Need help from an experienced reefer

snookedsteve

snookedsteve

Member
I am having trouble with my mag and alk. I recently had some zoos that would not open so I tested my water and found my alk was 4.5, PH was 8.4, cal 450, sal 1.027, and my mag was 1600. The owner of my LFS told me that was not possible until I took him a water sample and let him test it. He could not give me an explination. I came home and dosed with reef builder alk and got it up to 8. I let the tank settle few days and then did a 10% water change. Everything leveled out. My sal was 1.024, cal 450, PH 8.4, mag 1280, and my alk stayed at 8. However, now I have been finding that my alk and mag keep dropping. I am having to dose with the reef builder mag and alk with almost every top off. My cal is staying at 450 and PH is staying at 8.4. I am baffled. Can anyone help?
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
What is the unit of measure for your Alkalinity?
What's the temperature of your water.
PH changes throughout the day so it's more useful to provide the low (just before the lights come on) and the high (just before the lights go out).
 
geoj

geoj

Active Member
Sounds normal to me. If you try to push the limit on the chemistry then things drop out. I would not try to keep pH up I would let it sit where ever it is when the other numbers are in the middle ranges. And then see if you can raise pH by controlling waste and co2.
 
snookedsteve

snookedsteve

Member
Bang,
The measurement for my alk is dKH and my temp is running 80.2. The PH level is at 8.4 right after the lights go out. I am not sure what it is reading when they first come on.
 
snookedsteve

snookedsteve

Member
Geo,
I am not trying to push any limits. My PH is fine. I am trying to figure out why my mag and alk have begun to fluctuate. I have never had this problem before.
 
geoj

geoj

Active Member
I would throw the first 4.5 alk reading out and ignore it. You may have had a reaction that precipitated the alk. I think this because of how high the mag was the alk was likely very high also but would not remain like that. Keep testing and keep a log of when you add things and what happens.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
What test kits are you using? I realize that you got your LFS to test your water and confirmed it, but with calcium being that much higher than alkalinity, I believe you would have seen some calcium precipitation in the water column. Make absolutely sure your test kits are correct... I don't think I've ever seen magnesium come down that much over the course of one water change, unless it was 50%
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Are you using tap water?
Somehow alkalinity is precipitating without lowering Calcium. The only way I know of for this to happen is by overdosing Calcium. Do any of your additives contain Calcium?
 
snookedsteve

snookedsteve

Member
I am using RO/DI from my LFS. The crazy thing is, before I realized all this was happening I had not been dosing the tank with anything. Just doing water changes. When I was dosing it I was using Brightwell 2 part. I just tested the water this morning before the lights came on and my alk was 9 dKH and the PH was 7.8. However, I just put alk and mag booster in the top off water day before yesterday.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Can you check the unit of measure for your Alkalinity results again? I just looked up a Red Sea "Master" test kit and the Alkalinity was measured in Meq/L.
 
snookedsteve

snookedsteve

Member
Bang,
My apologies for the confusion. My alk test is the API master test kit. My mag test is Red Sea. The water change that I did was 20% and not 10%. That was my mistake. When I dosed with the alk I did it per the instructions on the label. Everything in my tank is doing better. My zoos are open and my anemone is doing great. All my softies are open. I would just like to know what could cause such a fluctuation so that I can prevent it if possible.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
I have only seen that type of fluctuation when something was overdosed and caused a precipitation event. Other than that
 
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