Water testing levels in reef tank HELP!

tangster

tangster

New Member
I have a 75 gallon tank with LR that has been running for 2yrs and I am trying to get my water test to a good level so I can turn it into a reef tank.
My test are coming out to the following:
Temp.=81
PH=8.4
Phosphates=Eceeds 1.0mg/l low-range on my test kit (It reads .5mg/l for high-range)
Nitrates=Eceeds 1.0mg/l low-range on my test kit
Calcium=1125mg/l
I know these readings are way off of what is recommended, and my calcium is showing way high.
What can I do to get these at a correct level? Any help will be much appreciated. :confused:
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Right away your calcium got my attention!!!! Its that high and you're not experiencing a cloud of calcium precipitating in the tank??? Actually it makes me believe that your tests may be faulty and or old. What type of tests are you using and how old are they? :eek:
 
ivan

ivan

Member
i tink your test is bad for calcium that's way to high, i had a brand new test kit for calcium that was bad. if it was that high you'll be able to see some milky stuff in the water. high calcium levels will also damage heaters and pumps.
 
tangster

tangster

New Member
I am using a brand new seatest reef kit.
It says use:
AGENT#1 then swirl
AGENT#2 then swirl (at this point it is pink)
AGENT#3 one drop at a time until it turns blue. It took 75 drops until it turned blue.
Once it turned blue it said to mutiply the number of drops by 15 to get the reading in mg/l
I will retest tonight. Thanks for the advice! Aymore will be much appreciated.
This board rocks!!!
 
kevin01

kevin01

Member
Those SeaTest kits are screwy. How blue was your blue? I know that is a tough question but I can never get passed about 22 or 23 drops thats when I get a color change to a purple color. Even with snow in the tank it reads 22-23 drops. I am about to give up and go to another test.
 
tangster

tangster

New Member
I have tested again and my calcium is 1020mg/l It took 68 drops this time. It has droped lower, but I still think you all must be right and my test kit is bad or I am not using it correstly. I am going to go by my LFS and let them test my water and see what they get. Has anyone ever used the seatest reef kit and could explain to me how the calcium test should be done.
Also I am using ALGONE along with water changes to lower the nitrates. Has anyone had any experience with ALGONE?
Thanks
 
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