• Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.

pH at 7.75, Low alkalinity, Low Calcium, High Salinity

R

reeferkid

Hello all,

I have a problem with my water. My salinity with a refractometer is reading at 1.030, so I stopped dosing my two little fish 2 parts for this whole week. I checked last night, my alkalinity(5.0) and calcium(390) are very low and my salinity was at 1.028. So I added a full dose of the 2 parts last night and a half dose this morning. I checked my pH at work this morning with lab grade pH meter. It's reading at 7.75. I have a mix reef tank and the only thing that didn't open since Wednesday night is my toadstool. I do 5% weekly water change with red sea coral pro salt and top off with fresh ro/di water as needed. I followed the direction as directed and my freshly made water's salinity was reading at 1.025 with the same refractometer.

My friend will use his refractometer tonight to cross check my result with his refractometer.


Any suggestion would be helpful.
Kelvin.
 
Sobo's Reef

Sobo's Reef

Is the refractometer calibrated properly? I had an issue with this before and it turned out to be the rusty hinges on the refractometer. Carefully dabbed with some wd40 and it was reading about .004 off
 
downbeach

downbeach

Is your refractometer calibrated? Using a 35ppt calibration solution, or RO/DI water? At 7.75, your pH isn't all that bad, and is more a symptom of higher levels of CO2 in the household atmosphere this time of year, low alk will also contribute.
 
R

reeferkid

downbeach said:
Is your refractometer calibrated? Using a 35ppt calibration solution, or RO/DI water? At 7.75, your pH isn't all that bad, and is more a symptom of higher levels of CO2 in the household atmosphere this time of year, low alk will also contribute.
Click to expand...

So after I checked my alk and cal last night. I went to get distill water to calibrate again to see if it was accurate and it was. My mg level is at 1490 and this is all done with Red Sea test kit
 
S

slimfitz

When was the last time the tank was at .025? Did it just jump to .030? Im confused why you would not add more fresh water and bring the tank salinity back down? THen you can focus on your alkalinity which will affect the PH.
 
R

reeferkid

slimfitz said:
When was the last time the tank was at .025? Did it just jump to .030? Im confused why you would not add more fresh water and bring the tank salinity back down? THen you can focus on your alkalinity which will affect the PH.
Click to expand...


So my buddy checked my water with his refractometer last night. its reading at 1.030. There were some evaporation last night so I added more fresh ro/di to top it off. But I also added another half dose(5ml) of the two part because water alk and cal were still low. I checked the tank water this morning and its reading 1.031. I just ordered the calibration fluid and its coming tomorrow in the mail. My tank was steady at 1.027 for a while, last time it read 1.027 was last saturday after my 10% water change. I checked on monday, it was reading 1.030. I'm doing a 20% water change today. See if that makes a different.
 
Zippy69

Zippy69

reeferkid said:
So my buddy checked my water with his refractometer last night. its reading at 1.030. There were some evaporation last night so I added more fresh ro/di to top it off. But I also added another half dose(5ml) of the two part because water alk and cal were still low. I checked the tank water this morning and its reading 1.031. I just ordered the calibration fluid and its coming tomorrow in the mail. My tank was steady at 1.027 for a while, last time it read 1.027 was last saturday after my 10% water change. I checked on monday, it was reading 1.030. I'm doing a 20% water change today. See if that makes a different.
Click to expand...
1.030 is pretty high in my opinion. If you want to continue manual top off ( I did for 2 yrs with a 55) take a sharpie and mark on the sump your ideal water level with a specific gravity of 1.025-1.026. Every morning and evening add Ro/di to make sure the level stays consistent. IMHO get a tunze auto top off. This was the absolute best thing I've ever automated in reefing. The stable sg = happy corals.
 
Zippy69

Zippy69

Your 2 part should have minimal effect on SG if corals are consuming it. Your SG issues are related to improper calibration and or too long of a time between top off which results in extreme swings in SG.
 
dirtycontour

dirtycontour

reeferkid said:
So my buddy checked my water with his refractometer last night. its reading at 1.030. There were some evaporation last night so I added more fresh ro/di to top it off. But I also added another half dose(5ml) of the two part because water alk and cal were still low. I checked the tank water this morning and its reading 1.031. I just ordered the calibration fluid and its coming tomorrow in the mail. My tank was steady at 1.027 for a while, last time it read 1.027 was last saturday after my 10% water change. I checked on monday, it was reading 1.030. I'm doing a 20% water change today. See if that makes a different.
Click to expand...
Did you test your make up water with the calibrated refracto? I would before doing such a large WC.

Zippy69 said:
IMHO get a tunze auto top off. This was the absolute best thing I've ever automated in reefing. The stable sg = happy corals.
Click to expand...

+1
An auto top-off is one of the least talked about but most useful pieces of equipment in reefing. The Tunze is a bit pricey but well worth it in my opinion. I've had mine going for about three years now without issue.
 
Zippy69

Zippy69

Even though they say (x) cups = (x) specific gravity.....it ain't true!! Always and I mean always test your replacement sea water SG after thoroughly mixing. Salt batches vary slightly and one mans level cup is another's "generous" cup.JMO
 
S

slimfitz

Your going to need to mix it lower to get it to drop. Just dont drop it to fast. Also the cups is just a guideline. I dump salt in my mixing bucket and pour water in until I hit whatever SG I am looking for. I am constantly checking it as I am mixing it. Also both yours and your buddies refractometers were reading .030?
 
downbeach

downbeach

It would be best to add salt mix to water, not the other way around. "Adding the salt before the water can be okay, but causes an unusually high salinity for the period when you are adding water, which can result in the formation of certain precipitates that may be hard to redissolve." R H-F
 
S

slimfitz

I have read that it was bad before to mix salt that way. However when I was first getting the hang of checking water parameters I had my ammonia level get up to .50. I panicked and immediatly mixed up new water. I did about a 75% water change. I did not even let the new water sit. It went straight into the tank. I personaly have never had a problem mixing it by adding the salt first. I have had no ill effects of doing it that way. To me it seems easier to adjust the salinity down by adding the water to the mix. Im not saying that it is right. Ive just never had an issue mixing the new water that way.
 
R

reeferkid

Zippy69 said:
Even though they say (x) cups = (x) specific gravity.....it ain't true!! Always and I mean always test your replacement sea water SG after thoroughly mixing. Salt batches vary slightly and one mans level cup is another's "generous" cup.JMO
Click to expand...

You are not understand what I'm saying. In this thread, I mentioned earlier that I do check when I'm mixing and its read at 1.025. And I check the tank few hours later after the water changed. Adding 2 cups of salt just happened to be at 1.025. I would be crazy to think that the bucket said 2 cups gets me 1.025 and I would just add the 2 cups and not check it with the refractometer.

slimfitz said:
Your going to need to mix it lower to get it to drop. Just dont drop it to fast. Also the cups is just a guideline. I dump salt in my mixing bucket and pour water in until I hit whatever SG I am looking for. I am constantly checking it as I am mixing it. Also both yours and your buddies refractometers were reading .030?
Click to expand...


Yeah, I'm mixing a new batch right now. One 5 gallon bucket with water at 1.025 and the other 5 gallon bucket is reading 1.021.



And as mentioned earlier that I heat the water up with heater and a powerhead to the optimal temperature before I add the salt in and mix for a few hours.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top