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Help!!!! DKH=15.0 and ALK=5.37

ricwilli

ricwilli

Just finish doing the mini test. I do not mind doing this at all if its going to fix my problem. So, please keep giving me directions and I will follow them.... Have I said Thanks for helping. It is greatly appreciated.

Theses are the results:

New 1 Gallon Mixed Water | Mixed 3/4 tank water with 1/4 New Mix Water
CA=400 | CA=350-400
ALK=9 | ALK=7
 
C

Carlo

Nice, the Alk didn't drop anymore and the Calcium is finally starting to show some movement! Now we're getting somewhere.

Go a head and do the full 25% water change as soon as your ready with enough water made up and mixed well.

I tried going back looking through the thread and didn't find it. What size tank/sump do you have? Or better yet if you happen to know. How much water is in the system?

What product did you use before you purchased the Ca reactor for raising alkalinity? Do you still have any around?

You mentioned early in the thread you had put a new Calcium reactor online and had it running for a couple of days. What kind of reactor do you have?

How far did you get tuning it?

I'm thinking, if you have a spare container (IE trashcan) around the house you could "keep" the water you pull from the tank to do the 25% water change and put the Calcium Reactor on this water as an additional "test" to be safe type thing. Granted the volume of water is much smaller then the tank and will be a little different then the tank water after the water change but you could keep only 3/4 of this water and add 1/4 new IO water as we did in the "gallon test" above. This should basically be the same as the tank water and end up in the 350-400 Ca range with alk at 7ish.

Now with some "test water" in a trahscan, you can play with the reactor and not worry about doing any harm to the tank itself. Obviously this is far less water volume then the tank and Ca/Alk will climb much faster then they would in the tank, BUT they should do so in the same proportion to the tank only faster. In other words we can see what is going to happen to this "new" water with the reactor running on it. You'll be able to verify that neither the alk or Ca drop any further due to any type of imbalance still left in the water (which I don't think is the case) and make sure nothing precipitates especially the alk. Ideally both the Ca & Alk will climb again and we'll know you are SAFE and READY to start with the reactor on your main tank again. You can also try dialing back the reactor some so things won't climb too fast when it's put back on the main tank.

Does that make sense to you? Do you have the space and container needed to try this or is it not possible?

Carlo

PS Once the reactor itself is back on the tank we pretty much know it's going to need to be dialed in better and "scaled back" so things don't climb so quickly as they did before. Even though it's a pain it will be a great idea to run a Ca & Alk test every 4 to 6 hours after putting it online to make sure values don't climb and get it to the point of being leveled off, only replenishing what is being used up in the tank. We don't need or even want the reactor to bring levels back to normal but to get leveled off replenishing what the corals are using. We can always "dose" some type of carbonate and/or calcium if needed to get the levels on target if needed.
 
ricwilli

ricwilli

I have a 72 gal tank and a 30 gal sump. A total of 102 gallons. The calcium reactor was purchased used from a local reefer and it has no name on it. It does have two chambers but I only use one. I did not dose anything prior to purchasing the calcium reactor. As far as tuning it, I had about 1 bubble per two seconds. Never worked with one before. Just to confirm...you want me to do a 25% water change? I do have a 30 gallon tank, so I will put the old water in there.
 
mynd

mynd

what happened? I just read this post the other day and there was a nice read from Carlo on here? What did you do Carlo, change your mind. lol Thanks for the good information you provide. I find it very useful and informative ( even though it might be a bit long ) heh.. find the humor. I learn things I never knew as well as confirm things I thought. You are truly an asset to this site when it comes to information. :D Keep it coming!
 
C

Carlo

ricwilli said:
I have a 72 gal tank and a 30 gal sump. A total of 102 gallons. The calcium reactor was purchased used from a local reefer and it has no name on it. It does have two chambers but I only use one. I did not dose anything prior to purchasing the calcium reactor. As far as tuning it, I had about 1 bubble per two seconds. Never worked with one before. Just to confirm...you want me to do a 25% water change? I do have a 30 gallon tank, so I will put the old water in there.
Click to expand...
Yes with IO.

Hey a short answer!
 
ricwilli

ricwilli

Just finish the water change. I will post the result tomorrow. If there is anything else that you would like me to do, just let me know.
 
J

jazzsam

ricwilli said:
OK, I am a lucky man..... I went to petsmart right after work to check to see if they had the Oceanic salt, and they did. I had a bag of the salt for a 25 gallon mix and that was $12.99. One of the guys that works there approached me and told me that he had some saltwater stuff in the back that was 50% off. Wouldn't you guess what he brought out from the back? Three 50 gal mix of oceanic salt with other stuff. He gave me each container of salt for $8.25. I grabbed all three and went home a happy man. That happiness didn't last to long until I got home and started worrying about the tank again......But anyways.......

I took a sample of water to the LFS and he confirmed that the ALK is at 6. So I guess my test kit is correct. I purchased another kit just in case. Right now I am mixing about 20 gallons of water to do a water change.
Click to expand...

WOW, at least you have something to be happy about!
 
C

Carlo

ricwilli said:
Just finish the water change. I will post the result tomorrow. If there is anything else that you would like me to do, just let me know.
Click to expand...

Just need the Ca/Alk results at this stage.

Carlo
 
ricwilli

ricwilli

Yeah, I got lucky with the salt.

OK, here go:

CA = 200 (Now even I know this is way to low)

KH = 7 (This didn't move from previous test)
 
C

Carlo

That doesn't make a whole lot of sense as it's way off from the "test water" results which should match pretty close. The test run seems accurate while these readings do not.

There isn't really any reason the Ca would drop like that from 400 to 200 with no change in alkalinity especially when the alk is at natural sea levels. I could see the Ca maybe, maybe going to 360 but not really lower then that.

Starting with 400 Ca and 7 dKH tank water and only doing a 25% water change with water containing Ca of 400 and Alk of 9 should not do that as our "test" showed.

Please do another Ca test kit check and verify the numbers just to make sure.

Out of curiosity something I don't think we ever mentioned. What is your salinity like in the tank? Has this fluctuated at all?

You have my phone number so feel free to give me a buzz if you want. I'll be home all day.

Carlo
 
ricwilli

ricwilli

I apologize Carlo..... I calculated wrong. The the CA is 350. I also tested the old water and that is also 350. Sorry again.
 
C

Carlo

That's great to hear. Now that's what just about PERFECT. Both values (Ca & Alk) are on the low side which is what I was calculating & hoping for.

Now go ahead and start your Calcium Reactor back up again but this time keep a close eye on your values. Since it climbed so quick last time while you were trying to get it adjusted you now have some "wiggle room" to account for this while you get it adjusted. Once your alkalinity gets back above 9 dHK follow the paragraph below.

If your Alkalinity gets any higher then 10 dKH for now just turn off the Calcium Reactor until it dips back down to 8/9 dKH and start it back up again and continue to adjust. As long as you turn if off manually when it gets over 10 and turn it back at 8/9 you have plenty of room for safety while you continue to tinker with the settings.

Just so you know, Calcium Reactors are tricky to get adjusted correctly especially when it's your first time, so don't worry if you have trouble. It takes a while to get it where you want it. As long as you manually start/stop the reactor you'll be safe!

Here is a GREAT link/resource to help you calculate and adjust the reactor and take some of the guess work out of getting it setup: http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/reactor.html

Carlo

PS Let the reactor run the way it did before to get back up to 8/9ish on the dKH before you start limiting it. Both your Ca and Alk are a tad low but the reactor should get them up fairly quickly with the setting you had previously.

If you need additional help besides the link above to get it setup, working and adjusted just start a new thread.

Good luck and don't forget to test the Ca/Alk often to stay in the ideal zone of 8-11 dKH (Alk) while getting it working.
 
ricwilli

ricwilli

Carlo, Thanks for all your help. Being a newbie I probably would had crash the tank. Thanks again. One more question. How often should I test the KH? Every hour?
 
C

Carlo

Glad I could help.

Well it wouldn't hurt to do that for a couple of hours. Then if you don't see any big shifts space out the check to 4 hours, then 6/8/12, etc...

You'll get a feel for how fast the Alk is rising and will be able to determine how often you should check it. If you do notice it climbing pretty quickly feel free to start adjusting the reactor to slow it down and get it to the point where it just maintains the levels without dropping or rising.

Carlo

BTW, now that you have "extra" oceanic salt. Feel free to use a mix of about 1/3 Oceanic to 2/3 IO when doing water changes until you are done with it. The oceanic salt is high in Calcium & Magnesium and low in Alkalinity. The IO is low in Calcium & Magnesium but high in Alkalinity. The two salts mixed that way (1/3 & 2/3) are almost perfect offsetting each other and keeping the water in balance when ever you do a water change.
 
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