- Joined
- Nov 27, 2019
- Messages
- 6
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Tank info:
I have a 125 g display and 40 g sump with felt socks, a protein skimmer, and refugium.
Background:
We've been taking our water to our LFS to test and for weeks, kept saying nitrates are zero, calcium and alkalinity not at optimum levels so dose part 1 and 2. My LFS had a huge sale of test kits and we decided to get those while on sale and start testing at home to cross reference their results. Well, turns out that their tests are contaminated because the tests at home are showing high levels of everything. At this point, we've been dosing part 1 and 2 for about a month now with the LFS telling us to increase/decrease one or the other (we get our water tested weekly). This all happened between February and March 2020. At one point, our nitrates were up to 80 ppm (started dosing Red Sea NoPox shortly after) and calcium was in the mid 600s.
We have since stopped dosing part 1 and 2 and have been doing religious 5-7 days water changes (4 weeks now) anywhere from 10-25%. We use Fritz RPM. We have managed to get our nitrates down to 8 ppm (Red Sea test kit)/10 ppm (API test kit) so it's been helping in that avenue, but not much anywhere else.
I've been religiously keeping a log of our test readings including what kits we use so I'll post the past two weeks readings:
Readings last week + test used:
pH- 8.0 API
Nitrate- 30 ppm API
Alkalinity- over 14 Red Sea
Magnesium- 1380 Salifert
Calcium- 570 Red Sea
Phosphate- 0.15 Aquaforest, 0.1 Red Sea
Reading this week + test used:
pH- 8.0 API
Nitrate- 8 ppm Red Sea, 10 ppm API
Alkalinity- 13.7 Red Sea
Magnesium- 1425 Salifert
Calcium- 630 Red Sea
Phosphate- 0.1 Red Sea
We have been trying to get the calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium levels under control. It is my understanding that the magnesium is pretty much what binds calcium and alkalinity to hold steady and calcium and alkalinity have a balancing act between them.
I have a mixed reef with SPS, LPS, and softies and my GSP, while growing, doesn't consistently open anymore. My kenya trees have lost color and don't extend out as much as they used to. My green brain coral have not been extending sweepers. My toadstool have looked very sad and haven't been opening up much either. Everyone else have been losing color and vibrance. All of my fish seem to still be doing well.
I am trying to get my levels under control and can use any help you guys can offer. We use Fritz RPM which I know have high magnesium levels and we are open to changing salt mixes.
Thank you so much.
I have a 125 g display and 40 g sump with felt socks, a protein skimmer, and refugium.
Background:
We've been taking our water to our LFS to test and for weeks, kept saying nitrates are zero, calcium and alkalinity not at optimum levels so dose part 1 and 2. My LFS had a huge sale of test kits and we decided to get those while on sale and start testing at home to cross reference their results. Well, turns out that their tests are contaminated because the tests at home are showing high levels of everything. At this point, we've been dosing part 1 and 2 for about a month now with the LFS telling us to increase/decrease one or the other (we get our water tested weekly). This all happened between February and March 2020. At one point, our nitrates were up to 80 ppm (started dosing Red Sea NoPox shortly after) and calcium was in the mid 600s.
We have since stopped dosing part 1 and 2 and have been doing religious 5-7 days water changes (4 weeks now) anywhere from 10-25%. We use Fritz RPM. We have managed to get our nitrates down to 8 ppm (Red Sea test kit)/10 ppm (API test kit) so it's been helping in that avenue, but not much anywhere else.
I've been religiously keeping a log of our test readings including what kits we use so I'll post the past two weeks readings:
Readings last week + test used:
pH- 8.0 API
Nitrate- 30 ppm API
Alkalinity- over 14 Red Sea
Magnesium- 1380 Salifert
Calcium- 570 Red Sea
Phosphate- 0.15 Aquaforest, 0.1 Red Sea
Reading this week + test used:
pH- 8.0 API
Nitrate- 8 ppm Red Sea, 10 ppm API
Alkalinity- 13.7 Red Sea
Magnesium- 1425 Salifert
Calcium- 630 Red Sea
Phosphate- 0.1 Red Sea
We have been trying to get the calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium levels under control. It is my understanding that the magnesium is pretty much what binds calcium and alkalinity to hold steady and calcium and alkalinity have a balancing act between them.
I have a mixed reef with SPS, LPS, and softies and my GSP, while growing, doesn't consistently open anymore. My kenya trees have lost color and don't extend out as much as they used to. My green brain coral have not been extending sweepers. My toadstool have looked very sad and haven't been opening up much either. Everyone else have been losing color and vibrance. All of my fish seem to still be doing well.
I am trying to get my levels under control and can use any help you guys can offer. We use Fritz RPM which I know have high magnesium levels and we are open to changing salt mixes.
Thank you so much.