never tried sps and don't want to let him down

 

[GillMeister]

What test kit are you using? Your Ca is probably right, your alk might be right, and your Mg is likely wrong. Don't do anything until you verify your readings. I've made decisions i regret based on measurement errors.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Do a major water change and see where your levels are at and adjust accordingly. The parameters you want are:

Temp 77-79
ph 8.1-8.3
salinity 1.025
nitrate < .4
phos < .04
Ammonia < .03
mG 1300
Alk 8-9
CA 440

what test kits are you using ?

 

[dvgyfresh]

A nice 20% water change with the normal parameters couldn’t hurt and would help restore levels

 

[Nateaqua]

I used this calculator when I was dosing my Kent magnesium.

Reef Chemistry Calculator

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Whats your alk and salt lvl? Do a small wc. Nems look ok.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

...i mean kenya tree amd feather duster. Lol
D

 

[Jeremy hall]

What test kit are you using? Your Ca is probably right, your alk might be right, and your Mg is likely wrong. Don't do anything until you verify your readings. I've made decisions i regret based on measurement errors.

What test kit are you using? Your Ca is probably right, your alk might be right, and your Mg is likely wrong. Don't do anything until you verify your readings. I've made decisions i regret based on measurement errors.

Sali

What test kit are you using? Your Ca is probably right, your alk might be right, and your Mg is likely wrong. Don't do anything until you verify your readings. I've made decisions i regret based on measurement errors.

Salifert mag test and api on calcium and alk

What test kit are you using? Your Ca is probably right, your alk might be right, and your Mg is likely wrong. Don't do anything until you verify your readings. I've made decisions i regret based on measurement errors.

...i mean kenya tree amd feather duster. Lol
D

Whats your alk and salt lvl? Do a small wc. Nems look ok.
D

Salts at 1.025 and alkalinity read above what the chart gave me lol

 

[Jeremy hall]

...i mean kenya tree amd feather duster. Lol
D

What's wrong with those my lil guy liked em

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Nothing. They look good.
D

 

[Jeremy hall]

Nothing. They look good.
D

Lol they were the first two I let him pick out to have some movement and to rebuild some confidence in spending all this money on critters again
Tanks only been up since January 10th
Tried a few insta tank hacks and alot of bacterias

 

[Jeremy hall]

What test kit are you using? Your Ca is probably right, your alk might be right, and your Mg is likely wrong. Don't do anything until you verify your readings. I've made decisions i regret based on measurement errors.

I used salifert mag test and api alk and calcium tests
I only got a couple bucks in the sps frags didn't see a need to go all out on testing in case they didn't make it
Cal 460
Alk 17
Mag like 110
*** lol
Just did a 33%water change I'ma check again in the am when I get off work
Also added a protein skimmer
I don't get how my peramiters
That far off when I literally count more coraline spots on my glass by the day

 

[arking_mark]

I used salifert mag test and api alk and calcium tests
I only got a couple bucks in the sps frags didn't see a need to go all out on testing in case they didn't make it
Cal 460
Alk 17
Mag like 110
*** lol
Just did a 33%water change I'ma check again in the am when I get off work
Also added a protein skimmer
I don't get how my peramiters
That far off when I literally count more coraline spots on my glass by the day

Your parameters may be fine. Your testing may not be fine.

1. There is no way your Alk is at 17dKH unless you have been dosing an alkalinity product.
2. Ca level is fine
3. There is no way your magnesium is 110

Some of my reefing mantras...highlighted in red what applies to this situation

• Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank
• Triple-check before you believe or make any changes to your tank
• Only make one change at a time in your reef tank
• Only dose what you can test for
• Don't chase #s
• Anytime you add anything to your tank (even quarantined livestock), your whole tank is at risk
• Most problems can be mitigated with larger water changes and GAC
• Have a plan, a backup plan, and a backup backup plan for reefing risks
• Stick to one reefing methodology. Don't be a Frankenstein unless you're willing to fail while blazing your own path to success

 

[Jeremy hall]

Your parameters may be fine. Your testing may not be fine.

1. There is no way your Alk is at 17dKH unless you have been dosing an alkalinity product.
2. Ca level is fine
3. There is no way your magnesium is 110

Some of my reefing mantras...highlighted in red what applies to this situation

• Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank
• Triple-check before you believe or make any changes to your tank
• Only make one change at a time in your reef tank
• Only dose what you can test for
• Don't chase #s
• Anytime you add anything to your tank (even quarantined livestock), your whole tank is at risk
• Most problems can be mitigated with larger water changes and GAC
• Have a plan, a backup plan, and a backup backup plan for reefing risks
• Stick to one reefing methodology. Don't be a Frankenstein unless you're willing to fail while blazing your own path to success

The polyp lab 1 I used was supposed to safely raise and maintain all three how ever I don't think I should have done a daily dose with so few corals
It's got a lot of great reviews

 

[arking_mark]

The polyp lab 1 I used was supposed to safely raise and maintain all three how ever I don't think I should have done a daily dose with so few corals
It's got a lot of great reviews

So I took a quick look a polyp 1 which seems to be a calcium acetate based product. Their direction are very vague as you don't know how much ca or alk your adding to the tank.

My understanding of calcium acetate is that it's hard to measure Alk impact as there is a biological process that takes place to free up the carbonate for the tank. So unlike other products which typically elevate Alk parameters immediately, this stuff takes time. So you are better off using Ca as the yardstick parameter for you tank.

If you were using a low Ca salt ~380ppm and now are around 460ppm. Yeah your Alk could be way up there.

I recommend larger water changes 25% a week for the next couple of weeks to get your tank parameters back to normal.

If you want to continue using Polyp 1, then get a digital Ca Tester like Hanna and understand that measuring Ca is much less accurate.

18-20 ppm calcium for each 1 meq/L Alk.

So a 9ppm Ca change would be equivalent to a 0.5 dKH change. I usually limit my changes to .25dKH per dose. A 9ppm change is usually out of the accuracy range of testers.