BangGuy Need you once again Help,Trouble in the 120

[reefdweler]

:help: Ok heres the deal, theres a guy I am trying to help. He has a 120 with corals (mixed softies, musrooms, etc.). His water para for ammo, no2 and no3 are all good (0,0, and less than 5). The trouble is his PH is 8.8, cal is 300 and dkh is 22. He is using the kent pt c & b every 3 days, sometimes uses kalk (don't know why), as well as red sea coralgro occasionally. He aid about a month ago he started using kent liquid calcium concentrate and notice his coralline stopped growing and started fading (turning white. By the way I tested his water. I adviced him to stop adding the chemicals to his tank and do a at least a 25% water change let the tank be for a week and not put anything except food in the tank.
1) did I advice him corrrect?
2) what do you think is the problem?
:notsure:

 

[birdy]

I am not Bang, but I agree with what you said, weekly water changes of around 20% and STOP adding chemicals.
Tank should level out in a month or two.

 

[bang guy]

Perfect.

 

[vanquish]

There's a good example of too many chemicals. Which is hypocritical of me because I find myself relying on them a lot as well. So, what is appropriate for chemicals? For example, I used to add Amquell to my tank every water change, but then I was told not to… What's the deal? How much is too much, and how much is not enough?

 

[bang guy]

AmQuel should only be used in case of emergency to detox ammonia.
Test your water for trace elements. If they are low then dose them to maintain proper levels. If you don't test for it or if it's not low then don't dose it.

 

[milomlo]

ok Bang - forgive the STUPID question. What tests for trace elements?/
Are you referring to
Calcium and Magnessium?? I do test for Calcium (which is always high), but I have never tested for Magnessium. If that is what you are referring to what other elements should we all be testing for?
YES I am a newbie....LOL

 

[vanquish]

I would be interested to know too!

 

[bang guy]

I just rely on Calcium, ALK and occationally I'll test Magnesium.

 

[milomlo]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
I just rely on Calcium, ALK and occationally I'll test Magnesium.
OK - thanks Bang. I was wondering if there was something I hadn't heard about. :thinking: I do test for Calcium and ALK, but I have never tested for Magnesium. Do you think I should or is there a certain point where you test for that? :notsure:

 

[bang guy]

Normally you don't have to test Mg. If you're getting an excessive amount of scale on powerheads & heaters or you're having trouble maintaining Calcium and ALK then it's a good idea to see what the Magnesium level is.

 

[reefdweler]

Thanks Bang. When you say scaling what are you refering to? Also I onkly test my tank for ammo,no2,no3,dkh, ph, and cal. My ph is only 8.0 but my cal is 460 and my dkh is 10 all other are 0. Should I test anything else, and how can I get my ph up to 8.3 without bringing cal and dkh dwn. I am loving how my tank is looking now it is even growing coralline after only 2 months, but I am going to start puttingin corals and I already have inverts in.

 

[milomlo]

reefdweler - MINE TOO!! I just made a post about my coraline yesterday. I am so excited as I know you must be. I have used no additives at all to try and get the coraline to grow and it is growing good. I started my tank "officially" in November and all is doing great!!
Bang-
ph 8.2
trites, trates, ammonia 0
calcium 620 (I know this is high)
phosphates .1ppm (this is high as well, but I am using PhosX to lower it)
dKH 8.3
Alk 2.97 meq/L
So looking at that do you think I need to test for mag???

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by reefdweler
Thanks Bang. When you say scaling what are you refering to? Also I onkly test my tank for ammo,no2,no3,dkh, ph, and cal. My ph is only 8.0 but my cal is 460 and my dkh is 10 all other are 0. Should I test anything else, and how can I get my ph up to 8.3 without bringing cal and dkh dwn. I am loving how my tank is looking now it is even growing coralline after only 2 months, but I am going to start puttingin corals and I already have inverts in.
By scale I meant a Calcium carbonate crust. It will start to precipitate first on heaters and powerheads if Magnesium is low.
As far as your PH it's fine. A bigger skimmer will help.

 

[reefdweler]

Oh ok, I don't have any of that just coralline strating to bloom now. Looks like some red (bright red), green, and purple ( more like lavendar).

 

[jumpfrog]

It never hurts to have your water tested at the LFS if things seem really out of wack. Not all test kits are created equal and you may be trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
just my .02