What "Qualifies" as Good Water Quality?

btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackjacktang http:///forum/thread/383886/what-qualifies-as-good-water-quality/20#post_3360430
Thank you everybody! So what is the difference between Reef Crystals and Instant Ocean??
Price, LOL
Actually, Reef Crystals has more trace elements than plain IO does. Both are made by the same company, IO is truly meant for Fish Only setups (although it will work for reefs, it's not what it is designed for) and Reef Crystals is designed for reefs.
 
monsinour

monsinour

Active Member
I dont think I have perfect water quality. My tests on average are
80 degrees
1.025 SG
7.8 pH (this never changes at the time I test)
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
20 nitrate
420 calcium
8 dKH
trace phosphate
I havent noticed anything horribly wrong with the tank. That brown crap in the corner is still there. I have a 56 + 16 sump and I change about 10 gallons a week. I have only used salt that had the extra trace in it so I have never dosed. I just got my first bag of reef crystals and will be mixing up 11 gallons tomorrow for a change on tuesday.
"perfect" water just isnt obtainable, in my mind, unless you submerge your tank in the ocean. I do my best to keep my fish and inverts happy. Only losses were to an overly aggressive and aparently hungry yellow brittle starfish. But then again, the shrimps went somewhere too.
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
"Good water quality" as defined IMO, is not only the current parameters in your tank, but what you do to maintain those levels. Anyone can temporarily dose a bunch of calcium to get a 'good reading' but without good husbandry, that level will be gone the next day. How good is your water change schedule? How often do you monitor your RO/DI, pre-RO, post-RO, post-DI, TDS readings? Do you test each new batch of salt, so you can adjust the quantities you use? More/less salt, having to dose more calcium, etc...
As far as salt, if I only had one small tank, I would use Tropic Marin Pro based from prior experience, but with all my current tanks and seeing the results from this comparison, I 've used Coralife exclusively since.
http://sites.google.com/site/reefsaltanalysis/AWT_Salt_Analysis_0208.pdf?attredirects=0
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
As everyone has said most of these parameters will be maintained by a good quality salt and water change schedule. The dosing requirements usually occur as you add critters to your tank that have a large uptake of calcium, magnesium alk. DON'T DOSE ANYTHING IF YOU DON'T TEST TO SEE IF YOU NEED IT.
Ammonia (NH3-4)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.010 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.050 mg/L
Ammonia levels can rise after the addition of new animals, after a water change, or after the changing of food diet. Any ammonia level above 0.05 mg/L is a cause for concern, and the source should be found and corrected.
Nitrite (NO2)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.010 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.100 mg/L
Residual levels of nitrite are common in marine aquariums. Levels of 0.05 or less are of little concern. If the levels are higher than this, the source should be found and corrected.
Nitrate (NO3)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.050 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 25 mg/L
Nitrate is not toxic in and of itself, but a rising level is indicative of deteriorating water conditions, and any level above 5.0 mg/L in reef aquariums is a reason for concern.
Phosphate (PO4)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.030 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.250 mg/L
The use of a phosphate absorbing resin is recommended to keep phosphate levels below 0.05 mg/L.
Silica (Sio2-3)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.040 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.500 mg/L
Silicate is required by many types of sponges for growth/reproduction, but will also encourage brown diatom algae growth. Any level above 0.3 mg/L may cause a diatom bloom in the aquarium.
Potassium (K)
Natural Seawater Value: 390 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 350 to 450 mg/L
Potassium is rapidly depleted from aquarium water by several plant and animal metabolic processes. Maintenance of appropriate levels is critical for cellular respiration, as well as being an important nutrient for coral zooxanthellae and macro algae.
Calcium (Ca)
Natural Seawater Value: 400 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 350 to 450 mg/L
Calcium is critical to healthy coral
skeletal growth, and many other biological processes. Maintenance of calcium levels that are
at or near seawater values is an important factor in having a healthy reef aquarium.
Boron (B)
Natural Seawater Value: 4.6 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 3.0 – 6.0 mg/L
Boron is an important part of the water buffering capacity, and a lack of boron can lead to dangerous fluctuations in pH and alkalinity.
Molybdenum (Mo)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.01 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.0 to 0.12 mg/L
Molybdenum is important to microbial activity in the aquarium filter, and may also be important to stony coral health and reproduction.
Strontium (Sr)
Natural Seawater Value: 8.1 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 5.0 to 12.0 mg/L
Strontium is important to coral growth, as they incorporate strontium ions into their skeletal mass, particularly SPS corals. It is also important to coralline algae growth.
Magnesium (Mg)
Natural Seawater Value: 1280 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 1100 to 1400 mg/L
Magnesium is a very important part of the water buffering system, and is incorporated into coral skeletons. It is also critical to any photosynthetic processes.
Iodine (I¯)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.060 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.030 to 0.090 mg/L
Iodine is required by soft corals, macro algae, and for pigment development in SPS corals.
Copper (Cu++)
,serif;">Natural Seawater Value: 0.030 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.030 mg/L
Copper is fatal to marine invertebrates at levels as low as 0.05 mg/L for many species.
Alkalinity (meq/L)
Natural Seawater Value: 2.5 meq/L (7 dKH)
Acceptable Range: 2.5 to 5.0 meq/L (7 - 14 dKH)
Maintaining an appropriate alkalinity is crucial to maintaining a healthy aquarium. A fluctuating alkalinity will lead to serious problems in maintaining an appropriate pH, as well as problems keeping calcium
The other thing mentioned here is a good stable mature tank. Have a read here.
The Building of a Reef (tank) by Eric Borneman [Archive] - CVR Forums!
 
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