bang guy NEW READINGS on mixed salt

[mikegray]

he bang.... i went outside opened up my mixed water.. the chords are like coated in a white/tan dust or coat on them and the wter is a little murky...... so i dumped it out....
that had like 20g of water FROM my tank in it and i tried to add more salt to it and let it mix.. guess it didnt like that..... but my FRESH water mixing GC was empty and dried out cause i didnt put any water in it.. and the bucket had some of that white/tan dust on the sides and stuff....... does that mean the last batch had some precipitation or could it have been a batch earlier and it stays on the chords and bucket.. cause the water looked CLEAR last night when i put it in the tank...
but the other stuff that was murcy and had that stuff i just dumped it and starting new RODI water inside the GC after i rinsed and cleaned it..

 

[bang guy]

The powdery coating could have been from any previous batch, it kind of accumulates.

 

[mikegray]

ok well i dumped it out and wiped it all out and dripping new RODI water....
man top off on my tank wont only take a week.... i dont turn my lights on because of ALGAE .. and cant have snails and stuff since water is all messed up so it doesnt evaperate hella to change from 1.010 to 1.026... but i guess ill just wait the month plus. it takes...

 

[jonnywater]

Your alk is higher then hell. Nearly every place recommends (really I dont care though what anyone recommends) that a good alk rating is between 2.8 and 3.3 meq/L or a KH of close to 8 as possible. <yawn> your alk is higher then hell. period. Read a salifert test kit, read any test kit for that matter.

 

[bang guy]

Point a fan so it blows air across the water surface. That will force it to evaporate.

 

[jonnywater]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
The powdery coating could have been from any previous batch, it kind of accumulates.
that would be crust not dust wouldnt it? a dusty coating usually implies that it is as if his cords were sitting awhile and got a DUSTING of some other chemical on them. Good job catching that and tossing the batch. I dont think I have ever seen a mix form a dusting on anything in my life. I mean yeah it encrusts.

 

[jonnywater]

I still like Bang Guy's first section of advice. If I want to raise or lower my SG on my like clam only tank for example - I do it weekly. If I want to go from 1.020 to 1.026, I will mix a batch at 1.027 then 1.028 the next week and after 4-5 weeks it should be there. I wouldnt do that in your situation though.
I am NOT to be held responsible for this, but I would just raise the hell out of it in one batch. Put like 6 cups of salt in one gallon of boiling water and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Get some crazy amount of circulation going and dump it in. Then again, I have done that before. Tankmates didnt seem to care as long as I didnt scortch their little breathing parts by overshooting in the process.

 

[mikegray]

then u would get major precipatation....

 

[jonnywater]

You know, oddly enough that has NEVER happened to me. I upped the SG of several of tanks from about 1.021 to about 1.035 and have NEVER had a problem with precipitation in my life. Maybe its just the world is upside down in my house or something. The reason that I did that though was because it is a good way to drive unwanted pests out of newly aquired live rock. Then again you can also "burn" nearly any living organism at that high of a SG.

 

[jocoxvt]

I agree with Bang in that your alk is not to high. Personally with my reef tank I have seen better results when I run my KH above the "norm" at/around 10-11 range. I have read many people who state the same thing and aim to keep their KH above 10. Just food for thought.
jocoxVT

 

[jonnywater]

I have something else to add. Your alk is higher then hell.
Read a test kit. Some of them dont even go that high. OMG!!!

 

[jocoxvt]

Unless I am missing something I have no clue what you are trying to say jonnywater. Here is a table listing alk readings hopefully I am allowed to post this...
http://ozreef.org/library/tables/alk...onversion.html
jocoxVT

 

[mikegray]

well.... how could u lower ur ALK and not calcium???

 

[bang guy]

If you don't add Carbonate then your Alkalinity will slowly drop as it is consumed by corals & algae. If at the same time you dose a Calcium supplement like Calcium chloride the Calcium will rise as the ALK drops. However, like I said before, your ALK & Calcium levels are just fine. I wouldn't be too concerned with chasing numbers.

 

[mikegray]

i actually tested my new batch im usuing to do topoffs.. and it hasnt mixed for 24 hours... maybe like 15-17hours alk is 3.9-4.0ish so its a little lower but still around there