Params

[scotty333]

Going to add just 100 mag supplement as the bag states max raise 50 not the 100 it did overnight on a drip but it’s not created any problems

 

[scotty333]

By my count I need to increase mag 100g to raise 50 as recommended
Calcium 260g to reach 20 up

Will monitor during the day

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

OK, let us know what happens.

I was still hoping for a test of the new salt water to see if the kit might be an issue, but even if values really are 420 ppm calcium and 1300 ppm magnesium, adding another 100 ppm of each will not be a big problem.

 

[scotty333]

Ok I’ll test the salt I have here and post those params but it’s cheap stuff so not sure it’ll be anything like nsw but let’s see
Cheers randy

 

[scotty333]

So
Mixed salt water up to 1.025 and mag according to the bag is between 1300-1450 and I got 1470

Calc should be 350-400 and I get 345

So I’m fairly confident in those kits wouldn’t you agree?

 

[scotty333]

So the mix has finished dripping in and it’s been 3 hours now but I’m heading out so at 3.30 I’ll test tank water see if the increases are correct

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So
Mixed salt water up to 1.025 and mag according to the bag is between 1300-1450 and I got 1470

Calc should be 350-400 and I get 345

So I’m fairly confident in those kits wouldn’t you agree?

Magnesium seems fine. On calcium, either the mix is low or the kit is low. In any case, boosting it to a measured 420 ppm is OK.

 

[Cell]

It seems you are getting some more accurate measurements now. Once you boost your calcium to the desired level, have you thought about how you plan on maintaining these parameters moving forward? Adjusting to desired parameters is easy, maintaining them long term is the hard part.

 

[scotty333]

Thanks for the input guys
Well I’ll be starting my sps journey with a load of monti frags and will test weekly and see what they’re consuming then I can work out a plan
Properly add a dozer if large consumption

 

[scotty333]

Mag 1410
Calc 350

Will leave the mag alone now and just pop 240g of calcium , that should get me at 370 but it’s not proving accurate these measures

 

[scotty333]

Morning all
Todays calc 365 ( was targeting 370) ) so gonna set the drip up with 260g and should be 385 later

Po4 0.12

Keeping the nopox another day or 2 to my target 0.03

 

[scotty333]

Test kits driving me insane here
Salifert , goes to purple with 1.5mm
But from blue to pink at .4mm
So it’s either gone backwards or it’s in excess of 500 now

Kh is 6.7 , does it make sense to drop a little after dosing mag and calc?

 

[Cell]

I would recommend investing in a Hanna Checker for alk, nitrate, and PO4.

 

[scotty333]

I’m going the lfs later to check calc but it’ll be Salifert the same
Po4 and nitrate aren’t my concern because the results I’m getting are expected so no confusion there , I mean as long as the po4 is on the chart I’m happy
Nitrates again if less than 50 I’m ok with that
It’s consistently coming down with nopox
But I fear the calc I’ve overdosed because the dosage instructions only raised it 5ppm so I x4 the amount (260g) to raise 20ppm as per max per day
Although I have nothing that would be affected right now

 

[scotty333]

Lfs results are

Salinity 1.025
Po4 .07
Nitrate 75
Calcium 500+

Any issues here please? I’m dosing nopox 15mm for a week or so and phos I down from .47 but nitrates are the same, they did drop to around 50 but have gone back up

 

[scotty333]

I guess I’ve got to be careful I don’t bottom out phos while reducing nitrates?

 

[Cell]

I'm a bit confused, I went to look for history on your tank thinking maybe you were a new reefer with a new system and came across your initial post.

This tank is 7 years old, never had water changes during that time and you have 25 years of reefkeeping experience?

 

[Tripod1404]

If your LFS is using the same salifert Ca kit, I would take a water sample and your kit, and do a side by side, and then do another side by side with their water. Either your kit has some issues, or the way your are doing it.

If I were you, I would not add an SPS now. You just got 200 PPM Ca swing or measurement error. This need to be addressed before addition of SPS. With SPS corals, you would need to calculate your daily alk and Ca consumption. In my opinion, the error rate your test results have (either due to bad kit or bad application) would throws off any chance of getting precise readings.

 

[scotty333]

I'm a bit confused, I went to look for history on your tank thinking maybe you were a new reefer with a new system and came across your initial post.

This tank is 7 years old, never had water changes during that time and you have 25 years of reefkeeping experience?

Correct but why the confusion? I’ve never used nopox or dosed magnesium but have run calcium reactors before

 

[scotty333]

If your LFS is using the same salifert Ca kit, I would take a water sample and your kit, and do a side by side, and then do another side by side with their water. Either your kit has some issues, or the way your are doing it.

If I were you, I would not add an SPS now. You just got 200 PPM Ca swing or measurement error. This need to be addressed before addition of SPS. With SPS corals, you would need to calculate your daily alk and Ca consumption. In my opinion, the error rate your test results have (either due to bad kit or bad application) would throws off any chance of getting precise readings.

Same Salifert calc kit same result , my phos on Salifert shows 0.12 , he uses hanna and got .07 so it’s reading a bit high but I can live with that , the nitrates on my Salifert shows 50 to my eyes but to others they may say it’s higher , it’s not a big colour difference and I was probably a bit biased to myself
I’ve put the sps on hold cos my nem looks a bit cheesed off and your right , I need to at least get nitrates down
Not concerned about calc as I’ve read people’s tanks are in excess of 700! But I understand that they maybe introduced there corals at similar levels then raised the calc ??
Thanks for input