water params....I need help of course

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jaydm93teg

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ok.....so here is my weekly deal. I had red slime very bad i changed the flow up in my tank and started regular water changes. I am replacing my bulbs next week and i dosed red slime remover. This caused my skimmer to micro bubble out so i unplugged it. Yesterday my PH fell into the sand and was prob. there for an hour.

Everything in the tank looks fine i do have a little green hair algae bloom but i think thats from the old bulbs.

now the params:

PH: 7.4?? (i need to fix this i dont know how)
Ammonia: 0
trates: 0
Trites: 0

calcium:500 (been this way since my tank was set up)
alkalinity: 120 (finally coming down normally measures 140)

so can anyone help me out give me some pointers, i do have some SPS a few LPS and some softies all in the tank look good but dont want them to die.

Please help!!!!
 
ok i am taking a stab at this myself i have done some reading and maybe came up with this.....Low alkalinity can cause low PH. So since my alkalinity has dropped my PH has dropped. Now if i dose alkalinity then will it help bring my PH up?
 
using the red slime remover is bad...bandaid for a problem rather than a cure.

ANyhoo, You want to scale your ph up slowly, otherwise you'll kill everything in your tank! Don't mess with additives, you'll only get into an adjustment game that will end with a nice crash. The best way to get your water param's and quality where it needs to be is via water changes.

You will need to do multiple water changes at a higher frequency until your param's are where they need to be. Then you can maintain them.

How are you maintaining 500 ca? And what test kits are you using? I have a feeling that your results may be wrong.
 
here:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm">http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm</a>

What scale are you using? Alk is usually quoted in meg/l or dkh (for hobbiests). This might be what is confusing everyone.

<p style="text-align:left;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 13px;">2.5 - 4 meq/L or 7 - 11 dKH or 125 - 200 ppm CaCO3 equivalents</span></span>
 
I am using Hagen test kits for calc and alk. And its says multiply x amount of drops by x

My calc has been tested by 3 diff people numerous times my calc is at 500.

my alk test was 12 drops and it said multiply that by 10 so. 120 is alk
 
jaydm93teg;193909 wrote: test is in ppm

So....water changes is it for now?
Click to expand...


yep, keep it simple. If you use additives, you will start chasing a number. As one thing changes, so will another; then you will try adjusting the other,</em> and so on...

Do some frequent water changes; this will bring you levels to where they need to be.
 
I looked up your test instructions for ALK. I see there was a post about it already given to you. It helps if your trying to get help, that you give apples to apples numbers.

KH = 5ml water add one drop and solution turns blue. Continue adding 1 drop at time(count drops) until solution turns yellow/lime color. Multiply drops used by 10 then divide by 17.8.

So a few weeks back you posted that your ALK was 140! That would be 7.9 which is on the low side (especially since those kits are hard to read & have a high +/- % being off).

now you post that it has fallen to 120. That is 6.7 which is horribly low. That is a big reason why your Ph is low. I sent you a few links, and it would be good if you utilize them a bit to get familiar with the relationship between Alkalinity, Calcium, PH, & Magnesium. If you want to start with low up front costs, you can get a 2 part like B-ionic or C-Balance.

you can get gallon jugs here:
a>
 
Amberjack;193967 wrote: 7.4?? is a vauge pH measurement. Nothing wrong with using a stablizer. Kent marine superbuffer-dKH worked for me.
Click to expand...

Right, nothing wrong with a stabilizer to stabilize</em>....but you're not stabilizing, you're adjusting!
 
mysterybox;193986 wrote: I looked up your test instructions for ALK. I see there was a post about it already given to you. It helps if your trying to get help, that you give apples to apples numbers.

KH = 5ml water add one drop and solution turns blue. Continue adding 1 drop at time(count drops) until solution turns yellow/lime color. Multiply drops used by 10 then divide by 17.8.

So a few weeks back you posted that your ALK was 140! That would be 7.9 which is on the low side (especially since those kits are hard to read & have a high +/- % being off).

now you post that it has fallen to 120. That is 6.7 which is horribly low. That is a big reason why your Ph is low. I sent you a few links, and it would be good if you utilize them a bit to get familiar with the relationship between Alkalinity, Calcium, PH, & Magnesium. If you want to start with low up front costs, you can get a 2 part like B-ionic or C-Balance.

you can get gallon jugs here:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage%7EPageAlias%7Eadditives_esv_b-ionic.html">http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~additives_esv_b-ionic.html</a>[/QUOTE]

yeah i just forgot how to convert and i wasnt sure how to find my post since that post was so old. sorry. I just figured out i could go to my pc and find all old post started by myself.

I was under the impression that the 140 at 7.9 was fine. And the only reason that i havent bought a 2 part dose like that is because i acuired 2 bottles 1 of alkalinity dose and 1 of calcium dose. They are made by reef and had never been opened and i wanted to put those to use. I really am a visual learner and could read stuff a thousand times and still not understand what im doing. I have been like that my whole life, I promise im not trying to ask the same stuff over and over or annoy you guys with the same question.
Click to expand...
 
ok i have done some reading and come up with this:

my calcium at 500 ppm give or take some cause of my test kit is on the high end.

my alkalinity is at 2.4 meg/l or 6.7dkh which is way low probably the cause of my ph being low.

now to correct my alkalinity i need to use a washing soda (not baking soda because it contains bicarbonate which will raise calcium a no no) once i can bring my alkalinity into perspective my ph should follow.

no my only question is my bottles of alkalinity dose says "Reef carbonate raises carbonate alkalinity but there is no actualy like ingredient of what exactly is in the bottle. So i should stay away from this given it says bicarbonate right? I need to go for just some plain old washing soda that is bicarbonate free so that i am not adding anymore calcium into the system.

I really am trying to understand and i read the link you gave me mystery hopefully i am getting close to understanding this a little
 
using one part to raise the ALK is perfect. you just have to do it over a couple of days. maybe 4-6 times a day until you hit maybe around 8.0 kh for now.

here's a calculator to figure out how much to dose over the 48 to 72 hours to bring it up to 8.0.

a>
 
so that carbonate ALK raiser is ok mystery?

or should i go for another ALK supplement? i know you gave me 2 of the 2 part chemicals i could use but just wasnt sure if my 1 part alk was ok since it says biocarbonate on it.

thanks again man
 
hey man,
Thanks again for all your help on this, and those links i have already saved those pages and articles in my bookmarks area along with a few other articles you have sent me in the past.
 
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