PH, Alk, and Calcium???

[Peristaltic_Rush]

Looking for insight on a few things that my brain is not quite grasping.

I am having Calcium and Alkalinity swings in my tank. I do not have any corals. Two Damsels, 6 hermits, 6 Astrea, 4 Nassariurs. Live sand 4" bed, and 80# rock in a 65 gal system.

Sump has Cheato, pods, I am using Red Sea Coral Pro Salt Blue label, I switched from Tropic Marin.

I have read about this and I am still confused.

I am chasing numbers to prepare for corals. Perhaps the system is not established long enough yet. The system is in the 6 month slow acclimation stage. I am having diatom blooms which I am assuming is affecting the swing through its biological process.

Prior to swtichng salt mixes my PH was consistently low and my alk was below 7. With the coral pro mix I am still flirting with the low range. And calcium is also fluctuating.

I normally test late afternoon, today's results were an hour after the lights came on.

 

[armyvetheather]

Can you post the parameters that you say are swinging? What are they starting and ending at and how many days/hours between?

 

[Psyduck]

Not sure what your question is.
Also, 4” bed is pretty darn deep. Kinda old school and there is a reason why we steered away from deep beds. I would take the sand out slowly and keep it under 2” or it will be a ticking bomb down the road.

 

[Peristaltic_Rush]

Can you post the parameters that you say are swinging? What are they starting and ending at and how many days/hours between?

 

[Peristaltic_Rush]

Not sure what your question is.
Also, 4” bed is pretty darn deep. Kinda old school and there is a reason why we steered away from deep beds. I would take the sand out slowly and keep it under 2” or it will be a ticking bomb down the road.

It has deeper areas I went with the deepest point. I’d say on average the depth is 2”

 

[armyvetheather]

What are you using to test each parameter? Any way to verify results?

 

[Peristaltic_Rush]

What are you using to test each parameter? Any way to verify results?

Hannah checker. I can verify with LFS

 

[bossman818]

I would recommend not even chasing numbers yet. I was like that with my tank, always chasing numbers at the beginning. Caused more harm than good. Let your tank mature, stick to your water changes and all will settle on its own.

 

[Troylee]

Your ph is far from low! People beg to have 8.1-8.3 as your chart describes! Theres tons of tanks struggling to hit 8… the only thing I see bouncing around is your alk and that’s prolly from the water changes and different salts. Obviously you have no corals so no reason to test as nothing is up taking calcium or alkalinity unless you have corraline growing?

 

[armyvetheather]

I agree with above. I don't think your parameters are really swinging as much as you're changing things and your parameters are reflecting that. I wouldn't focus on parameters too much at this point and when you are ready to add coral - start with beginner coral that is fairly cheap and will help you gauge your tank more than just numbers. Leathers, gorgonians, etc - they are usually fairly hearty and difficult to kill. I would start with those and see how they do, your parameters will stabilize once you have your methods down and decide what products you want to use. Remember, nothing good happens fast in this hobby and what you do today you might not see immediate results so make very small changes and document so you can look back.

 

[rishma]

I suspect test error. It’s unlikely alkalinity is swinging that much, even less likely that calcium is swinging that much. If you tossed out the Dec 9 test data as an error, December 8 and 10 are more reasonable.

Unless I am reading the log wrong?

 

[Peristaltic_Rush]

I suspect test error. It’s unlikely alkalinity is swinging that much, even less likely that calcium is swinging that much. If you tossed out the Dec 9 test data as an error, December 8 and 10 are more reasonable.

Unless I am reading the log wrong?

december 9 is a fresh mix of salt in my rodi reserve. @Troylee agreed just looking to ensure I am starting with a fairly stable platform before adding some coral. have seeded coraline but have not seen any growth yet

 

[Troylee]

december 9 is a fresh mix of salt in my rodi reserve. @Troylee agreed just looking to ensure I am starting with a fairly stable platform before adding some coral. have seeded coraline but have not seen any growth yet

You should be fine with any coral you want just wait for your bacteria to build up before trying sps…

 

[PapaFishRocks]

I’ve taken the approach of…if the fish and corals are looking fine….then I don’t worry about it.

I used to chase numbers. Now I just use them as a guide and keep an eye on how the corals are doing.

I can’t keep zoas alive, but my acropora are growing like crazy. Go figure.

And I completely gave up on trying to raise pH. Tank has been running for almost 20 months with these daily swings.

 

[Sdoutreefer]

What testing methods are you using? Could it be user test error?

 

[Peristaltic_Rush]

I’ve taken the approach of…if the fish and corals are looking fine….then I don’t worry about it.

I used to chase numbers. Now I just use them as a guide and keep an eye on how the corals are doing.

I can’t keep zoas alive, but my acropora are growing like crazy. Go figure.

And I completely gave up on trying to raise pH. Tank has been running for almost 20 months with these daily swings.

what monito is this? and I was looking to start a zoa garden first

 

[Peristaltic_Rush]

What testing methods are you using? Could it be user test error?

these results are all from Hannah products.

 

[Peristaltic_Rush]

PAR readings in the system

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The posted values are from different methods, right? Calcium is not likely bouncing around, just reflecting some testing variability.

 

[Peristaltic_Rush]

The posted values are from different methods, right? Calcium is not likely bouncing around, just reflecting some testing variability.

It is a small sample size of two tests from my disply, and the 12/9 test is direct from my rodi mix after its stablized for 8 hours. all these test were done with hannah checker and hannah's pen salinity and ph pen. I cant seem to find my log from the Tropic Marin salt.

My goal is to test again in a week and if the results are stable then I would add some zoa's

I agree the calcium may be not accurate as it is a difficult test.

and if the coral pro mix is accurate by alk is low compared to the label, and so is the ph which correlates with a testing variance.