What the ideal readings that everyone trys to maintain in their tanks. For Calcium:
Alkalinity:
Specific Gravity:
Phosphates:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
Ammonia:
Temp:
Danmhippo.....Why do you keep your SG at 1.022?? Was thinking of dropping mine down too. Just to help out in a small case of ick I have. Do you think this is better for the overall tank quality?? What about the corals, won't they react to this??
Lowering SG to 1.022 will have little to no effect on ich. Much lower salinity levels are needed to affect this organism. NSW has a SG of 1.0265, and I shoot for that level. Lower levels are not healthy for many invertibrates, IMO.
My ideal parameters:
Ca 480 ppm
alk 3.5 meq/L
SG 1.0260
PO4 0 ppm
NO2 0 ppm
NO3 Less than 10 ppm
Ammonia 0 ppm
Temp 80-83F
I kept it in a lower sg because my tank is out in the yard, open top, and exposed to all weather elements. When the days are hot or paticularly dry, the "pond" will evaporate like crazy (I am in the desert weather zone). Keeping normal sg in the lower side helps to keep the tank water going extreme when evaporation may get excessive.
If your attempt is to cure parasites in your tank, I agree with Ernie that you need to drop tank sg much lower then 1.017 to be effective.
