I recently added more hard corals and have noticed some growth so wanted to see if I needed to start dosing for alk and Ca or if my water changes remained adequate. My last water change was 6 days ago and I measured today before and after the change to see where things were at.
Pre WC:
1.026 sg
pH 7.8
KH 6.7
Ca 480
Mg 1400
Post WC
1.026 sg
pH 8.1? Something between the colors of 8 and 8.2
KH 7.3
Ca 480
Sg measured w a refractometer, pH w API and rest w salifert.
I use reef crystals salt which claims Ca 455 and Mg 1345 at my Sg and doesn’t make a statement on alk at least on the package that I saw. I have had similar high numbers before when measuring Ca and Mg but haven’t had pH and alk this low and I’m kind of assuming that’s a result of consumption and that I should probably start supplementing at least alk.
My questions with all this are:
1. Any idea why Ca and Mg are higher than the specs from the salt manufacturer?
2. If I start dosing, my understanding is to correct to desired parameters then check 24-48h later and use a correction calc as dose. Should I just correct the alk as Ca seems fine?
3. I thought Ca and alk were kind of tied in consumption so do I dose for both after that?
Thanks!
Pre WC:
1.026 sg
pH 7.8
KH 6.7
Ca 480
Mg 1400
Post WC
1.026 sg
pH 8.1? Something between the colors of 8 and 8.2
KH 7.3
Ca 480
Sg measured w a refractometer, pH w API and rest w salifert.
I use reef crystals salt which claims Ca 455 and Mg 1345 at my Sg and doesn’t make a statement on alk at least on the package that I saw. I have had similar high numbers before when measuring Ca and Mg but haven’t had pH and alk this low and I’m kind of assuming that’s a result of consumption and that I should probably start supplementing at least alk.
My questions with all this are:
1. Any idea why Ca and Mg are higher than the specs from the salt manufacturer?
2. If I start dosing, my understanding is to correct to desired parameters then check 24-48h later and use a correction calc as dose. Should I just correct the alk as Ca seems fine?
3. I thought Ca and alk were kind of tied in consumption so do I dose for both after that?
Thanks!