calcium,mag,and alk help..

Sorry this will be a little long,want to give enough info...
Ok first a little background..I was up until last week dosing sea chem cal(aquavitro line) and kent tech M mag, with kent alk.(all above liquid)..
params then were
cal 380(LOW) nutrafin test kit
alk 5 dkh(LOW) seachem kit
mag 1320 salifert kit
I have a little softies,mostly lps,3 frags of sps...
I have a very bad work schedule to stay ontop of these params.cannot dose all the time(work in a hosp)...(reason for the reactor)
ph 8.1(rkl probe)
spgr 1.27(tad high)refractometer
installed a cal reactor I got from tangster with arm media.got effluent out of reactor at ph 6.8..30 bub per min with 1 1/2 qt of effluent per hr..
ok my question is .I tested today one week from set up and came up with
cal 420
alk 2.8 dkh
mag 1320
ph 8.1
spgr 1.27(will lower just hooked up an ato)refractometer
why /how could my dkh be so low compared to my cal level????
how or what should I do to increase this??.would adding the liquid buffer at the same time as running the reactor harm any thing??
I could not find a expiration date on the box,but it has to be at least a yr old..
just a little stumped
thanks for any info...

 

Jkat
are you sure they are DKH readings and not meg per litre ?
because 2.8 Meg per litre is not to low IMO
If it is meg/l then to work out DKH you multiply by 2.8 to get DKH = 7.84

Steve

 

Unforunatly yes I'm sure its 2.8 dkh..my kit comes out with 1 drop to turn from blue to yellow.multiply the number of drops to yellow by 2.8 to get dkh and I came up with 2.8 dkh..I think the test kit is off.going tom morn to get a new one and see what it says...thanks steve for the reply..

 

jakt

good idea to get your test checked but if it is correct

then I believe the issue is related to your Mag - which has stayed at 1320 and your SG which is also the same

every 20 parts of Calcium you add, can result in a 1 degree of DKH drop
so you increased from 380 - 420 and your DKH went down from 5 - 2.8
so mathmatically it worked out

now if you increased your mag, then that would give you the ablity to increase your DKH whilst maintaining the 420 calc

but dont increase by more than 1 degree per 24 hour period - the longer you take about this (slow drip, not pouring in) the better your corals will adapt to the changes

Steve

 

Thanks steve what you say does make sense..if the new kit gives same reading I will drip some mag.what would say I raise the mag to..

 

Jkat

I would aim for 1350 to start with , and leaving your calc at 420 , then aim to increase your DKH - again less than 1 degree in 24 hours otherwise you run the risk of burning some corals

set up a drip - with the pre mixed Alk/ RODI solution
I have 1 - very simple , 500ml old mineral water bottle with hole in cap
airline run through hole and then airline clamped to restrict drip rate

think medical drip and thats about the speed you want to add it to the system
mine runs overnight and there is still a bit of water in it when I get up in the morning



Steve

 

Very cool,Thanks steve.yip got something like that already made up..
went and p/u a new test kit and got a dhk of 5.6(low but a little better than 2.8).went to a diff lfs from where I purchased the test kit had them run the water and the got the same as me...going to drip some mag over night then try and raise up the alk..hopefully then the reactor will maintain them for me(cal/alk)..

 

update!!

Steve thanks for your help on the earlier post..K+
ok it 5/3 I have been doing mag and alk very slowly over the past few days or so.letting them both slow drip in over a 24 hr period...this is where im at.
cal 440
alk 8.4 dkh
mag 1290(this has been a surprise to me.it normal does not take this long to raise it up)
spgr 1.027
ph 8.1(but can rise up to 8.24 during the day.)
my effluent out of reactor is ph 6.3.

It seems to be getting better.hope im almost there..

 

good job on getting the water parms back in order..

here's a good link to check out..

Discovery Aquatics - Articles - pH, Calcium, Alkalinity and Magensium Explained

 

nice..great info.just kinda skimmed it right now.I will read it tom,when im not so tired..lol..lol..