My levels are perfect.. why?
 

I ran out of my calcium/mg supplement about two weeks ago, and didn't buy more as I was waiting on a 2 part doser. I got the doser, and checked my levels. I was going to assume everything was going to be out of wack, but it was quite the opposite.

Now, my tank is filled with corals to the point I'm running out of room for them. I have a clam, and a lot of lps.

However; my levels were this:

Ca: 460
Mg: 1300
Alk: 6
pH: 8.02
Temp: 79
Sal: .26
PO4: 0
NO3: 20

why are my levels still so high? Shouldn't my corals have depleted it all by now? I haven't done water change in two weeks, since my last dose. I'm going to cut my water changes down to once a month from twice a month.

I get very little algae, good growth and brilliant colors. That's what concerns me!

I know LPS doesn't need that much calcium, however; the clam should be absorbing some of them, as well as the larger pieces of lps I have. I do have primarily softies.

So what. Is this a fluke? Should I be preparing for the worst? Are my levels not where they are supposed to be? I mean, Mg could be higher, Cal can be lower, alk should be higher, pH should be a bit higher, but I mean.. lets face it.

What do you think? :redface:

You gave the answer already in your post ;) But just to double check everything, I would make sure your test kits are not betraying you.

Since you have primarily softies and LPS, you don't need much in terms of Cal / ALK / Mg. Yes, the clam will absorb some as will the LPS, however, every time you are doing a water change you are adding all 3 from the salt mix. I highly suggest keeping up your regular maintenance of water changes twice a week as you don't want your tank to get too dirty and it is adding the big 3 additives every time which will help keep your levels steady.

Alk is low, ca a little high and mg is fine. Why would you want mg higher than 1300ppm that is already as high or slightly higher than natural seawater.

Also 20ppm nitrate is perfect for an lps tank but I would stick to you water change schedule and hold it there. If it starts dropping really low just feed more... lps love food and water changes will let you add more.

As far as major element utilization I believe it's possible you tank is just not using as much as you expected.

I like to maintain at 1350. I did forget about salt adding additives. I feed every other day, might be time I spoil them!

I think many people keep there mag at 1350 or even higher.

20ppm nitrate is perfect? , maybe an LPS only tank can handle nitrates that high , but its definitely not something I would strive for.

An LPS tank can handle 20ppm and may be better for it. I personally dont want nitrate that high either but I have an SPS system.

Natural Seawater levels of Magnesium are 1280ppm as written in this article http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=ca

Your levels are not high. They are a bit un-balanced and a couple are a tad low
Your Ca is a bit up there ... better closer to 410-20
Your Alk is too low for your Clam. Try to target 7-8dKH
Your Mag is OK, but 1350 is a better balance for the Big 3

If you ever plan on any SPS you'll need these levels. Otherwise, it's your Clam that needs it

Natural Seawater aside, keeping your levels at what I've posted gives you room for usage. This is just my opinion, and based on what I've learned on Canreef from the Gurus

I may as well throw some SPS in here -_-

Yah sps will take the tank to the next level!!!!