Alkalinity

[pbtang]

I'm a newbie to this site as a user, however, I've been reading the message boards for as long as I can remember. Can anyone out there, help me with Alkalinity? How do you test for it? Is there a specific testing kit for it? :help:

 

[aufishman]

Yeah, there are specific test kits for alkalinity. I'm sure you could find one of the easy to use reagent kits online (I know Hach and LaMotte both make them, as I've used them before). You probably know that alkalinity is used to measure the buffering capacity (it's typically expressed in terms of mg/L of CaCO3 - like hardness). So, as long as your pH readings have been steady in the 7.8 - 8.0 range your alkalinity should be fine. pH is always going to go up and down throughout the day, this is a normal cycle. Increasing the alkalinity just helps avoid or "buffer" the wild swings.

 

[cushen123]

I"m at auburn. I did work for the fisheries department there as a temp. Troy Hahn and I swapped jobs for a while, and now im in ag-comm and he's back in swingle. I'd like it if you'd talk me through some of my saltwater stuff, i'm new to the game. Thanks
cushen123@excite.com

 

[pbtang]

Thanks for your help Au Fishman! Didn't know that it worked together with my pH, my pH has been fine. My corals seem to be on the downfall, just started checking all parameters, and KH was always mentioned in a lot of peoples parameters, so I thought it should be checked??

 

[reefnut]

Salifert sells a easy alkalinity, calcium and magnesium kit. Also test for phosphates, nitrates, ammonia, nitrites, PH and salinity. Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium and PH are all related. Alkalinity if directly related to PH... but this doesn't mean that your alk is fine just because your PH is... test all of these parameters and you will get a good picture of what in going on in your tank.

 

[pbtang]

ReefNut, thanks for your expertise in this matter. All parameters of the tank are within specs...rites-0, rates-0, ammonia-0.25, pH-8.2, calcium-400 (want it a little higher), kH-10. Have never tested for phosphates. I will look for the Salifert test that you have mentioned, hopefully it helps. I'm losing corals, they are open one day, then the next day, they are closed and turning into powder (Carpet Leather).

 

[hedonic]

How long has your tank been setup? and what kind of lighting do you have on it? What exact type of corals have you lost?

 

[pbtang]

Tank has been set up for 8 months now, I'm running the Aqualight Pro HQI compact flourescent lunar light fixture,(10000K, double ended MH, actinic blue compact flourescent). I've lost the carpet leather, literally powder when I pulled it out. The hammer and frogspawn are both bleached. So far I've lost 1 soft coral, and the other two have bleached.

 

[pbtang]

Oh, I just read on another post on this site...if you are using R/O water, your phosphates should be zero. I'm using R/O water, so I guess I don't have to check for phosphates????

 

[hedonic]

No, not exactly. Organic phosphates find there way into the tank in my differnt ways. True, however when using R/O water your phospahte problem is considerably reduced. Also if your pH stays above 8.4 phosphates remain in a form that in relativly inert and not a problem. If you see an algae bloom, test for phosphates as it is generally the first obvious indicator of phosphates. What size is your tank? What is the average day and night temp?

 

[reefnut]

I agree with hedonic... phosphate enter the system in many ways... also keep in mind that phosphate test kits can only detect inorganic phosphate so a 0 reading doesn't mean 0 phosphates... but that's not what's killing your corals.
Does the temp swing at all?? How did you acclimate your corals to the MHs?? I'm guessing they were not acclimated (or not acclimated long enough) and are now suffering due to the intense lighting??

 

[pbtang]

Acclimate corals? I start them at the bottom then move them upward? Now, I've lost probably the easiest coral of all...xenia. What the heck is going on?? I guess that would be acclimating them? The temperature is constant 77-78 degrees. The tank is 110 gal. I just lost my PB tang this morning

 

[dogstar]

Originally Posted by PBtang
ReefNut, thanks for your expertise in this matter. All parameters of the tank are within specs...rites-0, rates-0, ammonia-0.25, pH-8.2, calcium-400 (want it a little higher), kH-10. Have never tested for phosphates. I will look for the Salifert test that you have mentioned, hopefully it helps. I'm losing corals, they are open one day, then the next day, they are closed and turning into powder (Carpet Leather).
" kh-10 " is that dkh ? Thats = about 3.5 meg/L alk. and thats good if its stable.

 

[jdragunas]

Well, your ammonia is 0.25... is this before or after things started turning to powder? Corals need perfect water parameters. Do you think the ammonia was caused by the death of something, or vice versa?
Jenn

 

[kdfrosty]

Did you receive the Xenia via shipment?
Xenia are notoriously poor shippers.

 

[pbtang]

KDFrosty, one shipment of Xenia was shipped, and the other was bought from LFS, both died. This weekend I lost my Chocolate Tang. I'm not buying anything else for a while, just letting it rest. Thanks everyone for your input!!

 

[aufishman]

Originally Posted by cushen123
I"m at auburn. I did work for the fisheries department there as a temp. Troy Hahn and I swapped jobs for a while, and now im in ag-comm and he's back in swingle. I'd like it if you'd talk me through some of my saltwater stuff, i'm new to the game. Thanks
cushen123@excite.com
Sure feel free to shoot me an email if you have questions. miller4au@adelphia.net Sorry for the tardiness of the reply, but hurricane season was a

[hr]
. :scared: Things are just now starting to settle down. War Eagle.