aquarium water testing .com results.

[vangvace]

I would swap nitrites for Alk.

 

[calaxa]

That calcium can't be correct. That's actually dangerously high compared to your alk and Mg. The correctly balanced alk should be 13.43 meq/l at 630 ppm Ca. The correct Mg should be 1890 ppm. Are you adding some type of Ca additive? Are you using RO/DI or is that tap? If tap, I'm suspecting the Ca is coming from that.

From Red Sea's product description:

The Calcium level in natural seawater at 35ppt is approximately 400 ppm.
The Coral Pro formula provides elevated levels of calcium at the "lower than natural" salinities preferred in reef aquariums.
Table shows Calcium levels of Coral Pro mixed in RO water at 24C 75F and salinity.
s.g. Salinity Calcium Qty of Salt
1.021 30.6 ppt 420 ppm 33.4 g/l 1.4 lb/5 US gal
1.023 32.8 ppt 450 ppm 35.8 g/l1.5 lb/5 US gal
1.025 35.0 ppt 480 ppm 38.2 g/l1.6 lb/5 US gal
Coral Pro is available in the following consumer packs:7 kg (15.4 lb) - 210 L (55 gal)22 kg (48.4 lb) - 660 L (175 gal)

 

[daveh285]

That calcium can't be correct. That's actually dangerously high compared to your alk and Mg. The correctly balanced alk should be 13.43 meq/l at 630 ppm Ca. The correct Mg should be 1890 ppm. Are you adding some type of Ca additive? Are you using RO/DI or is that tap? If tap, I'm suspecting the Ca is coming from that.

From Red Sea's product description:

The Calcium level in natural seawater at 35ppt is approximately 400 ppm.
The Coral Pro formula provides elevated levels of calcium at the "lower than natural" salinities preferred in reef aquariums.
Table shows Calcium levels of Coral Pro mixed in RO water at 24C 75F and salinity.
s.g. Salinity Calcium Qty of Salt
1.021 30.6 ppt 420 ppm 33.4 g/l 1.4 lb/5 US gal
1.023 32.8 ppt 450 ppm 35.8 g/l1.5 lb/5 US gal
1.025 35.0 ppt 480 ppm 38.2 g/l1.6 lb/5 US gal
Coral Pro is available in the following consumer packs:7 kg (15.4 lb) - 210 L (55 gal)22 kg (48.4 lb) - 660 L (175 gal)

Of course their web site is going to give you perfect results!! Would you buy it, if it didn't???
Were comparing it to independant test results, Please read intire thread,it will anwser all your questions.

I found THIS interesting.I wish they w/could test for DOC...

Wow Phyl…great article. I retract what I said earlier….it’s your salt (and maybe with a little sand effect). Of the thirteen salts they tested, only one (Coralife), was below the “standard” for silica? All the rest were above the acceptable level for silica. My next question is who developed the standard for aquariums at 0.000-0.500 mg/L…does this have a meaning to quality of life in the tank? As a chemist/biologist, I find this stuff real interesting. My only concern with the article is that they did not include a control (this is high school stuff), which should have been their water!

Also, although some of the numbers were not statistically significant, it still is interesting that many salts differ considerable in a “quantity” of additives they contain….sort of scary…who has the BEST salt (and other goodies not mentioned)? WHAT SALT SHOULD I BUY??? Now I don’t know. I wish I didn’t read this article…the ostrich effect (If I can’t see it, it’s not happening).

Phyl could this be why my water appears hazy?? Its cloudy when the lights first come on.
I do have about a dozen old clam shells in my sump

 

[JerseyWendy]

Yowser. After just reading through this thread, I will most certainly NOT be using them for several reasons. (Go ahead and call me a chicken.... :-[)

1. I test frequently, but not for EVERYTHING.

2. I observe my animals closely and probably spend more time doing it than I should.

3. Everyone and everything appears to be doing well and thriving.

4. I'd be afraid to change "things" after getting back an unsatisfactory result.

That's all I can think of right now. : Ja, I'm a chicken, I guess.

 

[Phyl]

Dave, I wonder if the clam shells and decomposing back into the water. Unless there is high flow past them, I wouldn't think that could happen because the PH that would take would be detrimental to your other animals. Your Ca being so high would definitely explain the haze. It would be the Ca precipitating out of the water. It will also drive your alk lower. Does a water change drop your Ca reading or increase it? If it dropped it I would do a series of them.

Why are the clam shells in the sump? I would remove them and see if your Ca continues to spike. Interesting...

 

[daveh285]

Some of them have been in there from when I moved up to the 95 from the 45. I put the rubble and live sand from the 45,in the sump when I started the 95,Some of them are broken but they don't look like they are decomposing.I figured I would leave them in there to help keep my calcium up, never thought it would go that high, my test kit just tests up to 460 so its out of range. I just did a 20 gal water change because of my Thoughtfulness, : (see "cloudy Water" in general discussions) and forgot to reset the valve on my Phos reactor. I ran some felt filters, the water is crystal clear now, I'm going to wait a few days then do another water change, I going to call Allaquatics to see if they have the Sera silicate clear,then maybe I'll bring some water to see if they can test it. I always thought it was high from running the calcium reactor, thats why I took that off.
Thanks Dave

Yes I probably should get some more Phosban too! ;D

 

[JohnS_323]

Our results are in:

Ammonia (NH3-4) .......Good ..... 0.007
Nitrite (NO2)..........Good ..... 0.005
Nitrate (NO3)..........Good ........0.9
Phosphate (PO4) .......Good ...... 0.06
Silica (SiO2-3) ...... High.........1.6
Potassium (K) .........Good ....... 381
Calcium (Ca)...........Good ....... 424
Boron (B) ..............Low.........2.0
Molybdenum (Mo)....... High.........0.2
Strontium (Sr) ........Good ........8.2
Magnesium (Mg) .........Low....... 1088
Iodine (I¯).............Low....... 0.01
Copper (Cu++) .........Good ...... 0.02
Alkalinity (meq/L).....Good ...... 4.09


I'm shocked at how low our Mg is. I dose it every time I do a water change. Looks like I'll have to pick up the pace on that a little. Also, the Silica has me concerned. I guess we'll be adding a High-S membrane to our RO/DI unit too. Hopefully that helps. I think Sera makes a silica remover. Has anyone ever tried it?

 

[stcreef]

I'm shocked at how low our Mg is. I dose it every time I do a water change. Looks like I'll have to pick up the pace on that a little. Also, the Silica has me concerned. I guess we'll be adding a High-S membrane to our RO/DI unit too. Hopefully that helps. I think Sera makes a silica remover. Has anyone ever tried it?

A few things. I remember reading a thread on RC about AWT and their testing methodologies. If I remember correctly, the silica test was in doubt. I may be wrong, but I cant find the thread. I will keep searching. As far as your RO/DI, you want a Silica Removing DI cartridge. Spectrapure has them, its what I use. Also Sera makes Silicate Clear media. I run it in a TLF reactor and cleared me up in a few weeks time.

 

[Phyl]

Our tank definitely shows signs of elevated silicate levels. While their methodologies may be suspect on Silica (we did remember someone saying that earlier) it actually confirms what we were thinking much better than the (old) Salifert kit we have on hand (which reported .5). We'll be adding a silica removing DI cart to the water chain and running some of the Sera media as soon as I can find some. Where did you get yours from?

 

[stcreef]

I got mine from The Hidden Reef. I pass there every day. If you like I can pick up a box or two and bring it Saturday. But any LFS that carries the Sera products should carry it.

 

[Phyl]

Cool. I'll check with our sponsors in the area and if they don't have it I'll have you grab it at THR. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Bruce K]

Silica is one of the few things that neither an RO or DI only system will completely eliminate. There are resins which concentrate on removing silica (and nitrate) and are run after the DI process. You should look for a resin that you can regenerate as the regeneration solution is salt water and it lasts a fairly long time between regenerations.

 

[malulu]

tagging along, will follow up later.
thx all for the great info.

 

[Phyl]

Bruce, do you have such a media? Can we put it after the RO/DI as an extra "stage" to absorb the silicates? Can it be used on the tank itself or just fresh water (I'm afraid I know the answer to this, but it doesn't hurt to ask).

 

[stcreef]

Phyl,

He may be talking about the Purolite resin and similar products. They are only good for freshwater. The problem with removing silica is that its non ionic. Its just particles small enough to be suspended in the water column.

The resin is basically very porous polystyrene beads or dense Styrofoam beads. You basically wash it off to recharge it. NACL will cause the beads to expand releasing the contaminates.

 

[Bruce K]

Bruce, do you have such a media? Can we put it after the RO/DI as an extra "stage" to absorb the silicates? Can it be used on the tank itself or just fresh water (I'm afraid I know the answer to this, but it doesn't hurt to ask).

I'm not sure if I have any in stock, but yes, I've sold several large canisters to commercial aquaculture shops to add after the KATI ANI. This basically turns it into a 3 cansiter filtration system that really takes everything out of the water. It is only for fresh water, it is the same resin we spoke about a while ago that takes out Nitrate - but only in fresh water.

 

[Phyl]

Thanks. LMK.

 

[blange3]

Yowser. After just reading through this thread, I will most certainly NOT be using them for several reasons. (Go ahead and call me a chicken.... :-[)

1. I test frequently, but not for EVERYTHING.

2. I observe my animals closely and probably spend more time doing it than I should.

3. Everyone and everything appears to be doing well and thriving.

4. I'd be afraid to change "things" after getting back an unsatisfactory result.

That's all I can think of right now. : Ja, I'm a chicken, I guess.

I'm with Wendy, but I noted that there is a place to enter a discount code when you order.

Has any of the officers approached them about an NJRC discount??

 

[Phyl]

Not at this point, Bill.

 

[Bruce K]

Thanks. LMK.

I do have two liters of the resin, loose. Are you sure the high silica is from your incoming water? It could be from food, supplements, salt, etc. I would do your Salifert test of the tap before and after the RO/DI just so you know where you stand - if you haven't already.