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Testing of water condition
- Thread starter Evik
- Start date
Thank you Bob. I have my small 29 gal reef for two years and now few months ago something is wrong and I can't figure what. Raised in Europe and being computer programmer I like accuracy, preferably digital, I now I'm probably asking to much, but I just assumed with something so delicate like a reef we need accurate measurements.
What is the problem your experiencing? I would be a bit concerned with the NO3 and suggest performing some water changes to bring it down. I also have a problem with the color charts and always ask my wife and kids what color it looks like. Doesn't help as they all see it different.
I know, I get also frustrated, when my husband see different shade than I do 
I have 29 gal reef for about 2 years and have only easy to keep corals like zoos, LPS, mushrooms,... since I have 196W PC. I'm doing 5-6 gal water change every week, so far everything was doing fine. Lately I noticed some zoos are shrinking, but other once multiply, even some mushrooms shrinks, some getting lighter, and they are in different areas. Maybe some pictures will help what I'm talking about. I will try to take some tomorrow.
I don't know what else I can test for? What I'm missing?
I have 29 gal reef for about 2 years and have only easy to keep corals like zoos, LPS, mushrooms,... since I have 196W PC. I'm doing 5-6 gal water change every week, so far everything was doing fine. Lately I noticed some zoos are shrinking, but other once multiply, even some mushrooms shrinks, some getting lighter, and they are in different areas. Maybe some pictures will help what I'm talking about. I will try to take some tomorrow.
I don't know what else I can test for? What I'm missing?
Evik said:
Can you recheck the ALK? How is that measured...is it (meq/L) or (dKH) - I think you might be reading that wrong.
I agree with mark - might want to increase the water change to reduce the Nitrates.
I understand the desire for "digital" readings but the cost may not be justified given the size tank in question. When was the last time you changed the pc bulbs?
An alk reading of .08 on either scale is low. Do you mean 8
The NO3 is high but sounds like most of what you have can take a higher nitrate level. I've seen zoos and shrooms with nitrates at 80 doing just fine. curious though why it climbed so high. The case i'm talking about had a high bioload from the fish. Has anything else changed and has this been a slow process or something that happened all of a sudden? Any fish die off? I agree maybe increase the frequency of water changes, this would also help the alk if is low. You may want to test a patch of the new water before adding it. If you see improvement check your parameters again and see what has changed. If you're reading the alk correctly i would think that is your problem. If i recall isn't that a titration test. Changes blue to yellow, count the drops?
I just realized how much of this stuff you forget when you haven't had a tank for awhile. Guess i better go refresh my memory.
The NO3 is high but sounds like most of what you have can take a higher nitrate level. I've seen zoos and shrooms with nitrates at 80 doing just fine. curious though why it climbed so high. The case i'm talking about had a high bioload from the fish. Has anything else changed and has this been a slow process or something that happened all of a sudden? Any fish die off? I agree maybe increase the frequency of water changes, this would also help the alk if is low. You may want to test a patch of the new water before adding it. If you see improvement check your parameters again and see what has changed. If you're reading the alk correctly i would think that is your problem. If i recall isn't that a titration test. Changes blue to yellow, count the drops?
I just realized how much of this stuff you forget when you haven't had a tank for awhile. Guess i better go refresh my memory.
Can you recheck the ALK? How is that measured...is it (meq/L) or (dKH) - I think you might be reading that wrong.
Alkalinity test is in Milli equivalents per liter.
I agree with mark - might want to increase the water change to reduce the Nitrates.
I'm doing 5gal change every week, should i do more?
I understand the desire for "digital" readings but the cost may not be justified given the size tank in question.
I want to upgrade to at least 120gal so I was trying to get more info to control the new one.
When was the last time you changed the PC bulbs?
3-4 months ago, but what I realized now, the salt changed. I was always using Tropic Marine Pro and 2 months ago I accidentally ordered Tropic Marine, could that be the change I'm missing?
Alkalinity test is in Milli equivalents per liter.
I agree with mark - might want to increase the water change to reduce the Nitrates.
I'm doing 5gal change every week, should i do more?
I understand the desire for "digital" readings but the cost may not be justified given the size tank in question.
I want to upgrade to at least 120gal so I was trying to get more info to control the new one.
When was the last time you changed the PC bulbs?
3-4 months ago, but what I realized now, the salt changed. I was always using Tropic Marine Pro and 2 months ago I accidentally ordered Tropic Marine, could that be the change I'm missing?
Evik said:
Some folks like to use a pinpoint ph monitor. Others also add/suggest a aquacontroller...there are probably other ways to digitally monitor the tank - but I am perhaps the least experienced.
Finally - I don't know if the change in salt caused the problem - but it's possible. Can you post some pictures?
[Reef link=topic=7768.msg73914#msg73914 date=1201129060]
i was under the impression she was reporting in meq/L.
[/quote]
Hi, thank you phil for clarifying my sex ;D. I'm Eva, Evik is my nick name from Europe. You can read my bio in Welcome post, if interested. Also I want to apologize for my English, I'm trying my best, but sometimes I probably don't make myself clear. I do appreciate your help very much, and if you will not understand what I mean, please let me know, I will try to explain it different way. And also thank got for spell check. You probably do not realize how difficult English is
I really have reading of Alkalinity 0.08 milli equivalents per liter, using Red sea's Marine Lab. There are three shade brackets 0 - 1.6 Low, 1.7 - 2.8 Normal, ... and my shade in is in the middle of Low ???
I'm doing 5gal water change every week, because aquarium is only 29gal. I don't understand chemical issues, and don't know how to get the water back in balance.
i was under the impression she was reporting in meq/L.
[/quote]
Hi, thank you phil for clarifying my sex ;D. I'm Eva, Evik is my nick name from Europe. You can read my bio in Welcome post, if interested
. Also I want to apologize for my English, I'm trying my best, but sometimes I probably don't make myself clear. I do appreciate your help very much, and if you will not understand what I mean, please let me know, I will try to explain it different way. And also thank got for spell check. You probably do not realize how difficult English is I really have reading of Alkalinity 0.08 milli equivalents per liter, using Red sea's Marine Lab. There are three shade brackets 0 - 1.6 Low, 1.7 - 2.8 Normal, ... and my shade in is in the middle of Low ???
I'm doing 5gal water change every week, because aquarium is only 29gal. I don't understand chemical issues, and don't know how to get the water back in balance.