First po and ca test

Greetings...

Well I just tested the calcium and phosphate tonite..I had only been testing for the other 4 prior to today.......just ignorance...nothing more nothing less.

Tank is 3 months old.

Calcium = 460...
first time at this test so give or take I would say...I'm fairly certain it was 23 drops.
Phosphate = 0

Nitrate = 20
Nitite = 0
Ph = 7.8
Amonia = 0

Temp 78
Salt 1.026

I would welcome any input.
Thanx.

 

dKH and Mg?
pH of 7.8 is low

 

Hey..
mg = magnesium?
dkh ....is that the carbonate hardness test?
I'm going to learn the scientific table terms soon.
7.8 is it too low...
Thanx guru

 

Mission,
Man ....that was real good read'n..It really fills in alot of blanks and explains it in fairly simplistic terms. I understand our latitudes, that takes some stress off. I appreciate it.
I'll use it alot for reference.....I been do'n lots'o read'n lately...."thanx lunatik"
I was intending to get the dkh......dooough!...it will be here in the a.m., along with the mag. so thats 8 test......wow...makes keep'n the spa clean look like freak'n playskoool!!
Thanx again

 

from what I understand is that when you test for Mg and KH, the Mg will be LOW and the KH will be high. You will need to do the calculator I told you about. Then figure out what you want to use to bring it up or down like I said. Magnesium, I'm finding is almost more important calcium. In a different way. In order for the calcium to do what it's supposed to do, two things have to be in place.
1. You Mg levels have to be perfect. You have to raise them then your Ca and Alk should balance out too. Is this correct?????anyone?? oh and I forgot what the second thing was hehe

 

we did not just post at the EXACT same time???
Pardon me, I must have bumped into you on the way in...It said "server busy"..
Thats kewl....lol

 

Mg is the key to keeping Ca and dKH at their levels. the main tests to be done are those three. secondaries are NO3, PO4, Si, NO2. NH3,4 should be 0. other tests are the O2, B and Sr. I, IO3, really dont need to be tested if dosing or water changes are involved. i dont recommend dosing straight Sr, I or IO3.

every system is different. KH is carbonate hardness, dKH is degrees of carbonate hardness.
Mg is the buffer between Ca and dKH since Ca and dKH dont play nice together. the correct ratio is 10:5:.1 for Ca:dKH:Sr
a good place to start is
12-14 dKH with 8.0-8.2 pH and 450-500 Ca and 1320-1500 Mg with the temp 78-80 F at a salinity of 1.026
a safe place to start is
8-12 dKH with 8.0-8.4 pH and 420-450 ppm Ca and 1280-1320 Mg