Phosphates reading

T

tdsapp

So, I was at Apex Aquariums the other day and talking about my 20 gallon tank and the issue I am having with green hair agile. My CuC is currently 5 turbo snails, 5 hermit crabs, and 2 peppermint shrimp, with the hermit crabs being added about a week and a half ago. The only fish I have is two Pajama Cardinal fish as our clown fish decided to do some carpet surfing last week. I had also mentioned that what coral I had put into the tank died (yes, how sad.. I tried, I thought it was the lights) So, he said that I need to be testing for KH, Phosphates, and Calcium and correct any issues I have with buffers or absorbers.

So I bought the test kit and KH buffer and phosphate absorbers and tested when I got home

Last week (1/23/2014) I had the following readings.

KH - 6 (dKH 6, ppm KH 107.4)
Phos - 0
Calcium (Ca2) - 400

I added 3mL of the KH buffer (Kent Marine Pro Buffer dKH). Then starting on Friday I did a three day lights out, plus I turned over a couple rocks to put the agile on the bottom where it was out of the light. It got rid of most of the GHA but there is still some on the rocks. On Monday I turned the lights back on at full Illumination on a 12 hour cycle. (I have since changed it to less light and less time.) So now today (1/31/2014) I have tested again and here is what I have.

KH - 7 (dKH 7, ppm KH 125.3)
Phos - 0
Calcium (Ca2) - 400

I just dosed with the KH buffer again with 5 mL.

So here is my question... Since I still have some GHA in the tank would I be showing 0 phosphates because the agile is consuming it? Should I still put some of the phos absorber in the tank or should I not do that until I actually see some numbers in the test?

I am going to drop by the LFS today or so and get something to bring the Calcium up as well since it is borderline at 400. Once I get it up some and get the KH where it should be, when would it be safe to try a small coral frag again? I was not thinking about the corals I had done before as I am not going to spend that much money again just for them to die if it's something else. What would y'all suggest as a good zoa to try out that is cheap but a hardy coral to try?

Thanks for the help!

Tim
 
Your calcium level is fine. 375ppm is a good low number, and you're at 400ppm.

If you had a coral die previously, it was the low dKH. You need to dose daily to maintain 8 dKH (the target range is somewhere between 8 and 11 dKH).
 
@Marc wrote:
Your calcium level is fine. 375ppm is a good low number said:
OK, I had read in the test kit paperwork to keep the calcium between 400 and 500. It's good to know that it was not too low. I am working at getting the dKH up where it needs to be. I'll test again tomorrow and see where its at.


Tim
Click to expand...
 
dKH is one value that changes and why people dose two part daily. 500 is way too high for corals, calcium-wise. 375-425ppm is the target. Here's my water quality article: http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.php/302-Maintaining-Good-Water-Quality
 
OK, so I have finally started seeing a change in my KH. My reading today was about 7.58.0 and probably being closer to 8. And boy, is my water clear, and the GHA is going away :).

So, yesterday I picked up another container and some RODI from DNA. I just check the KH in that container and it came out to a whopping 4. Would it be better to buffer the water in the container before topping off the tank with it and dropping the level in the tank? I was just figuring it would be better to do it before it has a chance to affect my tank.


Tim
 
You shouldn't need to buffer top off water. You dose the tank, and top off what evaporates.
 
@Marc wrote:
You shouldn't need to buffer top off water. You dose the tank said:
OK, so top off water is treated the same way as salt when considering KH. What about the water during a water change? Should I try and get the KH as close to the tank water as possible?



Tim
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