Water testing

B

bioxide

[I finally got my testing kits for dKH, Calcium, and Phospates in so I did the tests:

Phosphates 0ppm
dKH 6.4
Calcium 820ppm ?

do these seem right?

The kits are brand new Salifert kits and I did the Calcium test 3 times the last time doing the lower resolution test b/c the higher res could only show up to 500ppm and it would never show.

Can calcium being to high hurt anything? Also how do I get the dKH up some?]
 
[Thats only like 2.2meq/l Alk. At that level I can see the Ca being 820.

The phosphates at 0 are real hard to belive. I belive theres 2 types of phosphates you can test for, may want to look into that sorry I can't remember more.

The high Ca isn't 'bad', don't let it go any higher. Do not try to raise the Alk with the Ca at 820. I would leave it 100% alone for a week or 2 and monitor the Ca / Alk. If the Alk drops below 5dKH, use some buffer at half strength.

Ca and Alk have to rise and fall together. Too much of both and the calcium will precipitate out of solution and coat EVERYTHING in your tank with a white snow that is a huge pain to remove.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/calcalkmar.htm Scroll down to
The Marble Analogy about 1/4 way down the page.]



Edited By mwolek on 1093310487
 
[yea i figured my phosphates would be high as well but was pleasantly surprised they were 0, so I need to watch the alk and make sure it doesn't go any lower? This is an established tank and has not had anything done to it other than I moved some rock around in it last night. So are these readings ok?]



Edited By bioxide on 1093311854
 
[thanks for the article mwolek, that made alot of sense and now I think I understand how alk and ca go hand in hand. Do I need to do anything at this time to get the alk up or is it ok to be that low as long as it doesn't go any lower than 5?]
 
[Not to worry you, but I have heard that something is wrong with the new Salifert Calcium test kits and they are giving high readings. Do a search on Reef Central to find a thread about the new Salifert test]
 
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