Unhappy Coral

[bang guy]

According to my test the calcium is 500, maybe a little more.

OK. Unless my chemistry is off one of those numbers isn't right. I'm not trying to be difficult, I just don't think Alk can be that high with Calcium at 500ppm.

 

[pegasus]

OK. Unless my chemistry is off one of those numbers isn't right. I'm not trying to be difficult, I just don't think Alk can be that high with Calcium at 500ppm.

If he's mixing his reef crystals salt too rich, wouldn't it result in elevated levels of alk, cal, and mag? RC specifies calcium at 455ppm if mixed at 1.026 SG/35 ppt, so what would happen to that level if he's mixing it at 1.030? Still waiting for a reply to the question of how he's measuring salinity...

 

[bang guy]

If he's mixing his reef crystals salt too rich, wouldn't it result in elevated levels of alk, cal, and mag? RC specifies calcium at 455ppm if mixed at 1.026 SG/35 ppt, so what would happen to that level if he's mixing it at 1.030? Still waiting for a reply to the question of how he's measuring salinity...

It might be possible at a specific gravity of something like 1.050 but I would thing everything would suffer if that were the case. It's also possible if PH was very low but again, everything would be suffering, not just the carbonate consumers.

 

[pegasus]

It might be possible at a specific gravity of something like 1.050 but I would thing everything would suffer if that were the case. It's also possible if PH was very low but again, everything would be suffering, not just the carbonate consumers.

"Not sure why but my leather coral has curled up and my zoas are not looking happy at all." Didn't mention the health off the Duncan and plate corals. Just trying come up with any semblance of sense on this one...

My PH runs a little low all the time (around 7.8) and I have to dose quite a bit of alk and cal... as well as mag.

 

[StuartGA1]

"Not sure why but my leather coral has curled up and my zoas are not looking happy at all." Didn't mention the health off the Duncan and plate corals. Just trying come up with any semblance of sense on this one...

My PH runs a little low all the time (around 7.8) and I have to dose quite a bit of alk and cal... as well as mag.

Ok, let me see if I can provide some more info. I check my salinity with a refractometer and it is setting at 35 (I prefer that scale). My Duncan is also withdrawn. I'll do the alkalinity and calcium tests again. I also take samples to my LFS when I go for a second opinion. My Ph stays at about 8.2 to 8.3. I have a probe in the refuge to keep track of it. My plate coral looks pretty good...so far. I have all of these corals for over a year. I can't recall seeing the zoas or Duncan look like this before. The leather has withdrawn a couple of times before. Once for as long as a week. I have a very low fish load at only 4. None large. The tank is 150 gallon. I use ro/di water for mixing.

 

[pegasus]

Ok, let me see if I can provide some more info. I check my salinity with a refractometer and it is setting at 35 (I prefer that scale). My Duncan is also withdrawn. I'll do the alkalinity and calcium tests again. I also take samples to my LFS when I go for a second opinion. My Ph stays at about 8.2 to 8.3. I have a probe in the refuge to keep track of it. My plate coral looks pretty good...so far. I have all of these corals for over a year. I can't recall seeing the zoas or Duncan look like this before. The leather has withdrawn a couple of times before. Once for as long as a week. I have a very low fish load at only 4. None large. The tank is 150 gallon. I use ro/di water for mixing.

Have you calibrated your refratometer lately to make sure it's accurate? If it's reading low, you may have hyper salinity. I think you should take a sample to your LFS immediately and compare their test results with your results. Compare the PH level also...

 

[StuartGA1]

I checked it a about a month ago. It is designed to be calibrated with water. It was fine. I will be taking a sample to my LFS this week, hopefully tomorrow.
Thanks again for the assistance.

 

[StuartGA1]

Well, I went ahead and took a sample to my LFS. Turns out my ph was in the 8.7 to 8.8 range. Even though I have recently rechecked my ph probe and it should have been accurate, it was not. I did a small water exchange to bring that down and it is now in the 8.3 to 8.4 range, based on the color chart. Now I guess I will weight and see what happens. My salinity was a little low for a reef tank, 1.0245.

 

[StuartGA1]

API kits aren't very accurate, and if they're old, they're even worse. You'll probably get a different reading on the next test. RC salt has elevated levels of calcium, as it is designed for reef tanks that have lots of corals. It shouldn't raise your level to 500 ppm, unless you are adding a calcium supplement to the tank. If you are serious about keeping saltwater, you need to invest in quality test kits. You don't need fancy lighting that mimicks sunup, sundown, and lightning storms, but you do need to worry about the most critical part of keeping a healthy tank. That part is water quality. You have to have accurate test kits to know exactly what your water parameters are. Everything in that tank depends on it to survive, so this is one area you don NOT want to cut corners on.

Something else comes to mind... how do you test the salinity of your water... hydrometer or refractometer? If you use a hydrometer, which are also notoriously inaccurate, you could be adding too much salt mix to your fresh water. This would give high numbers on your alk and cal. It will also result in hypersalinity. I made that mistake in the early stages of this hobby. Using a hydrometer, I thought I was mixing it to 1.025 SG, but when I got my refractometer, it was actually 1.030 SG!!!

Continuing the saga: I use a refractometer to check salinity and that is setting right at 1.025. I have tested my water again and my ph is between 8.3 and 8.4. The Dkh is took 17 drops which puts it at 304.3 and the calcium is at 400. I also checked my mixed exchange water and found the ph the same, but the Dkh took 28 drops, which put it at 501 and the calcium is at 500. The salinity is 1.025. I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals for salt. I use RO/DI water for mixing and I checked it and found it was at zero Dkh. It seems I need to bring my alkalinity down, expecially in my mixed exchange water. How do I do that? Also, do you have a recommendation for test kits? I know this is a lot, thanks for the information you have already provided and I will really appreciate any additional knowledge you can pass on.

 

[bang guy]

Continuing the saga: I use a refractometer to check salinity and that is setting right at 1.025. I have tested my water again and my ph is between 8.3 and 8.4. The Dkh is took 17 drops which puts it at 304.3 and the calcium is at 400. I also checked my mixed exchange water and found the ph the same, but the Dkh took 28 drops, which put it at 501 and the calcium is at 500. The salinity is 1.025. I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals for salt. I use RO/DI water for mixing and I checked it and found it was at zero Dkh. It seems I need to bring my alkalinity down, expecially in my mixed exchange water. How do I do that? Also, do you have a recommendation for test kits? I know this is a lot, thanks for the information you have already provided and I will really appreciate any additional knowledge you can pass on.

You either have a bad batch of salt or a bad Alkalinity test kit.

Can you get another test kit for the Alkalinity? Bad batches of salt are not unheard of so that's a possibility. It would explain the issues you are having. Meanwhile, also try to get a new bucket of salt to use and see if it mixes up to a normal Alkalinity.

 

[pegasus]

I use IO/RC salt and RO/DI water, too. Alkalinity should be 8-11 dKH, or 2.5-4 meq/L. I'm not familiar with the Alkalinity scale you're using if it's 501(?). 1.025 sg is a good salinity level, and 500 ppm is a good calcium level. You should not change the alkalinity until you get a better test kit! I I use a Salifert KH/Alk profi test kit.

 

[bang guy]

I use IO/RC salt and RO/DI water, too. Alkalinity should be 8-11 dKH, or 2.5-4 meq/L. I'm not familiar with the Alkalinity scale you're using if it's 501(?). 1.025 sg is a good salinity level, and 500 ppm is a good calcium level. You should not change the alkalinity until you get a better test kit! I I use a Salifert KH/Alk profi test kit.

The Alkalinity scale being used is ppm. 500ppm Alkalinity is about 10Meq/L or 24dKH. This is why I'm questioning the test kit.

 

[pegasus]

The Alkalinity scale being used is ppm. 500ppm Alkalinity is about 10Meq/L or 24dKH. This is why I'm questioning the test kit.

Thanks for clearing that up, bang guy. Didn't even know such a scale existed for Alk! LOL!

 

[bang guy]

Although I typically use Meq/L, the ppm scale actually makes more sense. Technically it should only be used to measure Carbonate or Borate individually but using ppm to measure the combined alkalinity puts it in perspective of Calcium when measuring the system demand.