I have a 210 gallon tank that's been set up for about 6 months. I did a water change on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday morning started getting an alarm about high ORP from my Apex the orp is bouncing between about 445 to 455. The Apex alarm is set at 450 by default. All other parameters are normal. Should I be concerned by this, or could it just be something with the probe? Thanks for your help.
High ORP should I be concerned?
- Thread starter embdriver
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Nitrates have been at 0 since the beginning. I've never had the red Sea test kit be anything but clear when I've done it. Several months ago I had alot of hair algae and even what looked like bubble algae, but I got a lawnmower blenny and a pin cushion urchin and now I have no visible algae on the rock, but still get a film on the glass every day
Thanks everyone, the ORD has dropped to between 440-447 so just below the alarm. I'll try and get some calibration fluid in the next week or so. I did some test today and Nitrates still show 0 with the red sea test kit, I mean completely clear not even a hint of pigment. The test kit shows 6/18 as the expiration so it should be good. The rest of the parameters are as follows.
Alk 8.12
Ca 360
Mg 1400
Ph between 8.0-8.1
Like I said before I've never had nitrates test anything but zero the tank has been running for about 5 months. I guess the new question is should I be worried about zero nitrates, and if so what's the best way to bring them up a little. Thanks again for your help.
Alk 8.12
Ca 360
Mg 1400
Ph between 8.0-8.1
Like I said before I've never had nitrates test anything but zero the tank has been running for about 5 months. I guess the new question is should I be worried about zero nitrates, and if so what's the best way to bring them up a little. Thanks again for your help.
I dose nopox by Red Sea daily. It helps to manage your no3 po2 levels. I recommend you read up on that product. You can find lots of forums talk about it.
Red Sea NO3
O4-X Nitrate & Phosphate Reducer
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Red Sea NO3
O4-X Nitrate & Phosphate ReducerSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
skriz
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Yes, that should concern you. I'd suspect the test kit if you've never shown nitrates and your tank is only 6 months old.
Test kits are cheap, so it's definitely worth picking one up. And you can always have your favorite LFS run some tests for you.
Not sure what type of test kits you are using.
I use Red Sea test kit for phosphates and nitrates as well as magnesium
API test kit for calcium and alk
I found API kits to be unreliable for low range nitrates and phosphates
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I use Red Sea test kit for phosphates and nitrates as well as magnesium
API test kit for calcium and alk
I found API kits to be unreliable for low range nitrates and phosphates
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I don't see where you've listed your livestock. If there's fish in the tank and they're not dead, then the tank has cycled and there should be NO3 showing up in tests.
This means 1 or 2 things. Either the test kit you have is bad or you may not be doing the test correctly. I agree you should take a water sample to your LFS and have them test everything for you. They can also show you if you're doing something wrong and you can pick up a new test kit while you're there.
This means 1 or 2 things. Either the test kit you have is bad or you may not be doing the test correctly. I agree you should take a water sample to your LFS and have them test everything for you. They can also show you if you're doing something wrong and you can pick up a new test kit while you're there.
Is the probe brand new or was it left out of water for an extended amount of time?
If it is a new probe then its gonna take some time to break in. Mine took about 2-3 weeks before it settled down when I first got it. Also probes are generally designed to be wet all the time, it is why when you get a brand new probe it will have a silicone cap on the sensor to keep it from drying out. If those two things dont apply to your situation the last thing to do is to clean the probe. When mine gets dirty over time it reads high till I clean it.
If it is a new probe then its gonna take some time to break in. Mine took about 2-3 weeks before it settled down when I first got it. Also probes are generally designed to be wet all the time, it is why when you get a brand new probe it will have a silicone cap on the sensor to keep it from drying out. If those two things dont apply to your situation the last thing to do is to clean the probe. When mine gets dirty over time it reads high till I clean it.
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ORP of 450 ish is not a concern. Its actually pretty ideal.
Understanding what ORP is helps to realize the concern with it. In simple terms, it measure water "cleanliness". But in more detailed terms, it measures the ability of water to accept electrons (hence the measurement in millivolts).
In a nutshell, high ORP is most concerning when dosing ozone to your system, as ozone oxidizes nearly everything it touches (and consequently boosts ORP quickly).
Yes a tank can *naturally* have an ORP too high with water being "too clean" for good coral and invert life, but I think this only occurs in very low load systems, with massive sterilization techniques, like UV, Ozone, giant skimmers, massive media reaction, etc.
Understanding what ORP is helps to realize the concern with it. In simple terms, it measure water "cleanliness". But in more detailed terms, it measures the ability of water to accept electrons (hence the measurement in millivolts).
In a nutshell, high ORP is most concerning when dosing ozone to your system, as ozone oxidizes nearly everything it touches (and consequently boosts ORP quickly).
Yes a tank can *naturally* have an ORP too high with water being "too clean" for good coral and invert life, but I think this only occurs in very low load systems, with massive sterilization techniques, like UV, Ozone, giant skimmers, massive media reaction, etc.
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