Help getting started into keeping corals?

[quote author=KTibbs70 link=board=General;num=1093824428;start=15#19 date=08/30/04 at 18:40:10]So, if I'm understanding the reading of this alk test correctly, it should only take between 8 & 9 drops to get a desirable reading, if 1 drop = .5 meg/l ?[/quote]

You got it.

 

Kenny,

Hope this clears up some confusion:

Alkalinity and KH (Karbonat hardness) are terms that are used interchangeably (in the hobby) to measure buffering capacity (the degree to which a solution maintains its pH when acid is added). Alkalinity is measured in meq/L (milliequivalents per liter), Karbonat Hardness is measured in dKH (degrees of Karbonat Hardness). Karbonat = Carbonate, its German. Alkalinity x 2.8 = dKH

Natural seawater is around 2.0 to 2.5 meq/L or about 6 to 7 dKH. Most reefers will keep it a little higher to offset the acids that accumulate as a result of respiration, bio-filteration, and metabolic waste. Anywhere from 2.5 to 5 meq/L or 7 to 14 dKH should be acceptable.

That's not a direct quote but I got the info from Natural Reef Aquariums by John H. Tullock.

IMHO
It's not a good idea to add anything to the your aquarium that affects pH, Alkalinity, and Calcium without testing the water first and understanding the test results and how to determine how much of an additive you need. For that matter I would recommend not adding something that you don't have a test kit for at all.

Sorry, I've never used those seachem test kits so I can't help out you there. Was the calcium kit seachem as well? Anyway, I visited their website to have a look at the instructions for the calcium test. You said, "the calcium test took about the same amount of drops to complete." OK, now more imporantly how much Calcium Titrant was left in the titration syringe? Knowing this is the only way you can determine what your calcium level is. One drop is about .01 to .02 mL. Did you start with 1.0 mL? If you did then your calcium must be 300 to 400 ppm (math?). The first calcium test I used you just counted drops and 20 drops was somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 ppm.

Calcium in natural seawater is 380 ppm but reefers like it higher, 400 to 475 should do it.

Hope this helps
Happy Reef keeping
Ted [smiley=wave.gif]

 

Nice post Ted. [smiley=guitarist.gif]

 

Thanks Matt

 

Thanks very much Ted, and everyone else who's posted replies here. As it turns out, a guy who works at my LFS posts on this board too, I discovered while looking through a pictures gallery, lol. I can see it's gonna take a while to get this thing straight. Up until recently, I had no idea how bad it was to use tap water for topping off, so I'm fighting off old algea growths from 2 month's worth of doing that.I'm under the impression that regular changes with RO/DI will help solve this problem. Anyhoo, I'll keep posting my results here, if anyone cares to give any gvuidance, I'd sure appreciate it.

 

P.S. With the calc test, I started out with a full syrynge, 1.0, and ended up with just .1 left.

 

.01=450ppm
Here's the instructions for the seachem calcium test:
http://www.seachem.com/support/Instructions/0920.040-Calcium.pdf

OOPS! I mean 0.1=450 ppm

 

Ok, cleaned the tank & changed 5 gallons out today. Alk now 7.5 meg/l, calcium appears to have fallen to 430 ppm,nitrites/trates less than 5, ph is around 8.2-8.3. Salentiy I can't check, the movers broke my hydrometer :^I. Will get a new one fri, but it's usually pretty close to 1.023. Anyone recommend buying a phosphate & magnesium test?