ALK, CAL, and other parameters.

[ZapataInc]

What levels do you try to stay a for your parameters? Im thinking about starting to dose but not 100% sure what i should be aiming for. And I know that chasing numbers shouldnt be a thing and im not trying to do that. Just trying to get a sense of what other people are keeping their numbers at to get a base line.

 

[bhodges82]

I think the question is, what are your parameters now? What coral are you trying to keep?

 

[ZapataInc]

I think the question is, what are your parameters now? What coral are you trying to keep?

Last time I checked was a couple of days ago.

Temp 77
pH 8.1
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
Phosphates .03
Salinity 1.025
Alk 7.3
Cal 420

Right now i have a good mixture of softies, LPS and a few SPS. With this meeting coming up I will have more SPS frags. So Im trying to keep all of the corals...lol.

 

[bhodges82]

Are these numbers stable? Do you do water changes regularly?

The only things that look to be slightly off would be alk and calcium which could be raised with kalkwasser, but isn't required to change if they are fairly stable..

 

[bhodges82]

Sps mainly prefer stable water parameters, but can be acclimated to most clean water with different alk and cal levels. It's really up to you which numbers you plan to shoot for.

 

[ZapataInc]

Are these numbers stable? Do you do water changes regularly?

The only things that look to be slightly off would be alk and calcium which could be raised with kalkwasser, but isn't required to change if they are fairly stable..

For the most part my numbers have been stable for a couple of weeks. The cal has dropped by 20 in about a week.

 

[ZapataInc]

I do about a 15% water change every two weeks. around 100gal total volume of water in the whole system.

 

[dball711]

Bobby's comment is spot on, stability rules all in the SPS game. I've seen folks be +/- but a few points on the parameters and as long as thier levels are consistent , all should be good.

Here's where I keep mine as a reference...
Temp 78
pH 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate .2-.4
Phosphates .02
Salinity 1.025
Alk 8.0
Cal 460

I do 2 15% water changes every week religiously on Sundays and Wednesdays.

I feed fairly heavily.

My lights are focused on the 400-500nm range (no whites).

 

[Dylan484]

+1 for stability over "perfect" parameters. The best parameters are what you can keep the most consistent. With in reason.

 

[jcook54]

I mean, it's broken record in this forum but stability, stability, stability. Keep in mind that as you add stuff, your numbers will start to fluctuate more and more. Some movement is fine for keeping stuff alive and growing but it's the stability that allows a person (not me) to drill down and tweak to get great colors. I spent a lot of time and $$ adding this or that trying to get better color and growth while my Alk was bouncing around on a weekly basis. Here's where I'm at as a reference.

Temp - 77°
Sal - 1.025
Ca - 440
Alk - 7.5
pH - 8.1
Mg - 1350
Nitrates - 2.5
Phos - .02