purple up enough for calcium?

[Myka]

Originally Posted by bv_reefer

calcium is now 380 and magnesium under 1100 last time i checked

Is that all you test for? You don't test pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate, Alkalinity, etc?

Your magnesium should be around 1350. Think of Mg as the fulcrum on a teeter totter. You can't keep alkalinity and calcium up if your magnesium is very low. In your case, it is very low. Try to aim for Calcium 400-430, Alk 8-10, Mg 1350-1400. pH should be 8.0-8.4, and Am, nitrite, nitrate, and phos all 0. Not close to zero, but AT zero.

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by Myka

Is that all you test for? You don't test pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate, Alkalinity, etc?

Your magnesium should be around 1350. Think of Mg as the fulcrum on a teeter totter. You can't keep alkalinity and calcium up if your magnesium is very low. In your case, it is very low. Try to aim for Calcium 400-430, Alk 8-10, Mg 1350-1400. pH should be 8.0-8.4, and Am, nitrite, nitrate, and phos all 0. Not close to zero, but AT zero.

I am testing for all of these too. As some others have reported there was a batch of Kent that had some weird parameters. Calcium is continuously high, while Mg is low. So I have recently been dosing to get the Mg up.

My Alk has been too low. So before dosing for alk I think I am going to hold off on the purple for a few weeks to see what happens.

[Pan]

Originally Posted by Oscar

I am testing for all of these too. As some others have reported there was a batch of Kent that had some weird parameters. Calcium is continuously high, while Mg is low. So I have recently been dosing to get the Mg up.

My Alk has been too low. So before dosing for alk I think I am going to hold off on the purple for a few weeks to see what happens.

Honestly i find it easier to mix new water and adjust to what i want it to be, then add to tank. I realize you need to get wats in there already up to snuff so to speak, but make the water what you want before you put it in. Yes there have been a few instances with bad salt from kent...as well as seachem, instant ocean..i'm sure others which is why ...in my opinion test every batch of water before it goes in. Albiet contaiments we cannot test for can harm...but err on the side of caution

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by 'Ol Nobodaddy

Honestly i find it easier to mix new water and adjust to what i want it to be, then add to tank. I realize you need to get wats in there already up to snuff so to speak, but make the water what you want before you put it in. Yes there have been a few instances with bad salt from kent...as well as seachem, instant ocean..i'm sure others which is why ...in my opinion test every batch of water before it goes in. Albiet contaiments we cannot test for can harm...but err on the side of caution

I had not thought of that technique, preping your SW before adding to the tank. That's no different than getting the replacement water to the correct empearature and salinity before adding to the tank. That would work once I get the tank parameters to the range they should be at.

[Pan]

Originally Posted by Oscar

I had not thought of that technique, preping your SW before adding to the tank. That's no different than getting the replacement water to the correct empearature and salinity before adding to the tank. That would work once I get the tank parameters to the range they should be at.

Saves you from dosing a tank...with a high load of sps you would need to dose, unless of course you did regular water changes....which i prefer anyways. some dosing will likely be required but not as much...to very little. I'm still dialing the new tank in on everythiing, but the last one needed no dosing at all...20 gallon weekly changes did it for me. From the start though i made sure all my water had levels i wanted...then it was easy to add/change as the system used more or less or what have you.

[bv_reefer]

Originally Posted by Myka

Is that all you test for? You don't test pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate, Alkalinity, etc?

Your magnesium should be around 1350. Think of Mg as the fulcrum on a teeter totter. You can't keep alkalinity and calcium up if your magnesium is very low. In your case, it is very low. Try to aim for Calcium 400-430, Alk 8-10, Mg 1350-1400. pH should be 8.0-8.4, and Am, nitrite, nitrate, and phos all 0. Not close to zero, but AT zero.

no no i test for all those, just thought i'd point out the important ones first..

pH 8.3 ; ammonia undetectable ; nitrite 0.25 ; nitrate 0 ; alkalinity as mentioned 8 dKH ; phosphate 0

i'll start dosing some form of magnesium in that case, think kent tech-m will do it, i've been relying on my salt mix (seachem reef salt) as a constant source for magnesium!

[Myka]

Originally Posted by bv_reefer

no no i test for all those, just thought i'd point out the important ones first..

pH 8.3 ; ammonia undetectable ; nitrite 0.25 ; nitrate 0 ; alkalinity as mentioned 8 dKH ; phosphate 0

i'll start dosing some form of magnesium in that case, think kent tech-m will do it, i've been relying on my salt mix (seachem reef salt) as a constant source for magnesium!

You shouldn't have ANY nitrites show up in your tank once your tank has cycled. This shows there are some other problems going on with your tank (which likely have nothing to do with your cal, alk, or mg), but I am suspicious that you would have nitrites but no nitrates. I would get an LFS to test your water for you to double check the numbers, and make sure your kits are accurate.

You can safely raise your magnesium 100 ppm per day with no troubles. The Kent Tech-M product is Magnesium sulfate, which is epsom salt, and not the best choice as a single source of magnesium. SeaChem Magnesium is a blend of Magnesium chloride and Magnesium sulfate and is a better product imo.

I'm not familiar with the SeaChem salt, when you mix up a batch of salt and let it mix for 24 hours what salinity do you mix it to? What does the cal/alk/mg test at? If they are off to begin with, then you need to buff up your waterchange water before you even use it. I use Instant Ocean salt, and I have to add a bit of calcium, and quite a bit of magnesium to get it to the proper levels before I use it.

Originally Posted by Oscar

I am testing for all of these too. As some others have reported there was a batch of Kent that had some weird parameters. Calcium is continuously high, while Mg is low. So I have recently been dosing to get the Mg up.

My Alk has been too low. So before dosing for alk I think I am going to hold off on the purple for a few weeks to see what happens.

Personally, I really dislike Kent salt. I will take Instant Ocean over Kent any day. Be sure to buff up your waterchange water before doing a waterchange as I said above. Stopping the Purple Up dosing isn't going to raise your alkalinity.

[bv_reefer]

my main priority is to get that skimmer in next week and let it work away, as for the magnesium i've heard better comments about the seachem magnesium as you mentioned earlier, so i think thats the one it'll be. my nitrite problem is from nothing more than running skimmerless since day 1, and i suspect my phosphates are on the higher side too, theres alot of things that i suspect water changes don't remove that a good skimmer will.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by bv_reefer

my main priority is to get that skimmer in next week and let it work away, as for the magnesium i've heard better comments about the seachem magnesium as you mentioned earlier, so i think thats the one it'll be. my nitrite problem is from nothing more than running skimmerless since day 1, and i suspect my phosphates are on the higher side too, theres alot of things that i suspect water changes don't remove that a good skimmer will.

You shouldn't have nitrites from running skimmerless. I have run many tanks skimmerless and have only had troubles with nitrites when...I was have troubles... ...and that was rarely.

[bv_reefer]

what skimmer are you running on you're display myka?