Ca/Alk/Mag Mess . . . How to fix?

[Enigma]

Hmm. What ca test are you using? I thought my salt was mixing up crazy high with the API test. It wasn't.

I'm not sure at what point it all went down the toilet.

I agree . . . Messing with one param is a very bad idea! Too bad I had to learn this the hard way.

I've been pretty lax on waterchanges over the last two months, so I don't want to change a huge amount out all at once. I did do five gallons on Thursday.

[Aquattro]

I would do a 50% water change, then adjust Ca up a little, alk will probably be fine, Mg can be adjusted later if needed.

[Enigma]

Ugh. That was not the response I wanted. How about five gallons a day? 55 gallon system.

I'm worried about shocking the livestock.

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Enigma

I'm worried about shocking the livestock.

How? Clean water?

Typical water isn't going to have levels much higher than you have now, and you can then fine tune.

[MKLKT]

Originally Posted by Enigma

Ugh. That was not the response I wanted. How about five gallons a day? 55 gallon system.

I'm worried about shocking the livestock.

If you did 5 gallon changes separately you'd be getting diminished returns over just doing 50%.

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by MKLKT

If you did 5 gallon changes separately you'd be getting diminished returns over just doing 50%.

I have rheumatoid arthritis. Even working with 5 gallons of water is painful. I'll take the diminished returns over agony.

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by Enigma

Hmm. What ca test are you using? I thought my salt was mixing up crazy high with the API test. It wasn't.

I use Elos for Alk, Ca and Mg
My kits were close to used up, so I bought new ones and got the same readings
Although the new kits have the same expiry dates as the old ones, the new bucket is better - go figure

My IO salt was giving me such wild mixes that I started a post
It has since calmed down with a new bucket ...
Right now I get NSW;
Alk 11
Ca 460
Mg 1400

The last bucket, even though it was rolled for miles, gave me;
Alk 11
Ca 5-520
Mg 11-1250

I even did 2 to 3 tests and got the same wild readings ... what was happening

I agree with Brad, which is where I was going ...
Test your NSW and do some WCs accordingly, but I'd do the WCs after you know what your new salt is testing to and bump anything that's low, then wait a day before using

[gregzz4]

And after posting, I see some good advice from Dan too

Best if you up one @ a time so you can monitor it alone and it's affects ...

[Lampshade]

Before you do anything, is coral OK? i recently nuked my tank because my alk test said 6dkh and calcium said 420. Be VERY careful with your tests, i took an API and a salifert beside each other with one saying 6-7dkh, the other 17dkh.

Basically what i'm saying is before you do ANY corrective actions, first make sure you actually need the correction, and if you do, get a second opinion. I lost $1500 worth of SPS because i cheaped out on a test kit then trusted it, don't do the same :P.

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

How? Clean water?

Typical water isn't going to have levels much higher than you have now, and you can then fine tune.

It is a new bag of salt. That makes me a bit nervous, as it could be quite different from the previous bucket.

Originally Posted by Lampshade

Before you do anything, is coral OK? i recently nuked my tank because my alk test said 6dkh and calcium said 420. Be VERY careful with your tests, i took an API and a salifert beside each other with one saying 6-7dkh, the other 17dkh.

Basically what i'm saying is before you do ANY corrective actions, first make sure you actually need the correction, and if you do, get a second opinion. I lost $1500 worth of SPS because i cheaped out on a test kit then trusted it, don't do the same :P.

My LPS look wonderful. My SPS aren't perfect, but okay. A couple are a little browned, but growing. I can't tell by looking at anything that the calcium is so out.

It is the API test kit that is being used for Alk. I have the Seachem test for Alk, but I haven't used it yet. I will test side-by-side tomorrow, before I do anything.