Extreamly High Alkalinity?

Hi all,

I use a Nutrafin/Hagen test kit that doesn't test for Alkalinity nor Magnesium althou it does test for Calcium as i'm sure you all know.

I had the wife test the tank Weds for Calcium and she said it was down in the high 300's which alarmed me.

I then ordered different test kit through MarineDepot which got delayed yada yada. The reason for my freaking out is the level that we found.

Today I stopped and the LFS uses the same test kit that I do but said when they need to test the Alkalinity and Magnesium they use a Red Sea Reef testing kit.

Tonight I got home and I attempted to test the water with the Red Sea and it took more then 1ML of that tests "C Liquid" i'm not sure what to call it, this means that calcium would be more then 500PPM? I would guess it is around 510-520 according to this test.

I get my water with the salt already added into it at the LFS so i don't have to mess with it.

I tested the Calcium with my Hagen kit and I got a reading of 460-480 ppm which makes me think this Red Sea kit is a pile...

It also had the same thing happen with the KH test where i put in more then 1LM of the red liquid and had to add another couple of drops to get it to change colors which would mean dKH over 14?

Magnesium says 1600 PPM

Because the Hagen kit doesn't provide tests for these other measurements I have no real way to know what the heck to do.

 

Bear with me:

You dose nothing?
This is premixed SW from the LFS or water they get from a body of water?
Have you tested the water prior to putting in the tank?
I realize that you do not want to add further test kits to the mix, but perhaps get Seachem master kit and a Ca addition. Using different test kits for different elements is going to be a nightmare.
Lastly how do your fish and corals/inverts look?

 

Just to add to what Cheryl has already said it is possible that you could have a bad kit. I have had a RedSea Calcium kit that would read 400 ppm no matter what water I tested. That is not to say they are all bad as I have used them several times since and had no issues. As far as Alk. what you really want to invest in is a Hanna Colorimeter.They are realitively inexpensive and IME very accurate and easy to use. I prefer Red sea for my Calcium testing but before I purchased the Hanna I used Salifert for Alk testing. Good luck waiting for replies to some of Cheryl's questions.

 

I do not add in any chemicals.

I meant that it is premixed from the LFS so I don't have to mess with the salt and stuff, however I did buy a RO/DI or whatever they are called to make my own water I just haven't had time.

I haven't tested the water itself prior but I will do so.

I knew I should have just bought the Hanna kits I just bough this so that I could test more details of the water.

The fish and corals all appear to be happy. My clown fish refuse to eat pellet now that I have put mysis shrimp in the tank lol

I have added cheto to the back of the tank with a LED light that's only on during the light, my Apex says this about my water currently with the moonlights on.

Apr 02 2012 9:47:31P
Temp
77.9
pH
8.06

 

Hi,

Thanks for your help.

I am sure something odd is going on with this kit because when I opened the box for the first time almost all of the instruction cards were stuck together and purple liquid stains on the side :-X

I did as you suggested and purchased the Hanna Phosphate, Alkalinity and Calcium.

I purchased the API test kits the other day to see how far my Hagen kit was off/on its a few years old.

 

That's good.Keep in mind API kits can be troublesome as well. Haven't used the Phosphate or Calcium meters but almost purchased the Phosphate meter last night. Just want you to be aware that the Calcium meter has been getting some bad reviews because it uses your RODI water to complete the test meaning as your filters get old it will affect the readings you will get. I have heard that some people are using distilled water to prevent this from being an issue.Please let us know how you like them.8)

 

You mean for like the final 3 drops of water it says to add in at the end people are using distilled?

 

Also have you tested salinity? I mixed a batch of salt before adding to my tank and tested for all and got an extremely high reading and tested salinity and realized I added to much salt which threw it off...well not really off cuz it was high just because salt was to high.

 

The other day it was like 1.026 to 1.0265 i should just make my own from now on.

 

I believe so. As I stated I have never used this meter so you may want to double check the instructions when you receive it.I read about the use of distilled water on a product review on Bulk Reef Supply's website.