Very high dKH

[929rrchico]

question for you vets - I recently moved and with me came my 72G and 125G - currently both fish only, but I do intend to go reef after I settle some issues i'm having. Here is the problem:

Until I moved, everything was great, now, with the new water (which is tap water/city water) yes I know, RO would have been the way to go....I seem to be having issues with the alkalinity level - it's just way too hard in my opinion, but I could be wrong - which is why I need some advice.

The tank has been up for exactly 1 month now at the new place - kept all the live sand I had, live rock and the guys who moved it added new water and salt mix. Here are the water specs:

Sepcific Gravity - 1.025
dKH - 16 (with Tetra dKH test kit), 250mql (with Hagen KH test) and 19.2 (with fasTest kit) - so as you can see, it's up there
pH - low of 8.15, high of 8.20
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - under 5
Phospates - .25
Temperature - 79-80F (using chiller)
Calcium - another one with fluctuating test - using the Hagen test I'm at 380-400ppm, using the NatuReef test I'm at 600 - it's driving me nuts
Ammonia - 0

Can someone tell me how the values look for a reef setup in the near future and also suggest a good set of test kits to use - I would figure Hagen test would be the best bet, but as you can see, they fluctuate way too much between each other - I expect some fluctuation, maybe in the 20-40ppm, but not 200ppm......

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

 

[randy holmes-farley]

Calcium test kits: Hach and Salifert

Alkalinity tests: Hach, Salifert, LaMotte

This article describes how to deal with high alkalinity such as you have:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

 

[929rrchico]

Thank you - I read the article, most informative. I will try those other ones you suggested and see what I come up with.

 

[929rrchico]

Randy, I can not thank you enough for recommending the Salifert Test Kit for calcium. Here's what was heppening:

Tthe Hagen test is a bit tricky and at times hard to tell when the color actually switches to purple, at least the purple they show on the back of the kit. A color which unless you're looking at it through either sunlight or using a shop light, will be inaccurate - a process I came to find out long ago by trial and error (Hagen has since posted an article on their site about it).

I was then recommended the NatuReef test kit by a LFS which they swear by - and I must say, they have a very impressive setup and collection - they only sell corals. However; this test kit, performed both by me and the LFS owner, reported 600ppm. A result which did not make much sense since my dKH was coming in way high at 16. Nonetheless, the store had a Salifert test which Randy here recommended and so I had the owner use that test kit along with my Hagen that I brough with me. Here were the results:

Hagen (very tedious with the color scheme) - reported 360ppm
NatuReef - (easy to use) - reported 600ppm
Salifert - (easiest to use and in my opinion the most accurate way to measure) - reported 370ppm

So as you can see, the Hagen and the Salifert were pretty much dead on with each other, which leads me to believe the NatuReef is way way off - dangerously off.

IMO, I would stay away from the NatuReef test kits, at least the Calcium one. Again, this is my personal experience, but as you can see, one that was pretty obvious and one that was tested by both myself (a hobbyst) and a pro.

This also exlpains why my alkalinity is so high and has not gone done - with the addition of calcium I should see a drop to the 11-12's.

Thanks again for all your help Randy!

 

[randy holmes-farley]

You're welcome